The Girl

Director Alfred Hitchcock remains hailed as one of cinema's most inventive minds. Best known for his psychological thrillers, his leading ladies were cool, striking, and often blonde. One such talent was Tippi Hedren, an undiscovered fashion model whose breakthrough came after Hitchcock's wife spotted her in a television advertisement. Brought to Universal Studios, Hedren was astonished when the director—then at the pinnacle of his fame—swiftly cast her to star in his next feature, 1963's The Birds. Unbeknownst to Hedren, the production would be as ambitious and terrifying to shoot as any of his films, and the most daunting aspect of the project would prove to come from behind the camera.