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Wharf (06/Nov/2008) - The secret Limehouse life of Alfred Hitchcock

(c) Wharf (06/Nov/2008)

Notes

  • The article identifies the wrong White Hart public house. Hitchcock's sister Nellie lived at the White Hart on Hooper Street, approximately 1 mile south-west of the White Hart on Mile End Road.

The secret Limehouse life of Alfred Hitchcock

The untold Docklands story of a legendary director will be unearthed in a new film.

Movie-makers Bill Hodgson and John Pridige aim to shed light on the early life of Alfred Hitchcock, who spent at least eight years living above a shop in Limehouse.

The Leytonstone-born director grew up to become one of the greatest directors of all time, redefining the suspense genre with classics such as Psycho, Rear Window, The Birds and Strangers on a Train.

But long before the visionary's star appeared on Hollywood's walk of fame, he travelled the streets delivering fish for the family business.

The Hitchcock family moved to Limehouse in 1907 when Alfred was eight. They opened a fishmongers and a greengrocers on 130 and 175 Salmon Lane, making their home above the fish shop. A third store was located somewhere on Tower Bridge Road.

Film-maker Bill Hodgson said: "The Hitchcock family was notorious for letting their kids do a lot of the work, so Alfred would have spent a lot of time working in the shops and delivering fish.

"He seems to have been quite a bookish and withdrawn character at that time.

"Accounts say he was quite mischievous, but didn't really discover his niche until he studied art a little later."

Bill and John scoured archives to identify several of the director's early haunts.

He was a regular visitor to the Limehouse library off Salmon Lane, and frequented the White Hart in Mile End Road as his sister Nellie was married to the landlord.

Little is written about these formative years, but Bill believes they had a huge influence on his later works.

He said: "He spent a lot of his time among market traders in London, and these characters keep popping up in his films. The Thames is also a recurring feature, possibly because he spent a lot of his early years within walking distance of the river.

"He's the most written-about director in history, but this part of his life is largely skipped over. Hitchcock was also a great one for putting stories about, so it's very much shrouded in mystery."

The film-making team - who are part of the McGuffin Film Society - are keen to track down East Londoners who can shed further light on Hitchcock's secret history. Anyone with information can contact them at www.mcguffin.info.

But while the story has slowly taken shape over the last six months, the key buildings in Hitchcock's life have gone forever.

Bill said: "About half of Salmon Lane is largely unchanged, but the half we were looking for seems to have altered beyond recognition.

"It's the same in Leytonstone. Much of it is the same, apart from the block where he was born. That's been demolished to make way for a petrol station."

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