Hitchcock Chronology: 1942
Overview
Image Gallery
Images from the Hitchcock Gallery (click to view larger versions or search for all relevant images)...
Month by Month
January
- 27th - The John Van Druten play Solitaire opens on Broadway in New York, marking Patricia Hitchcock's stage debut. Unfortunately the events surrounding Pearl Harbor contribute to a shortened run of just three weeks and it closes on 14th February.[1]
February
- Cornell Woolrich's short story "It Had to Be Murder" is published in the February edition of Dime Detective.[2][3]
- 9th - The French ocean liner SS Normandie catches fire in New York Harbor. Ever the opportunist, Hitchcock dispatches a Universal newsreel unit to capture footage of the beached liner for use in Saboteur. Incensed that the film implies that the Normandie fire was sabotage, the US Navy forces the scene to be cut.[4][5][6]
March
April
May
- 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.[7][8]
- 5th - Gordon McDonell provides Hitchcock with a typewritten version of his "Uncle Charlie" story.[9]
- 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.[10]
- 11th - The Hitchcocks complete an initial outline treatment for Shadow of a Doubt.[11]
- 13th - Thornton Wilder wires Hitchcock from New York to say he would like to write the screenplay for Shadow of a Doubt.[12]
- 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.[13]
June
- 8th - Hitchcock sends a telegram to actress Joan Fontaine offering her the lead role in Shadow of a Doubt — "DEAR JOAN DO YOU WANT TO PLAY THE LEAD IN MY NEXT CONFIDENTIALLY BECAUSE S DOES NOT KNOW I'VE TELEGRAPHED YOU LOVE HITCH". However, she is unavailable.[14]
- Taking a short break from writing, Hitchcock and Thornton Wilder fly north to Santa Rosa to scout locations for Shadow of a Doubt.[15]
- 24th - Thornton Wilder heads back to New York, accompanied by Jack H. Skirball and Hitchcock En route, they complete the script for Shadow of a Doubt.[16]
- Whilst visiting Santa Rosa, Hitchcock spots local 10-year-old Edna May Wonacott skipping down the sidewalk and casts her as Teresa Wright's bookish younger sister.[17]
- Hitchcock meets Teresa Wright and describes the entire plot of Shadow of a Doubt to her. She later recalls, "to have a master storyteller like Mr. Hitchcock tell you a story is a marvellous experience".[18]
July
- Hitchcock meets with studio head Darryl F. Zanuck to discuss making a film for Twentieth Century-Fox. Hitchcock suggests a remake of The Lodger, but Zanuck isn't keen.[19]
- 30th - The Hitchcocks travel up to Santa Rosa to begin the production of Shadow of a Doubt.[20]
- 31st - Principal photography begins on Shadow of a Doubt in Santa Rosa.[21]
August
- 14th - For her birthday, Alfred presents Alma with a new handbag. Inside is a gold key to the front door of their new home, 10957 Bellagio Road.[22]
September
- After a month of location shooting in Santa Rosa, production on Shadow of a Doubt moves to stage 22 at Universal Studios to film interior sequences.[23]
- 26th - Alfred Hitchcock's mother Emma Jane passes away at Shamley Cottage, Shamley Green. The cause of death is given as "acute pyelonephritis, an abdominal fistula, and an intestinal perforation". She leaves effects to the value of £102 7s. 5d.
October
- 28th - Principal photography on Shadow of a Doubt is completed.[24]
November
- 19th - Hitchcock moves to his new offices at Twentieth Century-Fox. With Darryl F. Zanuck away on active service in North Africa, Hitchcock meets with William Goetz and staff producer Kenneth Macgowan where he pitches the idea for a "lifeboat film". Nine months later, Lifeboat would begin filming.[25]
December
- Keen to attach a big-name writer to Lifeboat, Hitchcock telegrams Ernest Hemmingway at his winter home in Cuba — "THE WHOLE STORY TAKES PLACE IN THE LIFEBOAT WITH THE CONFLICT OF PERSONALITIES, THE DISINTEGRATION OF SOCIAL INEQUALITIES THE DOMINANCE OF THE NAZI, ETC"[26]
See Also...
- articles from 1942
- births in 1942
- deaths in 1942
Notes & References
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 296
- ↑ Writing with Hitchcock (2001) by Steven DeRosa, page 11
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 480
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 303
- ↑ Wikipedia: SS Normandie
- ↑ The cut SS Normandie scene was restored for the film's 1948 post-war re-release.
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 307
- ↑ Wikipedia: Brown Derby
- ↑ Uncle Charlie by Gordon McDonell (05/May/1942)
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 308
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 308
- ↑ American Cinematographer (1993) - Hitchcock's Mastery is Beyond Doubt in Shadow
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 309
- ↑ The "S" stands for producer Jack H. Skirball. American Cinematographer (1993) - Hitchcock's Mastery is Beyond Doubt in Shadow
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, pages 311-12
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 312
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 317
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, pages 316-17
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 314
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 318
- ↑ American Cinematographer (1993) - Hitchcock's Mastery is Beyond Doubt in Shadow
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 325
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 319
- ↑ American Cinematographer (1993) - Hitchcock's Mastery is Beyond Doubt in Shadow
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, pages 322-23
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 324
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