Hitchcock Chronology: 1941

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Month by Month

January

• Mr and Mrs Smith opens across America to largely positive reviews.

February

• 10th - Hitchcock commences filming on Suspicion for RKO, starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine.
• 19th - Variety reports that Hitchcock will be lecturing on "technique in melodrama" to students of the Cinematic Department of the University of California.
• 27th - The Hitchcocks attend the Academy Awards where Rebecca has 11 nominations and Foreign Correspondent has 5. Both films are nominated for "Best Production" and Rebecca wins — David O. Selznick accepts (and then keeps) the Oscar. George Barnes also takes the Oscar for "Best Cinematography".

May

• 28th - Variety reports that Hitchcock is travelling from Los Angeles to New York.

June

• Still unsure of the best ending for the film, Suspicion is shown to a test audience. The filmed ending — which sees Joan Fontaine drinking a glass of milk she believes to be poisoned only to discover Cary Grant is instead intending to commit suicide by poisoning himself — is rejected. Hitchcock later tells the New York Herald Tribune, the audience "booed [the ending], and I don't blame them." In desperation, Joan Harrison and Hitchcock eventually come up with a new ending, which is the one used in the released film.
• George Schaefer, head of production at RKO, sends a memo to Hitchcock with a suggested new ending for Suspicion. A few days later, writer Samson Raphaelson sends the director a letter with his thoughts about the ending.
• RKO, who have recently undergone a change of management, threaten to recut Suspicion to under an hour. Furious protests by Hitchcock, Myron and David O. Selznick force the studio to back down and release Hitchcock's version of the film, but not before changing the film's title from Beyond the Fact to Suspicion, much to the director's consternation (a "cheap and dull" title).
• 27th - Hitchcock flies into LaGuardia Airport, New York, to appear as a guest expert on the NBC radio quiz show Information Please.

July

• David O. Selznick raises Hitchcock's salary to $3,000 per week.

August

• Hitchcock travels to New York to meet Sidney Bernstein and Victor Saville and to discuss to the possibility of making a short film for the British Ministry of Information (MoI). Hitchcock would eventually direct Bon Voyage and Aventure Malgache, as well as contributing to Men of the Lightship and Target for Tonight. The three then return to Hollywood to try and persuade studio executives to allow MoI shorts to be shown prior to their main features in the theatres.
• 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.
• 26th - The New York Times reports that the Hitchcocks have arrived into New York by plane for a short visit.

December

• 3rd - Variety reports that Hitchcock is travelling from Los Angeles to New York.
• 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 - The shooting script for Saboteur is completed.
• 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.
• 15th - Second unit footage of the ferry trip to Bedloe Island and the Statue of Liberty is shot. A double stands in for Priscilla Lane but Norman Lloyd is in New York City and takes part in the filming. The sequence is supposed to take place on a sunny spring day, so extras have to wear light summer clothes despite the bitterly cold weather.
• 17th - Hitchcock commences filming Saboteur for Universal, starring Robert Cummings and Priscilla Lane.
• 30th - John Houseman sends a memo to David O. Selznick about a possible remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much, moving the setting of the story to South America and New York, with a climax at the Metropolitan Opera.
• 31st - Variety reports that Alma Reville and Patricia Hitchcock are travelling from Los Angeles to New York.

See Also...

• articles from 1941
• births in 1941
• deaths in 1941

Notes & References

Hitchcock Chronology
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