A tip of the hat to the surviving Hitchcock heroines.
The death of Barbara Harris last month meant the passing of another one of Alfred Hitchcock’s famous blondes. The director’s love of casting the most talented and beguiling blonde actresses in the business for his cavalcade of female heroines became one of his most famous trademarks, second perhaps to the unequaled knack for the art of cinematic suspense. It’s the combination of the two, along with the filmmaker’s unique creative eye, which turned the cool icy blonde into one of the most indespensible elements within a Hitchcock film.
Madeleine Carroll’s unwilling on-the-run captive in The 39 Steps, Joan Fontaine’s nervous newlywed in Rebecca and Ingrid Bergman’s lovestruck psychiatrist in Spellbound all set the tone for the kind of female protagonists that could both court danger and intrigue while always managing to ooze radiance. By the time Hitchcock had become Hitchcock in Hollywood, his blondes had become nearly as famous as him thanks to the magic they brought to his films. At the same time, none of Hitch’s blondes ever superseded one another. The romantic glamor of Grace Kelly’s devoted fashionista leaning in to kiss Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window and Janet Leigh’s nervous amateur theif heading towards impending doom in Psycho, were sculpted from two totally different types of women with only their beauty and hair color as shared traits.
Even Hitchcock’s “second tier” (for lack of a better term) blondes helped show the master of suspense’s fascination with the different perspectives of the female sex. Carole Lombard’s frustrated wife in the comical Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Marlene Dietrich’s sultry torch singer in Stage Fright and Anne Baxter’s scandalous former lover in I Confess were certainly not the most memorable in the Hitchcock canon in terms of performances or the films themselves. Still, each one showed another interesting side of womanhood that, unlike most male directors of his generation, Hitchcock was perfectly willing and eager to illustrate on the screen.
By the time Harris’s appearance in the director’s final film Family Plot came about, the movie world had greatly changed. The Hollywood star system was in decline and cinema was full of experimental minds on both sides of the camera. Because of this, Harris remains the most uncharacteristic, if not inconspicuous, of all the Hitchcock blondes. As phony psychic Blanche Tyler (a part she won after Hitch decided against rumored initial choice, and fellow blonde, Goldie Hawn), Harris employs the kind of naturalistic acting technique running rampant in the 1970s, which relied more on loose method and instinct rather than traditional formalism. The result? Harris is the most dynamic and entertaining part of the hilariously worthwhile Family Plot, with Blanche’s survivalist nature and healthy sexual appetite wonderfully echoing the spirit of the 70s woman.
In honor of Harris, an actress truly like no other (her work in the likes of Plaza Suite, Who is Harry Kellerman? and the original Freaky Friday all confirm this), who rightfully earned her place in the line of the director’s fair-haired female characters, I thought I’d take a moment pay tribute to the remaining living Hitchcock blondes by bestowing upon them titles representative of the kinds of complex women they helped their iconic director bring to the screen.
Most Conflicted– Julie Andrews as Sarah Sherman in Torn Curtain
If it takes a minute or so to recall Andrews’s stint as a Hitchcock blonde, it may be because the film she starred in was forever looked down on by Hitchcock after it was forced onto the director without a finished script. Yet Andrews was eager to work with the famed master and break away from the image given to her by both Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. The actress does just that by playing a secretary/lover to a renowned American professor (Paul Newman) who may or may not be defecting in the midst of the cold war. Traces of Mary and Maria vanish as Andrews brings Sarah to life with a blend of suspicion, worry, doubt and sadness that the man she loves may now be the enemy. Adding to her grief is the question of her devotion and whether it’s strong enough to take her beyond the iron curtain herself. Hitch never worked with big names following a notoriously tense time with Newman on Torn Curtain, but there was no better way to depart this era of Hitchcock’s career than with Andrews’s devastating and committed performance.
Most Desperate– Doris Day as Jo Conway McKenna in The Man Who Knew Too Much
One of the rare remakes to surpass its original, this second version of a well-received film Hitchcock made two decades earlier went before the cameras when the director found out he still owed Paramount a movie. The debt was truly paid in this story featuring an American couple (Stewart and Day) traveling in the French Morocco who end up becoming involved in an assassination plot when their son is kidnapped. Stewart is compelling but it’s Day who makes The Man Who Knew Too Much truly work, giving one of her best performances in the process. Like Andrews, Day had her own squeaky clean image to shed, which she more than did under Hitchcock’s guise. The scene where Jo finds out her child has been taken is one of the most gut wrenching moments in ANY Hitchcock film and brings forth an unstoppable and relentless determination of a mother who will do anything to get back her son. “Why doesn’t he call Grace Kelly,” Day repeatedly asked her husband during the making of the film, always unsure of her own casting. For whatever reason, Hitchcock didn’t; and The Man Who Knew Too Much is better off for it.
