--- product_id: 8577412 title: "Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light – The Definitive Biography of Cinema's Master of Suspense and His Extraordinary Career" price: "1234371₫" currency: VND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.vn/products/8577412-alfred-hitchcock-a-life-in-darkness-and-light-the-definitive store_origin: VN region: Vietnam --- # Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light – The Definitive Biography of Cinema's Master of Suspense and His Extraordinary Career **Price:** 1234371₫ **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light – The Definitive Biography of Cinema's Master of Suspense and His Extraordinary Career - **How much does it cost?** 1234371₫ with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.vn](https://www.desertcart.vn/products/8577412-alfred-hitchcock-a-life-in-darkness-and-light-the-definitive) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light is the definitive biography of the Master of Suspense and the most widely recognized film director of all time. In a career that spanned six decades and produced more than 60 films – including The 39 Steps , Vertigo , Psycho , and The Birds – Alfred Hitchcock set new standards for cinematic invention and storytelling. Acclaimed biographer Patrick McGilligan re-examines his life and extraordinary work, challenging perceptions of Hitchcock as the “macabre Englishman” and sexual obsessive, and reveals instead the ingenious craftsman, trickster, provocateur, and romantic. With insights into his relationships with Hollywood legends – such as Cary Grant, James Stewart, Ingrid Bergman, and Grace Kelly – as well as his 54-year marriage to Alma Reville and his inspirations in the thriller genre, the book is full of the same dark humor, cliffhanger suspense, and revelations that are synonymous with one of the most famous and misunderstood figures in cinema. Review: The Last Word On The Master of Macabre - Hitchcock, for better or worse, doesn't on a visual level match up to his work in a heavily visual medium. Bald, rotund, and plain he would never be cast against his favored ice blonde heroines unless he was the murderer or the incidental character boarding the bus or part of a newspaper weight reduction ad. There have been numerous books written about Hitchcock and no doubt there will be more, but for my two bits this is a stand alone book that is or should be viewed as the final or last word. Patrick McGilligan presents Hitchcock as the creative genius who relied heavily on the visual aspects of film to create suspense. His early affiliation with Selznick when he came to the states was at times trying, but also rewarding and productive. As Hitchcock's reputation grew along with his girth, so did his fame. Interestingly, Hitchcock was able to work in different genres though he excelled when he worked in suspense the area of suspense. The Hitchcock presented in this book was a long married man who had one wife and one child. He could be cruel, but also was known for his humor which was generally funny but not without its dark side. What of the cool and icey blondes? No doubt Hitchcock's mind was working, but impotence prevented things from going anywhere. The creativity of Hitchcock's fertile mind appeared to be limitless; his long standing team executed his ideas visually. From my perspective this book is the total Hitchcock package. It is a thorough biography that abounds with personal information and interesting anecdotes while providing comprehensive details about Hitchcock's numerous projects. This is a great book that informed, fascinated, and held my interest. Review: Wonderfully comprehensive and objective! - This comprehensive biography of one of the most notorious film directors in history is a remarkably thorough and balanced portrayal of a complicated, brilliant man. Other biographies have been written, but seem to me to be much more biased - either unrealistically over-praising or unnecessarily scathing, depending on which mood and era of the man's life they chose to dissect. It's so detailed that it's difficult to write a review that's not novella-length, but it follows "Hitch" from his humble beginnings as a greengrocer's son in England, a sensitive and reserved boy who somehow still had the charisma to amass an enormous network of friends and colleagues, to his domination of the American film industry. His fascination with murder and the psychology of killers began early in life, as the slightly-eccentric Hitchcock family enjoyed lively dinner discussions about famous villains of their day: Dr. Crippen, Jack the Ripper, and Adelaide Bartlett, among others. Hitchcock was also an avid reader and happily described himself as an Americophile, and when the film industry really began to blossom he was most impressed by the American studios and production techniques, which he felt were superior to what was being done in Europe at the time. After early jobs in sales for an electrical products firm, he officially entered the film business as an assistant art director. It