Verdict: Basically true Though lauded as a master of suspense, a dab hand at sly (and often dark) comedy and the king of Cary Grant drunk-driving scenes, Hitchcock has rarely been highly-regarded as an actors' director. That could have something to do with his reputation as a man who thought of actors as "cattle". Hitchcock in his later years attempted to clear the story up: "I never said all actors are cattle; what I said was all actors should be treated like cattle." Which isn't true: he unequivocally told Francois Truffaut in conversation in 1962, with no hesitation, "actors are cattle". But the very fact he'd make a joke about it suggests Hitch only really half-thought actors were like well-paid, docile bovine, being dumbly herded around the set without a mind of their own. With the exception of one or two (Tippi Hedren clearly being one, Paul Newman being another), Hitchcock apparently had a good relationship with most of his actors, even if in his eyes they were only there to act out his storyboards.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
