Hitchcock Chronology: Month of May

Entries in the Hitchcock Chronology for the month of May...

1910

• 4th - The Birmingham Gazette runs a full-page feature about the opening of the Scala Theatre, managed by Graham Cutts.
• 10th - According to the title card after the credits, the opening scene in Secret Agent (1936) takes place on 10th May 1916 at 84 Curzon Street, London.

1920

• 6th - Famous Players-Lasky's new Islington Studios is officially opened. It is regarded as being the most technically advanced studio in the country.
• 18th - The Times newspaper carries an article about Famous Players-Lasky's new Islington Studios, describing the large water tank (used for underwater filming) and detailing the ingenious method by which the studios can overcome the notorious London fog, should it enter the building.

1923

• 5th - Producer Victor Saville and actress Betty Compson arrive into Southampton aboard the Olympic. After arriving into London, Compson attends a lavish fancy dress party in her honour at the Savoy Hotel, prior to filming starting on Woman to Woman. According to Motion Picture News, "when Betty was called upon to make a speech she replied with commendable brevity (a virtue which should be acquired by several of our best film speakers) that she was in England to do her job, and meant to do it well."
• The filming of Woman to Woman takes place at Islington Studios. This is followed by the filming of [the White Shadow]].

1925

• The front page of the Daily Express carries an advertisement from the newly formed London Film Society in which it promises to encourage "the production of really artistic films".
• Production begins on The Pleasure Garden, Hitchcock's directorial debut.

1926

• The editing of The Lodger is completed. However, due to concerns voiced within the company about the film's commerical appeal, Gainsborough recruits Ivor Montagu to tigten up the editing and flow of the film. Montagu reduces the number of intertitles and hires avant garde graphic designer E. McKnight Kauffer to create a new opening title sequence.
• The Mountain Eagle is screened in Berlin.
• 29th - The Western Morning News reports that Hitchcock, "the world's youngest producer", will "in spite of many tempting offers from California [...] dedicate his gifts to the revival of the British film industry, and when the great new studios are opened at Elstree — the English Hollywood — Mr. Hitchcock will become the principal creator of British national pictures".

1927

• 23rd - The Mountain Eagle is finally released.
• Downhill is screened for press and trade.

1929

• 13th - The Duke and Duchess of York visit the British International Pictures studios, where they meet with Alfred Hitchcock and watch a scene from Blackmail being rehearsed.
• 22nd - Location filming for the exterior shots of the Blackmail chase finalé at the British Museum takes place. According to newspaper reports, Hitchcock encouraged cinematographer Jack E. Cox to include members of the general public in the sequences.
• Filming of the sound version of Blackmail is completed by late May.

1930

• Filming completes on both Murder! and Mary.

1931

• British International Pictures announces that Rich and Strange will star Joan Barry and Henry Kendall.

1934

• 12th - Motion Picture Daily reports that actress Madeleine Carroll has left New York to return to England aboard the Empress of Britain where she'll resume working for Gaumont-British. The Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette notes that her current film, I Was a Spy, is a huge success and that she will meet with studio head Michael Balcon to discuss future projects.

1935

• The first issue of The Cine-Technician, the journal of the Association of Cine-Technicians, is published. It includes a lead article by Hitchcock — "Alfred Hitchcock Says 'Acquire a Real Knowledge of Cinema Technique'".

1938

• 28th - Hitchcock judges an amateur film festival in Glasgow, Scotland. Herbert J. Arundel of Stoke-on-Trent won first prize for his film The Smugglers' Cave.

1939

• 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.
• Hitchcock visits British actor Ronald Coleman to try and tempt him to accept the role of Maxim de Winter in Rebecca.
• 25th - The Hitchcocks, who had entered the U.S. in March on the pretext of a 6-month pleasure visit, travel down to San Ysidro, San Diego, and cross over into Mexico. On returning over the border, they declare themselves as emigrants.

1940

• 4th - Variety reports that Alma Reville is sailing from Genoa to New York aboard the Manhattan.
• 13th - Alma Reville passes through United States Immigration in New York.
• 15th - Variety reports that Alma Reville has arrived back into Los Angeles.

