Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense: A Pop-up Book

by Kees Moerbeek

Stunning paper-engineering brings to life (in 3-D!) seven vignettes from some of Alfred Hitchcock's most influential films, including the shower scene from Psycho, flying crows from The Birds, and more.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction

16 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2006

About the author

Kees Moerbeek studied graphic design at the art school in Arnhem, The Netherlands, and works as a full-time paper engineer and illustrator. He lives in The Netherlands with his wife, the book designer and sculptor Carla Dijs.

Reviews

[Benjamin]

This elaborate popup book gives a brief overview of Hitchcock's career. I had never seen a popup book directly intended for adults, and while short and casual (it can easily be read in one sitting), this really isn't something a kid would enjoy beyond the fascinating workings of the pop-outs but not the story itself.

[Amris]

Very dynamic and intricate pop-up book. The dimensions that were achieved in art of the book was genuinely impressive. I wish it was longer! Note: This book needs major spoiler warnings, pretty much every entry shares the film's ending.

[Tentatively, Convenience]

review of
Alfred Hitchcock The Master of Suspense - A Pop-up Book
- tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - September 26, 2011

This is 'just' a pop-up bk so my reviewing it as something that I've read puts the wrong emphasis. It's the "paper engineering by Kees Moerbeek" that's really worth reviewing here & it's that that I'm giving 4 stars. Of course, it doesn't hurt that I like Hitchcock's movies too. The bk features images & plot synopses for 7 films: Saboteur, Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, & Frenzy. A plus is that each film spread has a fold-out pop-up showing where Hitchcock's cameo appearance was.

As a collector of pop-up bks I have a great appreciation for the cleverness of both the design craft & the production. Not only does the designer have to aim for the most striking image, they have to calculate wch parts shd pop-up & how. Then the printers have to make it possible. Just assembling these things is a testimony to manufacturing cleverness & ability. In this case, it was manufactured in China so there's the possible downside of exploited cheap labor..

Moerbeek doesn't disappoint - not only are there great image accentuations: the torch of the Statue of Liberty protruding above the bk, a fantastic staircase pop-up for Vertigo, an explosive montage for Psycho, money spilling out for Marnie, an animated strangulation for Frenzy; there's also an abundance of other touchs: mylar used to show reflections of otherwise hidden imagery & some wonderful use of transparencies.

Obviously, such bks are very expensive to publish so I have no complaints that the bk doesn't go even further than Moerbeek's great design. HOWEVER, if it were to be even more lavish, having snippets from Bernard Herrmann soundtracks wd make these even more perfect.

[Mark]

Probably this was the first "adult pop-up book" that I ever laid hands on. Since I have this strange-fascinated interest towards the creativity of the creators of pop-up books, I was quite impressed by how they put this book - which featured about 6-7 of Mr. Hitchcock's movies in pop-up pages - together. The lows, however, is that this otherwise wonderful movie book only featured some of Mr. Hitchcock's masterpieces, including Vertigo, The Birds and Psycho, and omit his other most important works (i.e. North by Northwest, Dial M for Murder, and Rear Window). My guess is because Mr. Moerbeek can not get copyright permission to use images from the said movies. Anyway, in my opinion, this book is still a worthy read.

[Kay]

Someone who knows my wicked heart gave this one to me for Christmas. Another one of the twisted but delightful pop-up books in the manner of The Pop-Up Book of Nightmares and The Pop-Up Book of Phobias. In all these books, the paper art is stunning. This one is designed by the famous Kees Moerbeek. Of course, familiarity with Hitchcock's films is needed to get all the sly referential humor. There's also a wealth of information about the seven films portrayed: Saboteur, Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, and Frenzy. A particularly nice touch is the inclusion of a "hidden" place in each tableau for the Hitchcock cameo role.

[Tracy Sherman]

Hitch Pops-Up!
What more do you need to know?
You won't find any MacGuffin's here, just a wonderful cinematic pop-up book with short synopsis on seven films by the master of suspense. See if you can find Hitchcock's famous cameos in each of these films.
My only complaint about this book is where are my favorite films, The Man Who Knew Too Much -original 1934, Shadow of a Doubt - 1943, Lifeboat - 1944, and Strangers on a Train - 1951.
Nothing in depth just loads of fun, a not unfair appreciation of Hitchcock himself.

[Christie]

As a HUGE fan of Hitchcock, this is a must have for collectors. The quality is in the stunning visual presentation through pop-up images and not so much on the brief film synopsis for each. For each of the films covered there is a behind the closed door feature that shows the viewer where Hitchcock made his cameo appearance in the film. A cameo was present in each of his films and always close to the beginning as to not distract the viewer from the film itself.

[Tracy]

fun, but why does it include Torn Curtain, but not North By Northwest? That would be a fun pop-up!

[Amy]

Each pop-up is an intricate detail of one of Hitchcock's movies.