SCOTTS VALLEY — Santa Cruz County has been home to many who have had fruitful careers in the entertainment industry, from silent film actress ZaSu Pitts to “Severance” and “Parks and Recreation” star Adam Scott.
However, perhaps the most famous person to have resided in the county is none other than the Master of Suspense himself: Alfred Hitchcock. The director of such classics as “Psycho” and “Rear Window” lived for 30 years on a 200-acre estate in Scotts Valley, and starting in 2023, the city began honoring Hitchcock’s time in the city with the first Alfred Hitchcock Festival, featuring panel discussions, wine grown on Hitchcock’s former property and, of course, screenings of his movies.
The event was such a success that it was brought back in 2024 and will return again with screenings of “Rope,” “The Wrong Man,” “The Lodger” and three episodes of his TV show, “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”
Victor Alejandro, one of the event’s organizers, said the festival shows different movies each year. The first installment saw screenings of “Shadow of a Doubt” and “Vertigo,” both shot in Northern California. The second year featured screenings of Hitchcock’s first sound picture “Blackmail” as well as his classics “Rebecca,” “Rear Window” and “The Birds.”
“We like to choose movies that are different than the ones that we’ve had in the past and also things that people may not have the same kind of awareness of,” he said.
Alejandro said there are also Hitchcock experts that staff get ideas from.
“We’ll ask our experts, too, which movies they think would resonate with audiences that they would like to see,” he said.
The festival will begin with a proclamation by Mayor Derek Timm honoring Hitchcock’s time in Scotts Valley, which spanned most of his career. After more than a decade of working in his native England, Hitchcock scored a contract in 1939 to shoot in Hollywood, where he moved with his wife Alma and shot the Best Picture Oscar winner “Rebecca.” However, wanting to be farther away from the bustling movie industry and after expressing an interest to grow wine grapes, they settled in a 200-acre estate in Scotts Valley in 1940. Nicknamed “The Heart of the Mountain,” the estate featured an expansive vineyard, farmhouse, tennis court, citrus trees and rose garden. The Hitchcocks hosted several movie stars as well as Rainier III, prince of Monaco and husband of frequent collaborator Grace Kelly, at the estate.
While here, Hitchcock shot some of his most famous movies of all time, including ones in nearby cities like “Vertigo” in San Francisco and “Shadow of a Doubt” in Santa Rosa. He kept a low profile but would venture out to Santa Cruz to patronize businesses like United Cigar and Stagnaro Bros.
Santa Cruz County also provided inspiration for one of Hitchcock’s most famous movies. In 1961, he had been working to adapt Daphne du Maurier’s “The Birds” when he learned that the very subject of the horror story — sudden violent bird attacks — had taken place recently in Capitola. After contacting the Sentinel to request a recent paper, he learned that a colony of seabirds had gotten lost in the fog during a sardine run, crashed through windows and windshields, flew into power lines and attacked eight people. The birds were later revealed to have gotten red tide poisoning, an illness caused by toxic red tide algae.
The estate was sold in 1970, and Hitchcock died 10 years later.
The week of March 10-16 will be designated as Alfred Hitchcock Week in Scotts Valley. Alejandro said local businesses will have deals to commemorate Hitchcock, including a “scary menu” at Togo’s, food specials at Erik’s DeliCafé, drink specials at Steel Bonnet Brewing Co., nightly showings of “The Birds” at CineLux starting Monday and special rates at Four Points by Sheraton.
Following a welcome and proclamation by Timm at 6:45 p.m. March 14, local historian Jay Topping and Aaron Leventhal, co-author of “Footsteps in the Fog,” will discuss Hitchcock’s time in Scotts Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. Hitchcock’s granddaughter, Tere Carrubba, will also share memories of the estate.
Following a panel discussion with UC Santa Cruz professors Shelley Stamp and Logan Walker, the festival will screen “Rope,” the director’s 1948 movie notable for taking place mostly in real time and using very few edits.
March 15 will feature a screening of 1956’s “The Wrong Man,” about an innocent man arrested after being mistaken for a criminal who had robbed an insurance company before. Jason Isralowitz, attorney and author of “Nothing to Fear: Alfred Hitchcock and the Wrong Men,” will discuss the real story of Manny Balestrero, who was the basis for the film. The event will also feature an evening gala reception with complimentary tasting with wines from local wineries, including Armitage Wines, which grows grapes on Hitchcock’s former property.
The final event March 15 is a screening of “The Lodger,” the 1927 silent film about a serial killer inspired by Jack the Ripper, featuring live piano accompaniment by Khylan DeGhetaldi.
March 16 will close out the festivities with author Jeffrey Michael Bays discussing the popular anthology series “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and the 20 TV episodes he directed. He will then screen three of those episodes: “Bang You’re Dead!,” “Breakdown” and “One More Mile to Go.”
The day will also feature complimentary mimosas, which have a tie to Hitchcock.
“Alfred Hitchcock was credited with popularizing the drink,” said Alejandro. “There’s a restaurant in San Francisco named Jack’s (later renamed Jeanty at Jack’s before it closed in 2009) that he used to visit frequently, and that was one of the drinks that originated there, but he made it famous throughout the country.”
All events will be at The Landing, formerly the Scotts Valley Cultural & Performing Arts Center, of which the festival is a fundraiser for.
Alejandro hopes the festival will highlight small businesses and showcase Scotts Valley’s rich history.
“It’s a beautiful part of the world,” he said. “Alfred Hitchcock had lots of choices, but he decided to live here.”
For tickets and information, go to Hitchcockfestival.com.