Every once in a while, a story comes along that is so deliciously out of this world that it's hard to believe it's actually true. This happens to be one of those stories. It involved two of the most well-known and celebrated pioneers of the entertainment industry whose legacies are still as alive and relevant today as they were when they were still active in the business almost 75 years ago. Arguably the most innovative filmmaker of all time, Alfred Hitchcock, and perhaps the most influential and prolific producer of the entertainment industry, Walt Disney, got into a bit of a spat over one of the director's planned films that led to Hitchcock having to eventually ditch a project that was set to star Jimmy Stewart. The movie that brought the two together was called The Blind Man, but because of Walt Disney, and other factors, it was never made.
What Was 'The Blind Man' Supposed to Be About?
The Blind Man was a project that Hitchcock worked on with screenwriter Ernest Lehman and was to be set in 1961. Based off the script, which got an adaptation by the BBC as an audiobook, it was going to be a story about a famous, blind jazz pianist (Stewart) named Larry Keating, who undergoes a ground-breaking eye transplant surgery. The procedure is initially considered a success and a major advancement in the field of transplant surgery, but this is a Hitchcock film, so you know that something genius and mysterious is in store. The unforeseen side effect of the procedure is that etched within the retinas of Larry Keating's eyes is an image of the man who murdered the donor. Burnt and stenciled into his eyes is the picture of this man's murderer, and Keating must act quickly and pursue the man he literally can't look away from before he can strike again. It's a wonderful premise and feels like a treasure of a movie that ended up lost in an old pirate's chest at the bottom of the sea. So why didn't we get to see this film from a cinematic icon?
Hitchcock Had Several Scripts That Were Never Made
So, the savviest of our readers will have taken note of the fact that The Blind Man was being prepared to be shot in 1961. This is significant because only a year prior, a certain Hitchcock film had made big headlines for a variety of reasons. It was a little movie called Psycho, and it would completely redefine the horror genre and take it in a fascinating new direction. For better or worse, the story of a young man named Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) who had what you might call a warped Oedipal complex mixed with murderous impulses was an absolute game changer. Everyone rushed out to see what the buzz was all about. One of those people was the legend himself, Mr. Walt Disney. According to the British Film Institute, the animation icon and creator of the internationally renowned Disneyland was "appalled" by the movie which would come back around to affect our lost treasure, The Blind Man, just a year later.
Walt Disney Hated 'Psycho' with a Passion
It's not like we should be surprised that the creator of such innocent and wondrous characters like Mickey Mouse, and Donald Duck and films like Bambi, Pinocchio, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves had his stomach turn at the sight of Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) being stabbed to death in the shower an enormous butcher's knife. Imagine the mind behind Fantasia watching as her blood swirls like an eddy before being swallowed up by the drain as she drops lifelessly onto the bathroom floor. Oh, the horror! Millions of Americans had the same response during an era when such graphic violence and murder were never depicted in such a visceral and terrifying way. No one knew at the time that they were watching one of the most pivotal movies in the history of cinema.
How Did 'Psycho' Get in the Way of 'The Blind Man'?
Okay, so Disney didn't care for what he perceived to be overtly gratuitous violence in Psycho. What does that have to do with The Blind Man a full year later? In the script that Hitchcock was working on with Lehman, a key scene in the film involves Stewart's character, Larry Keating, as he is being chased through an amusement park by a crazed murderer. Hitchcock wanted that theme park to be Disneyland. Guess who wasn't having any of that action? That's right, Walt Disney wasn't about to let such a vulgar and bloody director anywhere near his beloved sanctuary for wholesome and family-friendly entertainment. According to John Russell Tyler's Hitchcock bio, Hitch: The Life and Times of Alfred Hitchcock, Disney read about the film in the trade papers and was so disturbed and appalled by what Hitchcock had managed to get by the censors to make available for mass consumption. After finding out what Psycho was about, he wasn't going to let Hitchcock use Disneyland for a film. He even went so far as to refer to it as, "disgusting." It later came out that Hitchcock envisioned “the whole movie could be made in Disneyland.”
You Can Still Experience 'The Blind Man'
So, since Walt Dinsey put a stop to Hitchcock's The Blind Man, we'll never get to see the Master of Suspense's vision. However, you can still experience the script for yourself. Screenwriter Mark Gatiss completed the script some 50 years later, and The Blind Man was made available by the BBC in 2015. It stars Hugh Laurie in the titular role and may be worth a watch for all you Hitchcockian cinephiles out there.