The Guardian (08/Mar/1999) - Letters: Baby Spice meets Psycho
(c) The Guardian (08/Mar/1999)
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,311675,00.html
- keywords: Alfred Hitchcock, Donald Spoto, Psycho (1960), Tippi Hedren
Letters to the Editor - Baby Spice meets Psycho
Your article about Alfred Hitchcock's early days re-tells the story of how the young Hitch debagged a fellow pupil at St Ignatius school and attached firecrackers to his underwear.
The story is attributed to the victim, Robert Goold. When we interviewed the 90-year-old Reverend Goold last year for a forthcoming documentary, he did indeed repeat the story but then wrote to deny emphatically that Hitchcock had anything to do with the incident. Donald Spoto's biography, the source of the firecracker story, has been highly influential in establishing the 'dark side' of Hitchcock's genius, but it is very much the case for the prosecution.
On the evidence of the 50 or so people that we interviewed, most of those who knew him and worked with him - with the notable exception of Tippi Hedren - experienced as much light as darkness.
Tim Kirby
Director, Hitch,
BBC History Unit
