Alfred Hitchcock and his Actresses Quiz

Answer: Peggy Ashcroft in "The 39 Steps"

Suspected of a murder he didn't commit, the hero of "The 39 Steps", Richard Hannay (Robert Donat), sets out for Scotland hoping to find the man who can clear his name. He makes a stopover at a crofter's estate and asks to spend the night. The crofter's much younger wife (Peggy Ashcroft) is clearly smitten with Hannay, asking him about the ladies of London, "Is it true that they all paint their toenails?" The crofter is suspicious that Hannay is trying to romance his wife and when the police knock at his door in the middle of the night, he's more than happy to turn Hannay over to the cops, especially if there's a reward. The young wife, afraid that Hannay will be too easily spotted in his light colored coat, throws her husband's coat on him and pushes him out the door. "Thank you, Margaret," he says as he leaves, "I'll never forget you for this." He kisses her and exits. Hitchcock's camera lingers on Margaret for just a moment and we sense her longing for a man like Hannay and a more glamorous life. It's one of the most moving moments in all of Hitchcock, made so in large part by Peggy Ashcroft, one of the great British actresses of the 20th Century.

Fifty years after "The 39 Steps", Ashcroft would win an Oscar for her supporting role as Mrs. Moore in David Lean's final film, "A Passage to India". She was Dame Peggy Ashcroft by this time, having been made so by the Queen in 1956, in recognition of her prodigious talent and her significant contributions to the British theatre.

BEWARE! Spoilers coming up. Read no further if you have not seen this film and, if you haven't, SEE IT!

Later in the film, Hannay is shot by the man who he thought would help him. Fortunately, he is still wearing the crofter's coat, in the breast pocket of which, the crofter keeps his hymnal. It's not much, but it's enough to stop the bullet and Hannay's life is saved. Back at the crofter's, when the husband discovers that his coat is missing, he asks his young wife where it is. She tells him she gave it to Hannay and he begins to beat her. Hannay survives his ordeal, even finding love along the way, but the fate of the crofter's heroic wife remains a haunting secret.

Answer: Judith Anderson in "Rebecca"

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." These, of course, are the opening lines of Daphne du Maurier's "Rebecca". The same lines, spoken by the unnamed heroine in voiceover, also begin Hitchcock's Oscar-winning film version. Manderley, of course, is the gothic estate where Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier) takes his new bride (Joan Fontaine) after their whirlwind romance and precipitous marriage. Manderley becomes a virtual prison for the new bride, largely due to the fiendish Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson) who runs the estate. Mourning the death of Maxim's first wife, Rebecca, with whom she was almost certainly in love, Mrs. Danvers torments the second Mrs. de Winter from the moment she arrives.

Judith Anderson is another in a long line of noted stage actresses with whom Hitchcock worked with throughout his career. Anderson's performance as Mrs. Danvers won her an Oscar nomination (she lost to Jane Darwell for "The Grapes of Wrath"); it also won Anderson a place in film history. It is a brilliant performance, certainly one of the most spine-chilling villains not only in Hitchcock, but in film history. Anderson continued to have an extraordinary career following "Rebecca", winning a Tony Award for her performance as "Medea" in 1948, and even appearing as the Vulcan High Priestess in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock".

"McCoy, son of David, since thou art human, we cannot expect thee to fully comprehend what Sarek has requested. Spock's body lives: with your approval, we shall use all our powers to return to his body that which you possess."

Live long and prosper, Mrs. Danvers.

Answer: Joan Fontaine in "Suspicion"

Can we all agree that women have to put up with a lot in the Hitchcock universe? Consider the crofter's wife and Mrs. de Winter from the first two questions of this quiz. And then there's Joan Fontaine's poor Mrs. Aysgarth from "Suspicion" -- she marries the love of her life only to come to believe that he is trying to murder her. In one of the film's most famous scenes, Mr. Aysgarth (Cary Grant) brings his wife a glass of milk that we're certain must be laced with poison. As he carries it up the stairs, our eyes are drawn to the glass of milk. This was intentional -- Hitchcock actually had a lightbulb placed inside the glass so as to highlight its significance.

Fontaine, the younger sister of Olivia de Havilland, peaked early in her career and stopped making films altogether in the mid-sixties. She continued to act both on the stage and on television. but it is her two films with Hitchcock -- "Rebecca" and "Suspicion" -- for which she is most fondly remembered. By all accounts, her relationship with her famous sister was a rocky one. They were both nominated for Oscars in 1941 -- Joan for "Suspicion", Olivia for "Hold Back the Dawn" -- and Joan won. Good career move, not so good family harmony move. Even though Olivia would collect two Oscars within the next ten years, the feud famously continued.

Answer: Teresa Wright in "Shadow of a Doubt"

In "Shadow of a Doubt", Charlie Newton (Teresa Wright) cherishes her relationship with her uncle, Charlie Oakley (Joseph Cotton). She even shares his name! But when dear old Uncle Charlie comes to her home town of Santa Rosa, California, he is followed by a couple of federal officers who suspect that he is a dangerous killer. Young Charlie begins to see the light and, as often occurs in the Hitchcock universe, she endures a life-threatening ordeal. There is another brilliant Hitchcock set piece at the end of this film. If you have not seen it, I will simply tell you that it takes place on board a train and is as terrifying as anything that happens in later Hitchcock films -- in, say, a shower, for instance.

