Alfred Hitchcock Hitchcock had intended to film "Marnie" first, and in March 1962 it was announced that Grace Kelly, Princess Grace of Monaco since 1956, would come out of retirement to star in it. When Kelly asked Hitchcock to postpone "Marnie" until 1963 or 1964, he recruited Evan Hunter, author of "The Blackboard Jungle" (1954), to develop a screenplay based on a Daphne du Maurier short story, "The Birds" (1952), which Hitchcock had republished in his "My Favorites in Suspense" (1959). He hired Tippi Hedren to play the lead role. It was her first role; she had been a model in New
Hitchcock (film) HBO biopic "The Girl", which was released a month earlier and detailed Hitchcock making "The Birds" and "Marnie". Justin Chang of "Variety" wrote that "the comparatively frothy "Hitchcock" offers a more sympathetic, even comedic assessment of the man behind the portly silhouette." Todd McCarthy of "The Hollywood Reporter" also made note that the film "brings a measure of authenticity entirely missing from "The Girl"." When writing about the film as a whole, McCarthy said, ""Hitchcock" might be a work of fantasy and speculation as much as it is history and biography, but as an interpretation of a major talent's inner