Tom Barnes's Blog: Tom's 'RocktheTower' Blog - Posts Tagged "gone-with-the-wind"

This Week
Meet me at the Ambassador
Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone
Writers Notebook: Story origins

Ambassador Hotel
Monday, January 11, 1927

Thirty six members of the Hollywood motion picture community, interested in promoting the film industry, gathered at the Ambassador Hotel for dinner and a meeting.
Members attending that meeting are listed in alphabetical order: J.A. Ball, Richard Barthelmess, Fred Beetson, Charles H. Christie, George Cohen, Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks, Joseph W. Farnham, Cedric Gibbons, Benjamin Glazer, Sid Grauman, Milton Hoffman, Jack Holt, Henry King, Jesse Lasky, M.C. Levee, Frank Lloyd, Harold Lloyd, Edwin Loeb, Jeanie MacPherson, Louis B. Mayer, Bess Meredyth, Conrad Nagel, Fred Niblo, Mary Pickford, Roy Pomeroy, Harry Rapf, Joseph Schenck, Milton Sills, John Stahl, Irving Thalberg, Raoul Walsh, Harry Warner, Jack L. Warner, Carey Wilson and Frank Woods.
During the meeting Mayer, Nagel, Niblo and Beetson laid out a general plan and fielded questions from the group. At the end of the meeting L.B. Mayer announced that the present group would be known as the official founders of the Academy of Motion Pictures.

Following that meeting the group moved swiftly to put together articles of incorporation. By mid March the first officers were elected: Douglas Fairbanks (president), Fred Niblo (vice president), M.C. Levee (treasurer), and Frank Woods (secretary).
On May 4, 1927 the State of California granted the academy a charter as a non profit corporation and one week later, on May 11, 1927 a festive and official organizational banquet took place in the Crystal Ball Room of the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles with three hundred guests in attendance.
Of that group of three hundred two hundred and thirty wrote checks in the amount of one hundred dollars each and were accepted as Pioneer members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
From that night in May it seems that everyone in the movie industry became enthusiastic about the academy and wanted to be a part of it.
Cedric Gibbons, one of the academy founders, was tasked with designing the statue of merit that would be handed out at the Academy Awards ceremony – Oscar was born.

Here are the major awards winners for the first Academy presentation. 1927-28
Production (Picture):
"WINGS," also nominated "The Racket," "Seventh Heaven...." 
Actor:
EMIL JANNINGS in "The Way of All Flesh"
Actress:
JANET GAYNOR in "Seventh Heaven"
Director: (Two Awards)
Drama Direction:
FRANK BORZAGE for "Seventh Heaven"
Comedy Direction:
LEWIS MILESTONE for "Two Arabian Knights"
Adapted Screenplay:
Benjamin Glazer (Seventh Heaven)
Original Story:
Ben Hecht (Underworld)
(To be continued)

Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone
Spicer Hearing final Witness – View the OK Corral

Doc shuffled through his notes and pulled the one out that said, why didn’t Tom Fitch ask a follow up question of Mrs. Bourland regarding the cowboy’s hands up status. Then he mused, Judge Spicer asked Tom’s question with absolute clarity and Mrs. Bourland’s answer put to rest the cowboy’s surrender claims. Doc wadded up the note and chuckled as he flipped it into the trash basket.
T.J. Drum called Judge J.H. Lucas, a slight bespectacled man to the stand. The judge’s office is on the second floor of the Exchange Building which fronts on Fremont Street, on the opposite side of the street from Fly's building.
Judge Lucas was in his office on the afternoon of the difficulty heard the shots being fired and rushed to the front window. “I looked down the street and saw Billy Clanton standing in front of the house just below Fly's building. He had his pistol up and I thought was firing. Then for fear of a stray bullet, I drew my head in for an instant. When I looked again, he was still standing there with his pistol and I thought fighting."
"Did you see anyone other than Billy Clanton, shooting or fighting, as you said?" T.J. Drum asked.
"No. I did not see anyone else that I thought had weapons."
"What happened to Billy Clanton?"
"I saw from his movement that he was wounded. His body seemed to bend a little and his pistol was above his head as he was in the act of falling. He caught against the window or wall and turned partly around. He struggled until he was clean down to the ground. Then the firing ceased."
"Thank you Judge Lucas, I have no further questions."
The district attorney stepped forward to cross-examine the witness. "Did you see any other person or persons with arms and engaged in shooting at the time you saw a pistol in Billy Clanton's hand?"
“I did not. I heard considerable shooting, but could not see any other parties with weapons, except Billy Clanton."
Price then turned to the Judge, “I have no further questions, Your Honor.”
Judge Spicer said, “You may step down, Judge Lucas.”
As soon as Judge Lucas stepped out of the witness box Tom Fitch announced, “Defense has no further witnesses, Your Honor.”
Judge Spicer rubbed his chin and looked at his notes for a long moment. Then he relaxed and sat back in his chair. "I plan to take some time and study the testimony. I shall adjourn this court to be reconvened Tuesday morning November 29th at nine o'clock."
(To be continued)

