office attraction. She had already won an Oscar for Best Actress in 1942 for her role in Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion, and had been nominated for two more: once for Rebecca in 1941 (another Hitchcock film) and once more for The Constant Nymph in 1944. She had also recently appeared in the 1947 film noir Ivy, in a role that was initially written for her sister, Olivia de Havilland. Though Fontaine was not born in England, both of her parents had been, and she was able to bring an authenticity to the role. With Fontaine on board, Rampart Productions' production coordinator, John Hambleton, was brought over to work on Norma Productions' debut film. British character actor Robert Newton, who was visiting America at the time of casting, was quickly hired for his first American film in the role of the blackmailing heavy. Newton, too, had worked with Hitchcock, in Jamaica Inn, and had received praise for his work with Laurence Olivier in Henry V and David Lean's Oliver Twist. But it was his crime, thriller and mystery films which had won him a loyal fanbase, including Carol Reed's Odd Man Out, Temptation Harbour, Snowbound, Night Boat to Dublin, Gaslight, Bulldog Sees It Through, 21 Days and Poison Pen. Dozens of other British or Commonwealth expatriates were hired for the production; actors that were either visiting America or had moved to act in Hollywood. Such was the case for Grizelda Harvey and Marilyn Williams, two British radio stars who were practically unknown in the United States. The novel was set in London and Norma Productions intended to keep the setting accurate. They hired two Academy Award-nominated art directors to design the sets: Nathan Juran and Bernard Herzbrun. Juran, who had actually won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction for his work in How Green Was My Valley, had since designed a number of film noir sets for I Wake Up Screaming, Dr. Renault's Secret, The Razor's Edge (which earned him another Oscar nomination) and Body and Soul. Herzbrun had also been nominated for an Oscar for his work in Alexander's Ragtime Band, but was mostly known as a contract art director at Universal-International Pictures, lacking no experience in mystery drama films. He had recently worked on two Lancaster films, Brute Force and All My Sons, and was noted for his work on Rogues' Regiment, Larceny, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, A