To credit or not to credit

A month after filming on Torn Curtain (1966) had ended, Alfred Hitchcock received a note from a Universal executive, asking him to include the name of set decorator John McCarthy in the film's credits. Baffled by the request, Hitch next sent a memo concerning the matter to production associate Paul Donnelly ("I never saw John McCarthy during the whole of our production. Who is he?"). Hitch was also confused about another credit which apparently was a customary credit and appeared on the Universal logo, i.e. the byline Edward Muhl In Charge of Production. In 1953, Muhl had been appointed the studio's vice-president in charge of production and was responsible for a run of very successful films (including comedies such as Pillow Talk (1959), Operation Petticoat (1959) and Lover Come Back (1961)). After MCA acquired Universal in 1962 and other executives became co-responsible for production, the Edward Muhl credit was still used and continued to be used until 1967. Hitch wondered "What is the point of this insignia?", sending a memo to Edd Henry, Universal's then vice-president.

The two memos mentioned are seen below. Apparently Hitchcock got what he wanted as neither John McCarthy's name nor the byline Edward Muhl In Charge of Production appeared in Torn Curtain's credits.

Hitchcock during production of Torn Curtain with leading man Paul Newman. The film proved to be a flop and is generally considered one of Hitch's lesser films.

 

INTER-OFFICE COMMUNICATION 

Date       March 18, 1966

To          PAUL DONNELLY
From      ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Subject   "TORN CURTAIN"- CREDITS

Copies:
EDD HENRY
JOE DUBIN [head of Universal's legal department]

I have received a note from Joseph S. Dubin to the effect that the name of a set decorator, John McCarthy, should be included in our credits.

I never saw John McCarthy during the whole of our production. Who is he? I know you'll answer that he is the head of a department, but who is he as a contributor to our picture? If Mr. McCarthy thinks he should be included in our credits, then I think that Governor Brown also should be included, because he came on the set, and I shook hands with him, and that is more than I did with Mr. McCarthy.

Emphatically yours,

 

In the end, it wasn't John McCarthy but George Milo who was credited on screen for the set decoration of Torn Curtain.

INTER-OFFICE COMMUNICATION 

Date   March 18, 1966

To      EDD HENRY
From   ALFRED HITCHCOCK

Dear Mr. Henry, 

In the list of comments on the credits I received from Mr. Dubin there was a mention concerning a 'custom' of putting the name of 'Edward Muhl, in charge of production'. What is the point of this insignia? Am I to believe that 1,000, or if we are successful, 1,050 people are looking at the screen and on seeing the words 'Edward Muhl, in charge of production' an agreeable murmur goes over the audience? If so, then I have no further comment.

However, I am reminded of an Apocryphal story that is told concerning a dispute among a family of three about which picture they should go out to see that evening:-

"The father said, "I'd like to see the Laurel and Hardy comedy".

"Oh no", said the mother, "I want to see that Greer Garson picture".

The daughter intervenes rather emphatically, "I don't want to see either of those pictures, what I want to see is that Edward Muhl picture around the corner".

Yours informatively, 

 

Source of both memos: Hitchcock's Notebooks: An Authorized And Illustrated Look Inside The Creative Mind Of Alfred Hitchcock (1999) by Dan Auiler. 

Above: The opening and closing of Torn Curtain without the Edward Muhl credit. Below: The Universal logo with the Muhl credit, taken from Pillow Talk (1959).