Director Acts In His Own Pictures

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 192, 10 May 1940, Page 6

Director Acts In His Own Pictures

ALFRED HITCHCOCK, the famous J -*- English director, is also an actor not so famous. Ho wrote a role for himself into his first American-made motion picture, but people will have to look closely, or they are likely to miss the portly director as he parades through a scene in “Rebecca.” Originally, Hitchcock was to be a lone diner in a small inn where Laurence Oliver and Joan Fontain pause for refreshment. That did not work out, and so filmland’s epicure cancelled what was a “natural” part. Instead, be appears in a scene on a foggy street in a small village in Cornwall. England. George Sanders, who plays a featured role, is making a phone call from a street booth—and Hitchcock merely strolls by. Nevertheless, the director will be easily noticed by those in the know. It is no directorial effort by Hitchcock that makes him conspicuous. He weighs 239 pounds, and added to this he wears a top coat belonging to Nigel Brudte and a hat that belongs to Reginald Denny. Neither garment fits very well. Bruce is eight inches taller than Hitchcock. The director has appeared in all of his films in some incidental fashion.