Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood on AllMovie

This documentary, produced for PBS's "American Masters" series, examines the lives and careers of director Alfred Hitchcock and producer/studio head David O. Selznick. In 1939, Selznick brought Hitchcock from England to the United States for his first American film, Rebecca (1940). While the film was a major success, Hitchcock's seven-year stint under contract with Selznick was often stormy. Director Michael Epstein begins by noting the parallels in the two men's early careers, then traces their divergence in both personal and professional style as they clash through the making of Rebecca (1940), Spellbound (1945), Notorious (1946) and The Paradine Case (1948). The film also takes a particularly close look at Selzick's personal life, including his abuse of drugs, sexual harassment of female employees and how his psychotherapy influenced the making of Spellbound. The film also includes rare behind-the-scenes footage of Hitchcock on the set, and interviews with several people who had worked with both Hitchcock and Selznick, including cartoonist and art director Al Hirschfeld, director Ronald Neame, director and historian Peter Bogdanovich and both Hitchcock and Selznick's personal secretaries.