Alfred
Hitchcock occasionally hired very good, established
writers to work on his scripts (Dorothy Parker on
Saboteur and Robert Benchley on Foreign
Correspondent, for example). And he occasionally
adapted work from great writers (Joseph Conrad for
Sabotage, W. Somerset Maugham for The
Secret Agent, John Steinbeck for Lifeboat)
and very good writers (John Buchan for 39 Steps
and Daphne Du Maurier for Jamaica Inn, Rebecca
and The Birds).
But many of the other novelists
whose works he adapted for the screen are either
popular, weak writers (Leon Uris with Topaz)
or writers whose work has rightly been lost in the
inevitable attic-cleaning history performs on such
writers (I'll spare their relatives and not list
their names here).
But one thing remains clear: regardless
of the quality of the original source, Hitchcock
relied primarily on the novel for his building materials.
Of the thirty-seven feature films he made from 1934
(The Man Who Knew Too Much) to 1976 (Family
Plot), twenty-two were adapted from novels,
four from short stories and three from stage plays.
(A note to English majors counting
on their fingers: that means Hitchcock made only
eight films from original material from 1934 to
1976.)
There's really no easy formula
that determines which sources produced the best
films. Some of Hitchcock's best films came from
original ideas (North by Northwest, for example)—as
did some of his worst (Torn Curtain). And
a film isn't necessarily going to be better simply
because its original novelist is better. While Sabotage
(Joseph Conrad) is a very good film,
Psycho (Robert Bloch) is a masterpiece.
Obviously, it's what Hitchcock
did with the material that makes them great films.
But many of the original novels are worth reading
in their own right, and the list below will point
you in the right direction.
Note:
most of Hitchcock's source books are unfortunately
out of print. The individual links below will lead
you to Amazon.com, where you can purchase the book.
For the others, you might check your local library.
The Man Who Knew Too Much
(1934 & 1956)
D.B. Wyndham-Lewis and Charles Bennett (story)
The 39 Steps (1935)
John Buchan (novel)
The
Secret Agent (1936)
W. Somerset Maugham (novel's original title: Ashenden)
Sabotage
(1936)
Joseph Conrad (novel's original title: The Secret
Agent)
Young
and Innocent (1937)
Josephine Tey (real name: Elizabeth MacKintosh;
novel's original title: A Shilling For Candles)
The
Lady Vanishes (1938)
Ethel Lina White (novel's original title: The
Wheel Spins)
Jamaica
Inn (1939)
Daphne Du Maurier (novel)
Rebecca
(1940)
Daphne Du Maurier (novel)
Suspicion (1941)
Francis Iles (novel's original title: Before
the Fact)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Gordon McDonell (story)
Lifeboat (1944)
John Steinbeck (story)
Spellbound (1945)
Francis Beeding (novel)
The Paradine Case (1947)
Robert Hichens (novel)
Rope (1948)
Patrick Hamilton (play)
Under Capricorn (1949)
Helen Simpson (novel; also wrote dialogue for Sabotage
and co-wrote the original novel for Hitchcock's
early film, Murder! (novel's original title:
Enter Sir John))
Stage Fright (1950)
Selwyn Jepson (novel)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Patricia Highsmith (novel)
I Confess (1953)
Paul Anthelme (play)
Rear
Window (1954)
Cornell Woolrich (story; also wrote the novels Truffaut
adapted as Mississippi Mermaid and The
Bride Wore Black under the name William Irish)
Dial
M for Murder (1954)
Frederick Knott (play)
The Trouble with Harry (1955)
Jack Trevor (novel)
To Catch a Thief (1955)
David Dodge (novel)
The Wrong Man (1956)
Maxwell Anderson (novel's original title: The
True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero)
Vertigo (1958)
Pierre Boileau (novel's original title: d'Entre
les Morts; also wrote novel adapted as Diabolique)
Psycho
(1960)
Robert Bloch (novel)
Marnie (1964)
Winston Graham (novel)
Topaz (1969)
Leon Uris (novel)
Frenzy (1972)
Arthur La Bern (novel's original title: Goodbye
Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square)
Family
Plot (1976)
Victor Canning (novel's original title: The
Rainbird Pattern)
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