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Hitchcock Chronology: Month of March

Entries in the Hitchcock Chronology for the month of March...

1910

  • 1st - Hitchcock's nephew, Henry William Lee, is born to parents Ellen Kathleen and Harry Lee at 1 Hooper Street, Whitechapel, London.
  • 28th - Hitchcock's cousin Charles James Hitchcock dies from injuries sustained whilst fighting in Egypt. He had served as a Private in the 3rd County of London Yeomanry (aka the "Sharpshooters") and the Machine Gun Corps, and had also fought in Gallipoli and Palestine. He is buried at Beersheba War Cemetery.[1]

1920

1921

1923

1924

  • Eden Phillpotts' comic play The Farmer's Wife begins it's London run at the Court Theatre. It will go on to become a huge success, running for a record-breaking 1,329 performances and reportedly generating box office takings of over £200,000. It eventually closes on 29th January 1927.[3]

1926

1927

1929

1930

1934

1935

  • Several British newspapers and trade publications announce that Hitchcock's next project will be London Symphony, starring Clive Brook and based on an original story by Sir Philip Gibbs and his son, Anthony.[12]
  • Studio-based filming on the The 39 Steps is completed. A second unit team headed by Penrose Tennyson is then dispatched to Scotland to film location footage at the Forth Bridge and at Glen Coe.[13]

1937

1939

  • 4th - The Hitchcock family, along with Joan Harrison, set sail for their new lives in America aboard the RMS Queen Mary.[15][16]
  • 16th - The Hitchcock family and Joan Harrison leave New York by train, for a brief vacation in Florida and Havana.[17]
  • 22nd - The Hitchcock family and Joan Harrison fly from Havana, Cuba, into Miami, Florida, aboard an American Seaplane.[18]
  • 27th - The Hitchcocks arrive back in New York by train.[19]
  • 30th - Hitchcock gives a lecture at Columbia University, New York.[20]
  • 31st - The Hitchcocks leave New York by train, bound for Hollywood.[21]

1940

1943

1944

  • 2nd - Hitchcock flies back to America, having completed Bon Voyage and Aventure Malgache in England. He cables David O. Selznick from the Saint Regis Hotel to say he'd like to write the script for Spellbound with Ben Hecht.[25][26] Hitch had been scheduled to sail back to America from Greenock, Scotland aboard the RMS Aquitania which was due to depart on the 2nd.[27]
  • 23rd - Myron Selznick, Alfred Hitchcock's first American agent, dies from an abdominal hemorrhage, aged 46. His brother, David, is at his bedside when he passes away.[28]

1946

1947

1948

1949

  • 24th - Actress Jane Wyman wins an Oscar for her role in Johnny Belinda. Shortly afterwards, Hitchcock contacts her to offer her the lead in Stage Fright.[34]

1951

  • At the end of March, the Hitchcocks embark on a two-month long European vacation with their daughter, Patricia. They ship their car ahead and collect it in Naples, with Alma driving the family to Capri, Rome (where they meet with Ingrid Bergman, Florence, Venice and Villa d'Este by the shores of Lake Como.[35]

1952

1953

  • Financial woes at Warner Bros. result in the studio halting production on all new projects for 90 days and studio executives are later asked to take a salary cut of up to 50%. This prompts Hitchcock to ask his agent Lew Wasserman to shop around for a new contract with a different studio — Wasserman eventually secures a lucrative deal with Paramount Studios on the proviso that Hitchcock adapts a story from a collection they've optioned by writer Cornell Woolrich as his first film.[37]
  • I Confess premieres in New York City.[38]

1954

  • 16th - Hitchcock sends a memo to Paramount's Hugh Brown asking his department to research if there will be any street carnivals taking place in Nice after May 15th that they could incorporate into the filming of the flower market scene in To Catch a Thief.[39]
  • 23rd - John Michael Hayes completes his first draft of To Catch a Thief. Hayes is then required to work with a translator to translate the draft screenplay into French in order to obtain the necessary filming permits and work permits for the American cast and crew.[40]
  • 28th - The Aberdeen Film Appreciation Group holds a "Hitchcock Night" at the News Cinema in Aberdeen, Scotland, where they screen The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) and Rebecca.[41]
  • 30th - The Production Code Administration office issues a certificate of approval for Rear Window.[42]
  • By the end of March, key crew contracts are finalised for To Catch a Thief and work begins on scheduling and budgeting the film.[43]

1956

1957

  • 9th - Hitchcock is rushed to the Cedars of Lebanon hospital[47], where he is operated on to remove obstructing gallstones on March 11th. He spends the rest of March in hospital.[48]
  • Actress Vera Miles telephones Herbert Coleman towards the end of March to inform him that she is pregnant. If she is still to play the role of Madeleine/Judy in Vertigo, the start date would need to be delayed.[49]

1958

  • With American musicians on strike, composer Bernard Herrmann is unable to record the score for Vertigo. Pushed for time, Paramount London negotiates with the London Symphony Orchestra and conductor Muir Mathieson but the recordings in early March are abandoned part way through when the orchestra walks out in support of the American musicians. Associate producer Herbert Coleman quickly tries to find another orchestra in Europe who can complete the score.[50]
  • 14th-18th - The score for Vertigo is completed in Vienna with a local orchestra, conducted by Muir Mathieson.[51]
  • 16th - Hitchcock returns to Los Angeles from London.[52]

1959

1961

1962

1963

  • 13th - The Today show devotes an whole hour to promoting The Birds.[64]
  • 18th - Hitchcock addresses a luncheon of top Washington journalists at the National Press Club as part of the promotional buildup for The Birds premiere.[65]
  • 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.[66]
  • 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.[67]
  • 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.[68]
  • 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.[69]

