Hitchcock's Objects as Subjects

Book excerpt: Alfred Hitchcock's imperative was to charge the screen with emotion. Subject matter and acting were, for him, subordinate to "all of the technical aspects that made the audience scream." Focusing on onscreen objects in Hitchcock's films, this study examines staircases, eyeglasses, lamps, doors, candles, cigarettes, buildings, monuments, statues and dozens of other props that the director treated as subjective protagonists, their roles nearly equal to the actors'. Examining each of the director's 52 extant films, this book provides a comprehensive exploration of Hitchcock's treatment of objects as subjects.