"Rebecca": Casting Maxim de Winter

In 1938, with Gone with the Wind (1939) in pre-production, producer David O. Selznick was preparing his new cinematic endeavour— the adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel Rebecca. Selznick bought the rights to Rebecca in July 1938 —the novel itself was not published until August— and officially hired Alfred Hitchcock as director a few months later. Casting Rebecca (1940) was not a smooth affair, in particular the casting of the second Mrs de Winter, eventually played by Joan Fontaine. While finding a suitable Maxim de Winter was less complicated, it was not settled immediately either.

As early as January 1938— about six months before the rights to the novel were formally secured— Selznick was already discussing casting options for Maxim de Winter with Hitchcock. The following telegram shows that his preferred choice was Ronald Colman, though Colman himself had misgivings about the role. Selznick had turned down William Powell, still hoping he could get Colman. As the telegram shows, Leslie Howard was considered too.

January 9, 1938

Alfred Hitchcock

153 Cromwell Road

SW 5

London (England)

Dear Hitch: Thanks for your kind mention of me on radio. Saw "Lady Vanishes" last night and I love you. Regret have to inform you Colman so fearful about murder angle* and also about possibility of picture emerging as woman-starring vehicle that he will not do it unless he sees treatment, and we might find ourselves in jam by waiting. If move within next few hours can sign Leslie Howard for it; otherwise will lose him too. Bill Powell has been absolutely wild about role and anxious to do it, but I turned him down on expectation of getting Colman.... Wish you would dictate reply immediately upon receipt of this, giving me your reactions.

David

 

*Spoiler: One of Colman's objections was that in Du Maurier's novel Maxim murders his first wife, Rebecca. Obviously, Colman didn't know then that the censors wouldn't allow Rebecca to be murdered and for Maxim to get away with it. Much to Selznick's dismay, the murder eventually became an accident in the film.

Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter

(l-r) Ronald Colman, William Powell and Leslie Howard

In June 1939, more than a year later, Selznick sent this telegram to his business associate Lowell Calvert. While about to sign Laurence Olivier, Selznick wanted to have a meeting with Calvert, as William Powell was still very eager to play the role. To Selznick, both Olivier and Powell were second choices. He still believed that Ronald Colman, who had declined the part, was "the only perfect man". 

Incidentally, other stars who were reportedly considered for the Maxim role include Walter Pidgeon and Melvyn Douglas, though they don't seem to have been serious contenders.

June 15, 1939

To: Mr. Lowell V. Calvert

We are about to close for Laurence Olivier for "Rebecca", but before doing so, anxious to have immediate check on the following. Since I cannot delay Olivier negotations, would like to have some word early in the morning. William Powell is still extremely anxious to play the part; he would cost $100,000 more than Olivier, which means we would have to gross $150,000 additional to break even on the expenditure. Even if we want him there is still no certainty we can get him, since it would require MGM's consent. However, Powell is hopeful this might be obtained. Obviously I do not want to make the attempt until and unless we are sure we want him. This is not a question of casting, as we can make this decision ourselves, and on this point there is much to be said on both sides. For instance, Powell is much more right as to age, whereas Olivier is better perhaps for the moody scenes, also his English, and perhaps he has the more obvious edge romantically. The decision should probably rest not at all upon which one is better for the role, since Colman is the only perfect man and we cannot get him and therefore we are possibly equally well off with either of these second choices from standpoint of accurate casting. The decision instead should be based solely on whether William Powell is likely to add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the gross. He will have his next "Thin Man" picture immediately before....

