Alma Reville | |
|---|---|
 Reville in 1955 | |
| Born | Alma Lucy Reville (1899-08-14)14 August 1899 Nottingham, England |
| Died | 6 July 1982(1982-07-06) (aged 82) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupations | Editor, screenwriter |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Pat Hitchcock |
Alma Lucy Reville,Lady Hitchcock (14 August 1899 – 6 July 1982) was an English screenwriter and film editor. The wife of filmmakerAlfred Hitchcock,[1] she collaborated with her husband on such films asShadow of a Doubt,Suspicion, andThe Lady Vanishes, and worked with other famous directors such asHenrik Galeen,Maurice Elvey, andBerthold Viertel.[2]
Reville was born on 14 August 1899 in St. Ann'sNottingham[3] (one day after her future husband), the second daughter of Matthew Edward and Lucy (née Owen) Reville. The family moved toLondon when Reville was young, as her father gained a job atTwickenham Film Studios. Reville often visited her father at work and eventually obtained a job there as a tea girl. At 16, she was promoted to the position of cutter, which involved assisting directors in editing the motion pictures. Of editing, she wrote, "The art of cutting is Art indeed, with a capital A, and is of far greater importance than is generally acknowledged."[4] She continued to work there as a scriptwriter and director's assistant. These roles enabled her to become involved in areas of film-making to which women would then rarely have access.[5]
Twickenham Film Studio, where Reville first worked, closed in 1919, but she was given a job atParamount'sFamous Players–Lasky, a subsidiary of the American company based inIslington, where she met her future husband,Alfred Hitchcock. The same company gave him a job as a graphic designer before he became an art editor.[5] The first film Reville worked on with Hitchcock wasWoman to Woman (1923), with Reville as film editor, and Hitchcock as art director and assistant editor.[5][2]
As well as editing, writing and other production roles, Reville also appeared on screen making three film appearances: a lead role inThe Life Story of David Lloyd George (1918), and as an extra in Hitchcock'sThe Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) andSabotage (1936).[3]
Hitchcock and Reville married on 2 December 1926 atBrompton Oratory in London after Reville converted toRoman Catholicism fromProtestantism, apparently at the behest of Hitchcock's mother.[6] Reville was baptized on 31 May 1927 and confirmed atWestminster Cathedral byFrancis Cardinal Bourne on 5 June.[7] In 1928, when they learned that she waspregnant, the Hitchcocks purchased "Winter's Grace", aTudor farmhouse set in 11 acres (4.45 ha) on Stroud Lane,Shamley Green, Surrey, for £2,500.[8] Their daughter and only child,Patricia Alma Hitchcock, was born on 7 July that year.[9]
Reville co-wroteThe Ring (1927) – the first screenwriting credit she shared with Hitchcock – but worked with other directors as well. She co-wroteThe Constant Nymph (1928), the first film adaptation of the best-selling novelThe Constant Nymph (1924) byMargaret Kennedy, directed byAdrian Brunel. In 1929, Reville co-wroteAfter the Verdict, directed byHenrik Galeen andA Romance of Seville, directed byNorman Walker. In 1931 and 1932 she worked with directors such asHarry Lachman,Maurice Elvey andBasil Dean. In 1933, Hitchcock hiredJoan Harrison as his assistant, and she assumed many of Reville's roles within his productions. She continued to work with some other directors, includingPhil Rosen in 1934,Berthold Viertel in 1935 andRichard Wallace in 1945. Reville focused primarily on preparing and adapting her husband's scripts, including those forRebecca,Foreign Correspondent (both 1940),Suspicion (1941) andSaboteur (1942).[10][11]
Reville worked with her husband on many more scripts in Hollywood. She collaborated with Joan Harrison on the script ofSuspicion, which was completed on 28 November 1940. They worked on it in the Hitchcocks' home in Bel Air, as Hitchcock preferred writing in a comfortable, intimate environment rather than an office.[12]
Reville had a keen ear for dialogue and an editor's sharp eye for scrutinising a film's final version for continuity flaws so minor they had escaped the notice of the director or the crew. It was Reville who noticedJanet Leigh inadvertently swallowing after her character's fatal encounter inPsycho (1960), necessitating an alteration to the negative.
Reville was Hitchcock's closest collaborator and sounding board.Charles Champlin wrote in 1982: "The Hitchcock touch had four hands, and two were Alma's."[13] When Hitchcock accepted theAFI Life Achievement Award in 1979, he said he wanted to mention "four people who have given me the most affection, appreciation and encouragement, and constant collaboration. The first of the four is a film editor, the second is a scriptwriter, the third is the mother of my daughter, Pat, and the fourth is as fine a cook as ever performed miracles in a domestic kitchen. And their names are Alma Reville".[14]
Reville survived a bout ofbreast cancer. She died on 6 July 1982, at the age of 82, two years after herhusband. She wascremated and had her ashes scattered in thePacific Ocean.[15]
Reville was portrayed byImelda Staunton inThe Girl (2012),[1] andHelen Mirren inHitchcock (2012).[1] Staunton was nominated for aBAFTA and aPrimetime Emmy[16] while Mirren was nominated forBAFTA,[17]Golden Globe andSAG awards.[18]
In 1999, on the 100th anniversary of her birth, a plaque to Reville was unveiled in Nottingham, near the site of her birth, as part of theBritish Film Institute's "Centenary of Cinema" celebrations.[3]
Reville wrote or co-wrote many screenplays, including:
