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Hitchcock Chronology: 1963

Overview

Image Gallery

Images from the Hitchcock Gallery (click to view larger versions or search for all relevant images)...

Month by Month

January

  • 6th - The Hitchcocks arrive back in New York after their Christmas vacation in St. Moritz.[1]
  • 8th - Hitchcock arrives back in Los Angeles.[1]
  • 11th - Peggy Robertson sends a memo detailing Hitchcock's requirements for The Birds end title card. The lack of a "THE END" title had proved to be contentious, with some preview audience members incorrectly assuming the film had broken down rather than ended.[1]
  • 28th - The American Humane Association gives their seal of approval to The Birds after watching a screening of the film.[2]

February

  • 1st - With all the effects shots completed and printed to his satisfaction, cinematographer Robert Burks' work on The Birds is completed.[3]
  • In a meeting with Universal's marketing executives, Hitchcock reveals his marketing slogan for The Birds — "Gentlemen, here is how we'll announce the movie. Are you ready? ... The Birds is coming!"[4]
  • 12th-14th - In preparation for the Museum of Modern Art's retrospective season of Hitchcock films, Peter Bogdanovich spends 3 days interviewing the director.[5]

March

  • 13th - The Today show devotes an whole hour to promoting The Birds.[6]
  • 18th - Hitchcock addresses a luncheon of top Washington journalists at the National Press Club as part of the promotional buildup for The Birds premiere.[5]
  • 21st - The Birds premiere on the 27th at the Museum of Modern Art is cancelled. The museum's film curator Richard Giffith had grown increasingly uncomfortable that Universal was pushing for a red-carpet gala celebrity event and Hitchcock was concerned that the museum's facilities were substandard.[7]
  • 27th - With the Museum of Modern Art premiere cancelled, Hitchcock instead hosts a lavish dinner at "La Pavillon" on East 55th Street, New York. Afterwards, cocktails are served at the Four Seasons followed by a private screening of The Birds.[8]
  • 27th - A press release is issued to announce that The Birds will open the 1963 Cannes Film Festival with a gala showing on May 9th.[9]
  • 28th - The Birds is premiered at the Palace Theater on Broadway, New York, where Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren release 1,000 homing pigeons. A low-key press-only screening is held at the Museum of Modern Art.[10]

April

May

  • Cornish author Frank Baker writes to Hitchcock detailing similarities between Daphne du Maurier's short story and his own 1936 novel, also titled The Birds. Joseph Dubin, head of Universal Studios' legal department responds that "there is no actionable similarity between your work, the work of Miss du Maurier or the photoplay". Despite threatening to, Baker fails to take legal action.[11]
  • The Museum of Modern Art publishes Peter Bogdanovich's 48-page The Cinema of Alfred Hitchcock as part of their Hitchcock film retrospective.[12]
  • 5th - Tippi Hedren, Alma and Alfred Hitchcock fly from Los Angeles to New York, en route to the Cannes Film Festival. They stay overnight at the Regis Hotel before flying on to Paris.[13]
  • 9th - The Hitchcocks and Tippi Hedren fly from Paris to Nice, before travelling on to Cannes. A evening cocktail reception is held in the ballroom of Les Ambassadeurs with 1,000 invited guests before the black-tie showing of The Birds at 9:30pm. Afterwards, a formal dinner is held at the Carlton Hotel for around 300 guests.[14]
  • 10th - Following a large press conference for The Birds, Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren release 400 pigeons.[14]
  • 13th - The Hitchcocks fly back to Paris from Nice, where they oversee the dubbing of The Birds trailer into various European languages.[15]
  • 16th - The Hitchcocks arrive back in Los Angeles.[15]

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

See Also...

Notes & References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 166
  2. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 182
  3. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 179
  4. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 184-85
  5. 5.0 5.1 The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 188
  6. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 188
  7. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 188-93
  8. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 194
  9. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 196
  10. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 194-95
  11. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 32
  12. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 195-96
  13. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 196-97
  14. 14.0 14.1 The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 197
  15. 15.0 15.1 The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 198
  16. Hitchcock and the Making of Marnie (2005) by Tony Lee Moral, page 207. Moral gives the date as the 26th, but this would clash with the dates Moral gives for Robertson being in Europe in his book on "The Birds".
  17. Hitchcock and the Making of Marnie (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 207
  18. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 200
  19. Hitchcock and the Making of Marnie (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 208
  20. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 201
  21. 21.0 21.1 The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 202

Hitchcock Chronology
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