David O. Selznick

Olivier was signed that same month, his lower salary likely clinching the deal. (According to biographer Donald Spoto, Olivier was hired for $30,000.) It's probably a good thing that Powell's asking price was too high, as he would have been totally wrong for the part (not the type!). However, I can easily understand Selznick's first choice, Ronald Colman, who I think was very much the type and would have made a good Maxim. Colman would later portray Maxim in a 1941 Lux Radio Theatre version, playing opposite Ida Lupino (odd choice!) as the second Mrs de Winter. (If you're interested, you can listen to Colman and Lupino here.) After rereading the novel and rewatching the film, I still think Olivier was very well cast, despite being ten years younger than the novel's Maxim. He was perfect in type —I think even more so than Colman— and gave a compelling performance as the tormented hero. As a seasoned Shakespearean stage actor, Olivier himself later said about his performance: "I literally walked through the part — it had nothing to do with the real work of acting. Most people thought I was excellent... That, of course, was the bloody exasperating thing about film acting. The less acting one did the better one came across." 

During the filming of Rebecca, Olivier was not a happy man. Apart from being very worried about the outbreak of the war, Olivier reportedly found working with Hitchcock difficult, feeling he wasn't given enough direction. The actor had just finished Wuthering Heights (1939) under William Wyler, and Hitch's direction stood in sharp contrast to Wyler's, who was an actor's director. But perhaps more than this, Olivier's sullen mood on the set was caused by the fact that Vivien Leigh, his lover and later wife, was not cast as the second Mrs de Winter. After Leigh heard about Olivier being cast as Maxim, she immediately wanted to play the female lead, despite not having been interested in the role before. Selznick thought she was totally wrong for it and refused to cast her. Olivier's hostile attitude towards Fontaine during Rebecca's shooting was, at least in part, due to his not playing opposite Leigh. (In 1950, Olivier and Leigh did star in Rebecca together in another Lux radio adaptation, which you can listen to here.)

Behind the scenes of Rebecca: Director Alfred Hitchcock with his two stars, Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier.

While Olivier and Fontaine didn't get along during filming, here they seem to be engaged in a friendly talk.

Thanks to Rebecca, Olivier became an international star and his performance earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. While there seems to be no record of what Daphne du Maurier thought of Olivier's portrayal of Maxim, she was satisfied with the picture as a whole and later said: "I was surprised with the treatment of Rebecca. I had worried that the film would turn out like Jamaica Inn [Hitchcock's 1939 adaptation of her novel], but I was proved wrong. The film was perfect, and I wrote to Selznick and Hitchcock and told them so!". Rebecca was nominated for a further ten Oscars (including nominations for Hitchcock and Fontaine), winning two, i.e. David Selznick for Best Picture and George Barnes for Best Cinematography.

Concluding this post, I will leave you with a memo from Selznick to Hitchcock. In the early stages of filming, the producer was critical of Olivier, in particular of his timing and his screen acting. In his memo, Selznick asked Hitch to deal with these problems.

October 13, 1939

To: Mr. Alfred Hitchcock

Dear Hitch,

Today's rushes were, I thought, all right, but frightened me from the standpoint of tempo more than any we have had so far....

Larry's silent action and reactions become slower as his dialogue becomes faster, each day. His pauses and spacing on the scene with the girl in which she tells him about the ball are the most ungodly slow and deliberate reactions I have ever seen. It is played as though he were deciding whether or not to run for President instead of whether or not to give a ball. I realize that he is not anxious to give the ball, and the reasons therefor, but even if the decision were a much more important one, for screen purposes the timing is impossible. For this reason I think you had better plan on picking up close-ups, as you discussed.... And for God's sake, speed up Larry not merely in these close-ups, but in the rest of the picture on his reactions, which are apparently the way he plays on the stage, where it could be satisfactory. But while you are at it, you will have to keep your ears open to make sure that we know what the hell he's talking about, because he still has the tendency to speed up his words and to read them in such a way that an American audience can't understand them....

DOS 

 

Source of all correspondence: Memo from David O. Selznick (1972); selected and edited by Rudy Behlmer. 

Selznick and Hitchcock

This post is my contribution to THE 2026 CLASSIC LITERATURE ON FILM BLOGATHON, hosted by SILVER SCREEN CLASSICS. To read the other entries, go here. 

For the 2020 edition of this blogathon, I wrote about the casting of the second Mrs de Winter, which you can read about here.

