14 September 2021

Master of Suspense

Sir Alfred Hitchcock, the director of such cult films as Dial M for Murder and Psycho, always kept dogs and, as an English émigré in Los Angeles in 1939, used them to demonstrate his Britishness, along with imported bacon, Dover sole and chintz loose covers. There Hitchcock’s arrived in Hollywood with Edward IX the spaniel and Mr Jenkins the Sealyham, a particularly popular breed in the terrier-loving 1930s. Two new Sealyhams, Jeffrey and Stanley, followed, and appeared with him in The Birds (1963). Hitchcock may have terrified actors and audiences, but dogs loved him. “My poodle Petunia adored him”, said Anne Baxter, who remembers Hitchcock sitting quietly on the sofa, stroking the dog after dinner. He knew that no one, least of all Petunia, would answer back.

Master of Suspense