Production thumb|left|267px|George Sanders, Laraine Day and Joel McCrea in pursuit of an assassin Producer Walter Wanger bought the rights to journalist Vincent Sheean's memoir Personal History in 1935, but after several adaptations proved unsatisfactory, Wanger allowed the story to stray significantly from the book.TCM "Notes: 'Foreign Correspondent'." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: November 12, 2022. It took numerous writers and five years before Wanger had a script he was satisfied with, by which time Hitchcock was in the United States under contract with David O. Selznick and available to direct this film on a loan-out. Hitchcock, who did not enjoy working under the usual close scrutiny of Selznick, originally wanted Gary Cooper and Joan Fontaine for the lead roles, but Cooper was not interested in doing a thriller at the time, and Selznick would not loan out Fontaine. Later, Cooper admitted to Hitchcock that he had made a mistake in turning down the film.Stafford, Jeff and John M. Miller. "Articles: 'Foreign Correspondent'." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: November 12, 2022.
Production thumb|left|267px|George Sanders, Laraine Day and Joel McCrea in pursuit of an assassin Producer Walter Wanger bought the rights to journalist Vincent Sheean's memoir Personal History in 1935, but after several adaptations proved unsatisfactory, Wanger allowed the story to stray significantly from the book.TCM "Notes: 'Foreign Correspondent'." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: November 12, 2022. It took numerous writers and five years before Wanger had a script he was satisfied with, by which time Hitchcock was in the United States under contract with David O. Selznick and available to direct this film on a loan-out. Hitchcock, who did not enjoy working under the usual close scrutiny of Selznick, originally wanted Gary Cooper and Joan Fontaine for the lead roles, but Cooper was not interested in doing a thriller at the time, and Selznick would not loan out Fontaine. Later, Cooper admitted to Hitchcock that he had made a mistake in turning down the film.Stafford, Jeff and John M. Miller. "Articles: 'Foreign Correspondent'." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: November 12 2022.