I told you long ago that Walt Disney has the best idea

In a 1972 interview with Dick Cavett, Alfred Hitchcock was asked about the remark "Actors are like cattle" he had supposedly made in the 1930s. Hitch famously told Cavett: "I would never say such an unfeeling, rude thing about actors at all ... what I probably said was that all actors should be treated like cattle." Later Hitch would make another derogatory remark about actors to filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich: "Actors are like children. They have to be coddled, and sometimes spanked." What seems clear is that Hitch didn't think very highly of actors and considered them a necessary evil in order to make films. It wasn't "the acting" or "the subject matter" Hitch really cared about, but most important to him were "the pieces of film ... all the technical ingredients that make the audience scream" (said Hitch in a 1973 interview with Oui Magazine). 

Hitchcock certainly didn't care for stars or their egos. While he realised that stars were necessary to draw audiences to theaters, during his long career Hitch had several times complained about the star system, especially when stars who were not suitable for their roles were forced upon him by the studio. For Torn Curtain (1966), Hitch was very unhappy with his leads Paul Newman and Julie Andrews, but Universal insisted they were cast. At the time the actors were two of Hollywood's biggest stars and —much to Hitchcock's dismay— received a combined salary of $1.5 million, cutting very deeply into the film's $5 million budget. When Newman, a method actor, repeatedly asked Hitch for his character's motivation, the director (who hated method acting) famously retorted, "Your motivation is your salary".

Hitch with Julie Andrews and Paul Newman on the set of Torn Curtain

The exorbitant fees of Newman and Andrews were on Hitchcock's mind when he wrote the following letter to Grace Kelly. With Torn Curtain about to go into production —shooting would start on 18 October 1965— Hitch complains to Grace about the salaries of his leads eating up a large part of his budget. Also, he talks about the salary demands of Shirley MacLaine, another big box-office star at the time. Hitch concludes his letter saying that Walt Disney had "the best idea". With his actors drawn on paper, if Disney didn't like them, he could just erase them or tear them up.

Source: Alamy

Transcript:

Her Serene Highness

Princess Grace of Monaco

Palace Monaco

Principality of Monaco

Dear Grace (handwritten),

Alma and I want to thank you so much for your thoughtful telegram.

I'm just about to start another movie, starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews. But the money these people get these days! Between them, they are collecting as much as I have to make the whole picture. You would be astonished if you knew some of the sums of money now being commanded on account of the acute shortage of "names". It was told me, I believe by her agent Herman Citron, that Shirley MacLaine refuses to read any material of any kind unless a million dollar fee, against a percentage, was agreed upon.

You'll remember I told you long ago that Walt Disney has the best idea. He just draws them, and if he doesn't like them, he tears them up.

Love, Hitch (handwritten)

_____

Grace Kelly had left Hollywood almost ten years earlier to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco. She had been Hitch's favourite actress, having worked with him three times, i.e. on Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954) and To Catch a Thief (1955). Grace and Hitch got along quite well and became close friends. While the pair had wanted to make a fourth film together, in the end they never did. In 1962, when Hitch was preparing his next film Marnie (1964), he asked Grace (by then already Princess of Monaco) to play the female lead. She accepted but ultimately had to withdraw from the project, due to the objections of the citizens of Monaco. (Grace's correspondence with Hitch about their failed project can be seen here.) The role eventually went to Tippi Hedren.

Above: Hitch and Grace Kelly on the sets of their mutual films, clockwise—To Catch a Thief, Dial M for Murder and Rear Window, in the latter photo also with leading man James Stewart. Below: 29 April 1974, Hitch with Princess Grace of Monaco on the occasion of Hitch's tribute at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York. 

