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Criss-Cross
The Making of Hitchcock’s Dazzling, Subversive Masterpiece Strangers on a Train
Description
Take a deep dive into the shadows and light of one of the most subversive, corrosively funny, and beloved suspense thriller masterworks as author Stephen Rebello unravels for the very first time the tense and drama-filled story of the making Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train.
As entertaining as it is to watch Strangers on a Train, so too is the previously untold backstory that packs all the suspense, drama, and twists of a thriller. After all, what are the hallmarks of a great Hitchcock movie? A larger-than-life, complex cast of characters, each with something to prove, lose, or hide. Check. Tremendous risk, outsized conflict, and emotion as those men and women confront challenges off the set. Check. Feuds, deceptions, unlikely alliances, and double-crosses. Check. Coming off a 5-year-string of flops, Alfred Hitchcock gambled big on adapting Patricia Highsmith’s debut novel, which critics called “preposterous” and “unconvincing,” in addition to “unsavory,” and “sick” (1950s code words for “gay” and “perverted”). Each step of the production was fraught with battles, but Hitchcock masterfully stayed two steps ahead of his opponents as he fought to bring his vision to life. Strangers on a Train became not only a creative high-water mark and box-office smash for Hitchcock, but also kicked off his unmatched decade of classics including Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, and Psycho.
Richly documented, meticulously researched, and stylishly written, Criss-Cross is more than an authoritative film book. It is a portrait of an especially politically paranoid, misogynistic, and homophobic era in America, a time of dramatic transition in the entertainment industry, and a day of reckoning for Alfred Hitchcock and a few other talents with whom he made a dark, resonant, and prescient work of art.
As entertaining as it is to watch Strangers on a Train, so too is the previously untold backstory that packs all the suspense, drama, and twists of a thriller. After all, what are the hallmarks of a great Hitchcock movie? A larger-than-life, complex cast of characters, each with something to prove, lose, or hide. Check. Tremendous risk, outsized conflict, and emotion as those men and women confront challenges off the set. Check. Feuds, deceptions, unlikely alliances, and double-crosses. Check. Coming off a 5-year-string of flops, Alfred Hitchcock gambled big on adapting Patricia Highsmith’s debut novel, which critics called “preposterous” and “unconvincing,” in addition to “unsavory,” and “sick” (1950s code words for “gay” and “perverted”). Each step of the production was fraught with battles, but Hitchcock masterfully stayed two steps ahead of his opponents as he fought to bring his vision to life. Strangers on a Train became not only a creative high-water mark and box-office smash for Hitchcock, but also kicked off his unmatched decade of classics including Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, and Psycho.
Richly documented, meticulously researched, and stylishly written, Criss-Cross is more than an authoritative film book. It is a portrait of an especially politically paranoid, misogynistic, and homophobic era in America, a time of dramatic transition in the entertainment industry, and a day of reckoning for Alfred Hitchcock and a few other talents with whom he made a dark, resonant, and prescient work of art.
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Praise
“Rebello’s gifts for capturing cultural context, sexual subtext, and the machinations of the film industry remain unparalleled, and he finally provides this delightfully twisted thriller the shining platform it so richly merits.”
—Alonso Duralde, author of Hollywood Pride
“Criss-Cross is one of the best books on Hitchcock ever. Rebello’s revelatory research combined with his thought-provoking insight on the making of Strangers on a Train make for a compelling, entertaining, and definitive read.”
—Laurent Bouzereau, filmmaker and author of The De Palma Decade
“Superb and gripping, Criss-Cross reads like an arresting novel, and no wonder. . . . Had he been able to read Criss-Cross, with its wealth of compelling detail and cinematic verve, Sir Alfred would have been perched on the edge of his own director’s chair.”
—Nat Segaloff, author of The Exorcist Legacy
“Criss-Cross, Stephen Rebello’s meticulously detailed study of [Strangers on a Train], contains everything a casually interested reader might want to know but also probes deeply enough to surprise and satisfy those who consider themselves aficionados of the director’s work.”
—Alain Silver, coauthor of From the Moment They Met It Was —Alain Silver, coauthor of From the Moment They Met It Was Murder
—Alain Silver, coauthor of From the Moment They Met It Was —Alain Silver, coauthor of From the Moment They Met It Was Murder
“If your favorite Hitchcock movie is Vertigo, Psycho, or The Birds, you will probably change your mind after reading Criss-Cross.”
—Robert Hofler, author of Money, Murder, and Dominick Dunne
“A real gem and a must-read for anyone who loves cinema.”
—Andrew J. Rausch, author of The Taking of New York City