1941

• 28th - Variety reports that Hitchcock is travelling from Los Angeles to New York.

1942

• Over lunch at the Brown Derby, author Gordon McDonell pitches a story idea to Hitchcock about a "handsome, successful, debonair" man who visits his family in a small Californian town only for his young niece to suspect that he might be a serial killer. Initially titled "Uncle Charlie", the story becomes Shadow of a Doubt. McDonnell's original story ends with the uncle falling off a cliff after a failed attempt to silence his niece.
• 5th - Gordon McDonell provides Hitchcock with a typewritten version of his "Uncle Charlie" story.
• 7th - After hearing Gordon McDonell's "Uncle Charlie" story outline, Jack H. Skirball green-lights Shadow of a Doubt as Hitchcock's second film for Universal.
• 11th - The Hitchcocks complete an initial outline treatment for Shadow of a Doubt.
• 13th - Thornton Wilder wires Hitchcock from New York to say he would like to write the screenplay for Shadow of a Doubt.
• 21st - After meeting with Hitchcock and producer Jack H. Skirball, writer Thornton Wilder is hired to write Shadow of a Doubt for $15,000. Wilder completes 30 pages by the end of May.

1944

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

1945

• Hitchcock receives a letter from the FBI warning him that, if Notorious contains a depiction of an American intelligence officer, it will need to be vetted by the State Department. In later years, Hitchcock will joke about the FBI keeping him "under surveillance".
• 11th - Hitchcock records a pilot episode of a proposed series titled Once Upon a Midnight, an adaptation of Anthony Berkeley's 1931 novel, Malice Aforethought.

1946

• 5th - James Bridie arrives in New York to work on the script for The Paradine Case.
• Hitchcock visits London to discuss potential material for Transatlantic Pictures' debut film with Sidney Bernstein, and to scout for locations that could be used in footage for the The Paradine Case — this includes a trip northwards to Cumbria with unit manager Fred Ahern. Hitchcock then travels on to Nice, France, to search for a French actress should Alida Valli be unable to star in The Paradine Case.
• 25th - Hitchcock flies from Paris, France, to New York aboard TWA flight NC86513. The flight arrives into New York on the 26th.

1947

• 7th - Filming on The Paradine Case is completed.
• Playwright Irving Fiske files a law suit against Cary Grant and Hitchcock for infringing upon his work "Hamlet in Modern English". Hitchcock had a previously announced plans to make a modern-language version of Hamlet in 1945, although the project was soon dropped. Fiske sought damages of $1,250,000 and the case was eventually heard in October 1954.

1948

• 7th - An interview with Peter Eton and Hitchcock is included in the BBC Radio series Picture Parade.

1949

• 3rd - The Hitchcocks arrive into Southampton aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth and then travel on to London where they stay at the Savoy.
• 7th - The Hitchcocks spend the weekend with Sidney Bernstein and his wife at their farmstead in Kent. Bernstein screens a print of Bob Hopes' new film, Sorrowful Jones.
• May and June are spent polishing off the script for Stage Fright and enhancing Marlene Dietrich's role in the film.

1951

• 9th - Actress Marie Ault, who played the role of the landlady (Mrs Bunting) in The Lodger, dies aged 80.
• 20th - The Hitchcock family fly into Montreal, Québec, Canada, from London aboard British Airways flight 601/377. They then tour Montreal and Quebec City — the latter would become the location for I Confess. Finally, the Hitchcocks drive down the Maine Coast to Boston and New York City, ending their two-month long vacation.

1952

• Pre-production and casting continues for I Confess throughout May and June.

1953

• 30th - Cinematographer George Barnes, who worked with Hitchcock on Rebecca and Spellbound, dies aged 60.

