In Hitchcock’s Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director’s Dark Obsession, New York Times bestselling biographer Laurence Leamer offers readers a fascinating look at the stories of the women Alfred Hitchcock handpicked to star in 14 of his movies, casting a golden glow on the silver screen, and not just through the lens of the legendary director.

While the impact Hitchock had on actresses June Howard-Tripp, Madeleine Carroll, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Kim Novak, Janet Leigh, and Tippi Hedren is central to the book, we also learn more about what their lives were like pre-and post-Hitch.

Leamer also takes a look at Hitchcock’s early life. Born in 1899 Victorian London, the young Alfred was not coddled or showered with affection. After one unspecified naughty deed, his father sent him to the local police, where he was locked in a cell. A visit to hedonistic 1924 Berlin, may have sewn the blonde fixation seed and Hitchcock’s need for control, after an encounter with two German women. Both events embedded in his psyche.

For younger readers, it should be noted Hitchcock created his films at a time in Hollywood, where there was no #metoo movement, there was a casting couch and the industry was ripe with sex and misogyny. While it seems that Hitchcock didn’t take things to the level we’ve heard in recent years, he did enjoy telling dirty jokes and making some of his blonde actresses blush.

The director also did his best to mold every detail of his actresses’ lives to his vision, not just for the film but the way they dressed, wore their hair, and who they were involved with offscreen.

For a few, his control was torture. If you’ve ever seen The Birds, Tippi Hedren was incredibly brave to concede to Hitchcock’s insistence that real birds should not only attack her, but that on the fifth day of filming the attic scene, several would be attached to her with elastic bands to show a frenzied attack, where she was just an inch or two away from her eyes being pecked out.

The stories of each of the women was engaging, one more intriguing than the next. You’ll have to read to find out. Born before most of these films were released, I’ll share just this one impression. After growing up naïve and Catholic in Philadelphia, I was rather astounded to read about the promiscuity of some of his actresses including Ingrid Bergman, who I watched on our living room television set portray both Joan of Arc and Sister Benedict in The Bells of St. Mary’s, not to mention Philadelphia’s own ethereal princess – Grace Kelly. No moral judgement here just something I was quite surprised to read.

The book also gives us a sneak peek into the making of some of Hitchcock’s most iconic works – Notorious, North by Northwest, Vertigo, To Catch a Thief and The Birds. In fact, I want to go back and rewatch those favorites, along with some of his older thrillers.

I highly recommend Hitchcock’s Blondes to Hitchock fans like myself, film buffs, and the general reader. I received this Advance Reader’s copy of Hitchcock’s Blondes from G.P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Random House, courtesy of NetGalley.

Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.