Phantom Lady
Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock
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4.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Winner of the Mystery Writers of America's 2021 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Critical/Biographical
In 1933, Joan Harrison was a twenty-six-year-old former salesgirl with a dream of escaping both her stodgy London suburb and the dreadful prospect of settling down with one of the local boys. A few short years later, she was Alfred Hitchcock's confidante and one of the Oscar-nominated screenwriters of his first American film, Rebecca. Harrison had quickly grown from being the worst secretary Hitchcock ever had to one of his closest collaborators, critically shaping his brand as the "Master of Suspense."
Harrison went on to produce numerous Hollywood features before becoming a television pioneer as the producer of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. A respected powerhouse, she acquired a singular reputation for running amazingly smooth productions— and defying anyone who posed an obstacle. She built most of her films and series from the ground up. She waged rough-and-tumble battles against executives and censors, and even helped to break the Hollywood blacklist. She teamed up with many of the most respected, well-known directors, writers, and actors of the twentieth century. And she did it all on her own terms.
Author Christina Lane shows how this stylish, stunning woman became Hollywood's most powerful female writer-producer—one whom history has since overlooked.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Film professor Lane (Feminist Hollywood) gives proper due to the legacy of Joan Harrison, one of Hollywood's first female producers, in this wide-ranging biography. Lane makes a persuasive case that, more than just a creative partner with Alfred Hitchcock in several films and the show Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Harrison left her signature on film noir, beginning with the 1944 sleeper hit that provides the book's title, and paved the way for other female filmmakers. Drawing on original interviews and archival research, Lane follows Harrison's career trajectory, film by film, while tracing recurring themes in her work, including travel, fashion, and, especially, nuanced female characters. Nitty-gritty details Harrison's wrangling with temperamental stars and with overbearing censors, for instance add heft to the book, while excursions into her romantic and social life add color; Harrison had a fling with Clark Gable and mentored many young female stars such as Ella Raines and Merle Oberon. Hitchcock's dominating personality occasionally steals Harrison's spotlight in these pages, though she only worked with him for part of her career. Lane's lively and loving account of "one of the last great untold stories of the classical Hollywood era" will intrigue film scholars, Hitchcock fans, and general readers alike.
Customer Reviews
An Amazing Filmmaker
As a lifelong Hitchcock fan, I always knew of how essential Joan Harrison was to his success. What I didn’t know — and what this long overdue biography covers in great detail — was the story of her many creative accomplishments beyond Hitchcock. Reading about those here was fascinating, as were the insights into her personal life and her cultivation of her personal & professional styles. In an age where women in film are becoming ever more prominent behind the camera — and finally getting acknowledged for their contributions — her story couldn’t have been told at a better time.