The Flashing Stream
Beginining in March 1939, several newspapers and trade journals reported that Hitchcock would be directing an adaptation of Charles Morgan's The Flashing Stream for David O. Selznick, with some reporting that comedic actress Carole Lombard as the female lead.
The Evening Telegraph reported on 17/Mar/1939:
Mr Alfred Hitchcock, the British film director, is likely to be absent from British studios for some time, says a Hollywood message. He has signed a long term contract with Selznick International, according to the New York "Herald Tribune."
Under this he is to direct three films in Hollywood. They will be Miss Daphne Du Maurier's "Rebecca," Charles Morgan's "The Flashing Stream" and the "Titanic." Work on these pictures is expected to begin in about a fortnight after Mr Hitchcock's holiday in Florida.
The following day, The Times reported:
Motion picture rights to the play "Flashing Stream", which has been running on the London stage for more than a year, have been purchased by Selznick-International. This will be directed by the noted English megaphoner, Alfred Hitchcock, whose contract has been extended to three pictures. His first assignment will be "Rebecca". He is the most important directorial acquisition Hollywood has gotten in years!
The Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin reported on 25/Mar/1939:
The film rights of Mr. Charles Morgan's play "The Flashing Stream" have been purchased by Selznick International, and the film will be made under the direction of Mr. Alfred Hitchcock after he has completed "Rebecca", which he is shortly to begin at Hollywood. "The Flashing Stream" will be seen on the New York stage next month.
The Bulletin confirmed Hitchcock as the director on 03/Jun/1939 and then added that Carole Lombard would star on 12/Jun/1939:
Continuing her abandonment of comedy, Carole Lombard will play the starring role in the serious drama, "The Flashing Stream", to be directed by Alfred Hitchcock upon completion of his first S-l assignment "Rebecca".
On 02/Apr/1939, The Manchester Guardian reported that Hitchcock had been:
on holiday in Florida, and now begins work on Daphne Du Maurier's "Rebecca," the first of three stories waiting for him. The second will be an adaptation of "The Flashing Stream," by Charles Morgan, while the third is "Titanic".
On 11/Jul/1939, The Times printed further information about the project:
The two films to be made in Hollywood by Mr. Alfred Hitchcock — "Rebecca", an adaptation of Miss Daphne du Maurier's novel in which Mr. Laurence Olivier will be seen as Max de Winter, and "The Flashing Stream", based on Mr. Charles Morgan's play with Miss Carole Lombard as the young mathematician — will also be included in the programme of films to be presented during the next 12 months by the United Artists.