Sam, I am frank to say that I don't understand you

David O. Selznick and Samuel Goldwyn were two of Hollywood's most successful independent producers, both with their own group of contract players. Among Selznick's contracted stars were (at one time or another) Joan Fontaine, Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck and Joseph Cotten, while Goldwyn had under contract such stars as Gary Cooper, Joel McCrea, David Niven and Danny Kaye. One of the people also under contract to Selznick was British director Alfred Hitchcock, who came to Hollywood in early June 1938 at the invitation of Selznick. 

Before being signed by Selznick, however, Hitch met with Samuel Goldwyn. Goldwyn was also interested in Hitch but made no serious bid to land him. (According to Selznick, Myron Selznick (David's brother and Hitch's agent) could "not get bids for [Hitch] at the time I signed him".) Eventually in mid-July 1938, Selznick and Hitch struck a deal, entering into a seven-year contract. The two worked together only four times, i.e. on Rebecca (1940), Spellbound (1945), Notorious (1946) and The Paradine Case (1947). More often than not, Hitch was loaned out by Selznick to other studios at considerable profits (much to Hitch's resentment as he didn't share in the profits).

Above: Selznick and Hitchcock — the men had a difficult working relationship. Below: At a dinner in Los Angeles in October 1953, (l to r) Goldwyn, Jennifer Jones (Selznick's second wife) and Selznick. The two producers reportedly admired and liked each other.

In late December 1942, Hitch had a meeting with Goldwyn about a production deal. Shooting on Shadow of a Doubt (1943) had already ended and Hitch's next project would be Lifeboat (1944) on loan-out to Twentieth Century-Fox. When Selznick heard about the Hitchcock-Goldwyn meeting, he was furious and next wrote a letter to Goldwyn. With Hitch still having a few years left on their contract, Selznick resented Goldwyn for trying to "seduce" Hitch into coming to work for him, and for telling Hitch not to waste his talents on projects like Shadow of a Doubt (which was not produced by Selznick but by Skirball Productions). Ironically enough, Shadow was to become Hitch's personal favourite.

 

January 6, 1943

Mr. Samuel Goldwyn
1041 North Formosa
Hollywood, California
cc: Mr. O'Shea

Dear Sam:

Recently, you have had a couple of occasions to remind us forcibly that you are a "frank" man, although God knows no reminder was necessary. However, I do hope that you grant to others —such, for instance, as myself— the right to be equally frank: 

Sometimes, Sam, I am frank to say that I don't understand you. You scream and yell about other people's ethics, and then behave in a fashion that makes my hair stand on end with a combination of anger and incredulity.

You recently have sent direct for one of my people, Alfred Hitchcock, and talked with him without so much as either asking us, or even letting us know after the fact. I wonder just how you would behave if I reciprocated in kind — or if any of the big companies did it with your people. I have always maintained that no one is in permanent bondage in this business, and that once a contract has expired, or is soon to expire, every individual in the business should be free to negotiate with anyone he sees fit, without giving offense to the studio to which he or she has been under contract, and regardless of the desire of the original contracting studio to make the bondage permanent. I am not talking about such a case: rather, I am referring to a man who you know full well is still under long-term contract to me. Or if you don't know it, everyone else in the business does, and you ought to know it. The very least you could have done was to find out. Ignorance is no more a defense in these matters, if that be your defense, than it is in the law. 

Hitch has a minimum of two years to go with me, and longer if it takes him more time to finish four pictures, two of which I have sold to Twentieth Century-Fox. And not alone did you try to seduce him, but you tried something which I have never experienced before with any company or individual— you sought to make him unhappy with my management of him. When you told Hitch that he shouldn't be wasting his talents on stories like Shadow of a Doubt, and that this wouldn't be the case if he were working for you, what you didn't know was that Hitchcock personally chose the story and created the script— and moreover that he is very happy about the picture, which I think he has every right to be. Further, that in the years since I brought Hitchcock over here from England (at a time when nobody in the industry, including yourself, was willing to give him the same opportunity...) and established him as one of the most important directors in the world with the production and exploitation of Rebecca, he has never once had to do a story that he was not enthusiastic about. This has always been my attitude about directors, and I happen to know that it has not always been your attitude toward directors under contract to you ...

