Jump to: navigation, search

Hitchcock Chronology: Peggy Robertson

Entries in the Hitchcock Chronology relating to Peggy Robertson...

1961

November

December

  • 27th - Having included a scene in which school children sing a song, Evan Hunter writes to Peggy Robertson to confirm the song's title ("Risseldy Rosseldy") and asks her to check that the song is in the public domain. After timing the song and finding it too short, Robertson telephones Hunter and asks him to come up with extra lyrics. Hunter obliges but finds he must join the American Society of Composers and Publishers before the extra lyrics can be used in the final film. Much to his amusement, the Society then begins to send him regular royalty payments.[2][3]

1962

February

  • 12th - Peggy Robertson sends Evan Hunter a leather-bound copy of his screenplay for The Birds.[4]

September

  • 14th - Peggy Robertson sends a memo to requesting that the National Screen Service Studios are hired to provide the opening title sequence for The Birds.[5]

December

  • 20th - Please with the progress made by Remi Gassmann and Oskar Sala on the electronic score for The Birds, Hitchcock cables Peggy Robertson "WORK IN BERLIN COMPLETED TO MY SATISFACTION". Joined by his family, including his three granddaughters, the Hitchcocks then travel on to Paris and then St. Moritz for their Christmas vacation.[6]

1963

January

  • 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.[7]

August

  • Hitchcock meets with Peggy Robertson to discuss the possibility of hiring Fay Compton to play a role in Mary Rose. Compton had played the role of Mary Rose in the original London stage production which Hitchcock saw in April 1920.[8]
  • 21st - Peggy Robertson and Tippi Hedren arrive in London at the start of a European tour to promote The Birds.[9]

September

  • 5th - Peggy Robertson and Tippi Hedren arrive in Paris to start a European publicity tour for the The Birds. Their schedule is Frankfurt (9th), Berlin (11th), Stockholm (13th), Brussels (17th), Antwerp (18th) and Copenhagen (19th).[10]
  • 20th - Peggy Robertson and Tippi Hedren fly back to the US after their hectic European promotional tour for The Birds.[10]

1965

September

  • 9th - Unhappy with the state of Brian Moore's screenplay for Torn Curtain, Hitchcock asks Peggy Robertson to draw up a list of skilled writers who might be able to salvage the script. Amongst the names, Robertson suggests John Michael Hayes. Unwilling to work with Hayes again, Hitchcock eventually selects the English writing team of Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall.[11]

1971

May

  • 9th - Peggy Robertson arrives in London and spends the following week setting up a Frenzy production office in London, ready for Hitchcock's arrival.[12]

November

  • 10th - Hitchcock's trusted assistant Peggy Robertson leaves London to fly back to Los Angeles. Also safely stowed on the plane are the camera negatives of Frenzy.[13]

References

  1. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 182
  2. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, pages 48-49
  3. Documentary: All About The Birds - transcript
  4. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 50
  5. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 179
  6. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 166
  7. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 166
  8. 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".
  9. The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 200
  10. 10.0 10.1 The Making of Hitchcock's The Birds (2013) by Tony Lee Moral, page 202
  11. Writing with Hitchcock (2001) by Steven DeRosa, page 5
  12. Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy: The Last Masterpiece (2012) by Raymond Foery, page 38
  13. Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy: The Last Masterpiece (2012) by Raymond Foery, page 103