The secret Limehouse life of Alfred Hitchcock
THE UNTOLD Docklands story of a legendary director will be unearthed in a new film.
Movie-makers Bill Hodgson and John Pridige aim to shed light on the early life of Alfred Hitchcock, who spent at least eight years living above a shop in Limehouse.
The Leytonstone-born director grew up to become one of the greatest directors of all time, redefining the suspense genre with classics such as Psycho, Rear Window, The Birds and Strangers on a Train.
But long before the visionary's star appeared on Hollywood's walk of fame, he travelled the streets delivering fish for the family business.
The Hitchcock family moved to Limehouse in 1907 when Alfred was eight. They opened a fishmongers and a greengrocers on 130 and 175 Salmon Lane, making their home above the fish shop. A third store was located somewhere on Tower Bridge Road.
Film-maker Bill Hodgson said: "The Hitchcock family was notorious for letting their kids do a lot of the work, so Alfred would have spent a lot of time working in the shops and delivering fish.
"He seems to have been quite a bookish and withdrawn character at that time.
"Accounts say he was quite mischievous, but didn't really discover his niche until he studied art a little later."
Bill and John scoured archives to identify several of the director's early haunts.
He was a regular visitor to the Limehouse library off Salmon Lane, and frequented the White Hart in Mile End Road as his sister Nellie was married to the landlord.
Little is written about these formative years, but Bill believes they had a huge influence on his later works.
He said: "He spent a lot of his time among market traders in London, and these characters keep popping up in his films. The Thames is also a recurring feature, possibly because he spent a lot of his early years within walking distance of the river.
"He's the most written-about director in history, but this part of his life is largely skipped over. Hitchcock was also a great one for putting stories about, so it's very much shrouded in mystery."
The film-making team - who are part of the McGuffin Film Society - are keen to track down East Londoners who can shed further light on Hitchcock's secret history. Anyone with information can contact them at www.mcguffin.info.
But while the story has slowly taken shape over the last six months, the key buildings in Hitchcock's life have gone forever.
Bill said: "About half of Salmon Lane is largely unchanged, but the half we were looking for seems to have altered beyond recognition.
"It's the same in Leytonstone. Much of it is the same, apart from the block where he was born. That's been demolished to make way for a petrol station."
Older/Newer
« November 6: Face in the Crowd | Canary Wharf squash line-up looking good »
1 Comments
Leave a comment
Read The Wharf E-Edition
My grandmother used to live in the block featured in the picture of Salmon lane back in the late 70's/ early 80's, and the place still looks the same (Aithan House). There are so many memories engraved in those walls. She never had a good life with her husband there, poor thing.
Towerhamlets itself is full of so many memories. The numerous jewish-owned factories from which the humming of tired machines could once be heard, the countless chinese restaurants in Limehouse. The clanging of swings in Victoria Park on a hot summer's afternoon. It was in Towerhamlets that my mother settled in the early 1960's with the wave of caribbean immigrant workers.It was straight to the Labour Exchange in settle Street for your next job. I will always have a soft spot for Towerhamlets. A sort of rough edge with smooth corners. Long live Towerhamlets.