By contrast with your own behavior, I have for months met criticisms of you with praise for your work, and for your contributions to the business, and for your integrity of production. I have said to literally dozens of people in important positions that you have never received as much recognition in the industry as is your due. And just yesterday, and despite my growing rage with you, I went even further than this with an important magazine writer who is doing an article about you. I not alone sang your praises, but I painstakingly corrected some impressions he had gained elsewhere, taking half an hour out of a very busy day for the purpose. When I hear of you doing the same thing, instead of doing your best (which would appear to be synonymous with your worst) in the opposite direction, I will believe your fine statements, and not before. I regret that I have to write you in this vein, and I do so not because I have any reluctance about rebuking you verbally, for you know from our past relationship that I have never been hesitant about such matters when I felt you to be in the wrong. I write you now, first, because I want it a matter of record, in connection with my future dealings with you; and second, because I have learned from experience that it is impossible to get you to listen to this many words unless they are in writing.

With best wishes for a fine and reformed New Year,

Sincerely yours ,

Source: Memo from David O. Selznick (1972); selected and edited by Rudy Behlmer. 

On the set of Shadow of a Doubt with Hitch (far right, seated) and Shadow's main players (l to r) Joseph Cotten, Teresa Wright and Macdonald Carey. The film was shot on location in Santa Rosa, California. It was  Hitchcock's own favourite of his films because —in Hitch's own words—  it "brought murder and violence back in the home, where it rightly belongs" .

Selznick's most successful achievement was his 1939 Gone with the Wind, and Goldwyn will probably be best remembered for The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Both films won numerous Oscars, including Oscars for Best Picture.

A big big thank you for what you do

Martin Landau began his acting career in the late 1950s. At one time a student at Lee Strassberg's prestigious acting studio and a good friend of James Dean, Landau made his Broadway debut in Middle of the Night in 1957. His first important screen appearance was in a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959), playing James Mason's creepy henchman. Other film roles followed, including supporting roles in the epics Cleopatra (1963) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). Landau's big breakthrough occurred on television, however, with leading roles in the series Mission: Impossible (1966–1969) and Space: 1999 (1975–1977). The late 1980s saw a revival of the actor's film career when he was cast in Francis Ford Coppola's Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) and Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), both roles earning him Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor. Landau's only Oscar win came several years later for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton's Ed Wood (1994), starring opposite Johnny Depp who played Ed Wood. Landau continued to act in both film and television productions until his death in 2017, aged 89.

Seen below are two letters addressed to Martin Landau. First, a letter from Alfred Hitchcock with whom Landau had worked on North by Northwest. During production of the film, the two got along very well. Hitch wrote to Landau in connection with Cleopatra, in which Landau had played the role of Rufio, Julius Caesar's right-hand man. In his letter Hitch expresses his indignation about Landau not being included in Cleopatra's Gala Premiere Program. The second letter to Landau is from fellow actor Anthony Hopkins. After rewatching Ed Wood, Hopkins liked the film even better than the first time and in particular Landau's performance in it. His letter is what Hopkins himself calls a "fan letter", showing his great admiration for Landau's work. 

Source: Heritage Auctions

 Landau with Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra

Hitchcock and Landau on the set of North by Northwest

Source: Heritage Auctions

Transcript: 

15 August 96

Dear Martin

It seems we meet only at award events in Hollywood; we manage a brief hello and then are whisked off in different directions to do our ... whatever it is we have to do. In order to avoid the usual actor's chit chat about how one admires another one's work etc etc I've always regretted the lost opportunity to say just that to you.

