THE PROFILE is unmistakable. A few lines establish nose, lip, regal forehead, modest hairline and the great round jowl. From behind this caricature Alfred Hitchcock emerged to introduce a weekly television show filled with the bizarre and the macabre. Yet if many people recognise the sketch, most won't know that he drew it himself. The author of his own mystique, Hitchcock was, says Edward White, "not just a film-maker but an impresario". He spent much of his time cultivating his brand. His mischievous face dominated promotional materials for "Psycho" and "The Birds". He talked up his own eye and disdained other directors. After meticulously preparing for shoots, he made a show of looking bored on set. Amid such gestures, the man himself recedes.
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