In spring 1953, the great director Alfred Hitchcock made the pivotal decision to take a chance and work with a young writer, John Michael Hayes. The four films Hitchcock made with Hayes over the next several years - "Rear Window", "To Catch a Thief", "The Trouble with Harry" and "The Man who Knew Too Much" - represented an extraordinary change of style. Each was distinguished by a combination of glamorous stars, sophisticated dialogue and inventive plots, and resulted in some of Hitchcock's most distinctive and intimate work, based in large part on Hayes's exceptional scripts. Screenwriter and film archivist Steven DeRosa follows Hitchcock and Hayes through each film from initial discussions to completed picture and also reveals the personal story - filled with inspiration and humour, jealousy and frustration - of the initial synergy between the two men before their relationship fell apart. The book aims to provide an insight into four films from a master, but also sheds light on the mysterious process through which classic motion pictures are created.
- ISBN10 0571199909
- ISBN13 9780571199907
- Publish Date 4 March 2002
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 24 September 2012
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Faber & Faber
- Format Paperback
- Pages 368
- Language English