Hitchcock and Warner Bros.

This chapter describes the relationship between Hitchcock and Jack L. Warner. Warner Bros. had agreed to serve as a distributor for pictures made by Transatlantic films with the proviso that Hitchcock direct one Warner’s film for each Transatlantic film. When Transatlantic floundered, Jack L. Warner restructured the deal so that Hitchcock would direct four films for Warner Bros., receiving $3,000 a week as his own producer and points on those films that turned a profit. The deal worked out well for Hitchcock, earning him roughly $250,000 per film, a considerable increase over the $50,000 Selznick had paid him for Rebecca and making him one of the best-paid directors in Hollywood. Subsequent chapters discuss the impacts of censorship on each of the four films Hitchcock made for Warner Bros.