My favourite Woody Allen movie was "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and of course your performance in that. Also your amazing performance in "Ed Wood". I am up in the wilds of Alberta, about to start a movie with Alec Baldwin. I've had a few evenings free, and so rented a few videos. I picked out "Ed Wood" because I wanted to watch it again ... I just wanted to see how the hell you created Bela Lugosi!! Suffice to say, I don't know how you did it, and it doesn't really matter. So I thought: "well here goes ... write the man a fan letter" You were amazing!! I loved the movie when it was released, and even more now. Your performance was so moving (and funny of course) .... I don't know what else to say really. That's it I guess. I sometimes write letters to actors expressing my admiration for their work, and I think I could do it more often. I think that what I find so moving (and I really mean it - emotionally moving) is the work and detail and care and love and obsession that has gone into the performance. You and Johhny Depp were extraordinary ... It is altogether a strange business this acting stuff. Sometimes scary and mysterious and it takes vast courage to give it one's best shot. Your performance in Crimes and Misdemeanours was also excellent.

I just wanted to write you this note to express my appreciation for your work which is so powerful -what you captured in Ed Wood, as did Johnny Depp was the loneliness and pain of people desperately trying to make a mark in dreamland ... the hopes and longings for fame and success, and whatever it is that drives people sometimes into wonderfully rich and rewarding lives, and others over the edge to disaster and self destruction. I think what I am trying to say, Martin, is a big big thank you for what you do .... Thanks.

Yours

(signed "Tony")

Tony Hopkins

Landau and Johnny Depp in Ed Wood (l) and Sir Anthony Hopkins

Fun with all the hard work

Coming to the end of 2022, here is a selection of random letters, written by a few of my fave actors and a fave director.

First up is a letter from Barbara Stanwyck to Miss Cunningham (a fan) about the making of Banjo on My Knee (1936). Barbara writes how she and her colleagues had enjoyed making the film. Banjo on My Knee is the first film in which Barbara sings on screen. While she wanted to be dubbed —"I have a deep husky voice without a high note in it", Barbara had warned beforehand— producer Darryl Zanuck insisted that she would do her own singing. (There's a lovely duet by Barbara and Tony Martin, to be watched here). Apart from Banjo, Barbara also sings in This is My Affair (1937) and Lady of Burlesque (1943) but her voice was dubbed in Ball of Fire (1941).

Via: Ebay

Transcript:

Jan 10/37

Dear Miss Cunningham —

Thanks for your nice letter. I'm glad you liked "Banjo" - we all liked making it - we just had fun with all the hard work.

The filming took thirty-one days, that's about average time with the exception of epics and they go on forever.

My hair is dark red - eyes blue- and there you have it.

I do appreciate your taking the time to write me and hope you will continue to like my work.

Thank you,

Barbara Stanwyck

Barbara Stanwyck in the door opening of her trailer during production of Banjo on My Knee.

_____

In October 1938, Norma Shearer wrote to her fans, Mr and Mrs Layton, about Marie Antoinette (her "most loved role"), while next touching on the subject of Cleopatra and her new film Idiot's Delight co-starring Clark Gable.

Via: vivelareine.tumblr.com

Above: Norma Shearer and Tyrone Power in a scene from Marie Antoinette (1938), directed by W. S. Van Dyke. Below: Norma with Clark Gable in Clarence Brown's Idiot's Delight (1939).

Next is another letter to a fan, this one is from Alfred Hitchcock to a Mr Parker, dated 21 April 1941. Hitch reacts to a suggestion from Mr Parker to have the audience solve the murder mystery. The film Before the Fact mentioned in the letter would be released under the name Suspicion (1941).

Source:  Worthpoint

On the set of Suspicion with the leads Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine and director Alfred Hitchcock.

_____

In March 1971, Doris Day wrote this lovely letter to friend and fellow actress Mary Wickes. The two women appeared together in four movies, i.e. On Moonlight Bay (1951), I'll See You in My Dreams (1951), By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953) and It Happened to Jane (1959). Wickes also guest-starred on the first season of the tv series The Doris Day Show (1968).

Source: dorisday.net

A candid photo of Mary Wickes and Doris Day

Doris and Mary in By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953)

_____

Cary Grant wrote the following note to fellow actor and friend Clifton Webb, signing it "Betsy and Cary". Betsy Drake, an actress and writer, was Grant's third wife and they were married from 1949 until 1962.

