The actor Alfred Hitchcock banned anyone from touching: “He became more and more possessive”
Alfred Hitchcock’s behaviour with one of his most prominent leading ladies wouldn’t fly today.
The unfortunate reality of cinematic history is that there are plenty of brilliant artists who were responsible for some pretty reprehensible things. In a modern context, it’s somewhat easier to simply reject the films that are made by celebrities who are considered “cancelled”, as it is pretty easy to boycott anything made by Kevin Spacey, Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, or Steven Seagal. However, it becomes more complicated when considering the impact of someone who has already passed, and has left behind an undeniable impact on the legacy of cinema.
Alfred Hitchcock needs to be included on any list of the greatest directors of all-time, and some might consider him to be the greatest of all. While some of his collaborators spoke highly of him, Hitchcock was alleged to have been inappropriate towards some of the female actors he worked with. None of his accusers were as prominent as Tippi Hedren, who worked with Hitchcock on The Birds and Marnie. She was so miserable after rejecting Hitchcock’s sexual advances that she wanted to quit the film entirely.
According to their mutual collaborator Rod Taylor, Hitchcock was “becoming very domineering and covetous” of Hedren, who did not have any prior experience to compare it to.
“It was very difficult for her, because this was her first movie, and she had no basis for comparison with any other director or production,” Taylor said. “She was like a precious piece of jewellery he owned, and little by little, no one was permitted to come physically close to her during the production.”
The feud between Hitchcock and Hedren would eventually become so bad that her career was essentially sabotaged, but Taylor said that might have been a better outcome when considering how uncomfortable filming had become.
“He became more and more possessive; he wouldn’t let me or anyone else ride in the studio cars with her, which we often shared for the sake of convenience during location work up north,” Taylor said. “He was very firm about that, ‘oh, no, I must not ride with her,’ as if that would taint his goddess. He was putting a wall around her, trying to isolate her from everyone so that all her time would be spent only with him.”
Hedren said that Hitchcock had so much power on set that he used his crew members and assistants to his advantage, making her feel constantly unsafe.
“I was stalked,” Hedren said. “First, he wanted to know which friends I was seeing during my own private time away from work, and where I was going. He never thought anyone was good enough for me; he simply disapproved of everyone in my life. Then I realized that sometimes I was being followed to events, to restaurants or social occasions, and I was being followed, and some of his staff and studio executives were receiving reports and relaying them back to Hitch, all about my ordinary comings and goings.”
Although Hedren’s performances in both Marnie and The Birds are remembered fondly, she sadly didn’t get many other opportunities throughout the rest of her career. While there have been mixed reports as to whether Hitchcock actually ever reached out and apologised, it doesn’t seem like it would have made much of a difference.
