The Making of Hitchcock's the Birds - Paperback

by Tony Lee Moral (Author)

Published to coincide with the film's 50th anniversary in 2013, the first book-length treatment on the production of this modernist masterpiece

Featuring new interviews with stars Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, and Veronica Cartwright, as well as sketches and storyboards from Hitchcock's A-list technical team, Robert Boyle, Albert Whitlock, and Harold Michelson, the book charts every aspect of the film's production all set against the tumultuous backdrop of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis and JFK's presidency. Using unpublished material from the Alfred Hitchcock Collection, Evan Hunter's files, Peggy Robertson's papers, and Robert Boyle's artwork, this is the ultimate guide to Hitchcock's most ambitious film. This book analyzes the film's modernist underpinnings, from art director Robert Boyle's initial sketches influenced by Munch's The Scream, to the groundbreaking electronic score by pioneering German composers Remi Gassmann and Oskar Sala. There is also a time line detailing the film's production to its release at MOMA in New York, and the 1963 Cannes Film Festival.

Author Biography

Tony Lee Moral is a documentary filmmaker, a writer, and the author of Alfred Hitchcock's Movie Making Masterclass and Hitchcock and the Making of Marnie. He has produced, written, and directed more than 100 hours of television for major broadcasters in the United States and the UK, including award-winning series such as The Animal Zone, Man vs Wild, Monsters Inside Me, Naked Science, The Shape of Life, and Wild Britain. He also has produced behind-the-scenes documentaries for the Doctor Who series, as well as animation and short films.