Themes and plot devices in Hitchcock films other iconic stairwell shot comes from the movie "Suspicion" as Cary Grant slowly walks up the stairs to deliver what would have been the poisonous warmed milk to his wife. Hitchcock, the studios and Grant decided his character could not end up as a murderer and that scene becomes a red herring with a new ending added. In "The Birds", the camera follows Tippi Hedren up the stairs to the attic where (suspensefully) the birds wait silently to attack her. Staircases also appear prominently in the 'ball-gown scene' in "Rebecca" and in the 'guard-dog scene' in "Strangers on a Train".
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