Hitchcock Chronology: Saboteur (1942)

Entries in the Hitchcock Chronology relating to Saboteur (1942)...

1941

August

• 20th - Having earlier persuaded David O. Selznick to allow him to base his next film on an original story, Hitchcock submits a 134-page manuscript titled "Untitled Original Treatment by Alfred Hitchcock and Joan Harrison". The story involves an act of sabotage at an airplane factory, a cross-country chase, an explosion at a newly opened dam, and a villain falling from the Statue of Liberty. After further development on the screenplay, Selznick decides to let Hitchcock make the film for another studio and a deal is struck with Universal.

November

• Hitchcock signs Robert Cummings and Priscilla Lane as the leads for Saboteur.

December

• 7th - The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the US entry into World War II allows Hitchcock to be more explicit about the war as he completes the pre-production of his new film, Saboteur. The director is in a meeting with Robert F. Boyle when they hear news of the attack.
• 12th-13th - John P. Fulton spends 2 days in New York City with a second unit shooting footage and background plates of the Statue of Liberty for Saboteur. However, strong winds mean that the top of the statue moves around too much for the footage to be used in the final film and a matte paintings are used instead.
• 12th - The shooting script for Saboteur is completed.
• 17th - Hitchcock commences filming Saboteur for Universal, starring Robert Cummings and Priscilla Lane.

1942

February

• 9th - The French ocean liner SS Normandie catches fire in New York Harbor. Ever the opportunist, Hitchcock dispatches a Universal newsreel unit to capture footage of the beached liner for use in Saboteur. Incensed that the film implies that the Normandie fire was sabotage, the US Navy forces the scene to be cut.

1960

August

• 10th - Frank Lloyd, who produced Saboteur, dies aged 74.

1985

December

• 8th - Jack H. Skirball, who produced Saboteur and Shadow of a Doubt, dies aged 89.

1990

December

• 2nd - Actor Robert Cummings, who starred in Saboteur and Dial M for Murder, dies aged 80.

2007

November

• 4th - Author and screenwriter Peter Viertel, who worked with Hitchcock on Saboteur, dies aged 86.

2009

February

• 27th - Illustrator Dorothea Holt, who worked with Hitchcock on Rebecca, Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, Rope, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, and The Man Who Knew Too Much, dies aged 94.

2010

August

• 2nd - Art director and production designer Robert F. Boyle, who worked with Hitchcock on Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, North by Northwest, The Birds and Marnie, dies aged 100.