Writers Notebook:
Writers write best about what they know – sounds cliche, but it’s true. You might also add this bit, there’s a tinge of autobiography and a hint of bias in all of it.
Margaret Mitchell's ‘Gone the Wind’ is an excellent example. Ms. Mitchell based her great American novels location in and around Jonesboro, Georgia where her ancestors had lived, and a number of her characters were based on either relatives or people she knew.
Ernest Hemingway drew from a real life experience when he wrote ‘The Sun Also Rises.’ Donald Ogden Stewart, Oscar winning writer, and friend of Hemingway's tells that, while in Spain together they had made it into American newspapers as, ‘bullfighting Americanos’ in Pamplona in 1924. Then when ‘The Sun Also Rises’ was published in 1926, Stewart was mystified by the praise lavished on it. It seemed to him only an accurate journalistic account of what had actually happened during their trip to Pamplona with a group of friends, including some British Royalty. (Brett Ashley in the book).

Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com

This Week
1939 Hollywood and Garbo Laughs
Tombstone: Judge Spicer's Ruling
Writers Notebook: Kindle, Sony and Nook

Light up the Sky
(From Tom's Little Boy series)

In 1939 we lived on South Gordon Street in the West End of Atlanta, Georgia. I was in the seventh grade attending Joe Brown Junior High School. During the fall of that year I can remember the newspaper headlines and radio news talking about Hitler, Mussolini, Poland and the coming war.
But all that seemed far away and had little or nothing to do with us. What really mattered to the folks of Atlanta was a movie about the Civil War called 'Gone With the Wind.' Of course the story wasn't new because most adults had read the book 'Gone With the Wind' written by local author Margaret Mitchell. But the world premier of the movie would be held in mid December at the Loew's Grand Theater on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta. Lots of stars would be there, Clark Gable was mentioned most, the mayor and maybe even the governor would make speeches.
I guess the people of Atlanta were about as excited as at any time I could remember.
The day finally came though and soon after sundown on the night of December 15, 1939 five or six big Klieg Lights were turned on and pierced the darkness of the night as they criss-crossed the sky announcing the opening of 'Gone With the Wind.'
My younger brother George and I watched the light show while standing on our front steps. Those stalks of light looked so close you could reach out and touch them. Caught up in the moment we felt that we could just run over and see the show, maybe like climbing the fence at Ponce de Leon Park to watch the Crackers play ball. We ran for several blocks before we decided it was too far and turned back toward the house. It wasn't too bad though because for a dime we could go see the film that was playing around the corner at the Cascade Theater – 'The Wizard of Oz.'

