Thursday, December 27, 2012

A Surprise Ending

I always heard that film director Alfred Hitchcock died outside the Church. The Jesuits who ministered to him in his last days say it is not so. According to Fr. Mark Henninger, S.J.:
Tom and I returned a number of times, always on Saturday afternoons, sometimes together, but I remember once going by myself. I'm somewhat tongue-tied around famous people and found it a bit awkward to chitchat with Alfred Hitchcock, but we did, enjoyably, in his living room. At one point he said, "Let's have Mass."

He was 81 years old and had difficulty moving, so I helped him get up and assisted him across the breezeway. As we slowly walked, I felt I had to say something to break the silence, and the best I could come up with was, "Well, Mr. Hitchcock, have you seen any good movies lately?" He paused and said emphatically, "No, I haven't. When I made movies they were about people, not robots. Robots are boring. Come on, let's have Mass." He died soon after these visits, and his funeral Mass was at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills. (Read entire post.)
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1 comment:

julygirl said...

Good to know. Look forward to seeing the current film with the talented Helen Mirren in the role of his wife, Alma.