Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Good Evening!

Those chilling words still send shivers racing down my spine from the old television show “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”

Ever since I was a little girl, I loved being scared to death. Nothing could come close to the images the master story teller conjured in my head. Just the sound of those words in barely more than a whisper made my skin crawl. The anticipation of the story he was about to show had my heart racing. I remember glancing around the room to make sure all the curtains were drawn, all the doors locked. My family and I would gather around the television on a Friday evening, lights out with a big bowl of buttered popcorn. And the second the master of suspense’s face would appear on screen, my brother, sister and I would scream loud enough to wake the dead.

Alfred Hitchcock packed it all in his books and movies—chance meetings on a train, murder and mayhem, voyeurism, ice-blondes, debonair actors with a touch of quirky humor and rakish charm, espionage, romance and lost love. And who better befitting to portray the femme fatale of that era than Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman, Kim Novak and Janet Leigh? They were a perfect fit with Hollywood legends as Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart, two of Hitchcock’s favorites.

Few books or movies since the Master’s time have stayed with me or left such jarring images. Although not his best film, I think we all agree that Psycho is his most chilling. The Bates Hotel is such a simple name, who would suspect that such a twisted psychopath lived inside. With a fetish for peeking on guests as they shower, Janet Leigh is about to find out just how twisted Norman Bates is. (Voyeurism at its peak) Just the sound of that screeching violin gets my blood pumping!

The Birds is the movie that truly frightened me. To this day, I have a bird phobia. The image of those eerie birds gathering in the playground still make me shudder. When I hear the flapping of wings overhead, I hitch in my breath, petrified for a fleeting second that I will be the victim of a ghoulish attack.

Vertigo is another favorite of many Hitchcock fans. Set in the almost dream-like haze of the empty San Francisco streets, Vertigo portrays obsession and lost romance in a surreal manner, a true hallmark of his movies. In this story, Jimmy Stewart pursues Kim Novak as she slips in and out of her dead great grandmother’s persona. So even back then, there was a touch of paranormal in the books Alfred Hitchcock wrote

Thinking of some of these old plots that linger in my mind, I write stories of romance and suspense to hopefully give readers just a hint of that old Hitchcock magic. What’s your favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie of all times? Which actress in today’s Hollywood do you picture playing the role of the ice blonde? The perfect femme fatale?

Valentino and The Mystery Lady

More than eighty years after his death, fans still flock to Hollywood Forever Cemetery to bestow flowers on the crypt of Rudolph Valentino



Born in Italy, Valentino arrived in the United States in 1913 intending to strike it rich. Instead, he lived in shabby apartments in New York City, worked a variety of odd jobs, and was arrested several times on suspicion of petty theft and blackmail. Eventually, Valentino found success as a dancer in nightclubs around Broadway, then joined the cast of The Merry Monarch, a musical review on national tour.



For the next several years, Valentino took small film parts as he made his way to Hollywood, usually as the villain. He got his big break in 1921 when he was offered the leading role in The Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. His smoldering looks, exotic background and graceful dancing combined to make the romanticized tango scene unforgettable. The film was an overnight success and Valentino was an instant star.



Valentino continued to star in Hollywood films and became legendary for his passionate roles. Quite the lady killer, women flocked to see him perform, fainting in the aisles after screaming their hearts out. Just as Valentino-mania reached its peak, Valentino went on a nation-wide tour to promote his latest film The Son of a Sheik.



On August 15, 1926 while promoting the film in New York City, he was rushed to the hospital with stomach pains. Exploratory surgery revealed a bleeding ulcer. While it was repaired, Valentino developed a post-surgery infection and died. Almost immediately rumors began to surface that he was shot by a jealous husband, poisoned or killed by a jilted lover. An estimated crowd of 100,000 attended his funeral in New York City. When his body was brought back to Hollywood, thousands of mourners stood to watch the train pass. When his body was lowered into the mausoleum cathedral in Los Angeles, a small airplane scattered rose petals in memory of the legendary Hollywood star.



One of the most enduring Hollywood legends is the Mystery Lady who visits Valentino’s crypt every year on the anniversary of his death. Dressed in black from head to toe, including a heavy veil shrouding her face, the Mystery Lady visits without uttering a word and bestows a bouquet of red roses and leaves. Who is she? Many women have laid claim to the title, but no one knows for sure the true identity behind the maskd lady. Who do you think it is? A friend? A lover? A mistress?



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Mask of the Betrayer

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