Summary
- Alfred Hitchcock, the legendary director, lent his name to "The Three Investigators" book series, appearing as a ing character and offering advice.
- The decision to use Hitchcock's name was made by author Robert Arthur Jr. to bring attention to the series, as he had knowledge of Hitchcock's work.
- After Hitchcock's death, his name was removed from the books and replaced with a fictional film director, Hector Sebastian, due to a copyright change or royalty issue.
For approximately 60 years, Alfred Hitchcock dominated the movie scene with his suspenseful and thrilling films, however, one lesser known fact about the British director is that he was also the star of a long-running book series for young adults entitled "Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators." Alfred Hitchcock began his film career in the early 1920s and, over many decades, proved himself a cinema legend up until the release of his final film, 1976's The Family Plot. Hitchcock is best known for movies such as Psycho, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Birds, and Rear Window.
From 1964 to 1987, Random House published a series of juvenile detective books, originally called "Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators." The books followed a trio of young boys who form a junior detective team in their fictional town of Rocky Beach, California. Bound by their motto, "We Investigate Anything," the boys take on a variety of mysteries in their area, amounting to a total of 43 finished novels in the span of over two decades. The most interesting fact about these books though is that the real-life, transformative movie director Alfred Hitchcock, is not only named in the series, but also makes appearances in the books as the boys' advisor and mystery mentor.
Alfred Hitchcock Lent His Name To The Three Investigators Books
Ultimately, the reason why Alfred Hitchcock's name is attached to "The Three Investigators" is because the author, Robert Arthur Jr., believed that using the director's name would bring attention to the series. Surprisingly, this wasn't completely out of the blue for the author either. Prior to his work on "The Three Investigators," Arthur worked on a variety of mystery writings, including several "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" short story collections and one or two episodes of the television series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." This gave him supreme knowledge of the director and the type of stories he created.
In the end though, Alfred Hitchcock's involvement with the series came down to nothing more than just the use of his name and his likeness within the series. Along with having his name in the title, Hitchcock also appeared as a ing character in the books, who would often offer the trio of boys advice or watch their exploits from afar. Furthermore, Hitchcock's character would also introduce each book, though the words were written by Arthur and later authors, not Hitchcock himself. When Robert Arthur ed away in 1969, Alfred Hitchcock's connection to the series remained.
The Three Investigators Books No Longer Mention Hitchcock's Name
A surprising twist that comes with Alfred Hitchcock's attachment to "The Three Investigators" is that he has essentially been erased from the series. Although it's not entirely clear what occurred, Hitchcock's death in 1980 caused a copyright change that meant either Hitchcock's estate requested more royalties from the book series, or the publisher stopped paying the royalties altogether. Either way, Hitchcock's name was removed from every book and his character was changed into a fictional film director named Hector Sebastian. Nowadays, much of "The Three Investigators" is owned by a German publisher, and Hitchcock has been completely removed from the property.
Though it's a strange connection, Alfred Hitchcock did play a vital role in "The Three Investigators" books, though he did essentially nothing for it. In fact, Hitchcock's name alone was enough for Robert Arthur to believe that his series would succeed, due to the director's immense fame. Although "The Three Investigators" no longer have Alfred Hitchcock to their name, the series is still an artifact of the importance of mysteries, thrillers, and detective stories at that time.