Source: Heritage Auctions

Transcript:

Monday- 29th 

Clifton —

It's so nice to know someone, in this seldom considerate, and usually selfish, world, who is kind courteous and undemanding. You have our affection, dear Clifton!

Betsy and Cary

Chrysanthemums are so impressive and colorful this time of the year that we thought we'd accompany this note with a few for your mother and you.

B and C.

Cary Grant and Betsy Drake in 1958

1935, Cary Grant and Clifton Webb and some friends/fellow actors, among them Claudette Colbert and Marlene Dietrich.

_____

The final letter for this post was written by Deborah Kerr to her friend Radie in May 1990. In it, Kerr talks about Greta Garbo and Garbo's last visit to Klosters (Switzerland), the Alpine village in which Kerr and her second husband, novelist/screenwriter Peter Viertel, had settled since they got married in 1960. Viertel's mother was Salka Viertel —an actress/screenwriter and a very close friend of Greta Garbo— who, in order to be near her family, had also moved to Klosters. Garbo was a regular visitor there and even after Salka's death in 1978 she kept visiting Klosters during the summer months, her last visit being in 1988. (Incidentally, the Viertels also had a house in Marbella (Spain) from where Kerr wrote her letter.)

Tea and Sympathy (1956) mentioned in Kerr's letter is a Vincente Minnelli film, in which Kerr co-starred with John Kerr. The film was based on the 1953 stage play of the same name, written by Robert Anderson. I assume Kerr is referring to Anderson when she talks about "Bob".

Source: Heritage Auctions

Deborah Kerr and Peter Viertel — the couple got married in 1960 and remained married until Kerr's death in 2007.

Deborah Kerr with co-star John Kerr from Tea and Sympathy and Robert Anderson (right) who wrote the original play.

HAPPY 2023, EVERYONE!!

We are catering to an audience and that is why you get your money and I get mine

The successful collaboration between director Alfred Hitchcock and music composer Bernard Herrmann abruptly ended over Torn Curtain (1966). The two men had worked together on eight films, with Herrmann composing the score for The Trouble with Harry (1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), The Wrong Man (1956), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960) and Marnie (1964). On The Birds (1963), which doesn't have actual music but natural and electronic bird sounds, Herrmann had served as a sound consultant. Following Marnie, Torn Curtain was the next Hitch-Herrmann project but artistic differences led Hitchcock to eventually fire Herrmann, thereby ending their longtime collaboration and friendship. 

Universal initially didn't want Herrmann to score Torn Curtain but Hitchcock insisted he'd be hired. Once Herrmann was on board, Hitch —under pressure to deliver a hit film after the critical and box-office failure of Marnie— instructed him not to compose a conventional symphonic score but a pop/jazz score that would appeal to younger audiences. Universal wanted a modern score and Hitch went along with the studio, also because he was afraid of becoming old-fashioned. In the end, Herrmann composed music he felt was appropriate for the film, a typical Herrmann score which was precisely what Hitch and Universal did not want.

A confrontation between Hitchcock and Herrmann seemed inevitable and things eventually came to a head in late March 1966. Herrmann was recording his score at the Goldwyn Studios in Los Angeles when Hitch walked in unannounced. The director was extremely unhappy with what he heard and there was a big scene, with Hitch sending home the orchestra, cancelling the rest of the recording session ánd firing Herrmann. It was the sad end of a decade-long collaboration and friendship. Hitch and Herrmann never spoke cordially to each other again. Years later when asked if he would work with Herrmann again, Hitch simply said: "Yes, if he'll do as he's told".

British composer John Addison was eventually hired as Herrmann's replacement, but his score couldn't save Torn Curtain from becoming both a critical and commercial failure. To listen to Addinson's "Main Title" for Torn Curtain, click here; for Herrmann's unused score, go here (I personally prefer Herrmann's music).  

