8 1/2 (January 12th and 13th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[8 1/2 screens Saturday January 12th at 9:15 pm and Sunday January 13th at 6:30 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

I've been thinking about Alfred Hitchcock lately. This eccentric, brilliant fellow gave so much to the world of cinema and popular culture. His movies and TV program, not to mention book publishing, his own self-titled mystery magazine and spinoffs, generated loads of money - for Universal Pictures especially. And now at least two bio-movies of which I am aware portray him in a fairly sensational light, putting freak-show emphasis on his obsession with blondes, serial killers and his own marriage. Some of it is historically accurate, some is not, and during his own career Hitchcock certainly encouraged coming across as a creepy-uncle type of person. Fair enough. Still, to me it seems a pretty (and typically) ungracious way for Hollywood to

devour one of its own for a few additional box-office dollars. Hitchcock, after all, died decades ago and is in little position to speak for himself.