Hitchcock as Commodity

While we may marvel at Hitchcock's artistry and crafty cinema, I've always been fascinated by Hitchcock the huckster, the self-promoter. I've often wondered when Hitchcock was first pushed as a selling point for his productions. In his his early days in Britain, he was touted as a "boy genius", and, with his series of thrillers in the 30s, he was starting to wear the sobriquet of a "master of suspense". But when exactly was the image of Hitchcock, the droll fat man in funereal black suit as we know him today and as we knew him forever, used to sell a picture? Was it this sort of ugly looking caricature on this poster for his 1942 movie Suspicion. And not to think that this is too much of an anomaly, here's another poster for the very same film, now featuring a much more stylized impression of Mr. Hitchcock (and much more flattering to boot!). His distinctive physical appearance was one that Hitchcock used to separate himself from his peers. One can't imagine seeing a picture of an eyepatch wearing Ford chewing on a handkerchief pushing Gideon of Scotland Yard or slim, gray Hawks pushing Man's Favorite Sport? Of course, his sense of cinema was distinctive enough to set him apart as well.

Yes, this is a very modest and pissant addition to the Hitchcock blog-o-thon!