During the year of 1939 no one in Hollywood or the country had a clue about the movie making history that was being made that year. There were several dozen films produced in '39 that likely could have won best picture award on any other year.
Here's a background story on one of those films.
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During the 1920’s and 30’s Greta Garbo’s name was movie magic. Paramount Pictures producer/director Ernst Lubitsch wanted to sign Garbo for a film he was preparing titled Ninotchka, but since Garbo shunned publicity and lived an almost secret life Lubitsch knew very little about the star with the exception of her stunning performances that he’d seen on the screen. Her last picture Camille was heavy drama and Ninotchka a comedy.
Lubitsch had Paramount arrange for Miss Garbo to come in for a sit down interview at his office and talk about the film.
Ernst Lubitsch had an outgoing personality and the interview went well, but Lubitsch had something in mind that went directly to his concept of the film, and it had to do with the female star.
Lubitsch got up from his desk and paced the room, when suddenly he turned to Garbo and said, “Can you laugh?”
A wry grin broke over Garbo’s placid face and she said, “Yes. I think I can laugh.”
Lubitsch continued to pace a bit more and said, “I’m not talking about just a little laugh. I mean a big laugh. You see the star of Ninotchka must be a character with a wide-open and completely spontaneous laugh. Can you do that?”
Garbo smiled and said, “Let me give it some thought. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
As Lubitsch escorted the star out of the office he was thinking well, it wasn’t a yes and it wasn’t a no.
True to her word Garbo was back the next day. And following the normal amenities including coffee the two of them manufactured small talk as they sparred around avoiding the subject of laughter.
Eventually though Greta Garbo’s grin changed to a wide smile and she said, “Your question and the idea – can you laugh is silly.”
Lubitsch chortled. “I think you’re right.”
“And I love it, “ she whispered. “The more I think about that silly notion the more I want to laugh.” And she began to laugh the most joyous outgoing kind of laughter Lubitsch had ever heard. In fact it was so infectious that he joined her in the celebration of the laugh.
And of course she signed a contract and they made the film.
The Paramount publicity people picked on the story and used the two-word phrase to spearhead their publicity campaign – Garbo Laughs.

Ninotchka was nominated for best picture and Garbo was nominated for best actress.
Of course everyone knows what happened at the Oscars that year – Gone With the Wind.

Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone
Conclusion of Judge Spicer's ruling..

“...In view of the past history of the country, and the existence at this time of desperate, reckless and lawless men in our midst, living by felonious and predatory pursuits, regarding neither life nor property in their career. And for these men to parade the streets armed with repeating rifles and six-shooters, and for them to demand that the chief of police and his assistants be disarmed is a proposition both monstrous and startling. This was said by one of the deceased only minutes before the arrival of the officers."
Spicer stopped briefly and mopped the sweat off his brow. "Another fact, the deceased from the first inception of the encounter were standing their ground and fighting back, giving and taking death with unflinching bravery. It does not appear to have been a wanton slaughter of unresisting and unarmed innocence, who were yielding to officers of the law, or surrendering to, or fleeing from their assailants. They were armed and defiant men, accepting the wager of battle and succumbing only in death.
Now, the prosecution claims that the Earp party acted with criminal haste and that precipitated the triple homicide by felonious anxiety and quickness to begin the tragedy. That they killed with malice aforethought, with the intent then and there to murder the deceased. And that they made use of their official character as a pretext."
There was some obvious head bobbing from cowboy faithfuls to the judge's last point.
"I cannot believe this theory, and cannot resist the firm conviction that the Earps acted wisely, discreetly and prudently to secure their own self-preservation. They saw at once the dire necessity of giving the first shot to save themselves from certain death. They acted; their shots were effective. And this alone saved all the Earp party from being slain.”
The judge took a long drink of water. Then with an air of confidence, he said, "In view of all the facts and circumstances of the case; considering the threats made, the character and position of the parties, I cannot resist the conclusion that the defendants were fully justified in committing those homicides, that it was a necessary act, done in the discharge of an official duty.”
The judge then gave several pages and sections of statutes of territorial law to back up his assumptions.
"The evidence taken before me in this case would not, in my judgment, warrant a conviction of the defendants by a trial jury of any offense whatever. I do not believe that any trial jury that could be put together in this territory would, on all the evidence taken before me, find the defendants guilty of any offense."
Judge Spicer scanned his audience and with a wry grin said, "Now it may be that my judgment is erroneous, and my view of the law incorrect. Yet it is my own judgment, and my own understanding of the law. And upon these facts I must act and decide, and not upon those of any other person. I have given over four weeks of patient attention to the hearing of evidence in this case, and most of my working hours have been devoted to an earnest study of the evidence."
The judge then broke into a smile, for the first time that day. “I have less reluctance in arriving at this conclusion because the Grand Jury of this County is now in session and it is quite within the power of that body (if dissatisfied with my decision) to call witnesses before them or to use the depositions taken before me. I shall turn them over to the District Court as required by law. They may disregard my findings and find an indictment against the defendants if they think the evidence sufficient to warrant a conviction.”
“I conclude the performance of the duty imposed upon me by saying, in the language of the statute, ‘There being no sufficient cause to believe the named, Wyatt S. Earp and John H. Holliday, guilty of the offense mentioned within,’ I order them to be released.”

