The Hitchcock Gallery is a permanent collection of mosaics
held on the walls of Leytonstone tube station. It was created by the London
Borough of Waltham Forest with commission from Greenwich Mural Workshop to
celebrate 100 years since the birth of Alfred Hitchcock in Leytonstone. The
works feature scenes from Hitchcock’s films and is 17 mosaics in total. The
installation started in June 2000 with the final installation in April 2001.
The Gallery was unveiled in 3 May 2001.
The Gallery itself is partly in dimly lit areas so it’s best
to head down on a sunny day just to get enough light come through into the
station. On each mosaic, an attached plaque placed either above or below the
artwork describing the scene shown as well as quotes from people related to the
film. The pictures were chosen by local people. The designs were done by Steve
and Nathan Lobb, Carol Kenna, Claire Notley and Julie Norbun at the Greenwich
Mural Workshop. Below are the mosaics with the texts on the adjoining plaques
and location in the station:
Entrance
Rebecca
1940
Joan Fontaine as the new Mrs De Winter struggling to escape
the memory of her husband’s first wife, Rebecca. Here Mrs Danvers (Judith
Anderson) wills her to suicide. In the background, St John’s Church,
Leytonstone, as it was in Hitchcock’s childhood.
Mrs Danvers (Judith
Anderson): “You’re overwrought, madam. I’ve opened a window for you. A little
air will do you good. Why don’t you go? Why don’t you leave Manderley? He
doesn’t need you. He’s got his memories. He doesn’t love you - he wants to be
alone again with her. You’ve nothing to stay for. You’ve nothing to live for,
have you, really? Look down there. It’s easy, Isn’t it? Why don’t you? Go on,
go on. Don’t be afraid…”
The Wrong Man
1956
Hitchcock’s bleakly realistic account of a real-life story
has Henry Fonda as New York musician Christopher Ballestrero mistakenly
identified by the police as an armed robber.
“When I was no more
than six years of age, I did something that my father considered worthy if
reprimand. He sent me to the local police station with a note. The officer on
duty read it and locked me in a jail for five minutes, saying ‘This is what we
do to naughty boys.’ I have, ever since, gone to any lengths to avoid arrest
and confinement. To you young people my message is – Stay out of jail!” –
Alfred Hitchcock
Rear Window
1954
James Stewart as action photographer LB Jeffries is confined
to his apartment by a broken leg. With the help of fiancé Lisa Freemont, played
by Grace Kelly, he begins to suspect a murder has occurred and sets to solve
the crime.
“I’ve never seen
Hitchcock look through a camera – some directors never stop.” - James Stewart
Stella (Thelma
Ritter): “We’ve become a race of Peeping Toms. What people ought to do is get
outside their own house for a change. Yes sir. How’s that for a bit of homespun
philosophy.”
Hitchcock and
Deitrich
Marlene Dietrich, star of his 1950 thriller Stage Fright,
relaxes with Hitchcock off-set.
“Marlene was a
professional star – she was also a professional cameraman, art director,
costume designer, hairdresser, makeup woman, composer, producer and director.”
– Alfred Hitchcock
Left side:
North By Northwest
1959
Hitchcock’s supreme chase comedy-thriller in which Cary
Grant, as urbane business man Roger Thornhill, is mistaken for a spy, and is
pursued across the country by both enemy agents and the police. In this famous
scene his life is threatened by, of all things, a crop-dusting aeroplane.
“It is only when you
adopt the basic premise that Cary Grant could not possibly come to harm that
the tongue in Hitchcock’s cheek becomes plainly visible.” – Hollis Alperi,
Saturday Review
The Skin Game
1932
Based on a play by John Galsworthy, the story about the
struggle between the old English way of life and the advance of the factories
into the countryside and explores how the country people and the nouveau riche
can be equally unscrupulous where property is the goal.
“Hitchcock loves to be
misunderstood, because he has based his whole life around misunderstandings.’ –
Francois Truffaut
Psyche1960
Hitchcock directs Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, who “goes
a little mad sometimes”, and Janet Liegh as the unfortunate Marion Crqane
before the infamous shower scene.