1954

• 3rd - John Michael Hayes completes the script for To Catch a Thief, although further rewrites will be required to tighten it and remove parts that the Production Code Administration object to.
• Hitchcock dispatches a second unit, headed by Herbert Coleman, to the south of France to photograph background scenes and auto chase footage for To Catch a Thief.
• On his way to France, Hitchcock announces The Trouble With Harry to the press in New York City, telling them that, "It's the story of a body found by a 4-year-old boy and what happens to it thereafter. It's set in England but I hope to shoot it in New England this fall."
• 10th - Hitchcock arrives into Southampton from New York aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth. He is listed as staying in London at Claridge's hotel.
• The prinipal cast members of To Catch a Thief — Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis and John Williams — arrive in Cannes where they stay at the Carlton Hotel. John Michael Hayes joins them where he works with Hitchcock to tighten the screenplay.
• 31st - Principal photography on To Catch a Thief commences with scenes set in Robie's villa in Saint-Jeannet. The shooting is delayed by intermittent rain showers.

1956

• 22nd - Paramount hosts a charity gala permiere for The Man Who Knew Too Much in California. Hitchcock attends, along with James Stewart and Doris Day.

1957

• Hitchcock holds script meetings with Joan Harrison during the first week of May to discuss the Suspicion episode "Four O'Clock".
• Hitchcock holds Vertigo script meetings with Samuel A. Taylor during the first week of May.
• 9th - Herbert Coleman writes to Kay Selby at Paramount British Productions Ltd. in London asking for her help in tracking down a recording of Norman O'Neill's score for the 1920 production of J.M. Barrie's play Mary Rose. Hitchcock is keen for Bernard Herrmann to hear the recording and use it as a guide for Vertigo.
• 17th - Kay Selby at Paramount British Productions Ltd. replies to Herbert Coleman to say she has managed to track down possibly the only surviving recordings of Norman O'Neill's score for the 1920 production of J.M. Barrie's play Mary Rose. The old recordings are held by Schott Music and are "scratched and ghastly".

1958

• 9th - Vertigo premieres at the Stage Door Theater, 420 Mason Street, San Francisco, California, USA.

1959

• 2nd - The first episode of the six-part Tactic series is broadcast by NBC with the intention to help dispel some taboos around cancer. It features a 12-minute segment with Hitchcock.
• 3rd - The Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Banquo's Chair", directed by Hitchcock, premiers on US TV.
• Hitchcock, Herbert Coleman, Henry Bumstead and Samuel Taylor return to Los Angeles from London in late May. Despite the careful pre-production work, No Bail for the Judge is soon abandoned, partly due to Audrey Hepburn's concern about the rape scene.

1960

• 9th - Hitchcock is interviewed at the Australia Hotel in Sydney, Australia. Partway through the interview, he accidentally kicked his shoe off and is later photographed retrieving it from beneath a chair.

1962

• Studio-based filming on The Birds continues with the climatic attack on the Brenner house.
• 2nd - The American Humane Association writes to Hitchcock with their concerns about the script of The Birds.
• 9th - Impressed by the demo tape of the tratonium, Hitchcock contracts Remi Gassmann and Oskar Sala to provide a test soundtrack to the one of the bird attack sequences in The Birds.
• During mid-May, interior scenes in the Tides Restaurant are filmed for The Birds.
• The difficult week-long attic attack The Birds scenes are filmed at the end of May. Tippi Hedren comes close to a nervous breakdown and a stand-in is used for some scenes whilst she recovers.

1965

• 19th - Brian Moore completes an initial treatment for Torn Curtain.
• 25th - Brian Moore submits the first fifteen pages of his initial draft of Torn Curtain to Hitchcock.

1966

• 3rd - Actor Wylie Watson, who played Mr Memory in The 39 Steps, dies in Australia aged 77.
• 8th - Producer Erich Pommer dies aged 76.

1967

• 30th - Actor Claude Rains, who starred in Notorious, dies from an abdominal hemorrhage aged 77.

1968

• 13th - Cinematographer Robert Burks, who worked with Hitchcock on 12 films in the 1950s and 1960s, dies with his wife in a house fire, aged 58.

1971

• Preparations begin to move the Frenzy production to London.
• 9th - Peggy Robertson arrives in London and spends the following week setting up a Frenzy production office in London, ready for Hitchcock's arrival.
• 15th Alma and Alfred Hitchcock arrive into London to begin production on Frenzy. As usual, they stay at Claridge's hotel in Mayfair.
• 16th - Hitchcock begins a series of meetings to gather together the cast and crew for Frenzy.
• 23rd - The Hitchcocks dine with Anthony Shaffer and his wife at their home on the Sunday evening. The following week will be spent discussing casting options for Frenzy.
• 26th - Actor John Longden, who starred in Blackmail and has smaller roles in 4 other Hitchcock films, dies aged 70.