1964

1965

1966

  • Hitchcock listens to a recording of Bernard Herrmann's score for Torn Curtain. Rather than the upbeat score Hitchcock had asked for, and which the composer had promised to deliver, the score is typical Herrmann with heavy bass, brass and woodwind. Hitchcock immediately fires Herrmann and the two never talk to each other again.[75]

1967

1969

  • US-based filming on Topaz finally comes to an end with only the film's finalé to be shot.[76]

1971

  • With Anthony Shaffer working on the Frenzy screenplay in New York, Hitchcock storyboards key sequences for the film during March.[77]
  • 4th - Hitchcock receives the Academy Fellowship Award from the Society of Film and Television Arts during a ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
  • 15th - Hitchcock's friend Hume Cronyn writes to the director asking if he could be considered for a role in Frenzy. Hitchcock replies a few days later to Cronyn with a tactful letter saying that he doesn't think any of the bit-part roles would suit an actor of his stature. [78]
  • 17th - Hitchcock has a lunch meeting with actor Michael Caine to discuss the possibility of him playing the role of Bob Rusk, the serial killer in Frenzy. Caine will eventually decline the role.[79]
  • 31st - Hitchcock comes up with the "Mr. Rusk, you haven't got your tie on" ending for Frenzy.[80]

1976

1979

  • 7th - Hitchcock receives the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award at a star-studded ceremony hosted by Ingrid Bergman. Due to concerns about his health, Hitchcock pre-records his acceptance speech in the afternoon and this footage is spliced together with the evening's speech into the final TV broadcast version.[83]

1985

1986

1992

1993

2005

2007

2009

2011

References

  1. See Find a Grave.
  2. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, pages 44-45
  3. This was a substantial figure at the time and equivalent to around £10,000,000 today.
  4. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 81
  5. The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock (1983) by Donald Spoto, page 96
  6. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 92
  7. Daily Mail (31/Mar/1927) - Film-Making Problems
  8. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 119
  9. The Times (13/Mar/1929) - The Film World: Through unknown Australia
  10. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 136
  11. The Times (05/Mar/1934) - New films in London: Waltzes from Vienna
  12. For example, see Motion Picture Daily (21/Mar/1935) - English Firm Will Produce With 1st Div.
  13. The 39 Steps: A British Film Guide (2003) by Mark Glancy, page 39
  14. Radio listings in the Gloucestershire Echo (04/Mar/1937).
  15. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 330
  16. See passenger list.
  17. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 234
  18. The aircraft was recorded as NC 822-M and was piloted by Addison G. Person.
  19. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 234
  20. The Yale Book of Quotations (2006) edited by Fred R. Shapiro
  21. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 234
  22. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 253
  23. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 256
  24. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 330
  25. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 348
  26. The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock (1983) by Donald Spoto, page 283
  27. Hitchcock is listed on the Aquitania passenger list, along with a handwritten note "R.A.F. allied forces under orders". The dangers of Atlantic travel meant that both Sidney Bernstein and Alma Reville were listed as people to be contacted in the event of Hitch's death if the Aquitania was sunk.
  28. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 353
  29. The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock (1983) by Donald Spoto, page 294
  30. Project Genome: BBC Radio Times Archive.
  31. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 415
  32. The Alfred Hitchcock Story (1999) by Ken Mogg, page 93
  33. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, pages 415 & 418
  34. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 431
  35. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 454
  36. The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock (1983) by Donald Spoto, page 336
  37. Writing with Hitchcock (2001) by Steven DeRosa, page 6
  38. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 466
  39. Writing with Hitchcock (2001) by Steven DeRosa, pages 97-98
  40. Writing with Hitchcock (2001) by Steven DeRosa, pages 96 & 101-2
  41. Aberdeen Evening Express (29/Mar/1954).
  42. Writing with Hitchcock (2001) by Steven DeRosa, page 47
  43. Writing with Hitchcock (2001) by Steven DeRosa, page 102
  44. The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock (1983) by Donald Spoto, page 378
  45. The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock (1983) by Donald Spoto, page 378
  46. The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock (1983) by Donald Spoto, page 378
  47. The hospital is now the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Wikipedia)
  48. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 546
  49. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 546
  50. Vertigo: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic (1998) by Dan Auiler, pages 142-43
  51. Vertigo: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic (1998) by Dan Auiler, pages 142-43
  52. Vertigo: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic (1998) by Dan Auiler, page 143
  53. The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock (1983) by Donald Spoto, page 409
  54. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 110-11
  55. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 112
  56. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 115
  57. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 111
  58. Hitchcock and the Making of Marnie (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 10
  59. Milwaukee Sentinel (19/Mar/1962) - Hitch Scoop 'Em, Signs Grace
  60. Hitchcock and the Making of Marnie (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 11
  61. The Times (23/Mar/1962) - Princess Grace to set up fund
  62. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 116-17
  63. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 123-25
  64. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 188
  65. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 188
  66. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 188-93
  67. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 194
  68. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 196
  69. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 194-95
  70. Hitchcock and the Making of Marnie (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 208
  71. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, pages 662
  72. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, pages 662
  73. Speech: Screen Producers Guild (07/Mar/1965)
  74. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, pages 662
  75. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 674
  76. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, chapter 17
  77. Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy: The Last Masterpiece (2012) by Raymond Foery, page 26
  78. Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy: The Last Masterpiece (2012) by Raymond Foery, pages 39-40
  79. Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy: The Last Masterpiece (2012) by Raymond Foery, page 38
  80. Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy: The Last Masterpiece (2012) by Raymond Foery, page 27
  81. The Encyclopedia of Alfred Hitchcock (2002) by Thomas M. Leitch, page 100
  82. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 729
  83. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, 739
  84. Project Genome: BBC Radio Times Archive
Hitchcock Chronology
1890s 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
1900s 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
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