The Alfred Hitchcock Signature Collection
Available on video and DVD - Rear Window, Hitchcock’s first feature for Paramount, and his first collaboration with John Michael Hayes – an absolute classic, beautifully presented in its original aspect ratio, with Paramount head and tail logos intact (too bad Universal Home Video didn’t do the same with The Man Who Knew Too Much). But thank God those two, um, “restorers,” didn’t #$@& with the soundtrack on this one as they did Vertigo.
Ed Sikov’s On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder is hands-down, the most comprehensive and insightful exploration of this true auteur and cinematic genius. Ed has also written what I consider to be the very finest essay on The Trouble with Harry — in his book Laughing Hysterically.
Ed Sikov's much anticipated biography of Peter Sellers, Mr. Strangelove, has arrived. In his review for the New York Times, Michael Palin wrote "Sikov has pulled off the difficult trick of producing both an authoritative biography and a compulsive page turner."
In Writing with Hitchcock I praised John Michael Hayes's handling of the fireworks/seduction scene in To Catch a Thief for its daring allusions to a rape-fantasy by Francie, at least as far as one could portray such a thing in a 1950s film. Chapter 27 of Palahniuk’s Choke, takes the rape-fantasy to a whole new level of comedy. The entire novel is worth your attention, as I feel all Chuck's work is, but that chapter stands out as the lastest sample I recommend to people unfamiliar with his work. (Chapter 12 of Invisible Monsters still cracks me up).
As a reminder. In case you didn’t already order your copy. Or the one you ordered from Barnes and Noble hasn‘t arrived yet, and you just can’t wait, so you order one from Amazon, too. You can always give the other copy to a friend. Sharing is good.
Better still, click HERE to find out how to get a signed copy.
© Copyright 2003 Steven DeRosa
