Hitchcock Chronology: Daphne du Maurier
Entries in the Hitchcock Chronology relating to Daphne du Maurier...
1938
June
- David O. Selznick meets actress Joan Fontaine at a garden party hosted by Charles Chaplin. When she mentions that she has just finished reading Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, Selznick admits he had recently bought the film rights and offers her a screen test for the role of the 2nd Mrs. de Winter.[1]
September
- Some British newspapers report that David O. Selznick has purchased the rights to Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca and name Carole Lombard as being cast in the lead role.[2]
November
- After much press speculation that Hitchcock's first American film will be about the Titanic disaster, David O. Selznick formally announces it will be an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.[3]
1939
June
- Early in June, Hitchcock submits a lengthy treatment of Rebecca to David O. Selznick, who is "shocked beyond words" at the changes Hitch had made to Daphne du Maurier's book. Selznick dictates a length memo to Hitchcock — "We bought Rebecca and we intend to make Rebecca."[4]
1953
July
- 20th - Lux Radio Theater broadcasts a radio adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's short story The Birds, starring Herbert Marshall.[5]
1954
July
- 10th - Escape broadcasts a radio adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's short story The Birds, starring Ben Wright and Virginia Gregg.[6]
1960
April
- 26th - Hitchcock reads an article about a bird attack in La Jolla, California, which reminds him of Daphne du Maurier's short story that he had recently read when it was published in the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Fourteen of My Favorites in Suspense anthology.[7][8]
1961
January
- Sensing that it had cinematic possibilities, Hitchcock instructs Paramount to try and secure the rights to Daphne du Maurier's short story The Birds. After nearly six month of negotiations, the rights are secured for $25,000.[9]
June
- 25th - After months of negotiations, Hitchcock finally secures the film rights to Daphne du Maurier's short story The Birds for $25,000. [10]
September
- 16th - After a series of telephone conversations about developing a film from Daphne du Maurier's short story The Birds, novelist Evan Hunter flies from New York to Los Angeles to meet with Hitchcock.[11]
1962
May
- Keen to tie in with the upcoming film, Penguin books reprints Daphne du Maurier's short story collection The Apple Tree as The Birds and Other Stories.[12]
1963
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.[13]
1989
May
- 13th - Novelist Daphne du Maurier, whose works were adapted into the Hitchcock films Jamaica Inn, Rebecca and The Birds, dies aged 81.
References
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 239
- ↑ See, for example, Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette (17/Sep/1938).
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 229
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 240
- ↑ Radio: The Birds (Lux Radio Theater, 20/Jul/1953)
- ↑ Radio: The Birds (Escape, 10/Jul/1954)
- ↑ The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock (1983) by Donald Spoto, page 444
- ↑ The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 24 & 28
- ↑ The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 26-27
- ↑ The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 26-27
- ↑ The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 36-37
- ↑ The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 30-31
- ↑ The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 32
