Alfred Hitchcock, Alma Reville Hitchcock

All my trips to London over the years and I never knew there was a small hotel called ‘Sir Alfred Hitchcock’. It’s located at Whipps Cross Road in the Leytonstone area of London where Hitchcock was born.

The SIR ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOTEL

And I didn’t know that Leytonstone Tube Station in London has 17 mosaics depicting  Hitchcock films.

Designed in 2001 by the Greenwich Mural  Workshop, the 80,000 tiles used are made of vitreous glass.The mosaics were commissioned by the local council to mark 100 years since the birth of the famous  director.

I had read that Hitchcock’s estate when he died in 1980 was worth millions. So I was surprised to read the following letter on the excellent blog, http://starsandletters.blogspot.co.uk

Dated three years before his death, the letter is addressed to someone called Ann, and refers to a reduction in the financial gift that he sends to this lady’s mother – $10 a month.

He explains how Alma Hitchcock is requiring a lot of medical care and admits that part of the cost is being met by Medicare.

He also mentions the help he gives to his sister in England.

Referring to his latest film (FRENZY), he calls it a miserable picture.

Lastly, Hitchcock says he is basically a salary earner like Ann. (One wonders what Ann’s occupation is).

Can anyone throw light on who the director was writing to, or why he should be pleading financial problems.?