Hitchcock and Hospitality

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by Ned Schantz

Type

Studies

Subject

Director > Alfred Hitchcock

Keywords

Alfred Hitchcock, characters, feminism

Publishing date

2026 (November 02, 2026)

Publisher

State University of New York Press

Collection

SUNY series, Horizons of Cinema

Language

English

Relative size

Physical desc.

Paperback • 224 pages
6 x 9 inches (15 x 23 cm)

ISBN

979-8-8558-0677-9

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Book Presentation:
Unfolds the central importance of broken hospitality in the director's work.

Hitchcock and Hospitality argues that the violation of hospitality is a driving force behind Alfred Hitchcock's work. From his television hosting to his cameo appearances to the premises of his stories, the Master of Suspense stages a crisis of authority over access to physical and virtual space. Using the familiarity of his work to make a larger contribution to both film and critical theory, this book engages the French tradition of theorizing hospitality with a keen eye for its feminist implications. But the House of Hitchcock unsettles the scene of hospitality further, down to its hold on the organization of social space. Reading for hospitality not just in grand estates and humble cottages but in cars and trains, motels and apartments, and other mobile and transient spaces―including the virtual space of film itself―Hitchcock and Hospitality tracks the drama of modern social exchange and unfolds the central importance of broken hospitality in the director's work. Films considered intensively include the familiar (Rebecca, Rope, Vertigo, North by Northwest, The Birds, and Marnie) as well as those that have received less critical attention (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Saboteur, Lifeboat, and Dial M for Murder). The book also touches on many other Hitchcock films and on key episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

About the Author:
Ned Schantz is Associate Professor of English at McGill University and the author of Gossip, Letters, Phones: The Scandal of Female Networks in Film and Literature.

Press Reviews:
"…Schantz has written an invaluable, consistently provocative, lively study of Hitchcock's films, calling attention to the centrality and complexity of how they engage with the core theme and issues of hospitality … Hitchcock scholars will no doubt be grappling with Schantz's illuminating and fresh insights for some time." ― Hitchcock Annual

"This is an insightful, lucid, original, engaging, and persuasive contribution to the field of Hitchcock studies. Schantz makes a compelling case for thinking again about a number of Alfred Hitchcock’s films in the specific light of hospitality (and violations of hospitality)." ― Neil Badmington, author of Perpetual Movement: Alfred Hitchcock’s "Rope"

See the publisher website: State University of New York Press

See the complete filmography of Alfred Hitchcock on the website: IMDB ...