The Architecture of Suspense: The Built World in the Films of Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock's films were set in locations that deeply impacted our experiences, influenced by an engagement with location and architectural form. Christine Madrid French reveals how Hitchcock saw the built world as interactive areas to frame narrative exchanges, and how building forms served a sentient purpose to capture and convey feelings. French shares untold stories and takes us to the actual buildings that inspired Hitchcock's films, such as the Hotel Empire in Vertigo and Psychos infamous Bates Motel. The Architecture of Suspense is the first book to document how these great architectural minds found expression in Hitchcock's films and how the director used their talents and his own unique vision to create an enduring and evocative cinematic world.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 274 pages
Publication date: 08 September 2022
Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Alfred Hitchcock's films, known for their inimitable and haunting quality, took place in settings that deeply impacted our experiences of his most unforgettable works. From the enclosed spaces of Rope and Rear Window to the wide-open expanses of North by Northwest, the physical worlds inhabited by desperate characters played a crucial element in our perception of the Hitchcockian universe. In this original and indispensable book, Christine Madrid French reveals Hitchcock's profound engagement with location and architectural form, particularly in an era marked by modernism's advance. Fueled by some of the most creative midcentury designers in film, Hitchcock saw elements of the built world not just as scenic devices but as interactive areas to frame narrative exchanges.

In his films, building forms also served a sentient purpose, capturing and conveying feelings, sensations, and moments that generated an emotive response from the viewer. Visualizing the contemporary built landscape allowed Hitchcock to illuminate Americans' everyday experiences as well as their own uncertain relationship with their environment and with each other.

French shares several untold stories, such as the real-life suicide outside the Hotel Empire in Vertigo, which foreshadowed uncannily that film's tragic finale. She also takes us to the actual buildings that served as the inspiration for Psychos infamous Bates Motel. Her analysis of North by Northwest uncovers the Frank Lloyd Wright underpinnings for Robert Boyle's design of the modernist house from the film's celebrated Mount Rushmore sequence and ingeniously establishes the Vandamm House as the prototype of the cinematic trope of the villains' lair. She also shows how the widespread unemployment of the 1930s resulted in the creation of a desolate and foreboding atmosphere in many of Hitchcock's films.

In conclusion, Alfred Hitchcock's films were a testament to his profound understanding of the power of location and architectural form. Through his meticulous attention to detail and his creative use of these elements, he created a cinematic world that was both captivating and unsettling. French's book provides a valuable insight into Hitchcock's relationship with the built world, shedding light on the untold stories behind his most iconic films and revealing the architectural influences that shaped his vision.

Weight: 578g
Dimension: 178 x 204 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780813947679