num_pages: 400
description: 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 Hitchcocks 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. Forging her own public persona as the female Hitchcock 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 Hollywoods most powerful female writer-producerone whom history has since overlooked.
language: English
title: Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock
publisher: Chicago Review Press