“At the end of Psycho,
I realised I’d worked with the director who’d been more open to the actor’s
suggestions and ideas than I’d worked with”- Anthony Perkins
“Psycho gave me very
wrinkled skin. I was in that shower for seven days…At least he made sure the
water was warm.”- Janet Leigh
Suspicion
1941
Cary Grant as dubitable playboy Johnny Aysgarth bringing to
his young new wife a drink, which she suspects to be poisoned.
Johnnie Aysgarth: “If
you’re going to kill someone, do it simply.”
Hitchcock At Work
In a directorial pose from the Skin Game of 1931 Hitchcock
is imagined directing some of his stars, including Margaret Lockwood, Ingrid
Bergman, Peter Lorre and Cyril Richard.
‘In Hitchcock’s eyes
the movement was dramatic, not the acting. When he wanted the audience to be
moved, he moved the camera. He was a subtle human being, and he was also the
best director I have ever worked with.’ – Bruce Dern, actor
Number 17
1932
Jewel thieves and Sheldrake - played by Donald Calthrop and
Garry Marsh - attempt a getaway to the coast on a stolen train moments before
their high speed chase ends in disaster.
‘A lot of movies are
about life, mine are like a slice of cake’. - Alfred Hitchcock
Young Alfred outside
his father’s shop
Alfred Hitchcock as a boy on a horse outside his father’s
greengrocers at 517 The High Road, Leytonstone (circa 1906).
Right Side:
To Catch a Thief
1955
High on a roof, reformed cat-burglar John Robie, played by
Cary Grant, is caught against a sky illuminated by fireworks as he attempts to
capture the imposter who has been giving him a bad name.
“Hitchcock couldn’t
have been a nicer fellow. I whistled coming to work on his films.” – Cary Grant
The Birds
1963
Tippi Hedren as Melanie Daniels, one of the Bodega Bay
residents inexpicably attacked by ever increasing flocks of birds, in
Hitchcock’s apocalyptic allegory.
“Hitchcock captures
the subtleties of females warring with each other; all those nuances of knives
and guns conducted in looks and body language. He sculpts the human body in
space.” – Camilla Paglia
Saboteur
1942
Handcuffed together, Robert Cummings as Barry Kane and
Priscilla Lane as Patricia Martin escape from a gang of enemy saboteurs. In the
background is the old Leytonstone High Road.
“The drama of a nation
stirred to action, of a people’s growing realisation of themselves and their
responsibilities” – Motion Picture Herald
Vertigo
1958
Tom Helmore as Gavin Elster and Kim Novak as Madeline in
Hitchcock’s masterly study of love and obsession.
“Hitchcock knew exactly what he wanted to do in this film,
exactly what he wanted to say and how it should be seen and told…And anyone who
saw him during the making of the film could see, as I did, that he felt it very
deeply indeed.” – Samuel Taylor, screenwriter
Cary Grant as dubitable playboy Johnny Aysgarth bringing to
his young new wife a drink, which suspects to be poisoned.
Jonnie Aysgarth: “If you’re going to kill someone, do it
simply.”
Strangers On a Train
1951
Based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith and co-scripted by
Raymond Chandler, this is the story of the psychotic Bruno, brilliantly played
by Robert Walker, who suggests exchanging murder victims with Guy, played by
Farley Granger, a stranger that happens by chance to share the same train.
Bruno (Robert Walker):
“Some people are better off dead - like your wife and my father, for instance.”
Pleasure Garden
1926
A good old-fashioned melodrama, full of life, death and
passion, this was Hitchcock’s first feature as sole director and comes his
enthusiasm for the theatre and the music hall.
“Once a man commits
himself to murder, he will soon find himself stealing. The next step will be
alcoholism, disrespect for the Sabbath and from there on it will lead to rude
behaviour. As soon as you set the first steps on the path to destruction you
never know where you will end. Lots of people owe their downfall to a murder
they once committed and weren’t too pleased with at the time ’- Alfred
Hitchcock
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