was during this time that he met Alma Reville, the woman who would become his wife and most valued collaborator. After success in the European movie market, Hitch was wooed by the Selznick brothers to cross the pond and contract with Warner Brothers (he would later leave them for Paramount and would ultimately finish his career at Universal), which he did with some hesitation because very few British directors had successfully crossed over into the American market. There were hits and misses - for instance, two of my very favorites, Rope and Vertigo, were considered box office failures! - but overall his success was substantial, and with Psycho, one of the top-grossing films of its day, his place in history was secured. One of the gems of this book is the inclusion of a treasury of early short stories Hitchcock wrote for The Telegraph, as well as an extensive filmography, which alone is 100 pages long! It's also heavily sprinkled with entertaining anecdotes and references from and about the actors, writers and musicians he worked with on every film: his deep friendship with Ingrid Bergman, teaching Gregory Peck about wine, falling out with Tippi Hedren, battles with the Selznicks, collaborations with writers like John Steinbeck and Ray Bradbury, and much more. Reading all those details immediately prompted me to go out and rent a few of my favorites again, finding them even more fascinating after reading all the `inside' details. One of the most poignant points of Hitch's life story is, perhaps, its end. By all accounts, when his health deteriorated and forced him to retire, his inability to keep doing the one thing he truly loved - make movies - killed him, quite literally. Although his physicians said he could have gone on and possibly lived many more years, he simply didn't want to. He went to bed, stopped eating or seeing friends and family (besides Alma, who was also very ill), and died shortly thereafter. I make it sound like this all happened in a matter of days when it was actually a period of a few years, but it was a steady and relatively rapid decline. In the end although all were saddened, nobody who knew him seemed too surprised. At 800+pages it's no small investment of time, but it was a true pleasure to read and for ardent Hitchcock fans it's probably still not long enough! ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #228,678 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #81 in Movie Director Biographies #330 in Movie History & Criticism #1,902 in Actor & Entertainer Biographies | | Customer Reviews | 4.2 out of 5 stars 402 Reviews | ## Images ![Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light – The Definitive Biography of Cinema's Master of Suspense and His Extraordinary Career - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71KHBVtEwsL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Last Word On The Master of Macabre *by R***S on February 19, 2013* Hitchcock, for better or worse, doesn't on a visual level match up to his work in a heavily visual medium. Bald, rotund, and plain he would never be cast against his favored ice blonde heroines unless he was the murderer or the incidental character boarding the bus or part of a newspaper weight reduction ad. There have been numerous books written about Hitchcock and no doubt there will be more, but for my two bits this is a stand alone book that is or should be viewed as the final or last word. Patrick McGilligan presents Hitchcock as the creative genius who relied heavily on the visual aspects of film to create suspense. His early affiliation with Selznick when he came to the states was at times trying, but also rewarding and productive. As Hitchcock's reputation grew along with his girth, so did his fame. Interestingly, Hitchcock was able to work in different genres though he excelled when he worked in suspense the area of suspense. The Hitchcock presented in this book was a long married man who had one wife and one child. He could be cruel, but also was known for his humor which was generally funny but not without its dark side. What of the cool and icey blondes? No doubt Hitchcock's mind was working, but impotence prevented things from going anywhere. The creativity of Hitchcock's fertile mind appeared to be limitless; his long standing team executed his ideas visually. From my perspective this book is the total Hitchcock package. It is a thorough biography that abounds with personal information and interesting anecdotes while providing comprehensive details about Hitchcock's numerous projects. This is a great book that informed, fascinated, and held my interest. