Joan Harrison (screenwriter) the film "Jamaica Inn" (1939) based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier. When Hitchcock moved to Hollywood in March 1939 to begin his contract with David O. Selznick to direct films, Harrison went with him as an assistant and writer. She continued contributing to the screenplays for Hitchcock's films "Rebecca" (1940), also adapted from a du Maurier novel, "Foreign Correspondent" (1940), "Suspicion" (1941), and "Saboteur" (1942). She was also credited as one of the screenwriters for "Dark Waters" (1944). Harrison was an uncredited screenwriter for "Ride the Pink Horse" (1947) and "Your Witness" (1950). She became a film producer
Joan Fontaine George Cukor gave her a small role in MGM's "The Women" (1939). Fontaine's luck changed one night at a dinner party when she found herself seated next to producer David O. Selznick. Selznick and she began discussing the Daphne du Maurier novel "Rebecca", and Selznick asked her to audition for the part of the unnamed heroine. She endured a grueling six-month series of film tests, along with hundreds of other actresses, before securing the part sometime before her 22nd birthday. "Rebecca" (1940), starring Laurence Olivier alongside Fontaine, marked the American debut of British director Alfred Hitchcock. The film was released