For many years, a picture has been going on on the Internet, in which, according to publications on social networks, the Hollywood director lies in the waters of the Thames River. At the same time, Hitchcock is dressed in a suit and shod. We checked whether the master Sassensa is really captured in the photo.

The photo of interest to us has been walking on VKontakte for at least nine years with the next signature: "Alfred Hitchcock draws inspiration from the dark waters of the Thames River, London." According to search "VK", the social network has several hundred similar posts, and the earliest we discovered by us published On August 30, 2013 in the public Great History (1.1 million subscribers) and collected more than 1000 likes. One of the last records placed In the Naked Movie community (115,000), where she received more than 2200 likes and 60,000 views. Note that in some posts it is claimed that the picture was taken in 1960s, and in others - in 1972. In addition, there is a photograph from another angle (examples here And here). You can find such records in other social networks, for example on Twitter (here, here And here) And "Classmates", As well as on"Picabu".

At some point, this post became so popular that it even turned into a meme: people began to sign funny photos and videos with people and animals in the water, as well as a picture with the alleged Hitchcock (here, here And here).

So, in 1972, thriller came to the movie screens "Madness"(Frenzy), directed by Hitchcock. This is an adaptation of the novel by Arthur Le Bern "Goodbye, Picadilli, Farewell, Leicester Square." At the beginning of the film trailer there is a scene where a person dressed in a black suit and boots float in the water. In the next scene, Hitchcock himself appears, shot closely and as if lying in the water, and pronounces The following replicas: “I dare to assume, you are wondering why I am swimming like this in London. I am in the notorious River Thamise, investigating the murder. The rivers can be very dangerous, and in my new film "Madness" this river has become a place of a terrible crime. " The director also appears in the middle of the video in the stage in the London market, where he accidentally finds the leg of the corpse, as well as at the end - there he discovers his tie on the body of the dead woman.

Does this prove that the film maker floated in the river? No, since even the construction of the close -up itself suggests that Hitchcock was most likely not even plunged into the water. In that stage, only part of the face and shoulder are visible on the screen - it is likely that it is not noticeable that the director does not lie in the water. In the previous stage, it was shown that the shoulders and head of the floating body are partially immersed in the water.

As for the photographs distributed on the Web, they are definitely not depicting Hitchcock. More precisely, he is not quite. On the cinema sites "KinoPoisk" And IMDB In interesting facts about the film, it is indicated that initially in the “madness” Hitchcock could appear in the form of a body floating along the Thames. For filming, a mannequin was even made with an exact copy of Hitchcock’s head, but the plans changed, and instead in the tape they showed a female body - a victim of a “tie killer”. And they decided to use shots with a fake hut in a humorous trailer.

However, in the film itself, the director still appeared, but already in another Camo. In one of the initial scenes, he is gloomy in a black pot and a dark suit among the crowd, which applauds Sir George's speeches. After that, the body of a strangled girl was found on the shore.

Picture Filmed In London from July to October 1971. When requesting “Hitchcock 1971”, you can find it on the website of the American photo agency Getty images many Photos of Hitchcock with his dummy. One of the descriptions of the photo reads: “The bodies swam up and down the Thames next to the County Hall, but no one led the eye. When Alfred Hitchcock with his hands folded on his chest kept up to the audience, they laughed, because Hitchcock walking nearby convinced them that he was not in the river, but only a plastic copy. Alfred, with his team, was on the set of his last film "Madness", which is scheduled for the next Easter. " According to signatures, filming the scene with mannequin was carried out on August 26.