Hitchcock N Herrmann – Steven C Smith

1960. But a night with the Herrmanns was fraught with variables that gave many friends pause. They knew that one of two scenarios was equally possible. (The following details and quotes are taken from actual events.)4 Scenario #1. Arriving at the door of Bluebell Avenue, you straighten your tie and jacket—customary dinner attire of the time. Benny opens the door, smiling and already in conversation with you.

Stepping inside, you smell steak and other savories—Lucy is in the kitchen. Benny dashes into the hall and returns with his latest book purchase from Sotheby’s: Fine Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Drawings and Paintings. Flipping its pages and stopping on a Turner watercolor, his voice rises with excitement. You try to ignore the compulsive movement of his right-hand thumb and forefinger, as they twist strands of hair together—an action he repeats for minutes.

Dinner is excellent. Benny serves the wine, and has just one glass: alcohol gives him migraines. After the meal he lights a cigarette, kicks off his shoes, and sets his feet on the coffee table. Relaxed, he begins an amusing dissertation on Samuel Johnson’s thoughts about human flight. (Johnson was against it: too much risk from falling objects.) Benny emulates Johnson’s aphoristic style; an evening with Herrmann is an evening of quotes.

Now he’s recalling his favorite teacher at Juilliard, the eccentric genius Percy Grainger. By midnight, he is reflecting on the size of the universe, and the distance between stars. Itchy the cat trots into the room. Benny nuzzles it gently, as Lucy wordlessly refills your drink. Scenario #2: As you approach the doorstep, the ugly sound gets louder. Benny is yelling inside.

The door flies open. It’s Herrmann, who says nothing as he turns back to Lucy, his scratchy falsetto now a string of profanities. He’s on a tear about a meeting today, with a producer who wanted him to score a film. Midway through the screening, Herrmann stormed out of the room.

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You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Smith, Steven C., author. Title: Hitchcock and Herrmann : the friendship and film scores that changed cinema / Steven C. Smith. Description: [1.] | New York : Oxford University Press, 2025. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2025004953 (print) | LCCN 2025004954 (ebook) | ISBN 9780197681282 (hardback) | ISBN 9780197681305 (epub) | ISBN 9780197681299 | ISBN 9780197681312 Subjects: LCSH: Herrmann, Bernard, 1911–1975.

| Hitchcock, Alfred, 1899–1980. | Composers—United States—Biography. | Motion picture producers and directors—United States—Biography. | Motion picture music—United States—20th century—History and criticism. | Motion pictures and music—United States—History—20th century. | Male friendship. | LCGFT: Biographies. Classification: LCC ML 410 . H 562 S6 2025 (print) | LCC ML 410 . H 562 (ebook) | DDC 781.5/42092 [B]—dc23/eng/20250211 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2025004953 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2025004954 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197681282.001.0001 Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America The manufacturer’s authorized representative in the EU for product safety is Oxford University Press España S.A., Parque Empresarial San Fernando de Henares, Avenida de Castilla, 2 – 28830 Madrid (www.oup.es/en).

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