‘He was formidable’ Joan Fontaine admits Hitchcock kept stars at loggerheads | TV & Radio | Showbiz & TV
Hitchcock is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. He directed more than 50 feature films but became known for becoming infatuated with his leading ladies. British-American star Fontaine enjoyed an extensive career in Hollywood, and in an unearthed interview shown on BBC’s Talking Pictures, she labelled Hitchock “formidable” as she remembered how he pitted stars against one another, which left her feeling “miserable”.
In archive footage dug up by the BBC, the actress talked about working with Hitchcock when she appeared on a 1969 episode of Talking Film.
Presenter Derek Hart had asked her what it had been like to work with Hitchcock for the first time during Rebecca.
“He was darling, a bit formidable,” she admitted. “He had an enormously bawdy sense of humour.
“And he had a habit, whether it was conscious or not I don’t know, but of rather keeping all his actors at loggerheads.
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“He was telling a story, [and] expected you to tell it with him, in absolutely common terms.
“No theories, like the Actors Studio, or any of that.
“He made it terribly clear. And I remember finally, I had to cry one day, quite a lot, and I said, ‘Hitch, I just can’t cry anymore.’
“He said, ‘Well, kid, what are we going to do?’ and I said, ‘Well, slap me in the face.’
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“He said, ‘Fine.’ Off he went, slapped me in the face.
“I went back and the tears came down. Partly pain, but a great deal of gratitude for his understanding – it was wonderful of him.”
Hart probed Fontaine about what she had meant by saying the suffering Hitchcock caused had been good for her.
She explained: “Well, I think if you’re playing an insignificant little girl who has a terrible inferiority complex, that it’s better not to praise her too much and tell her she’s marvellous, or you’ll undo what you want.”
She confessed: “It was a little difficult. I remember Larry Olivier telling a rather off-colour joke.
“As a matter of fact, the first time I ever heard a certain four-letter word ever spoken.
“And Hitch said, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t speak like that in front of Joan. After all, she is a bride.’
“And Larry said, ‘Oh, who’d you marry?’ And I shyly said, ‘Well, Brian Aherne.’
“And he said, ‘Oh, couldn’t you have done better than that?’ So I think that’s part of the treatment I was getting. It certainly helped the acting.”
Talking Pictures is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
