Hitchcock Chronology: The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)
Entries in the Hitchcock Chronology relating to The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)...
1916
- During 1916, Hitchcock sees the stage play "Who is He?", based on the 1913 book The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes[1]. He will go on to adapt the book into a film and a radio play.
1925
December
- Gainsborough Pictures announce that, upon his return from Munich where he is filming The Mountain Eagle, Hitchcock will direct The Lodger.[2]
1926
January
- 5th - The Times carries a report that Gainsborough Pictures are planning to make six films during 1926, including The Pleasure Garden, The Mountain Eagle and an adaptation of Marie Belloc Lowndes' The Lodger.[3]
- Eliot Stannard begins writing the script for The Lodger, which he completes by February 1926.[4]
- 30th - The press begin reporting Gainsborough Pictures' announcement that Ivor Novello will star in The Lodger.[5]
February
- 24th - The Daily Mail reports that "an army of painters of carpenters" are busy working at Gainsborough Studios in preparation for filming to begin on The Lodger and that Hitchcock "is out daily with his camera man in search of coffee-stalls, bits of the Embankment, and street corners for the exterior scenes of this new London murder mystery".[6]
- 25th - Hitchcock films the opening scenes for The Lodger on the Thames Embankment.[7]
May
- 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.[8][9]
July
- Ivor Montagu completes his work on The Lodger and the film is screened for press and trade.[10]
September
- 15th - The Lodger is screened for the press and trade at the Scala Theatre, Nottingham. The Nottingham Evening Post praises Hitchcock and says he "has little to learn from Hollywood".[11]
1927
January
- 17th - The Lodger premiers to the public at the Marble Arch Cinema on Oxford Street. Partly due to Ivor Novello's sizeable fan base, the film is a success and is carried over into a second week.[12]
- 18th - The Times reviews The Lodger and complains that "the spirit of a good tale must perish so that the camera be not denied its close-up kisses."[13]
February
1931
February
- 9th - The Skin Game is reviewed positively by The Times, who also reports that the London Film Society screened a scene of the film along with a reel from The Lodger.[15][16]
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.[17]
1942
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.[18]
1944
November
- 21st - Eliot Stannard, one of England's most prolific screenwriters, dies aged 56. He wrote (or co-wrote) the scenarios for Hitchcock's The Pleasure Garden (1925), The Mountain Eagle (1926), Downhill (1927), The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927), The Ring (1927), Champagne (1928), Easy Virtue (1928), The Farmer's Wife (1928) and The Manxman (1929).
1951
May
- 9th - Actress Marie Ault, who played the role of the landlady (Mrs Bunting) in The Lodger, dies aged 80.
1955
June
- 17th - Actor and producer Carlyle Blackwell, who produced The Lodger, dies aged 71.
1970
January
- 30th - Actor Malcolm Keen, who starred in The Mountain Eagle, The Lodger and The Manxman, dies aged 82.
1985
January
- 14th - Actress June Tripp, who starred opposite Ivor Novello in The Lodger (1927), dies aged 83.
References
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 27
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 74
- ↑ The Times (05/Jan/1926) - The Film World
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 80
- ↑ See Daily Mail (30/Jan/1926) - Mr. Ivor Novello, The Times (02/Feb/1926) - The Film World and The Times (16/Feb/1926) - The Film World
- ↑ Daily Mail (24/Feb/1926) - New British Films
- ↑ Daily Mail (26/Feb/1926) - Thames "Murder" Film
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, pages 83-84
- ↑ Sight and Sound (1980) - Working with Hitchcock
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 85
- ↑ Nottingham Evening Post (15/Sep/1926) - New British Film: Ivor Novello in ''The Lodger''
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 85. Spoto states the film was first screened on 14/Feb/1927, but this was the date the film began it's general London release with screenings at 5 cinemas.
- ↑ The Times (18/Jan/1927) - "The Lodger"
- ↑ The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) - UK screenings
- ↑ The Times (04/May/1931) - New films in London: The Skin Game
- ↑ The Times (09/Feb/1931) - The Film Society: Russian and British pictures
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, pages 275-6
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 314
