Stocking up on Hitchcock
Taken from : The Press Democrat April 15,2012
Drivers passing through Bodega are frequently startled to see Alfred
Hitchcock standing out in front of the local store. Once they realize it
is a mannequin disguised as the pudgy film master, they often come
inside to see the museum that has sprung up around him.
Alfred Hitchcock’s famous horror flick “The Birds” put Bodega and
Bodega Bay on the map in 1963. When Michael Fahmie bought the Bodega
Country Market four years ago and tourists kept asking about the film,
he decided to honor the famed director and start collecting memorabilia.
His first item was an autographed photo of Tippi Hedren, the film’s
female lead. Every few months, Hedren stops by the store to view the
growing collection, and Fahmie carries the wine that she sells to raise
money for her big cat refuge, Shambala.
“There are movie prop shops and movie novelty stores in Southern
California,” said Fahmie, 47. “My brother and I go there on treasure
hunts a couple times a year. And people contact me as word spreads.
“One of the rarest things I have is a mask they had at the premier of
‘The Birds.’People got numbers, and if their number flashed on the
screen they got a mask, which became a VIP backstage pass,” said Fahmie.
He has books about Hitchcock, original press kits from the French and
English premiers, rare records and even a Tippi Hedren Barbie doll
wearing a miniature replica of the green dress she wore in every scene.
And he’s happy to have the latex Hitchcock mask his mannequin wears.
“It took me a long time to track down the one guy who makes them in
Australia, and I got one of the last ones he made,” said Fahmie.”You’d
think all Halloween stores would carry them. I am lucky to have found
the maker before he retired.” Read more
