Hitch & Alma

Rating:
Summary: Robert Schoen's "rhapsody on a life by Alfred Hitchcock"
Review: I finished "Hitch & Alma" this afternoon. I enjoyed it a great deal. It was funny, bittersweet and insightful (in a round-about way). I admired many aspects of the novel/screenplay, especially the non-linear narrative. I felt this was a very crucial ingredient to the success of the work. Memorable moments from Hitch's life floated in and out. It was all very well-balanced. Indeed, all of the major "notorious" moments were there - from his imprisonment as a boy to his infatuations with Bergman, Kelly, Hedren; his breakup with Benny Herrmann and his childhood with his over-protective mother. In addition to being very entertaining, the screenplay is also very informative (although one has to take it all with a pinch of salt!).

It also provides a cohesive exploration of the recurring themes in the Hitchcock canon - guilt, murder, obsession, the dominant mother figure, the dominance of the male, etc. These are all cleverly (and I daresay truthfully) revealed to be aspects of Hitch's personality.

I admire Schoen's bold courage in pursuing such an original and, I would suppose, controversial idea. I am sure some will be outraged by the liberty he has taken with the truth. But in the end, the work is a well-rounded, humourous and poignant tribute to a great artist (and his life-long partner). Hitch's famous self-appreciation of being an "enigma wrapped inside a mystery" seems to be very true. However, as the composer Aaron Copland said, "If it's in the art, it's in the man". I agree that Hitch's true personality - his obsessions, his humour - is evident in his films. Numerous biographers have tackled the enigma of Hitchcock, but few have so directly used his films as (veiled) autobiographical references. You should be heartily congratulated for your new and original "rhapsody on a life by Alfred Hitchcock".

I also want to mention that the dialogue was excellent throughout - and very funny. Schoen has a gift for corny jokes! I should mention my delight at the jokes after the screening of the alternate "Vertigo" finale.

I think that the dialogue of the various characters is also very accurate. In this situation,this is crucial to add at least some measure of believability to the screenplay. Jimmy Stewart's "darned tootin'" was funny. Pity there were no "gee whiz!"'s. But that's a quibble. I could imagine the various voices throughout (I had to create Alma's voice on my own).

In addition to the humourous aspects of the story, I suppose that it is only fitting that the serious, disturbing elements of Hitch's past are featured. Surely things in his childhood influenced his art as an adult. I like the way Hitchcock had the ability to see into the soul of the disgusting priest - the same way he could see everything as the god-like director of his films.

I felt that the the swimming pool ending was sensational. A masterful stroke (no pun intended...oh, what the hell!). It is nice that the film/book ended on such an impressive note.

I don't know if I could ever foresee this being filmed, however. On paper it works so well. But how could you possibly get the actors who would play the parts? Perhaps in the future they will be able to re-create the characters digitally - so that's a possibility. But in our imagination we can see Hitch, Grace Kelly, Jimmy Stewart, etc. And Schoen has done as Hitchcock liked to do - make films on paper.