The Hunter/Hitchcock Timeline

Thanks to Evan Hunter's book, Me and Hitch, published in 1997, it's pretty easy to pull together a timeline of the relationship between the writer and the director - including the decline and fall of their working relationship.

Hunter, although referring to his own records, does seem to get some dates wrong in the book, although as much of the volume is based on letters between him and the production team (Hitchcock or his assistant, Peggy Robertson) we can assume that those dates are accurate.

What's reproduced below isn't a detailed timeline, merely an overview. But it's really interesting to see how the story of their time together plays out and hints at the intensity of their relationship during this period. For many more details, read "Me and Hitch" to hear the story from Hunter's perspective.

During the podcast, our special guest, Herbert West (he of the "Trial Of  A Timelord" podcast), mentioned a very interesting article from Cinema Fantastique, from 1980. This is really worth a read - a fascinating insight into both the technical and the creative processes of making the film. The article is reproduced on the Hitchcock Zone website, here. 

Picture from Galactic Central

March 1953	Evan Hunter’s “Murder Comes Easy” is published in Real magazine.
April 1957	Alfred Hitchcock Presents… Vicious Circle. A TV episode based on the story “Murder Comes Easy” by Evan Hunter.
Early 1959	Hunter is asked to adapt Robert Turner’s “Appointment At Eleven” for the Hitchcock TV show.
(before 4th) Oct 1959	Hunter and Hitchcock first meet on the set of the TV show episode “The Crystal Trench”.
August - September 1961	Hunter is contacted, via his agent, by Hitchcock to ask him to work on adapting Daphne Du Maurier’s “The Birds” as a motion picture. The Hunter family move out to L.A. for the duration of the writing of the film.
November 1961	Hunter completes and officially hands over the screenplay.
December 1961	Hunter submits revisions to the scripts following feedback.
January 1962	Hunter completes further revisions and submits final script.
March - July 1962	“The Birds” is being shot (Bodega Bay/Studio).  Hunter occasionally attends filming.
March 1962	Hunter officially contracted to start work on adapting Winston Graham’s “Marnie”. Hunter writes to Hitchcock to say that he anticipates “No Problems” with adapting the story.
June 1962	Hunter submits his completed script for “Marnie”, but work on that film is postponed.
November 1962	Work recommences on “Marnie”.
March 1963	“The Birds” premieres and goes on general release.
April 1963	Hunter delivers his revised script for “Marnie”, with alternative versions of the wedding night sequence, contrary to Hitchcock’s intention. Hunter receives notification that the script doesn’t meet Hitchcock’s requirements.
May 1963	Hunter officially ‘fired’ from the “Marnie” project.