Teresa Wright's early film career was nothing if not spectacular. To this day, she is the only performer to be Oscar-nominated for her first three films -- "The Little Foxes", "Mrs. Miniver" and "The Pride of the Yankees". The last two nominations were in the same year and she ended up winning a best supporting Oscar for "Mrs. Miniver". "Shadow of a Doubt" was her fourth film. She wasn't nominated but she's not too shabby in this role, either. Wright's film career continued to thrive in the 1940s but the 1950s were a leaner time. She started the decade starring opposite Marlon Brando in his film debut, "The Men", but after that, the roles dried up. Being the resilient and committed actress that she was, Wright went back to the live theatre and live television drama. I had the great good fortune of seeing Teresa Wright onstage in "Mornings at Seven" in the early 1980s. She was extraordinary, securing my opinion that she is one of the great underappreciated American actresses of the 20th Century.

Answer: Ingrid Bergman in "Spellbound"

The Green Manors mental institution has a new chief administrator. He's not who he says he is and he's got amnesia but, hey, he looks just like Gregory Peck! Psychiatrist Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman) is quite taken with her new boss and when she realizes just how sick he really is, she tries to help him. Then they go skiing. "Spellbound" was the first major film to deal with psychoanalysis and, to an enlightened 21st Century viewer, it seems a little silly and naïve at times. But, like all of Hitchcock's films, there is much to recommend it -- particularly the performance of Ingrid Bergman.

Undeniably one of the great actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age, Bergman is given a terrific role to play in Ben Hecht's script for "Spellbound". The character has genuine depth -- a capable and committed professional woman who is not immune to deep human emotion -- and this exceptional actress brings to vivid life all aspects of her character.

Bergman was in the midst of a nearly matchless career streak at the time -- in addition to "Spellbound", Bergman starred in "Casablanca", "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Gaslight" (for which she won an Oscar), "The Bells of St. Mary's", "Notorious", and "Joan of Arc", all within the six-year period from 1942 to 1948. She continued to act nearly until the end of her life, winning her third Oscar for a supporting role in "Murder on the Orient Express" at the age of 59. She died much too soon at the age of 67 in 1982.

Answer: Patricia Hitchcock in "Strangers on a Train"

The only child of Alfred and Alma Reville Hitchcock was a delightful actress and she had her best role in 1951's "Strangers on a Train". The story is well-known: two strangers -- Bruno and Guy -- meet on a train. Bruno (Robert Walker) proposes that they swap murders; Guy (Farley Granger) doesn't take him seriously until Bruno murders Guy's cheating, estranged wife and that's when things get all Hitchcockian.

Patricia Hitchcock plays Barbara, the younger sister of Anne (Ruth Roman), who is Guy's more conventionally beautiful but not nearly as engaging love interest. Barbara, of course, gets all the good lines. When suspicion falls on Guy for the murder of his wife, Barbara sees the bright side, saying, "I still think it would be wonderful to have a man love you so much he'd kill for you." And then there's this exchange with her U.S. Senator father (Leo G. Carroll) following the wife's murder:

Senator Morton: "Poor unfortunate girl."
Barbara Morton: "She was a tramp."
Senator Morton: "She was a human being. Let me remind you that even the most unworthy of us has a right to life and the pursuit of happiness."
Barbara Morton: "From what I hear she pursued it in all directions."

Patricia Hitchcock also appeared in two Broadway plays, although each only lasted a few weeks. She worked for other directors besides her father, mostly in TV roles, but her most memorable work was for Hitch. In addition to this film, she appeared in "Stage Fright" and as Janet Leigh's co-worker in the early scenes of "Psycho", before Marion (Leigh) does a bad, bad thing, skips town, stops at a motel, and attempts to wash away her sins by taking a....but I digress. Patricia also did ten episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" but never became a star, perhaps preferring instead to marry, raise three children, and become a spokesperson for her father's legacy. Still, if you see her in "Strangers on a Train", you won't forget her. It's a marvelous performance. Her father must have been so proud!

Answer: Doris Day in "The Man Who Knew Too Much"

"Que sera sera, WHATEVER will be, will be..."

Doris Day was not a fan of "Que Sera Sera" at first, calling it a silly children's song. After it went on to win an Oscar for best song, she changed her tune, so to speak. "Que Sera Sera" proved to be her biggest hit and eventually became the theme song for "The Doris Day Show", her sitcom that ran for five seasons.

"The Man Who Knew Too Much" is a remake of Hitch's 1934 film of the same title. He changed some of the locales and several other details but kept the story at the heart of the film. A couple is drawn into an assassination plot when their young son is kidnapped by the assassins. James Stewart and Doris Day star as the couple in question.

