Anna Massey - quotes
Quotations relating to Anna Massey...
It's a very brutal film, but it’s full of things [Hitchcock] loves, like food and London. It's a very loving portrayal of the Covent Garden Market, because now that’s moved over to Nine Elms and Battersea, and we knew at the time that Covent Garden wasn't going to be there forever, and Barry and I remember saying to one another this will be a very exclusive piece of film.
— Anna Massey (2001)
Casting
I went up, in fact, for the part of the secretary. I didn't go up for Babs. And we went into this huge, vast room in Piccadilly where [Hitchcock] was doing the auditions. And he sat behind this desk. I sat down. And he started talking about deep refrigeration and how to make batter. There was this huge room he said he had in his house which was his fridge, and he told me how he made batter for batter pudding, and he kept it in this vast fridge. So I was completely mesmerized by this. Then he started talking about this barmaid. I was totally confused by this time, 'cause he hadn't asked me to read for the secretary or anything. Anyway, this barmaid had to be quite short, and I found myself taking my shoes off. I don't know why, because I wasn't up for the barmaid. I was up for the secretary. Anyway, when I got up to go — I'd forgotten I'd taken my shoes off, so I had to put my shoes on — and he didn't say whether he wanted me or not. Nothing, and no script was given. And the next day, my agent rang, and he said, "He wants you for the Cockney barmaid, Babs." I said, "This is amazing." So I said yes to work with Hitchcock, of course. Count me in.
— Anna Massey (2001)
source: Documentary: The Story of Frenzy
keywords: Alfred Hitchcock, Frenzy (1972), casting, and pre-production
Film Production
At my interview, and certainly when I had other meetings with Hitch, he never said, "Do you mind stripping in the bedroom scene?" I'd assumed that I'd be doing it, but the double did it. So, when you cut away, and this nude figure just wearing socks goes into the bathroom, that's not me.
— Anna Massey (2001)
source: Documentary: The Story of Frenzy
keywords: Frenzy (1972), nudity, and production
He suddenly realizes that the tie pin is in my clenched hand. The audience could not possibly have gathered that without a flashback sequence, which Hitchcock storyboarded. I knew from the start that I wasn't going to have to go in the potato sack, other than the close-up on my face, but I was never in the truck. They always had a double for that.
— Anna Massey (2001)
source: Documentary: The Story of Frenzy
keywords: Frenzy (1972) and production