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Wonderfully comprehensive and objective! *by T***R on November 14, 2008* This comprehensive biography of one of the most notorious film directors in history is a remarkably thorough and balanced portrayal of a complicated, brilliant man. Other biographies have been written, but seem to me to be much more biased - either unrealistically over-praising or unnecessarily scathing, depending on which mood and era of the man's life they chose to dissect. It's so detailed that it's difficult to write a review that's not novella-length, but it follows "Hitch" from his humble beginnings as a greengrocer's son in England, a sensitive and reserved boy who somehow still had the charisma to amass an enormous network of friends and colleagues, to his domination of the American film industry. His fascination with murder and the psychology of killers began early in life, as the slightly-eccentric Hitchcock family enjoyed lively dinner discussions about famous villains of their day: Dr. Crippen, Jack the Ripper, and Adelaide Bartlett, among others. Hitchcock was also an avid reader and happily described himself as an Americophile, and when the film industry really began to blossom he was most impressed by the American studios and production techniques, which he felt were superior to what was being done in Europe at the time. After early jobs in sales for an electrical products firm, he officially entered the film business as an assistant art director. It was during this time that he met Alma Reville, the woman who would become his wife and most valued collaborator. After success in the European movie market, Hitch was wooed by the Selznick brothers to cross the pond and contract with Warner Brothers (he would later leave them for Paramount and would ultimately finish his career at Universal), which he did with some hesitation because very few British directors had successfully crossed over into the American market. There were hits and misses - for instance, two of my very favorites, Rope and Vertigo, were considered box office failures! - but overall his success was substantial, and with Psycho, one of the top-grossing films of its day, his place in history was secured. One of the gems of this book is the inclusion of a treasury of early short stories Hitchcock wrote for The Telegraph, as well as an extensive filmography, which alone is 100 pages long! It's also heavily sprinkled with entertaining anecdotes and references from and about the actors, writers and musicians he worked with on every film: his deep friendship with Ingrid Bergman, teaching Gregory Peck about wine, falling out with Tippi Hedren, battles with the Selznicks, collaborations with writers like John Steinbeck and Ray Bradbury, and much more. Reading all those details immediately prompted me to go out and rent a few of my favorites again, finding them even more fascinating after reading all the `inside' details. One of the most poignant points of Hitch's life story is, perhaps, its end. By all accounts, when his health deteriorated and forced him to retire, his inability to keep doing the one thing he truly loved - make movies - killed him, quite literally. Although his physicians said he could have gone on and possibly lived many more years, he simply didn't want to. He went to bed, stopped eating or seeing friends and family (besides Alma, who was also very ill), and died shortly thereafter. I make it sound like this all happened in a matter of days when it was actually a period of a few years, but it was a steady and relatively rapid decline. In the end although all were saddened, nobody who knew him seemed too surprised. At 800+pages it's no small investment of time, but it was a true pleasure to read and for ardent Hitchcock fans it's probably still not long enough! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Terrific perspective on Hitch *by J***Y on April 3, 2011* When first published, this was, in part, seen as a corrective and answer to Spoto's rather gossipy and salacious biography. It does, in fact, specifically mention the Spoto bio and counters or refutes a number of points and throws others into dispute. More than that, however, this terrific look at Hitchcock's life and career expands on most all of what came before it. The primary focus is the work and the book follows Hitch from film to film, filling in his life as it goes along. This works very nicely for a man who's life was, essentially, his work. The author uses a wealth of primary and secondary sources to provide an in-depth and detailed look at the swirls of activity that surrounded his work - from first inspiration to follow-up publicity and on to the next. The portrait of Hitchcock the man emerges through the examination of his work. There are personal details, stories, jokes (usually off-color), memories of contemporaries that allow a fully-formed picture of the master to gel and coalesce over the course of the book, but this is not the place to look for juicy gossip or armchair psychology. Instead the focus is on the man and his life's work, how it went about it, what it meant to him and to the world at large. In that, it is marvelous. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.vn/products/8577412-alfred-hitchcock-a-life-in-darkness-and-light-the-definitive](https://www.desertcart.vn/products/8577412-alfred-hitchcock-a-life-in-darkness-and-light-the-definitive) --- *Product available on Desertcart Vietnam* *Store origin: VN* *Last updated: 2026-06-05*