Hitchcock Chronology: Topaz (1969)
Entries in the Hitchcock Chronology relating to Topaz (1969)...
1968
January
April
- Hitchcock begins regular meetings with author Leon Uris to develop the screenplay for Topaz.[2]
June
- Hitchcock's strained working partnership with author Leon Uris on the screenplay for Topaz comes to and end. Uris has only been able to complete a partial draft.[2]
July
- Hitchcock hires playwright Herb Gardner to work on Topaz, but Gardner soon leaves after differences of opinion. With the start of filming looming, writer Samuel A. Taylor then becomes attached to the project.[2]
- 10th - Hitchcock meets with Universal executives Edd Henry and Lew Wasserman to pitch Kaleidoscope as an alternative to making Topaz. During further meetings in the following days, Wasserman and Henry reject the proposal. Topaz in green lit with a budget of $4,000,000 — the largest budget of any Hitchcock film.[3]
- 10th - Hitchcock meets with Universal executives Edd Henry and Lew Wasserman to pitch Kaleidoscope as an alternative to making Topaz. During further meetings in the following days, Wasserman and Henry reject the proposal. Topaz in green lit with a budget of $4,000,000 — the largest budget of any Hitchcock film.[4]
August
- 5th - Hitchcock leaves Finland and travels to Denmark to shoot location footage for Topaz.[5]
- Hitchcock returns to Los Angeles to finalise pre-production on Topaz.[2]
September
- Hitchcock begins production on Topaz with European location filming, but without a completed script. Writer Samuel A. Taylor hastily works on the upcoming scenes.[2]
- 4th - Variety announces that The Short Night will be Hitchcock's next film after Topaz.[6]
October
- With most of the location based filming complete, production on Topaz returns the Universal sound stages. Filming continues until April.[2]
1969
March
- US-based filming on Topaz finally comes to an end with only the film's finalé to be shot.[2]
April
- Hitchcock returns to Paris in mid-April to film the duel finalé for Topaz. News that Alma has been hospitalised forces the director to return to Los Angeles before the sequence is completed and Herbert Coleman takes over. Two further endings will be filmed, with Hitchcock returning to Paris once more to film an ending at Orly Airport. The third "suicide" ending is constructed from existing footage.[2]
August
- Whilst vacationing at the Villa d'Este on Lake Como in Italy, Hitchcock telephones editor William H. Ziegler with the decision that the Orly Airport sequence should be used for the ending of Topaz.[2]
December
- Topaz is released in cinemas to disappointing reviews and a lacklustre box office. The film fails to recoup its $4,000,000 budget and is never re-released theatrically by Universal during Hitchcock's lifetime.[2]
1970
April
- 6th - Hitchcock undergoes a thorough physical examination. He spends much of the year recuperating after the rigours of filming Topaz.[7]
1979
July
- 28th - Actor Frederick Stafford, who starred in Topaz, dies in a plane crash, aged 51.
1981
October
- 24th - Costume designer Edith Head, who worked with Hitchcock on Notorious, Rear Window, The Trouble with Harry, To Catch a Thief, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, Topaz and Family Plot, dies aged 83.
2000
May
- 26th - Playwright and screenwriter Samuel A. Taylor, who worked on the screenplays of Vertigo and Topaz, dies aged 87.
2005
February
- 1st - Actor John Vernon, who appeared in Topaz, dies aged 72.
2006
May
- 24th - Art director and production designer Henry Bumstead, who worked on The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, Topaz and Family Plot, dies aged 91.
November
- 23rd - French actor Philippe Noiret, who appeared in Topaz, dies aged 76.
December
- 1st - French actress Claude Jade, who appeared in Topaz, dies aged 58.
2009
March
- 29th - Composer Maurice Jarre, who worked with Hitchcock on Topaz, dies aged 84.
2010
April
- 1st - Actor John Forsythe, who starred in The Trouble with Harry and Topaz, dies aged 92.
References
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 684
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, chapter 17
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 687
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, page 687
- ↑ Helsingin Sanomat (2007) - A Hitchcock thriller that never was
- ↑ Variety (1968) - Pictures: 'Short Night' for Hitch
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light (2003) by Patrick McGilligan, chapter 18.
