HITCHCOCK'S MEN

I was an uncommonly unattractive young man - Alfred Hitchcock

Tippi Hedren, Grace Kelly, Kim Novak, Eva Marie Saint - the filmmaker’s heroines, like the publications about them, are innumerable. Few words however, to outline the men who punctuate his films. Prey to vertigo, suicide, murder, Hitchcock’s men do not know what to make of themselves.

Worried or worrying,

fake three-buttons, school-less preppies in club ties and leather-buttoned blazers, the young men: John Dall’s grey-blue stripe, Ray Milland’s end-on-end, Anthony Perkins’ smile

eerie hyper-dandyism, windsor knot, a flannel too soft to be true, the crooks: Peter Lorre’s thick corduroy, Robert Walker’s lobster tie, Cary Grant’s double-breasted pinstripe [cum glass of milk]

mother-of-pearl buttons, bead of sweat, tall figure, soft collar and utilitarian costume of the man on the run: James Stewart’s green V-neck, Gregory Peck’s unlined shirt, Laurence Olivier’s knit tie, Cary Grant’s fresco suit [again]

tweed, charcoal flannel, dry fabrics, real three-buttons, thickness without bulk of the man in the know - maturity: Paul Newman’s raglan, James Stewart’s sky-blue pyjama, Sean Connery’s herringbone, Cary Grant’s gun club [last one, pinky-swear].