‘Hitchcock’s Blondes’ wants to see old Hollywood stars not through the director’s gaze

Though often lauded as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Alfred Hitchcock was also known for having a dark side, including his authoritarian tendencies as a director and sexually inappropriate behavior toward the women in his films. In “Hitchcock’s Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind the Legendary Director’s Dark Obsession,” Laurence Leamer seeks to divert the reader from seeing the female actors through the director’s gaze, constructing instead vignettes that attempt to memorialize these women as more than their captivating beauty. Despite occasional references to their narcissism and ambition, Hitchcock’s blondes are often portrayed as wooden innocents with little agency or autonomy — objects at the mercy of the powerful director no matter how hard he pushed them or out of line he became. Though at times meandering, “Hitchcock’s Blondes” dishes sufficient old Hollywood gossip to keep interested readers entertained.