The Girl (2012)

The turbulent relationship between filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and actress Tippi Hedren.

Director:

Julian Jarrold

Writers:

Gwyneth Hughes, Donald Spoto (book)

Stars:

Sienna Miller, Toby Jones, Imelda Staunton

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 3 wins & 33 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sienna Miller	...	Tippi Hedren
Toby Jones	...	Alfred Hitchcock
Imelda Staunton	...	Alma Reville Hitchcock
Conrad Kemp	...	Evan Hunter
Penelope Wilton	...	Peggy Robertson
Angelina Ingpen	...	Melanie
Candice D'Arcy	...	Josephine Milton
Carl Beukes	...	Jim Brown
Kate Tilley	...	Rita Riggs
Aubrey Shelton	...	Maitre D
Leon Clingman	...	Ray Berwick
Patrick Lyster	...	Bob Boyle

Storyline

When Grace Kelly retires from films to marry Prince Rainier Alfred Hitchcock looks for a similar blonde and finds her in TV model,the little known Tippi Hedren,who will star in his film adaptation of horror story 'The Birds'. Hitchcock is obsessed with Tippi sexually and,when she rebuffs his advances,sadistically puts her through five days of filming where she is attacked and injured by real birds. Hitchcock's wife Alma and his assistant Peggy are appalled but can do nothing. Tippi is resolved that she will not give in to Hitchcock despite the situation giving her nightmares. Hitchcock and Tippi make a second film,'Marnie'. Having admitted that Alma is the only woman he has ever had sex with and that he now finds her cold Hitchcock continues to pursue Tippi, bombarding her with phone calls declaring his love for her yet reminding her that he alone made her famous and she owes him. At this stage Tippi demands that her contract be terminated and an end title states that they never ...

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Plot Keywords:

bird | model | blonde | director | actress | 

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Taglines:

He made her his star. And his darkest obsession.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

UK South Africa USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 October 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Garota

Filming Locations:

South Africa

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wall to Wall Media,Warner Bros.,Moonlighting Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Timothy Spall and January Jones were originally going to play the leads.

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Goofs

California license plates are incorrect format; the "56" should be after "California", for passenger cars the numbering should be three letters+three numbers; also the font is incorrect. In addition, during the filming of Marnie (after May 1963), the color changed from the 1956 black letters on yellow plates to 1963 yellow letters on black plates. The number system was still three letters+three numbers until 1970.

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Quotes

[Alfred Hitchcock pours a glass of wine for Tippi Hedren, just after he has first met her]
Alfred Hitchcock: This is a very fine Californian pinot noir. It's called the heartbreak grape. Do you know why? Of all the grapes used to make wine, these are the most fragile. It has a very thin skin, prone to disease, mould, every kind of rot and virus known to the vintner's art. So growing pinot noir is a bit like making a movie - heartbreak guaranteed.

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Connections

References Psycho (1960)

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Soundtracks

I've Told Ev'ry Little Star
Written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern
Performed by Linda Scott
Courtesy of Epic Records

User Reviews

Pretty Useless Look at Hitch and "The Girl"

The Girl (2012)

** (out of 4)

HBO movie about the working relationship between Alfred Hitchcock (Toby Jones) and Tippi Hedren (Sienna Miller) while making THE BIRDS and MARNIE. The film focuses in on Hitchcock's mental and sexual abuse of the actress who blames the director for her career never taking off. THE GIRL has hit with all sorts of controversy with people attacking it for trying to ruin Hitchcock's legacy and others attacking Hedren for coming up with this stories after years of talking about how great the director was. I guess we'll never really know what happened between the two but it's pretty clear by watching this movie that it didn't make for any entertainment. THE GIRL could have made for an interesting psychological thriller but what we get is pretty much a gossip film that has nothing going for it. It seems like the only thing this film tried to do was show Hitchcock as an ugly man both physically and in the way that he treated women. Watching this film you learn absolutely nothing about Hitchcock or this so-called obsession with Hendren. Did Hitch do this to other actresses? Why was Hitch so obsessed with Hedren? These are two important things that are never mentioned here and the only thing we are told is that this happened. THE GIRL is so short on any sort of information that the entire thing just comes across as an attempt to show a legend as a pervert. Again, if this really happened then I have no problem with a movie being made about it. The problem is that director Julian Jarrold has delivered a lifeless, boring mess that just doesn't add up to anything. Both Jones and Miller do what they can with decent performances but neither can overcome the screenplay. The best thing going in the film is the make-up job done to Jones. THE GIRL might lure people in wanting to see what all the controversy is about but I can't see too many sticking around to the end.