Book Review: "The Stories They Wouldn't Let Me Do on TV"

Sir Alfred Hitchcock is one of the brightest film minds of the 20th century. The proclaimed ‘Master of Suspense’ has made some pretty great films with my own personal favourites including but not limited to: “Vertigo”, “Strangers on a Train”, “Psycho”, “To Catch a Thief” and “Rear Window”. Some of the most iconic cinema shots of the 20th century were filmed by this one man. These include shots such as: the plane overhead in “North by Northwest” which has been parodied by other filmmakers all the way down to The Simpsons, the shower scene from “Psycho” that was famously reshot by Janet Leigh’s own daughter - the Scream Queen, Jamie Lee Curtis and even the carousel scene from “Strangers on a Train” which has been copied by other movies in different styles such as the anti-gravity fight scene in “Inception” and even again, The Simpson’s parodied the scene on their Halloween special dedicated to “Strangers on a Train” and “Dial M For Murder”. It is incredible how Sir Alfred Hitchcock has had such as indelible mark on the film world, with his stuff that may not be entirely original but has possibly been used in the best way he could think of to create the most amount of suspense. When I first watched “Vertigo” (1958), I have to say that I was completely bawled over at the greatness of the film. From actors such as the amazing James Stewart, to the handsome Cary Grant, the incredible Princess Grace Kelly and the legends that are Kim Novak, Tippi Hedren and amazing acting talents of Farley Granger - Sir Alfred Hitchcock was able to create some of the most unforgettable films of the 20th century.

But then, there are the films he didn’t make, because they didn’t let him.

The darker side of Sir Alfred Hitchcock is that he enjoyed looking at short stories for inspiration and yes, I know it doesn’t sound dark but it is. In this book, Sir Alfred Hitchcock gives us stories of murderers and stalkers, stories of tension that you wouldn’t even believe in order to show us exactly how the studios he worked for tried to control his creative output. Some films that would not be allowed in the 50s and 60s and then some films that would not even be allowed to be made today - there are definitely some works in this text that will make you feel queasy. Let me just explain one of them to you and you can decide upon the rest.

A story of a man who does not regret killing a woman but now, does not want to be caught. He lives on a farm and tells the story of how she married the ‘rich and successful’ but ‘fat’ and (often described as) ‘ugly’ man rather than he, who was always kind to her. He tells the story of how he really was left with no choice other than to kill her and then the police come. They’re looking for her and the trail goes cold near the murderer. In first person, he describes how he went through every little detail that he went through in order to cover up her murder. The burial, the digging up of the body, the hiding of items, the chickens and the awful conclusion that some may think is very Edgar Allan Poe meets the wickedness of HP Lovecraft. It is a tense story from beginning to end which has since kind of made me a bit frightened to think what would have happened if Hitchcock made this film like he said he wanted to.

And that’s just the beginning.