1972

• 6th - The Hitchcocks leave Los Angeles for the Cannes Film Festival in France. They board the cruise liner Michelangelo in New York. During the voyage, several Hitchcock films are screened for the passengers, including Frenzy.
• 15th - The Hitchcocks arrive in Cannes and stay at the Carlton Hotel.
• 19th - Frenzy is shown at the Cannes Film Festival and Hitchcock receives a standing ovation from the audience.
• 20th - The Hitchcocks spend a day in Monaco with Princess Grace and her husband.
• 21st - The Hitchcocks arrive in London, ahead of the UK press screenings and London premier of Frenzy.
• 22nd - Frenzy is screened for the press in London.
• 25th - Frenzy is premiered in London. Before the screening, he was interviewed by Robert Robinson on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
• 29th - In a letter to the editor published in The Times, author Arthur La Bern voices his disapproval of how his 1966 novel Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square was adapted into Frenzy by Hitchcock and Anthony Shaffer.

1973

• 29th - Hitchcock appears on NBC's Tomorrow show where he is interviewed by Tom Snyder.

1975

• 12th Hitchcock begins filming his 53rd film, Alfred Hitchcock's Deceit — which is retitled Family Plot in July.
• 29th Visiting journalists and film critics attend luncheon at a specially constructed graveyard set on the Universal back lot to promote Deceit. The studio's prop department has set up tombstones with the names of the attendees on them.

1977

• Hitchcock begins working with writer James Costigan on the pre-prodcution of The Short Night, the director's 54th film. Finding it difficult to work with Costigan, Hitchcock soon ends the partnership.

1979

• 8th - Hitchcock's old friend Victor Saville, who had recently attended the director's AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, dies. Several sources regard Saville's death as a contributing factor to Hitchcock deciding to abandon any attempt to make The Short Night and to shut down his bungalow office at Universal.

1983

• 5th - Actor John Williams, who appeared in three Hitchcock films and several of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes he directed, dies aged 80.

1985

• 5th - The pilot episode of The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents is broadcast on NBC.

1989

• 13th - Novelist Daphne du Maurier, whose works were adapted into the Hitchcock films Jamaica Inn, Rebecca and The Birds, dies aged 81.
• 20th - Composer Lyn Murray, who composed the score for To Catch a Thief and numerous episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, dies aged 79.

1992

• 6th - Actress Marlene Dietrich, who starred in Stage Fright, dies aged 90.

2000

• 5th - Composer Joel McNeely again conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra at City Halls, Glasgow, in a recording of Bernard Herrmann's score for Marnie. The recording is later released on the Varèse Sarabande label.
• 21st - Actor John Gielgud, who starred in Secret Agent, dies aged 96.
• 26th - Playwright and screenwriter Samuel A. Taylor, who worked on the screenplays of Vertigo and Topaz, dies aged 87.

2006

• 1st - Writer Jay Presson Allen, who wrote the screenplays for Marnie and the unfilmed Mary Rose, dies aged 84.
• 24th - Art director and production designer Henry Bumstead, who worked on The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, Topaz and Family Plot, dies aged 91.

2011

• 6th - Writer Arthur Laurents, who wrote the screenplay for Rope, dies aged 93.

2013

• 25th - Actress Kim Novak is the guest of honour at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where she introduces a screening of Vertigo.

2014

• 22th - The newly restored print of Jamaica Inn (1939) is premiered at Cannes Film Festival. The 4K digital restoration by the Cohen Film Collection was based on the British Film Institute's original nitrate negatives of the film.

References

Hitchcock Chronology
1890s	1890	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899
1900s	1900	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908	1909
1910s	1910	1911	1912	1913	1914	1915	1916	1917	1918	1919
1920s	1920	1921	1922	1923	1924	1925	1926	1927	1928	1929
1930s	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939
1940s	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
1950s	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
1960s	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
1970s	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
1980s	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
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