Lehman, Ernest. "Screen Writer's Recipe for 'Hitch's' Brew." New York Times 2 Aug. 1959: X5. Proquest Historical Newspapers. University of Pennsylvania. 7 Apr. 2008.

    This article appeared shortly after the initial release of the film. It was written by the screenwriter, Ernest Lehman, who would later be nominated for an Oscar for this screenplay. Of particular interest is the way in which he describes his goals before writing the script. Usually, he says, scripts are written without a particular director in mind. With this film however, he knew the finished product would be given life by Hitchcock, who had already reached fame by this point as an unconventional director. Because of this, Lehman said a screenwriter "will try never to be dull; one will try not to shun the bizarre or the macabre or the surprising; one will try to give one's characters a certain amount of sophistication... and one will try never to forget that murder, as well as love-making, is sometimes committed with tongue in cheek".

    Knowing what type of film Hitchcock liked to create undoubtedly changed the formulation of the script. In essence, Hitchcock was already exerting control in the film when it was just in the idea stage, before anything had even been written. Hitchcock's critics often deride his work as being too outrageous and relying heavily on chance happenings, and of course the fact that Lehman was writing the script to please Hitchcock no doubt exacerbated these criticisms. Because the script was written specifically for Hitchcock, it offered him an unusual level of control over it.  Lehman also notes that Hitchcock and he worked together closely to revise the script, up until 20 minutes before shooting scenes in some instances. This close collaboration offered a sense of continuity and eliminated friction sometimes observed in film due to conflicting ideas of two of the artistic talents, the writer and director. It is clear in this article that Lehman considered himself very fortunate to work with such an esteemed director even though he realizes that Hitchcock sometimes modified his work. He is pleased with the outcome of the project, declaring that "Hitchcock has made a silk purse out of a writer's ear."