Ah Sweet Mystery!

Leave it to Alfred Hitchcock to take a Daphne Du Maurier short story about an ornithological Armageddon and turn it into a love story about family healing. By the end of 1963’s The Birds, Melanie Daniels (the Hitchcock blonde who has replaced Du Maurier’s doomed farmer, played by “Tippi” Hedren) has traded in her bitterness for true love and a new family. Yes, they’r...

“So. What d’you think your last words will be?”

Twenty-three-year-old Haru is having a rotten year. She finally found a job, and the company went under. Her mother deserted the family, and her father hanged himself – and left it to Haru to cut down the body. Two of her only three friends just died in riots, and the third committed suicide. And . . . oh yes ...

When Alfred Hitchcock decided to adapt Robert Bloch’s 1959 horror novel Psycho for the big screen, he faced a mountain of objections from the heads of Paramount Studios, who were appalled at the subject matter. Hitchcock’s negotiations included his offer to film on the cheap, in black and white, using the crew from his successful TV series, Alfred Hitchcock Prese...

We’ve spoken at length about criminals utilizing dissembling and disguise in order to (sometimes literally) mask their guilt – but what of the detective? The history of fictional sleuths donning a disguise to infiltrate a villain’s lair or track down a vital clue is long and fascinating – and, most significantly, based on truth. The Pinkerton Agency, established in 1850 and a...

Since time immemorial – well, say the last hundred years – a detective’s secretary has been the front line of information about new clients. Her first impression says everything!

“’There’s a girl wants to see you. Her name’s Wonderly.’

“’A customer?’

“’I guess so. You’ll want to see her anyway: she’s a knockout.’”