Writers Notebook:
General facts about Digital Book Reader
A digital book reader is a hardware device, the intent of which is to read and display electronic books and digital content. An eBook reader is deigned and developed to meet the needs of people who have a high mobility and need stay in touch with books frequently. In such cases, it is usually troublesome to carry bulky books with you. So the need for digital book readers and electronic books was felt. Thank to the information technology, which has made it possible to keep the whole library content in a slim, thin and handy device known as eBook reader. Kindle, Sony Reader, Barnes and Noble's Nook plus several others all at competitive prices.
You authors with POD books should look into this field because that $9.99 price puts you on the level with the mass market paperbacks.


Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com

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This Week
Selznick Bows Out in Style
John Henry and HC Talk Family
Writers Notebook: Somerset Maugham

David Selznick Part 8
The film Rebecca would ring down the curtain on Selznick International Pictures, ending the run of the most successful independent motion picture company of its time.
There were many reasons for ending production and liquidating the company and here are a few. One was financial – they had accumulated too much income from Gone With the Wind and Rebecca to take ordinary tax write offs that would give them a profit. Another was Selznick's need to take out money in order to finance other films that he had an interest in. The war in Europe and the looming possibility of American becoming involved.
The end of Selznick International didn't take him out of the business. He formed his own company without outside partners as David O. Selznick Productions, Inc. In a sense though he did have partners, they were executives he had worked with for years.
In late 1941 Selznick Productions bought into United Artist with a twenty five percent share.During that period he was also working on two projects Since You Went Away and Spellbound.
Since You Went Away
Directed by John Cromwell produced by David Selznick and screenplay by David Selznick. Cast Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotton, Shirley Temple, Monte Woolly and Robert Walker.
Variety gives the film a good review. 'Since You Went Away' is a heart warming panorama of human emotions, reflecting the usual wartime frailties...'
The film got a Best Picture nomination from the Academy.
Spellbound
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, produced by David Selznick with a screenplay by Ben Hecht and Angus MacPhail and starring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck.
Spellbound caused major contention, not the first, between Alfred Hitchcock and David Selznick. Selznick wanted Hitchcock to make a movie based upon Selznick's own positive experience with Psychoanalysis. He even brought in May Romm M.D., who was credited in the film as a technical adviser. Dr. Romm and Hitchcock clashed frequently. There is no doubt that there was conflict and contention on the set of Spellbound, but in the end it was worth it.
The film got good reviews and Daily Variety said, 'The story, employing as it does psychiatry and psychoanalysis in a murder mystery... Gregory Peck, suffering from amnesia, believes that he committed a murder, but has no memory of the locale or circumstances surrounding the crime. Ingrid Bergman as a psychiatrist in love with Peck tries desperately to save him from punishment for the crime she is certain he could not have committed, and doing so risks her career and almost her life....
Salvador Dali designed the dream sequence with all the aids of futurism and surrealism in his sets...
Spellbound won a nomination for Best Picture by the Academy.
Duel in the Sun
Directed by King Vidor, produced by David Selznick, screenplay by David Selznick.
Cast included Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, Joseph Cotton, Lionel Barrymore, Lillian Gish and Walter Houston.
The film got favorable reviews and while it didn't win any prestigious awards it scored big at the box office and was one of the highest grossing films ever up to that time.
The Paradine Case
Director Alfred Hitchcock, produced by David Selznick, screenplay by David Selznick.
Cast included Gregory Peck, Ann Todd, Charles Laughton, Charles Coburn and Louis Jourdan. It tells of an English barrister who falls in love with a woman who is accused of murder, and how it affects his relationship with his wife.
This dramatic courtroom drama plot concerns a murder of a blind man by his wife so she can marry her lover. The story, cast and film are applauded by Daily Variety in their review.
Portrait of Jennie
Directed by William Dieterle, screenplay by Paul Osborne and Peter Berneis. Cast included Joseph Cotton, Jennifer Jones, Ethel Barrymore, David Wayne and Lillian Gish. Daily Variety says , 'The story of ethereal romance between two generations is told with style, taste and dignity. William Dieterle has given the story sensitive direction and his guidance contributes considerably toward the top performers from the meticulously cast players. '….Joseph Cotton endows the artist with a top performance, matching the compelling portrait by Jennifer Jones.
Selznick said he stopped making films in 1948 because he was tired. He was a hard driving producer that had been producing for twenty years. Something else, at that time the motion-picture industry was taking a terrible beating from television. Overall it seemed to be a good time to take stock and to study objectively the obviously changing public tastes. Selznick was born into and wedded to the business so he had no intention of staying away from production for too long. He spent most of the 1950s nurturing the career of his second wife, Jennifer Jones. His last film, the big budget production of A Farewell to Arms (1957) starring his wife and Rock Hudson.

