Tippi/Hitch vs. Hitch/Truffaut

Take your pick. Tippi Hedren’s tell-all autobio out this week. The latter out before Christmas–the film no fans ever thought to see. Hitch being interviewed by one of his biggest fans, director Francois Truffaut, that gave the stamp of ‘Art’ to Hitch’s films.
Well, deja vu. Woody vs. Mia. Roman Polanski’s famous exile.
I don’t know about Art justifying the means, but there will always be the court of public opinion on the sins and foibles of the greats. Shakespeare put it best in Julius Caesar: “The evil that men do lives after them.”
That Hitch exploited, assaulted, and abused Tippi is fact and she is to be applauded for clearing the record and telling her story, her version, before she passes. If anything–though their rentals will increase–The Birds and Marnie will definitely never be looked at the same with a classic (the first) taking the biggest hit. How much will her revelations affect film fans’ opinions of the rest of Hitch’s movies, it’s hard to say. There is the argument of context, which works both ways for the rest of Hitch’s canon, of course. I suspect the Legend will continue to be revered (if not loved), especially with Truffaut/Hitch DVD forthcoming. As much as his reputation will take a hit in November, December will see it rise again for many of his staunchest fans.
Pat Hitchcock, his daughter, has done much to elevate her father’s reputation with the numerous rereleases of the past 15 years. It’ll be interesting to see if she has any comment. Forgotten in all this e-entertainment fodder will be Hitch’s loyal deceased wife, Alma Reville, who was the woman behind many films’ successes.
I doubt, though, that Hitch as a person will ever be seen the same way again. Shakespeare was right.
Predictably, a movie called Tippi will be hastily assembled within a year. Will Anthony Hopkins play an even sleazier version of The Master?
Tippi’s been through hell, but this book will gain her a lot of support, kudos, and sympathy, along with the traditional pity that’s long been traditionally expressed by those many in the industry who also knew what happened, but could never report more than just the surfaces.