Let's Talk About Tippi

Rating: 10/10 (24 January 2016)

From the day "The Birds" opened in 1963, Tippi Hedren has been subjected to some very harsh judgment for her acting. Critics were unimpressed. Perhaps they resented an unknown with no acting experience following in the footsteps of stars like Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly. Viewers to this day still insist her performance is "wooden." I think they're wrong.
Tippi Hedren for me is the ultimate Hitchcock heroine, created from the ground up by the Master who took all the best elements of his former leading ladies and produced his ideal blonde beauty. Just what James Stewart attempted with Kim Novak in "Vertigo."
Watch "The Birds" again, solely for her performance (And to a somewhat lesser degree, "Marnie"). You can see Hitchcock directing every flicker of the eyelid, every purse of the lips. Lovingly made up, clothed and photographed, she is, as aptly described by Camille Paglia, a "walking work of art."