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Lot 1026
An Alfred Hitchcock first American contract
10 December 2019, 14:00 PST
Los AngelesSold for US$3,825 inc. premium
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An Alfred Hitchcock first American contract
Typed Document Signed ("Alfred Hitchcock," "Dan O'Shea"), 18 pp, dated July 14, 1938, between Hitchcock and Selznick International Pictures, Inc., with annotations, housed in the original blue legal folder. One of only three known copies, Hitchcock's first American contract is a significant piece of Hollywood history. The contract arranges for Hitchcock to direct a motion picture at Selznick International for $50,000 and allows the studio four options to extend the term and possibly lend the director's services to other major studios. Selznick, at Hitchcock's request, also included the director's assistant/writer Joan Harrison in the contract at $125 a week; she would eventually become a credited screenwriter on Rebecca (1940). A number of modifications have been made by hand to the document including the notation that any notices sent to the director should use the address of his agent, Myron Selznick, in Beverly Hills. In March of 1939, after Hitchcock's British films achieved box office success, a revised contract starting at $40,000 per picture was negotiated. Hitchcock's debut Selznick picture would be arguably one of the best films of his career, Rebecca, for which he won his only Best Picture Academy Award®.
9 x 11.25 in.
9 x 11.25 in.