Frosty Blondes

Men prefer blondes and the director Alfred Hitchcock fetishized them. During his career, he glorified them as 'Frosty blondes', perfect women.

Anny Ondra in Blackmail (1929)

A succession of beauties girls combined feminine refinement and sex appeal in a way that was meticulously stylized. Hitchcock heroines tended to be lovely, cool blondes who seemed proper at first, but when aroused by passion or danger responded in a sensual, animal or even criminal way.

Carole Lombard in Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941)

While they all shared some qualities, it would be a mistake to view them as a cookie-cutter blondes. The continuous and symbolic evolution of the Hitchcock heroine made them very different from each other.

Marlene Dietrich, in State Fright (1950), was one of the earliest of the type and a knowing, glacial heroine. In the film, Charlotte Inwood, a glamorous singer, with her chiseled cheekbones and sharply arched brows, murders her husband, and then tries to pin the crime on her lover.

Marlene Dietrich in Stage Fright (1950)

Kim Novak was more voluptuous, and throughout Vertigo (1958) tantalizingly wore her hair in a tightly coiled French twist (a thinly veiled Hitchcockian metaphor, of course, for tightly coiled feminine passion).

Kim Novak as Madeleine in Vertigo (1958)

Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest (1959) possessed, by comparison, a brittle and seductive perfection. She plays Eve Kendall, and she is not as innocent as she looks. 

Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest (1959)

Even the choice of lipstick colour could be loaded with symbolism. Hitchcock's 'good' female characters wore cool, barely-there makeup to minimize their sexuality, while lipstick blatantly signified sex. For instance, Kim Novak as the idealized Madeleine in Vertigo has light-pink lips and blonde hair, but as 'imperfect' Judy has coppery hair and red lips.

Kim Novak as Judy in Vertigo (1958)

My little tribute for Vertigo and Kim Novak

Madeleine and Judy, Vertigo (1958)

But it was Grace Kelly who was the quintessential 'snow-covered volcano'. Kelly was one of the definitive beauties of the 1950's. An icon of elegance and refinement, she effortlessly portrayed the haughty allure that so appealed to Hitchcock, for whom she starred in Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954) and To Catch a Thief (1955). She retired from film to become Monegasque royalty in 1956, but always credits Hitchcock for being her one, true cinematic teacher: 'He taught me everything. It was thanks to him that I understood that murder scenes should be shot like love scenes, and love scenes like murder scenes'.

Grace Kelly and Alfred Hitchcock in Rear Window (1954)

Rear Window (1954)

Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief (1955)
♥♥♥I love this couple ♥♥♥

On the other hand, the director once said, 'You know why I favour sophisticated blondes in my films?' 'We're after the drawing-room type, the real ladies, who become whores once they're in the bedroom'.

I bet, he preferred the white bird haha x)

Love,

♡Lorena Be-Bop♡