Inside the dark mind of a brilliant director

Spellbound By Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies. By Donald Spoto, Hutchinson, €25.40

Celebrity biographer Donald Spoto’s third book about Alfred Hitchcock, already the most written-about individual in the history of cinema, takes an in-depth look at the rotund director’s often perverse relationships with his actresses throughout his long career.

His list of leading ladies reads like a who’s who of mid-century cinema: Maureen O’Hara, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Kim Novak, Tippi ...