Most Alluring– Tippi Hedren as Melanie Daniels in The Birds
The Birds may be a captivating apocalyptic tale of man versus nature, but just as involving are the Peyton Place-like dynamics among its human cast. The centerpiece of the story remains Melanie; a privileged socialite who gets more than she bargained for when she follows a handsome stranger (Rod Taylor) to his small coastal hometown. In between the random (and unsurprisingly well-shot) bird attacks is Melanie with her carefully sculpted veneer of beauty and wealth that is eventually stripped away to reveal some deep emotional wounds. It’s a pitch perfect film debut that at times even outshines the actress’s second and final outing with Hitchcock, the equally entrancing Marnie. Following their falling out, Hedren would go on to simultaneously praise and condemn the director in one retrospective tribute after another. Nonetheless, thanks to the combined forces of Hedren and Hitchcock, The Birds remains effective as both horror film and character study.
Most Compassionate– Barbara Leigh-Hunt as Brenda Blaney in Frenzy
Even though Leigh-Hunt may be the least famous of Hitchcock blondes, she’s certainly the most heartbreaking. Appearing in just three scenes in the director’s penultimate effort, the actress fully utilizes her minimal screen time to craft Brenda as someone who has managed to escape a troubled marriage only to come out the other end as both independent and prosperous. As the owner of a matchmaking agency, Brenda has done well in the aftermath of her and Richard’s (Jon Finch) disastrous union, making the fate awaiting her all the more tragic to bear. Even her final moments in Frenzy are ones filled with a sort of odd serenity, showing her character’s will to maintain grace in the midst of pure evil. The fact that Brenda is able to exercise forgiveness and love when faced with her troubled past shows an empathy and humanity that exudes warmth in an otherwise cold, but hypnotic, film.
Most Tortured– Vera Miles as Rose Balestrero in The Wrong Man
While she’s always remembered as Leigh’s sister in Psycho, Miles’s own turn as a lead Hitchcock blonde shouldn’t be overlooked. Based on a true story, The Wrong Man centers on a New York nightclub musician named Manny (Henry Fonda) who is wrongfully accused of a crime he didn’t commit, plunging him head first into a living hell. On paper, the character of Rose reads as typical wife fare; and for the first half of the film, that’s more or less what the role is. But the way Miles brings out the torment and madness creeping up on Rose as a result of what’s happening to her husband allows the actress to shine in a quiet, yet powerful performance. Listening to Rose describe how nothing will ever be okay for her and Manny’s family is enough to draw tears. Unlike other Hitchcock heroines, Rose doesn’t have many clever lines to aid in her performance. Instead, it’s the anguish and despair in Miles’s eyes that speak volumes above any piece of dialogue.
Most Haunting– Kim Novak as Madeleine Elster/Judy Barton in Vertigo
When Miles’s real-life pregnancy prevented her from taking on the female lead in Vertigo, Novak stepped in on loan from Columbia and took over the honor of playing the most layered Hitchcock blonde in the most complex and personal of all the director’s films. Taking on the dual role of Madeleine and Judy in the story of a damaged detective (Stewart) who becomes obsessed with the woman he’s tailing (Novak), the actress inherited her most challenging assignment to date; namely embodying two totally separate and distinct characters. Novak succeeds in an Oscar-worthy turn to the point where audiences are convinced they are watching two different performances. Vertigo calls for Novak to be in a ghost-like trance for its first half, before becoming hard-edged and guilt-ridden in its second. The actress has stated that working with Hitchcock was a thrill since the director (famous for not giving advice to performers) relied solely on the actor to develop the character on their own; a practice which afforded Novak a creative freedom she’d seldom experienced before.
Most Mysterious– Eva Marie Saint as Eve Kendall in North by Northwest
Never did mystery and sensuality mix together so well than in Saint’s performance in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. The perfect close to his glamor-filled 1950s era, the story dealt with an ad exec (Cary Grant) who is mistaken for a spy and thrust into an adventure with a suspiciously cool blonde (Saint). As Eve Kendall, Saint was playing totally against type in the first role of her career to call for her to be an entrancing puzzle of a woman whose alliance the audience could never really be sure of. Saint manages her character’s mysterious ways by maintaining an intoxicating cloud of aloofness and playfulness which she carries well into the film’s final act. It’s hard to match the energy an actor like Grant brings to the table, but Saint matches his wittiness and charm with icy coolness for days. The actress has always been an undervalued member of 50s Hollywood, but the way she combined both ambiguity and sex appeal in such a potent way throughout North by Northwest, perfectly showcased what she was capable of bringing to the screen.
