Hitchcock's (silent) Heroines

In today's conversation, we hear from Caroline Young, a freelance writer and author from Edinburgh, specializing in fashion, pop culture, and classic cinema. She is the author of various titles, including Hitchcock's Heroines and Single and Psycho, How Pop Culture Created the Unstable Single Woman. Alfred Hitchcock, and especially his wife and trusted collaborator Alma Reville, provide the link between this podcast episode and our 2025 programme...100 years after its release, we will be screening The Pleasure Garden (1925), directed by Hitchcock, and edited and assisted by Reville, on Friday 21 March at 3PM. In addition we will be hosting an extremely rare screening of a key example of Reville's work without Hitch, The Constant Nymph (1928), at the Barony Theatre in Bo'ness on Saturday the 15th of March at 7:30PM. This special screening will be introduced by BFI Curator Dr. Josephine Botting, so do catch it if you can.Alma Reville meant everything to Hitchcock, personally and professionally. It is no exaggeration to say that she was his heroine. In this conversation, we learn about some of Hitchcock's on-screen heroines, his alleged fascination with blondes, and what he was like to work with.There is particular focus on the silent stars whose careers began with the venerated auteur, and the discussion considers Hitchcock's reputation for contentious working methods. Was he as formidable as is believed, or was his reputation part of a contrived press persona?Please note that this conversation contains slight spoilers for The Pleasure Garden. CONTENT ADVISORY: Murder, sexual misconduct.Additional reading/ relevant links: More info about Caroline Young Buy the book: Hitchcock's Heroines Book tickets to The Pleasure Garden (1925) Book tickets to The Constant Nymph (1928) Alma Reville: in the shadow of Hitchcock?Presented by Dr Jo Botting A full English transcript of this episode can be found here.