40 years after the death of the master of suspense, we remember the director's complex relationship with cars.
He died in Los Angeles, California, one of the most important film directors of the 20th century. With eight decades behind him and dozens of hits on the big screen, Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense, said goodbye.
But the person in charge of films like The Birds and Vertigo, who knew how to capture the tension and maximize it with his narrative, also hid fears that were seen repeatedly in his films. One of them was related to being behind the wheel.
It is that driving was something that did not appeal to him, in fact, he often commented that "I do not drive because I am afraid of the police." That phrase was also heard when he arrived in the United States, that he was afraid of fines. And that was enough for the press to create a whole story on the subject, even saying that he didn't drive because he didn't know how to.
However, that was not the case in fact, in Hollywood, it was known that the director drove to take his daughter to school and church. Moreover, in 2008 Alfred Hitchcock's driver's license was auctioned for a figure close to 10 thousand dollars
Fear jumps to the movies
The terror that the police gave the famous director has an explanation for his childhood. It all started at the age of six when his father sent him to a policeman with a piece of paper. The policeman saw the note and locked up little Alfred for an hour. The paper said, “Lock up this boy. He has misbehaved”.
Those fears were later transferred to the cinema, as seen in Psycho, where Janet Leigh is sleeping in a car, away from everyone, however, out of nowhere a policeman appears and wakes her up with bangs on the hood.
Other studies about the director indicate that the director's real fear was not of the fines or the police, but of losing control of the vehicle. Hence, many scenes occur on narrow roads or with loopholes.
One of the most remembered appears in The Birds, where Tippi Hedren takes off at full speed in a 1950 Aston Martin DB2/4 coupé.
And among all the actors who went through his direction, Cary Grant was perhaps the one who most exemplified terror in a vehicle. In Notorious, Grant sits as a passenger in a Cadillac Series 62 Convertible but suffers from Ingrid Bergman's driving and constantly checks the speedometer. Until he is stopped by a policeman.
Also in the passenger seat is Grant in To Catch a Thief. There, the one who drives is Grace Kelly, who accelerates to maximum a 1953 Alpine Sunbeam to escape from a Citroën 11 by the Côte d'Azur
In With Death on his heels (North by Northwest) the narrow roads are repeated. And Grant is driving under the influence in a Mercedes-Benz 220 SE Cabrio. He saves Milgaro by being left with a wheel hanging on a precipice and then he is stopped by... a policeman.
As can be seen, although cars were not a theme that he worked on, they always had a relevant role when it came to telling stories and sowing suspense, as only the teacher knew how to do.