Doris Day was apparently distressed during the making of the film because Hitchcock spent more time on technical details -- lighting, camera set-ups, etc. -- than he did with the actors. Convinced that he hated her performance, Day finally expressed her concern to Hitch. He responded, "My dear Miss Day, if you weren't giving me what I wanted, then I would have to direct you!" As it turns out, it's a lovely performance and Hitch, it seems, was right to leave her alone. Whatever.

Answer: Grace Kelly in "Rear Window"

John Michael Hayes, the screenwriter for "Rear Window", spent time with Grace Kelly and incorporated aspects of her personality into the character. Indeed, it is through the character of Lisa Carol Fremont (Kelly) that the film's story progression and character development are most fully realized. In the opening scenes, Lisa is portrayed as a somewhat conniving fashion plate trying desperately to reel in her man. By mid-film, however, her adventurous streak is revealed. When L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) tells her that he suspects his neighbor of murdering his wife, Lisa is all in and, since Jeffries is confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg, she becomes his chief investigator. Suspecting that the killer has buried his wife (or part of his wife -- don't ask, just see the film) in a flower garden, Lisa grabs a shovel and digs it up. When that reveals nothing, she climbs the fire escape to the killer's apartment and sneaks in. I won't tell you more in case you haven't seen the film, but it's a thrilling moment. By the end, Lisa emerges as the film's most daring and heroic character.

Like Ingrid Bergman before her, Grace Kelly was a particular favorite of Hitchcock's. They would work together three times -- in "Dial M for Murder" and "To Catch a Thief", in addition to this film. When Kelly retired from screen acting to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco, Hitch was reportedly devastated. A fascinating account of Hitch and Grace's relationship may be found in Donald Spoto's Hitchcock biography, "The Dark Side of Genius". I cannot attest to the veracity of his account, but it makes for fascinating reading. Grace Kelly only made eleven films in her career, yet she is regularly counted among the greatest of movie stars. One can only wonder what she might have accomplished had she continued her film career.

Answer: Vera Miles in "The Wrong Man"

With Grace Kelly married off to Prince Rainier and out of the movie-making business, Hitchcock set out to make a star of Vera Miles, a similarly beautiful blond. Their first collaboration was "The Wrong Man", Hitch's 1956 docudrama based on the true story of Manny Balestrero (Henry Fonda), a New York City musician who is falsely accused of a series of armed robberies. Miles gives a deeply felt performance as Manny's wife Rose, a woman who irrationally comes to blame herself for her husband's plight.

After finishing third in the Miss America pageant in 1948, Miles came to Hollywood and soon caught the attention of two legendary directors -- John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock. Ford would cast her in "The Searchers" and Hitchcock, hoping to find the "new Grace Kelly", cast her in "The Wrong Man". As he began planning his next film, "Vertigo", he pictured Miles in the female lead, but she dropped out when she became pregnant. Donald Spoto in "The Dark Side of Genius" would allege that this caused a serious rift between actress and director, but Miles herself denied such stories, claiming that she had a close relationship with Hitch, and that it continued after the "Vertigo" incident. As if to prove this point, Hitchcock did cast her one more time -- as Lila Crane, the concerned, motherly sister of Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) in Hitch's 1960 masterpiece, "Psycho".

Answer: Tippi Hedren in "The Birds"

When a beautiful, bored socialite pursues a man to his home in Bodega Bay, California, birds inexplicably began attacking people. "The Birds" was Hitch's follow-up to the terrifying blockbuster "Psycho", and much was expected from the master of suspense. If "The Birds" today isn't considered to be a masterwork on par with "Psycho", it must still be said that Hitch did not let his viewers down. "The Birds" is still a great film with some genuinely terrifying moments and, as always, brilliant cinematic set pieces from the ever inventive Hitchcock.

Audrey Hepburn, Anne Bancroft, and Sandra Dee were all considered for the role of socialite Melanie Daniels in "The Birds". In the end, however, Hitchcock went with the beautiful but inexperienced Tippi Hedren, whom he had seen in a television commercial on "The Today Show" in 1962. He brought her to Hollywood, screen tested her, and signed her to a contract. As he had done with Vera Miles, he set out to create the "new Grace Kelly". There are numerous stories about Hedren's mistreatment by Hitchcock during the filming of both "The Birds" and "Marnie", Hitchock's follow-up film which also starred Hedren. Hedren herself summed up the reason for the mistreatment -- "To be the object of somebody's obsession is a really awful feeling when you can't return it." Let's leave it at that.

Hedren was not embraced by the critics when "The Birds" was released. The Hollywood Reporter called her promising, but the New York Times dismissed her as "pretty, bland and wholesome", hardly an endorsement. Hedren's film career did not fulfill the promise that some saw in 1963, but her performance in "The Birds" holds up remarkably well. Perfectly cast as the arrogant and shallow Melanie, Hedren brings to the role a certain vulnerability that allows us to sympathize with her as she confronts her demons in the specter of the attacking birds. This is particularly true when she walks up those stairs to the attic in the film's climactic moments. Watching "The Birds" now, it's impossible to imagine this iconic role in the hands of anyone other than Tippi Hedren.