Themes and plot devices in Hitchcock films Clift at a dinner party around the filming of "I Confess" (1953) to swallow a carafe of brandy, which caused the actor to pass out almost immediately. In "Torn Curtain" and "Topaz", brandy is defined more closely as cognac. Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) is offered a brandy by Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette), and after being attacked by the birds, drinks the brandy offered by Mitch (Rod Taylor). In "Rear Window", Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly) is "just warming some brandy". In "Frenzy", Richard Blaney is sacked for supposedly stealing brandy, and can be seen in several sequences to be drinking brandy.
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