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UPDATE 3:30 PM : HBO Films is on board to co-produce The Girl, which will air in the U.S. on HBO, marking the latest collaboration between HBO and the BBC. 
PREVIOUS 7 AM: Sienna Miller and Toby Jones will play Tippi Hedren and Alfred Hitchcock in BBC Two drama The Girl. The film will chronicle the director’s obsessive relationship with his The Birds star. According to BBC Two, Hedren has cooperated by giving interviews to writer Gwyneth Hughes, while Hitchcock biographer Donald Spoto is attached as a consultant. Miller and Hedren recently met to discuss the project and, says Hughes, “got on like a house on fire.” Becoming Jane’s Julian Jarrold is directing with Imelda Staunton and Penelope Wilton also in the cast.
Hitchcock was at the height of his fame and creativity when, in 1962, he chose an unknown fashion model to star in his most ambitious film — The Birds. But as he sculpted Hedren into the perfect Hitchcock blonde of his imagination, he became obsessed with the impossible dream of winning the real woman’s love. His failure arguably destroyed both of their careers. In a statement, Hughes said: “It’s been the most enormous privilege to talk at length to Tippi Hedren, the last ‘Hitchcock blonde’ in the life of Britain’s most original and successful film director. At the time, in the early 1960s, the American star suffered in silence. But now, at the age of 81, her wisdom and insights have helped me to put her real life ordeal on to the screen.”
The Wall to Wall Television production will be produced by Amanda Jenks and executive produced by Leanne Klein for Wall to Wall and Lucy Richer at the BBC. Shooting starts this week in South Africa.
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Sienna Miller is really gorgeous and very talented. I hope she does more American mainstream movies from now on like she used to and becomes a bigger star.
This actually sounds good. Don’t forget the doll in the box handed to Melanie Griffith!
Look to the UC Davis protests for its eerie, silent reincarnation of the last scene of The Birds!
I always find Miller to be a little vacant and dull, perfect for that cool, distant Hitchcock blond concept – (she seems so much more alive in person, as herself). And Toby Jones can do NO WRONG – he is brilliant. This sounds like a fantastic idea. That said, I wonder if they considered Rosamund Pike, after her great turn in the West End play, “Hitchcock Blond”.
I think “destroyed both their careers” is a little hyperbolic. It’s anyone’s guess where Hedren’s career could have gone (Chaplin’s film was a sad comedown for all involved), and Hitch was in the twilight of his career, but was coming off quite a good run. I think Frenzy is a return to form and has its fans. The Birds, in any case, while no classic, is a fine film, and may or may not be “improved” in the projected remake with Naomi Watts.
Birds is not classic? Are you nuts?
“Classic” is purely subjective; for me, the whole film has to hold up well through the years, not just the effects, and I find a lot of the character scenes, as written and performed in The Birds, just on par with a typical Hitchcock TV episode. Perhaps Grace Kelly or Vera Miles would have been more persuasive than Hedren, although Tandy and Taylor are fine in what seems to be rather one-dimensional roles. By contrast, the caliber of the actors and the substance of their roles in Psycho, Vertigo, Frenzy, et al make these films worth seeing repeatedly. When Hitch was asked on a talk show if he was satisfied with The Birds, he replied, “From a technical standpoint.” (A swipe at Hedren’s performance? Who knows?)
Wow, what a classically snobby comment. A Classic is something that holds up well past its time, regardless of how one judges the component parts. The Birds is still terrifying 50 years after it was made, in spite of the performances. It’s a classic, as are many of Hitchcock’s films of this era. They stand the test of time.
Yeah, it’s not top-tier Hitchcock (NBNW, Notorious, Rear Window, Psycho, and the like). I’d put it in second tier (Strangers on a Train, Vertigo, Spellbound, Lifeboat, Rope.)
That would leave only this third-tier movies to discuss….
HG
“Gut eee-ven-ing. And no-wh a who-rrd from our spon-sor…”
How come Brian de Palma has never made this as a feature film? With all the big and medium budget bio pics that get made, how come Brian never gave Hitch the let’s-tell-the-secrets treatment?
“His failure arguably destroyed both of their careers.”
What a load of nonsense. The Birds was not a huge success when it was released, especially not compared to Psycho, but it was far from a failure and its reputation quickly grew until it was established in the Hitchcock canon of classics. Hitch made another brilliant movie – Marnie – the following year, and then a number of lesser films until his death (although Frenzy is pretty damn good) but, as the above commenter states, the quality of the films was more down to the fact that he was in his seventies rather than any “failure” caused by The Birds.
Here’s another fan of the post-Birds Hitch films. And no mention of Torn Curtain? Newman rushing to memorize that equation and the dawning realization of what’s happening by the other professor is one of his signature moments…
Hitchcock did “North by Northwest,” “Psycho,” and “The Birds” in a row. This would be the highlight of his amazing career. “Marnie,” “Torn Curtain” and especially “Topaz” were all flawed. He didn’t make another movie for five years (there’s a book here) until he bounced back with “Frenzy” and threw it all away with “Family Plot.” What caused that downward spiral? I suspect the Hedren theory has more credence than some of you are willing to admit.
Agreed about the Hedren thing. The Hitchcock of FRENZY is someone who’s given up on the world being anything but “a sty” of miserable, ravenously-unsatisfied people. No other picture he ever did was as cold-blooded and despairing as this one (and no, PSYCHO doesn’t count because it seems to be taking place off in some weird little universe of its own.) And from a psych POV, it makes sense that if Hitchcock’s power and talent couldn’t win him the woman of his dreams, he’d lose impetus for his work.
Virtually every director in the history of film that has lived into old age and continued working until their death has seen their work slump in their golden years. It’s a fact of life: our efforts wane as we reach old age, whether they are creative, physical, or intellectual.
Whether or not Hitchcock suffered somehow as a result of The Birds is the subjective part. The man was simply growing old.
Are the birds gonna eat us, mommy?
A very exciting project indeed – can’t wait. Quite curious to see if they will focus at all on the thirteen year relationship between Hitch and Robert Burks, his cinematographer on The Birds, Marnie, Strangers on a Train (which incidentally secured him an Oscar nomination) and nine other films. The friendship and close collaboration between these two cinematic icons is perhaps another interesting angle for the film.