Hitchcock Chronology: Foreign Correspondent (1940)

Entries in the Hitchcock Chronology relating to Foreign Correspondent (1940)...

1940

February

• At Hitchcock's request, Walter Wanger hires British writer Charles Bennett to work on the screenplay for Personal History (later retitled Foreign Correspondent) for a period of 4 weeks at $1,000 per week. Together with Hitchcock and Joan Harrison, Bennett fashions a script that pushes against the US Neutrality Acts which limit pro-war propaganda in Hollywood.

March

• Charles Bennett submits his draft script for Foreign Correspondent. Despite remaining on friendly terms, Bennett never works with Hitchcock again.

July

• Filming is completed on Foreign Correspondent, with the film's final scene being the last to be shot.

August

• 27th - Foreign Correspondent is given a preview screening at the Four Star Theater in Los Angeles with a limited number of seats available to the public.

September

• 25th - Foreign Correspondent receives its Hollywood première at the Four Star Theater.

1941

February

• 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".

1946

July

• 24th - The Academy Award Theater radio series broadcasts an adaptation of Foreign Correspondent (1940) starring Joseph Cotten, who took over the role at short notice when Joel McCrea was unavailable.

1959

September

• 6th - Actor Edmund Gwenn, who appeared in The Skin Game, Waltzes from Vienna, Foreign Correspondent and The Trouble with Harry, dies aged 81.

1964

April

• 18th - Screenwriter Ben Hecht, who worked with Hitchcock on Foreign Correspondent, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Notorious, The Paradine Case, Rope and Strangers on a Train, dies aged 70.

October

• 27th - Polish cinematographer Rudolph Maté, who worked with Hitchcock on Foreign Correspondent, dies aged 66.

1966

January

• 22nd - Actor Herbert Marshall, who starred in Murder! and Foreign Correspondent, dies aged 75.

1968

November

• 18th - Producer Walter Wanger, who worked with Hitchcock on Foreign Correspondent, dies of a heart attack aged 74.

1990

October

• 20th - Actor Joel McCrea, who starred in Foreign Correspondent, dies aged 84.

2007

November

• 10th - Actress Laraine Day, who starred in Foreign Correspondent, dies aged 87.