ALFRED HITCHCOCK: THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH Michael Wood

ALFRED HITCHCOCK: The Man Who Knew Too Much. Michael Wood. New Harvest/Houghton Mifflin; 2015.

This slender volume from the ICONS series is not a biography, but more of a rumination on Alfred Hitchcock and his career. There isn't much new to say about the director, but Wood says it well enough, although some of his opinions are surprising, such as that Family Plot -- admittedly a good film -- "is almost in the same league as North By Northwest." He doesn't think much of
Foreign Correspondent or Marnie -- two excellent films -- but argues for others that he admires. Wood is a good enough writer to keep the Hitchcock fan intrigued, and much of what he has to say is interesting -- albeit often over-familiar to the true Hitchcock enthusiast. He recycles reports about Tippi Hedren and Hitchcock without further research.

Verdict: Not essential reading by any means, but a pleasant enough hour or so with the Master. ***.