Hitchcock’s Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director’s Dark Obsession

Biographer Leamer (Capote’s Women) serves up a breezy and gossip-filled group biography of Alfred Hitchcock’s blonde leading ladies. “To Hitchcock, blond women were the epitome of female beauty, and he fixated on them,” Leamer writes, delving into the lives of June Howard-Tripp, Kim Novak, Eva Marie Saint, and other blonde actors “key to Hitchcock’s career.” The author dissects the complicated relationships Hitchcock had with his stars, including fawning over Ingrid Bergman on the set of Notorious and demeaning Madeline Carroll—star of The 39 Steps and, according to the director, the “first blonde who was a real Hitchcock type”—by requiring she rehearse with her costar while handcuffed and soaking wet. Focusing on the more salacious aspects of the actors’ personal lives, Leamer covers Janet Leigh’s first marriage when she was only 14 and Grace Kelly’s affair with Dial M for Murder costar Ray Milland, who was married at the time. The brisk biographical snapshots offer sometimes troubling insight into what it was like to work with Hitchcock, though Leamer falters in his dismissive coverage of Tippi Hedren’s sexual harassment allegations against the director. Still, film buffs will come away from this page-turner with a better understanding of Hitchcock and the stars that populate his films. (Oct.)