
Hitchcock's Blondes
The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director's Dark Obsession
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Narrated by:
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Sharmila Devar
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By:
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Laurence Leamer
Bestselling author of Capote’s Women Laurence Leamer shares an engrossing account of the enigmatic director Alfred Hitchcock that finally puts the dazzling actresses he cast in his legendary movies at the center of the story.
Alfred Hitchcock was fixated—not just on the dark, twisty stories that became his hallmark, but also by the blond actresses who starred in many of his iconic movies. The director of North by Northwest, Rear Window, and other classic films didn’t much care if they wore wigs, got their hair coloring out of a bottle, or were the rarest human specimen—a natural blonde—as long as they shone with a golden veneer on camera. The lengths he went to in order to showcase (and often manipulate) these women would become the stuff of movie legend. But the women themselves have rarely been at the center of the story, until now.
In Hitchcock’s Blondes, bestselling biographer Laurence Leamer offers an intimate journey into the lives of eight legendary actresses whose stories helped chart the course of the troubled, talented director’s career—from his early days in the British film industry, to his triumphant American debut, to his Hollywood heyday and beyond. Through the stories of June Howard-Tripp, Madeleine Carroll, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Janet Leigh, Kim Novak, Eva Marie Saint, and Tippi Hedren—who starred in fourteen of Hitchcock’s most notable films and who bore the brunt of his fondness and sometimes fixation—we can finally start to see the enigmatic man himself. After all, “his” blondes (as he thought of them) knew the truths of his art, his obsessions and desires, as well as anyone.
From the acclaimed author of Capote’s Women comes an intimate, revealing, and thoroughly modern look at both the enduring art created by a man obsessed…and the private toll that fixation took on the women in his orbit.
©2023 Laurence Leamer (P)2023 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
One of Entertainment Weekly’s 41 New Fall Books We’re Most Excited to Read
One of CrimeReads’ Most Anticipated Crime Reads of Fall 2023
One of PureWow’s 9 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in October
“Through their work and place as the prism for Hitchcock's obsessions and desires, we come to understand the inner workings of his mind—and how these women were key to constructing a legend of his own devising” —Entertainment Weekly
"Laurence Leamer peels away the glamour of Hollywood to detail the director’s troubling relationships with eight high-profile blonds who starred in his movies. Readers unfamiliar with Alfred Hitchcock’s methods will learn about his obsession with these women and, explicitly, how he controlled every aspect of their lives.” —Washington City Paper
“The bestselling author of Capote’s Women turns his focus to Alfred Hitchcock in his latest…In Hitchcock’s Blondes, Leamer offers an intimate look into the lives of eight legendary actresses—including Ingrid Bergman and Tippi Hedren—whose stories helped propel the troubled, talented director’s career forward, from Janet Leigh’s first marriage (when she was 14 years old) to forcing The 39 Steps star Madeline Carroll to rehearse while handcuffed and soaking wet.” —PureWow
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Fascinating story
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There is also some use of misinformation. One such example was the common misconception that the book "Psycho" was inspired by real-life serial killer, Ed Gein. The book was roughly 85-90% written when Gein was arrested and sensationalized. He did use some details from the newspapers, but the majority of the novel was not inspired by it. This kind of nuance, while often overlooked, should have at least been mentioned in the book.
Overall, I'd say that this is good for people that are getting into Hitchcock's work and wanting to know stuff about the actors and behind-the-scenes drama, but for those looking for a more in-depth look to not bother.
A Well-Narrated, But Biased Read
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anther great Hollywood story
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What a book. Cinephiles rejoice
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Jaw Dropping
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The author’s tone was somewhat judgmental and at times overtly hostile toward the actresses around whom the book is structured, while Hitchcock’s “eccentricities” are glossed over. I enjoyed the gossipy nature of the stories about the actresses, but question their veracity at times. Leamer doesn’t go out of his way to establish the credibility of many of his statements. This is really a book about the sex lives of women who happened to work with Hitchcock, not so much about their experiences on his sets.
In terms of narration, Devar has a lovely voice and confident tone, but I was distracted at several points by words she mispronounced (Oenophile, Marbella [Spain], etc.) I find that very frustrating in a professionally- narrated nonfiction book. She did a good job overall, but once I started noticing the mistakes I couldn’t stop.
Probably Most Effective If You’ve Never Seen a Hitchcock Film
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Hatchet Job on Tippi Hedren
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Recap of films
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