In our final episode, we come full circle—discussing the end of Alfred Hitchcock's career, as well as the end of this podcast.

CreditsWritten, produced, and hosted by Spencer Robelen. Artwork by Skye Stoyer. Episode transcript available here. Follow The Hitchcock Gays on Instagram and X. Support the show on Spencer Robelen's Patreon! Contact us at [email protected].

Thanks toCarl Boehm, Caroline C., Charles Balkcom, Dorothy Hindman, Jack Schlesinger, Jeff Chase, Karim Kentfield, Lauren Guiteras, Mallory and Jens, Markus, Nikki Puckett, Rachel G., Rachel Dean, Tyler Chatham, Virginia Becker, and of course, my Mom, Dad, and sister.

Special thanks to Michele O’Brien, Skye Stoyer, Grey, Shoshana Greenburg, and Kyle Turner for all their help behind the scenes.

This episode contains spoilers for the film Rope.

In our penultimate episode, we discuss Alfred Hitchcock's first movie as an independent filmmaker—Rope from 1948. Inspired by a true story murderous gays, this classy but unsettling drama remains one of the greatest works of queer cinema, despite being made during one of Hollywood's most conservative periods.

CreditsWritten, produced, and hosted by Spencer Robelen. Artwork by Skye Stoyer. Episode transcript available here. Follow The Hitchcock Gays on Instagram and X. Support the show on Spencer Robelen's Patreon! Contact us at [email protected].

Author Kyle Turner joins us to discuss his book The Queer Film Guide and how Alfred Hitchcock's films made it okay for us to think about naughty things.

CreditsWritten, produced, and hosted by Spencer Robelen. Artwork by Skye Stoyer. Follow The Hitchcock Gays on Instagram and X. Support the show on Spencer Robelen's Patreon! Contact us at [email protected].

This episode contains spoilers for the film Marnie. There is also discussion of sexual harassment and assault, so listener discretion is advised.

In part two of "The Passion of Tippi Hedren," we discuss Tippi's suffering (both on-screen and off-screen) during the making of 1964's Marnie, which is considered by many to be last great Hitchcock film. Both ahead of its time and uncomfortably antiquated, Marnie serves as a kind of gay conversion story that has a lot to say about gender and feminism.

CreditsWritten, produced, and hosted by Spencer Robelen. Artwork by Skye Stoyer. Episode transcript available here. Follow The Hitchcock Gays on Instagram and X. Support the show on Spencer Robelen's Patreon! Contact us at [email protected].

This episode contains spoilers for the film The Birds.

Tippi Hedren was a single mother working as a model in the early '60s. But when Alfred Hitchcock saw her in a TV ad, he plucked her from obscurity and turned her into a Hollywood star.

In this two-part episode, we examine the timeless appeal of Tippi Hedren, from her days suffering as Hitchcock's greatest obsession to her eventual apotheosis as an icon for the gay community. In part one, we discuss her rise to fame in The Birds, a horror film that eerily predicts the coming of Stonewall and gay liberation.

References

Smith, Bob. "The Birds as a Pre-Stonewall Parable." The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, 2001. Maw, Laura. "Loving Annie Hayworth." It Came From the Closet, 2022.

Credits

Written, produced, and hosted by Spencer Robelen. Artwork by Skye Stoyer. Episode transcript available here. Follow The Hitchcock Gays on Instagram and X. Support the show on Spencer Robelen's Patreon! Contact us at [email protected].

This episode contains spoilers for the films Murder! and Psycho.

The "mama's boy" and "domineering mother" tropes reach a terrifying zenith in Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock's game-changing masterpiece from 1960. In this episode, we examine the gay iconography of actor Anthony Perkins, Hitchcock's surprising relationship with drag, and that time my childhood friends gifted me a homemade Hitchcock movie. Murder!, Hitchcock's British whodunnit from 1930, is also discussed.

Credits

Written, produced, and hosted by Spencer Robelen.

Artwork by Skye Stoyer.

Episode transcript available here.

Follow The Hitchcock Gays on Instagram and X.

Support the show on Spencer Robelen's Patreon!

Contact us at [email protected].

As we prepare for the "second act" of The Hitchcock Gays, Spencer takes you behind the scenes to share some books that were integral to the research of this series. Also, a big shout-out to our Patreon subscribers!

Book Recommendations

The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light

Split Image: The Life of Anthony Perkins

Tippi: A Memoir

Intimate Violence: Hitchcock, Sex, and Queer Theory

Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood, 1910-1969

It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror

Special Thanks to Our Patreon Subscribers

Mallory & Jens

Jack Schlesinger

Karim Kentfield

Lauren Guiteras

Nicolette Puckett

Rachel G.

Tyler Chatham

Virginia Becker

Caroline

Dorothy Hindman

Jeff Chase

Markus

Rachel Dean

Mom & Dad

Credits

Written, produced, and hosted by Spencer Robelen.

Artwork by Skye Stoyer.

Follow The Hitchcock Gays on Instagram and X.

Support the show on Spencer Robelen's Patreon!

Contact us at [email protected].

Shoshana Greenberg returns the favor and hosts me on her podcast, Scene to Song! We discuss musicals, Episode 5 of The Hitchcock Gays (plus all the topics I neglected to include in it), and things we're looking forward to in the theatre world.

~

Scene to Song Episode 116: Musical Theater in the Films of Alfred Hitchcock Originally aired December 9, 2024

In this episode, composer, lyricist, and playwright Spencer Robelen discusses musical theater in the films of Alfred Hitchcock, from his early silent movies to Waltzes from Vienna to Stage Fright to The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). We also talk about the song "Miss Up-to-Date" from his 1929 film Blackmail. You can write to [email protected] with a comment or question about an episode or about musical theater, or if you’d like to be a podcast guest. Follow on Instagram at @ScenetoSong and on Facebook at “Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast.” And be sure to sign up for the new monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com. Contribute to the Patreon. The theme music is by Julia Meinwald. Music played in this episode: "Like a Star in the Sky" from Waltzes from Vienna"With All My Heart" from Waltzes from Vienna "The Laziest Gal in Town" by Cole Porter, sung by Marlene Dietrich in Stage Fright "Que Sera Sera" by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, sung by Doris Day in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) "Miss Up-to-Date" by Billy Mayerl and Frank Eyton, sung by Cyril Ritchard in Blackmail

Like Dial "M" for Murder, we're going to take a short intermission. You may not hear from me for a few weeks, but know that I am working on the last few episodes of the series.

I also want to share a warning with all of you as we head into 2025.

Credits

Written, produced, and hosted by Spencer Robelen.

Artwork by Skye Stoyer.

Follow The Hitchcock Gays on Instagram and X.

Support the show on Spencer Robelen's Patreon!

Contact us at [email protected].

Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945) is a movie that everyone enjoys but can't seem to remember—which is ironic considering that it's about amnesia. Musical threatre writer and podcaster Shoshana Greenberg shows us how this convoluted psychological-thriller is actually a touching, feminist romance with an inspiring, demisexual heroine.

Check out Shoshana's website and subscribe to her podcast, Scene to Song!

Credits

Written, produced, and hosted by Spencer Robelen.

Artwork by Skye Stoyer.

Follow The Hitchcock Gays on Instagram and X.

Support the show on Spencer Robelen's Patreon!

Contact us at [email protected].