alfred hitchcock’s america America Through the Lens Martin Scorsese’s America, Ellis Cashmore Alfred Hitchcock’s America, Murray Pomerance Spike Lee’s America, David Sterritt Steven Spielberg’s America, Frederick Wasser alfred hitchcock’s america MURRAY POMERANCE polity Copyright © Murray Pomerance 2013 The right of Murray Pomerance to be identifi ed as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in 2013 by Polity Press Polity Press 65 Bridge Street Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK Polity Press 350 Main Street Malden, MA 02148, USA All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-5302-0 ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-5303-7 (pb) A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Typeset in 10.75 on 14 pt Adobe Janson by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Group Limited, Bodmin, Cornwall The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition. For further information on Polity, visit our website: www.politybooks.com to Andrew Hunter contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Alfred Hitchcock in America 1 1 Hitchcock’s American Scapes 18 2 Hitchcock’s American Personalities 71 3 Hitchcock and American Values 123 4 Hitchcock and American Social Form 176 5 Hitchcock and the American Marriage 225 Works Cited and Consulted 284 Index 305 If you want to understand my fi lms, you have to see the landscapes of my America. Stéphane Delorme paraphrasing Abel Ferrara, Cahiers du cinéma (October 2011) * All of us who worked learned a great deal from Hitch. . . . He became fascinated with America. . . . He became very interested in America and he became a very staunch supporter of America and American ideals. Robert Boyle