THE STANFORD THEATRE
Foreign Correspondent poster

Foreign Correspondent

1940 ★ 115 min
Studio: Walter Wanger Production
Starring: George Sanders, Joel McCrea, Laraine Day
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writer: James Hilton, Ben Hecht, Charles Bennett
Producer: Walter Wanger

Foreign Correspondent is a 1940 American black-and-white spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Trivia

  • Selected for the National Board of Review: Top Ten Films.
  • Also nominated for: Academy Award for Best Picture; Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay; and 2 more.
  • Producer Walter Wanger bought the rights to journalist Vincent Sheean's memoir Personal History in 1935, but after several adaptations proved unsatisfactory, Wanger allowed the story to stray significantly from the book.
  • Hitchcock, who did not enjoy working under the usual close scrutiny of Selznick, originally wanted Gary Cooper and Joan Fontaine for the lead roles, but Cooper was not interested in doing a thriller at the time, and Selznick would not loan out Fontaine.
  • Working titles for the film, which began production on March 18, 1940, and initially finished on June 5, were Personal History and Imposter.

Filming Locations

  • Shooting took place at the Samuel Goldwyn Studio in West Hollywood, and on location around Los Angeles and Long Beach.
  • The new ending was filmed on July 5, presciently foreshadowing the celebrated radio broadcasts of Edward R. Murrow.

Previous Showings

14 Runs • 9 Festivals

23,742 tickets sold

Original Billings: 1 run (October 27, 1940)

Original Run: October 27, 1940 (Sunday - Wednesday)

All runs on record (14):

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