The Dark Side of Genius

The Life of Alfred Hitchcock

By: Donald Spoto

Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach

The story of the man who changed people’s relationships with their showers forever, thanks to Psycho, this is the classic, Edgar Award-winning biography of the enigmatic and intensely private Alfred Hitchcock. One of America’s greatest film directors, his suspenseful subject matter ranged from the dark drama of a man possibly trying to kill his wife, to the humorous problem of disposing of a body, to the ecological underpinnings of an attack by fowl fiends in a sleepy harbor town.

Acclaimed biographer Donald Spoto explores the roots of Hitchcock’s obsessions - with food, murder, and idealized love, among others - and traces the origins of his incomparable, bizarre genius, from his childhood and education to the golden years of his career. Based on interviews with his writers, actors, and longtime associates, and on exhaustive research, The Dark Side of Genius is the definitive biography of Alfred Hitchcock.

Donald Spoto is the author of more than 20 books, including best-selling biographies of Alfred Hitchcock, Tennessee Williams, Laurence Olivier, Marlene Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman, and Audrey Hepburn. He lives with his husband, Danish artist and school administrator Ole Flemming Larsen, near Copenhagen, Denmark.

©1983 Donald Spoto (P)1998 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The finest book about a filmmaker yet. Sensational in its revelations; at the same time, a biography of unassailable integrity. I could not put it down." (Gregory Peck)

"Absolutely compulsory reading." (New York Times Book Review)

"A vivid and perceptive portrait…. Knowledgeable and revealing." (Time)

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

The Dark Side of Genius is a biography of Alfred Hitchcock. A fan of Hitchcock movies will relish Donald Spoto’s insight to Hitchcock’s fascinating and enigmatic genius. A listener with little interest in movies may be put-off by Spoto’s psychological dissection of Hitchcock, but Spoto’s intimate understanding of Hitchcock’s films; his personal acquaintance with Hitchcock, Hitchcock’s family, Hitchcock movie’s stars, writers, and producers, make The Dark Side of Genius highly entertaining and intuitively believable.

Hitchcock taps into a subconscious reservoir of human repression, present in the nature of human beings. Spoto illustrates Hitchcock’s genius for translating male’ repression into film; it is there for the entire world to see but, sadly, for few to fully appreciate or care to understand.

Hitch's life and phobias keep you "Spellbound"

Having read this book decades ago, I was thrilled to purchase this audiobook. It's just as fascinating as I remembered. If you are looking for technical details of Hitchcock's movies, forget this one. However, if you want a psychological analysis of Hitch's life and his many phobias, you will be spellbound. Born the son of a Cockney grocer, Alfred Hitchcock began writing titles for silent movies. All Hitchcock's movies contain his fears, fascinations (especially with his leading ladies), and phobias. The author, Donald Spoto, was the first to dehumanize Hitch's genius by revealing his dark side, but somehow this makes future viewings of Hitchcock's films more fascinating.

Both the “Dark” and “Genius:” Unflinching but Respectful

This is an exhaustive and scholarly study of Hitchcock’s career that includes a psychological portrait of a film genius informed by many sources, but always returning to the recurring themes that became increasingly revelatory and dark in its later years. It lives up to its title, especially with Hitchcock’s famous obsession with a succession of cool blonds that culminated in the disastrous relationship with Tippi Hedren in The Birds and Marnie. However, while unflinching, it never descends to gossip and Soto remains respectful of his subject. Indeed, the “dark side” is balanced by the “genius” and one learns much of Hitchcock’s approach to filmmaking. Actors were usually ignored and occasionally mistreated, and writers were driven to distraction, while the master technician delighted primarily in elaborate scenes and camera work plotted in detail long before shooting began. The reader is top notch: pleasant to listen to with a note of authority who never distracts from the material.

Great, thorough biography

I don't get some readers' need to nit pick in reviews. This was a perfect biography of an extremely talented, self-centered creep. Great narration and book.

I'll still enjoy Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Shado of a Doubt, and Vertigo.

GOOD EVENING!

Boy, you think you know a lot about Hitch then I listen to this great book! It really enlightened me about the dark side of some of the personality’s we admired!