Shirley Maclaine Talks About Hitchcock, Pets And The US
13 November 2005
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SHIRLEY MACLAINE struggled to understand movie mogul ALFRED HITCHCOCK when the pair first worked together because the master of suspense spoke to her in riddles. The actress first worked with the cult British director on THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY and admits she struggled to understand his instructions. She says, "He walked up to me and he said, 'Genuine chopper, my darling, genuine chopper.' I turned to (co-stars) MILDRED NATWICK and to JOHN FORSYTHE and I said, 'What is he talking about?' "'It's cockney slang,' they said, 'but you have to figure it out.' "(So), what is a synonym for genuine and chopper - real axe - relax."There was a little bit of a kind of a witty sadism in him." "He said another time, 'Dogs feet before you say that line,' That means pause!
"So I had to be up to snuff with my grey matter up there and I thought, 'Does everybody do it this way?'" The veteran actress goes on to say she is ashamed of her native America for its environmental policies and its involvement in the Iraq war. While the TERMS OF ENDEARMENT star is proud to be an American she winces at the foreign policy of US President GEORGE W BUSH's administration.
The 71-year-old says, "Yeah (I do feel American), but an American that is the result of the founding fathers' wish.
"I'm very ashamed of being in this country and what we're doing. "Our imperialistic attitudes, our desecration of the environment, the whole Christian crusading that the Bush administration is doing, the marketing economy... it's a freakin' disaster!"
On pets the American film star says she has learned more about love from her pet dog TERRY than she has from people - she even talks to him in a special "Humanimal" language.
The STEEL MAGNOLIAS actress, well known for her staunch belief in reincarnation, claims to have co-written her new book OUT ON A LEASH, EXPLORING REALITY AND LOVE with Terry, who has agreed to return to the land of the living as soon as she dies.
MacLaine says, "She and I have an arrangement that when she goes, in about 10
years, she's going to come back right away again.
"So I will wait until I'm drawn to the right puppy. I know more about the
meaning of love with her - this is important what I'm saying now - nature and
animals have taught me more about love than people."
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