Thesis Statement: Hitchcock’s Blondes were a formation of the director’s own creative vision, the image of women in film during the Monroe Era did not influence him in his depiction of women
Without question, Alfred Hitchcock is considered one of the most important and most influential film directors of the Twentieth Century. Throughout his career, which lasted more than 50 years, he directed over 50 feature films, many of which are now considered classics. Interestingly, he directed his most critically acclaimed movies during the relatively short life and career of one distinctive actress: Marilyn Monroe. It is a striking fact, however, that Marilyn Monroe never starred in a Hitchcock film, although it seems that her blond hair and her star-status would have made her the perfect ‘Hitchcock Blonde’. In this paper I will attempt to compare Hitchcock’s female characters during the Monroe Era with the image of women in film and how they differed from each other. For this purpose, it is necessary to first take a closer look at Marilyn Monroe and the image she embodied as well as women’s role in general during that period. In addition, Hitchcock’s background, education and attitude towards his leading ladies must also be examined. In my analysis I will focus on three films by Hitchcock: Vertigo (1958), North By Northwest (1959) and The Birds (1963). I chose these films in particular because they not only show a certain progression in Hitchcock’s work in the way he treats and presents his female characters, but also because these films were highly successful.
Granted Hitchcock’s rich body of work has been analyzed under various points of view by many scholars, I have not been able to locate a work solely concerned with the female characters in his films during the Monroe Era. But before turning to Alfred Hitchcock and some of his works, it is important to circumscribe the period we are looking at by focusing on the life, career and image of Marilyn Monroe.
At a glance
- Comparative analysis of Vertigo, North By Northwest and The Birds
- Appendix includes a Marilyn Monroe filmography
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
A. Alfred Hitchcock and Marilyn Monroe
II. Hitchcock and women
A. The Monroe image
1. Marilyn Monroe
a. Biography and films
b. Monroe’s image
2. Women in the movies during the 1950s
a. Reality vs. Screen image
B. Alfred Hitchcock
1. Biography and films
2. Authorship and leading ladies
C. Analysis of female roles in Hitchcock’s films
1. Vertigo
a. Plot and critique
b. Main female character
2. North By Northwest
a. Plot and critique
b. Main female character
3. The Birds
a. Plot and critique
b. Main female character
III. Conclusion
Objective and Themes
This work examines how Alfred Hitchcock’s female characters compare with the images of women associated with Marilyn Monroe and American cinema during the 1950s. It asks whether Hitchcock’s depictions reflected prevailing screen ideals or emerged primarily from his own creative vision, drawing on film criticism and analyses of three films.
- Marilyn Monroe’s screen image and postwar ideals of femininity
- Women’s roles and sexuality in 1950s American cinema
- Hitchcock’s career, authorship and relationships with leading actresses
- Female characters in Vertigo, North By Northwest and The Birds
- Critical interpretations of identity, desire and punishment
Excerpt from the Book
The Blondes Who Knew Too Much: The Hitchcock Women during the Monroe Era
Marilyn Monroe was certainly not the only successful movie star of this decade. The number of stars is endless, ranging from Doris Day and Debbie Reynolds to Susan Hayward and Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn. It would extend the framework of this paper to elaborate on all the different film stars and their images in the 1950s. Molly Haskell has devoted an extensive chapter on the fifties in her book From Reverence to Rape, and Jeanine Basinger’s book A Woman’s View presents a comprehensive account of this period. I will therefore only point out some important aspects in the depiction of sexuality.
It appears though that in the popular media of the 1950s sexuality could not be separated from a woman’s identity. The distinction between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ sexuality was obviously a central theme (May 63). Good-looking single women who—in course of the film—turned out to be veritable and faithful wives were always rewarded with a happy ending. Heroines who used their sexuality to allure and seduce men for their own good or to become powerful were usually dead by the end of the film (63). Interestingly, in one of her first successful films, Niagara, Marilyn Monroe plays a heroine who is responsible for the death of her husband, her lover and finally herself. However, this film also marked an end to the portrayal of Marilyn’s sexuality as hazardous (63). The focus now turns to how the female image of the 1950s was formed. According to Brandon French,
the domestic female image that dominated the reality of the late forties and the fifties was the product of certain sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, educators, authors, and physicians, as well as organs of mass media, which preached the dangers of women’s lost femininity and the bounties which awaited women within the boundaries of the traditional female role (xvii-xviii).
According to French, the opinions voiced in the mass media had a great importance because the majority of the American public was open to receive its messages. He argues that the reforms in society, the women’s movement being only one part, were discontinued after the Depression and World War II. This was due to the fact that Americans were seizing the dream of life being ‘normal’ again and they did not want anything to interfere with that hope, although reality was quite different (French xviii).
Chapter Summaries
I. Introduction: The introduction sets out the comparison between Hitchcock’s female characters and the screen image associated with Marilyn Monroe. It identifies three films as the focus and situates the discussion alongside existing scholarship.
II. Hitchcock and women: The main chapter considers Monroe’s image, women in 1950s cinema, Hitchcock’s career and debates about authorship. It then examines female characters in Vertigo, North By Northwest and The Birds through film analysis and critical interpretations.
III. Conclusion: The conclusion returns to the relationship between Hitchcock’s depictions of women and the feminine ideals of his period. It also considers differing critical assessments of his attitude toward women.
Keywords
Alfred Hitchcock, Marilyn Monroe, Hitchcock blondes, women in film, 1950s cinema, femininity, sexuality, film authorship, feminist film criticism, Vertigo, North By Northwest, The Birds, Hollywood
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this work about?
It compares female characters in Alfred Hitchcock’s films with the image of women in American cinema during Marilyn Monroe’s era.
What are its central themes?
The work explores screen images of femininity, sexuality, authorship, female identity and the treatment of women in Hitchcock’s films.
What is the primary research question?
It asks whether Hitchcock’s portrayals of women were shaped by prevailing screen images or primarily by his own creative vision.
What method does the author use?
The author combines comparative analysis of film characters with discussion of published film criticism, biographical material and scholarship on women in 1950s cinema.
What does the main chapter cover?
It discusses Monroe’s image, representations of women in the 1950s, Hitchcock’s career and authorship, and female roles in three of his films.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include Hitchcock blondes, Marilyn Monroe, femininity, sexuality, film authorship, feminist film criticism and 1950s cinema.
Which Hitchcock films are examined in detail?
The analysis focuses on Vertigo, North By Northwest and The Birds, considering their plots, critical reception and principal female characters.
How does the discussion of Monroe contribute to the comparison?
Her public image provides a point of reference for examining postwar ideals of femininity and the contrasts the author identifies in Hitchcock’s female characters.
What additional material accompanies the discussion?
An appendix presents a Marilyn Monroe filmography.
- Quote paper
- Uwe Sperlich (Author), 2001, The Blondes Who Knew Too Much - The Hitchcock Women during the Monroe Era., Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/14452
