10. Alfred Hitchcock and Alma Reville
It would not be remiss to refer to Alfred Hitchcock as odd, simply based on several of the man’s quirks (he was a practical joker of legendary and often borderline cruel dimensions). Hitch enjoyed telling jokes while in elevators for example, though sometimes he would tell a particularly risqué story about some famous actor or actress. He would time the story so that the elevator doors opened just as he was about to reveal the punchline or the name of the celebrity featured in his salacious tale, leaving behind a carful of frustrated listeners. Hitchcock was flamboyant and vain (ensuring his appearance in all of his movies) and difficult to convince that he was wrong about anything.
Working for Rightful Credit
His wife, the former Alma Reville, was his collaborator and partner, both at home and in his work. Though she eventually gained credit for helping with scripts and storyboarding the scenes in his many films, she was virtually unknown through most of her husband’s career. She shunned the limelight as forcefully as he sought it out, leaving outrageous statements and behavior to her husband. She labored to improve what could rightfully have been called, in many cases, their films rather than his. In appearance and in their work together Alfred Hitchcock and Alma Reville were very much an odd couple, though their collaboration remains one of Hollywood’s greatest, and least known.
