Hitchcock Chronology: David O. Selznick

Entries in the Hitchcock Chronology relating to David O. Selznick...

1938

June

• 15th - Hitchcock meets with David O. Selznick.
• David O. Selznick meets actress Joan Fontaine at a garden party hosted by Charles Chaplin. When she mentions that she has just finished reading Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, Selznick admits he had recently bought the film rights and offers her a screen test for the role of the 2nd Mrs. de Winter.

July

• 2nd - David O. Selznick makes an initial contract offer to Hitchcock. The contract is below Hitchcock's expectations, but Myron Selznick insists that it will be a better offer than Sam Goldwyn can make, so Hitchcock accepts.
• 12th - David O. Selznick announces that he has signed Hitchcock.

September

• Some British newspapers report that David O. Selznick has purchased the rights to Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and name Carole Lombard as being cast in the lead role.

November

• After much press speculation that Hitchcock's first American film will be about the Titanic disaster, David O. Selznick formally announces it will be an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.

December

• The New York Film Critics name Hitchcock as "Best Director of 1938" for The Lady Vanishes in their annual poll. The news alarms Selznick, as his own vagueness about the actual start date for Rebecca could give Hitchcock the opportunity to make his debut US film for another studio. Selznick quickly renegotiates the contact and gives Hitchcock better terms whilst ensuring that he has the final say-so over any projects for other studios.

1939

May

• Auditions and screentests for the role on the second Mrs. de Winter in Rebecca begin. Amongst the actress considered: Vivien Leigh, Nova Pilbeam, Joan Fontaine, Margaret Sullivan, Loretta Young, Anita Louise, Anne Baxter, Jean Muir and Audrey Reynolds. David O. Selznick's preferred choice is Fontaine.

June

• Early in June, Hitchcock submits a lengthy treatment of Rebecca to David O. Selznick, who is "shocked beyond words" at the changes Hitch had made to Daphne du Maurier's book. Selznick dictates a length memo to Hitchcock — "We bought Rebecca and we intend to make Rebecca."
• Hitchcock submits a second lengthy treatment of Rebecca, prepared with Alma, Joan Harrison and Robert E Sherwood and running to 100 pages, to David O. Selznick. Again, Selznick is unimpressed.

July

• July and August are spent on the pre-production of Rebecca, with Hitchcock and Selznick finally coming to agreement over the screenplay.

December

• Filming on Rebecca is completed and Hitchcock hands the footage over to David O. Selznick. The lack of coverage and alternative takes frustrates Selznick as he oversees the editing the film.

1940

July

• 22nd - An adaptation of The Lodger is broadcast on US radio, apparently featuring Hitchcock (his voice was actually provided by actor Joseph Kearns), with actors Herbert Marshall and Edmund Gwenn starring as the lodger and landlord respectively. Although well received, David O. Selznick rules out Hitchcock having any further involvement with a proposed radio series. Revived in 1942, Suspense ran for 20 years and included a radio adaptation of The 39 Steps in 1952.

December

• 12th - Loew's Grand Theatre, Atlanta, hosts the "anniversary premiere" screening of Selznick's Gone With the Wind. A plane carrying Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier and Hitchcock to Atlanta is unable to land due to fog and diverts to Augusta (150 miles away). Leigh, Olivier and Hitchcock miss the screening and fly back to Los Angeles the following day.

1941

February

• 27th - The Hitchcocks attend the Academy Awards where Rebecca has 11 nominations and Foreign Correspondent has 5. Both films are nominated for "Best Production" and Rebecca wins — David O. Selznick accepts (and then keeps) the Oscar. George Barnes also takes the Oscar for "Best Cinematography".

June

• RKO, who have recently undergone a change of management, threaten to recut Suspicion to under an hour. Furious protests by Hitchcock, Myron and David O. Selznick force the studio to back down and release Hitchcock's version of the film, but not before changing the film's title from Beyond the Fact to Suspicion, much to the director's consternation (a "cheap and dull" title).

July

• David O. Selznick raises Hitchcock's salary to $3,000 per week.

August

• 20th - Having earlier persuaded David O. Selznick to allow him to base his next film on an original story, Hitchcock submits a 134-page manuscript titled "Untitled Original Treatment by Alfred Hitchcock and Joan Harrison". The story involves an act of sabotage at an airplane factory, a cross-country chase, an explosion at a newly opened dam, and a villain falling from the Statue of Liberty. After further development on the screenplay, Selznick decides to let Hitchcock make the film for another studio and a deal is struck with Universal.

December

• 30th - John Houseman sends a memo to David O. Selznick about a possible remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much, moving the setting of the story to South America and New York, with a climax at the Metropolitan Opera.

1944

March

• 2nd - Hitchcock flies back to America, having completed Bon Voyage and Aventure Malgache in England. He cables David O. Selznick from the Saint Regis Hotel to say he'd like to write the script for Spellbound with Ben Hecht. Hitch had been scheduled to sail back to America from Greenock, Scotland aboard the RMS Aquitania which was due to depart on the 2nd.
• 23rd - Myron Selznick, Alfred Hitchcock's first American agent, dies from an abdominal hemorrhage, aged 46. His brother, David, is at his bedside when he passes away.

May

• Ben Hecht and Hitchcock arrive back in Hollywood and begin meetings with David O. Selznick to discuss Spellbound.

August

• 31st - Hitchcock signs a new contract with David O. Selznick, which more than doubles his salary.

September

• 15th - Hitchcock meets with RKO producer William Dozier at Chasen's Restaurant, where he outlines the plot of a story that will eventually become Notorious. Dozier is keen for RKO to purchase the story, but David O. Selznick overrules and decides it should be a Selznick International Pictures film.

October

• 15th - Hitchcock arrives in London. Much to David O. Selznick's annoyance, Hitchcock uses up his 12 weeks of holiday to meet with Sidney Bernstein in order to continue their discussions about creating a new film company.

December

• Hitchcock returns from London in time for Christmas. David O. Selznick gives the go-ahead for Notorious to be Hitchcock's next film. During Hitchcock's absence, Selznick hired William Cameron Menzies to reshoot some of the scenes in Spellbound's dream sequence — when Salvador Dalí finally saw the finished film, he was reportedly very disappointed with the changes made to his designs.

1946

February

• U.S. local newspapers report that David O. Selznick is close to signing Laurence Olivier to start in Hitchcock's next film, The Paradine Case.

July

• Increasingly frustrated by the seemingly slow pace of work on the screenplay for The Paradine Case, David O. Selznick takes over and begins working on it.

December

• In early December, David O. Selznick and Hitchcock work for two weeks with Ben Hecht on finishing The Paradine Case screenplay.
• 19th - Principal photography begins on The Paradine Case, starring Gregory Peck, Ann Todd, Alida Valli and Charles Laughton. The start of production was delayed by two months due Selznick's decision to close his studios during a Hollywood strike.

1965

June

• 22nd - Producer David O. Selznick, who brought Hitchcock to America, dies following a series of heart attacks, aged 63.