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9781498563505

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The several prodigious feats of classicist Mark Padilla in this book more than emulate those of Mr Memory in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935). Professor Padilla's accomplishment is to have placed six Hitchcock films and their characters in something like a fundamental position in the history of art and narrative. His lens is that of Greek myth and culture, and it works splendidly. The character Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) in The 39 Steps is both high and low , and we are told exactly why. Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly) in Rear Window (1954) is successively self-centered and heroic , and Padilla illustrates this by analogues drawn from two separate versions of the Aphrodite/Venus story. Exemplary stuff. Whole courses on the Western-art heritage could be based on Padilla's book. -- Ken Mogg, Author of <i>The Alfred Hitchcock Story</i> In this welcome follow-up to his Classical Myth in Four Films of Alfred Hitchcock, Padilla continues to demonstrate the profound influence of classical myths and imagery on many of the Master of Suspense's most important works. Classicists and scholars of film and classical receptions alike will appreciate Padilla's thorough research, keen insights, and perceptive analysis, which are made accessible to lay audiences - both Hitchcock fans and armchair mythologists - through clear organization, direct prose, and full exposition of the works he discusses. By highlighting the imprint of classical myths, images, and patterns on the seemingly unrelated works of one of the most influential auteur-directors in the history of cinema, Padilla here makes an important contribution to the growing field of Reception Studies. -- Kirsten Day, Augustana College

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Mark W. Padilla is distinguished professor of classical studies at Christopher Newport University.

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