_____

Several months before their collaboration would come to an end, on 4 November 1965 Hitchcock sent the following telegram to Herrmann. At that time Hitch was still eager to work with the composer, although he criticised Herrmann's score for Joy in the Morning (1965), finding it "extremely reminiscent of the Marnie music". To meet audience demands, Hitch urged Herrmann to write a modern score for Torn Curtain, something with "a beat and a rhythm". Herrmann answered Hitch the very next day, his telegram (possibly meant ironically) seen below as well.

DEAR BENNY

TO FOLLOW UP PEGGYS CONVERSATION WITH YOU LET ME SAY AT FIRST I AM VERY ANXIOUS FOR YOU TO DO THE MUSIC ON TORN CURTAIN STOP I WAS EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED WHEN I HEARD THE SCORE OF JOY IN THE MORNING NOT ONLY DID I FIND IT CONFORMING TO THE OLD PATTERN BUT EXTREMELY REMINISCENT OF THE MARNIE MUSIC IN FACT THE THEME WAS ALMOST THE SAME STOP UNFORTUNATELY FOR WE ARTISTS WE DO NOT HAVE THE FREEDOM THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE BECAUSE WE ARE CATERING TO AN AUDIENCE AND THAT IS WHY YOU GET YOUR MONEY AND I GET MINE STOP THIS AUDIENCE IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE TO WHICH WE USED TO CATER IT IS YOUNG VIGOROUS AND DEMANDING STOP IT IS THIS FACT THAT HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED BY ALMOST ALL OF THE EUROPEAN FILM MAKERS WHERE THEY HAVE SOUGHT TO INTRODUCE A BEAT AND A RHYTHM THAT IS MORE IN TUNE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE AFORESAID AUDIENCE STOP THIS IS WHY I AM ASKING YOU TO APPROACH THIS PROBLEM WITH A RECEPTIVE AND IF POSSIBLE ENTHUSIASTIC MIND STOP IF YOU CANNOT DO THIS THEN I AM THE LOSER STOP I HAVE MADE UP MY MIND THAT THIS APPROACH TO THE MUSIC IS EXTREMELY ESSENTIAL I ALSO HAVE VERY DEFINITE IDEAS AS TO WHERE THE MUSIC SHOULD GO IN THE PICTURE AND THERE IS NOT TOO MUCH STOP SO OFTEN HAVE I BEEN ASKED FOR EXAMPLE BY [DIMITRI] TIOMKIN TO COME AND LISTEN TO A SCORE AND WHEN I EXPRESS MY DISAPPROVAL HIS HANDS WERE THROWN UP AND WITH THE CRY OF QUOTE BUT YOU CANT CHANGE ANYTHING NOW IT HAS ALL BEEN ORCHESTRATED UNQUOTE IT IS THIS KIND OF FRUSTRATION THAT I AM RATHER TIRED OF BY THAT I MEAN GETTING MUSIC SCORED ON A TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT BASIS STOP ANOTHER PROBLEM THIS MUSIC HAS GOT TO BE SKETCHED IN AN ADVANCE BECAUSE WE HAVE AN URGENT PROBLEM OF MEETING A TAX DATE STOP WE WILL NOT FINISH SHOOTING UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF JANUARY AT THE EARLIEST AND TECHNICOLOR REQUIRES THE COMPLETE PICTURE BY FEBRUARY FIRST

SINCERELY 

HITCH

_____

 

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

DELIGHTED COMPOSE VIGOROUS BEAT SCORE FOR TORN CURTAIN ALWAYS PLEASED HAVE YOUR VIEWS REGARDING MUSIC FOR YOUR FILM PLEASE SEND SCRIPT INDICATING WHERE YOU DESIRE MUSIC CAN THEN BEGIN COMPOSING HERE WILL BE READY RECORD WEEK AFTER FINAL SHOOTING DATE GOOD LUCK

BERNARD 

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

The seven Hitchcock films that were scored by Bernard Herrmann, my favourite scores being Vertigo and Marnie.

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).