EDITH HEAD

Google paid tribute today to costume designer, Edith Head, who was born on this day on 1897. Celebrated for her long film career and immortalized in Pixar's Incredibles, Spy Vibers will be familiar with many of her classic designs from these movies: Wings (1927), Beau Geste (1939), Road to Singapore (1940), Holiday Inn (1942), Road to Morocco (1942), Double Indemnity (1944), Road to Utopia (1946), Sorry Young Number 1948), Sunset Blvd. (1950), My Favorite Spy (1951), War of the Worlds (1953), Roman Holiday (1953), Rear Window (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Funny Face (1957), Vertigo (1958), Blue Hawaii (1961), Last of the Secret Agents? (1966), The Swinger (1966), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Topaz (1969), The Sting (1973), Great Waldo Pepper (1975), Man Who Would Be King (1975). Continues below.

With 35 Oscar nominations (and 8 awards), she is the most celebrated costume designer in Hollywood history. Ms. Head was famous for being photographed in thick glasses, which were in fact blue lenses to help her see how colors would photograph in black and white. In the TV clip below, she talks about working with Audrey Hepburn on Roman Holiday. Stills below are some of her designs for Alfred Hitchcock, including outfits for her friend and favorite leading lady, Grace Kelly. 

Recent Spy Vibe posts: Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist Editions, David Tennant's Ian Fleming audio books, The Prisoner & Captain Scarlet, HMV returns to Oxford st w Beatles promo, Diego Fortunato & Verner Panton,  Saturday Morning Cartoons, Assassination Bureau on DVD, new Young Bond series,  Peter Asher, Gerry Marsden tour, Elio Petri on Blu-ray, Sophia Loren, new Beatles BBC album, new Hercule Poirot novel, Beatles fall 2013 releases, A Hard Days Night cinematographer dies, Magic Christian on Blu-ray, Early Beatles image archive, Julie Newmar, Erno Goldfinger, Hitchcock tribute.

Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Erno Goldfinger, Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address

ALFRED HITCHCOCK TRIBUTE

Happy Birthday to Alfred Hitchcock. The master of suspense was born on this day in 1899. In one of his celebrated talks on filmmaking (see below), the director illustrated the difference between horror and suspense. In this era of gritty shock value, contemporary storytellers could learn much from this two minutes of wisdom.

Hitchcock is still celebrated for a long career that spanned from the silent era to the 1970s. His stories often centered around individuals who were wrongly accused and who were thrown into adventures to clear their names. He was also adept at walking a fine line between suspense, epic action, and humor. Hitchcock's famous wit became a trademark in the late 1950s with his TV program, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1961), and with record albums like this 1958 release, Music to Be Murdered By (see clip below).

Take a look at Criterion Collection's "3 Reasons" to watch The 39 Steps (see below). You will notice they include "the original MacGuffin." This was a story element popularized by Hitchcock. The idea was to establish a vague, but vital, goal that all of the characters would be invested in. Once that element was planted in the viewers' minds, it would serve as an engine to fuel the entire saga. A McGuffin could be anything, from secret blueprints and information to missing persons and evil plots. The details of the McGuffin were never as important as the dramas that unfolded around them. By the way, The Criterion Collection has released three early Hitchcock spy thrillers on glorious Blu-ray: The 39 Steps, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and The Lady Vanishes.

With 67 directorial credits, most of which are celebrated classics, it's difficult to choose a short-list of Hitchcock's movies. But if I had to pack a desert island care package for my fellow Spy Vibers, I would suggest the following titles. Being a fan of spy movies, the list is weighted heavily to Hitchcock's earlier works that show the influence of Fritz Lang's crime thrillers. Incidentally, I believe Cary Grant's performance in North By Northwest inspired a screen image of James Bond for author Ian Fleming. 

Here is your homework: Blackmail (1929), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), Secret Agent (1936), Sabotage (1936), The Lady Vanishes (1938), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Suspicion (1941), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Notorious (1946), Strangers on a Train (1951), Rear Window (1954), To Catch a Thief (1955), Vertigo (1958), North By Northwest (1959), and his later classics around horror conventions, Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963). Hitchcock below with Cary Grant.

Still need to enter Spy Vibe's summer contest to win vintage prizes? The deadline has been extended to August 16th. Details here. Get ready to meet MIKI ZERO, a Japanese fashion model and spy from 1965! I've written a novel inspired by Spy Vibe. More info at my website here.