In 1954, Selznick ventured into television, producing a two hour extravaganza called Light's Diamond Jubilee, which in true Selznick fashion made TV history by being telecast simultaneously on all four TV networks: CBS, NBC, ABC, and DuMont.
David Selznick was always a great promoter and here is a brief description of the event and what it was all about.
THE legend "Produced by David O. Selznick" will appear for the first time tonight on television, preceded by the title "Diamond Jubilee of Light." A foreword to the show describes it as "a potpourri of dramatics, whimsicality and oratorical flight (with bits of music too) celebrating the birth of the electric bulb; paying tribute to the American individual and his offspring, and including some commentary on a few of the lights that guide them.
Some of the stars that will appear are Judith Anderson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Benchley, Walter Brennan, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Dandridge, Dwight D. Eisenhower, George Gobel, Helen Hayes, David Niven and Debbie Reynolds.
And that was the man behind King Kong and Gone With the Wind – a motion picture producer with a touch of genius and a large portion of P.T. Barnham.

Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone
After the celebration. John Henry and his pal H.C. Talk about the past.

“And that puts your father right in the middle.”
“He put himself into that spot, got married much too soon after Mama died. And in my book that’s when he dishonored her name.”
“I guess you have every right to feel that way, John Henry. But just to let you know where I stand I’ll tell you that Major Holliday is a good man. Mama told me how you felt. She said you wouldn’t go to the wedding.”
“Aunt Susie got that right,” John Henry snapped.
“Listen, my friend. I might not have ever said this before, but outside of Mama, your mother and father were the most important people in my life.”
“I appreciate that, HC.”
“I think I can explain my feelings better by telling you about something that happened while we were still in Griffin. Remember my accident on the lime-spreader where I messed up my hand?”
“Yeah and I still blame myself for that.”
“No such thing, the fault was my own, but that’s not what I’m getting at. It has to do with my recollection of what happened when you all came in the carriage and your father picked me up and got back into the seat. I guess I had lost a lot of blood and everything seemed a little foggy to me. But after a long ride in the carriage, I was still cradled in his arms. And I remember we were going up some steps and I thought, where are we going, Papa?”
“You called him Papa?”
“Not out loud, but that’s what I thought at the time and I say that just to let you know how I feel about your father. Major Holliday was a good man that afternoon and I bet he’s still a good man.”
John Henry nodded.
They arrived early at the station and stood on the platform for a while before John Henry began to cough.
“Maybe we ought go inside, seems a little chilly, now the bourbon is wearing off,” HC said.
“No, let’s walk, I’m OK.”
“Now that you’re a dentist, what comes next? Go back to Valdosta and open an office.”
“No. That’d be the last place I’d go. My fi rst choice is Griffin, and if that doesn’t work I might fi nd something in Atlanta.”
“What are you and Mattie are gonna do?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just what I said, are you going to marry the girl or what?”
“I wish I knew. First I have to establish some kind of practice then there’s that nagging reality that we are cousins.”
“Plenty of cousins get married.”
“I know that, HC and Mattie doesn’t seem to mind—not about us and our being cousins, but we both worry about family reactions.”
“I expect you’re right about that, but I’ll bet you two can work it out.” Then HC abruptly changed the subject. “Tell me something, how’s that horse of yours doing?”
“The Gent?” John Henry said as he broke into an open smile.
“That character is a joy, HC. He’s always been healthy and can he run.”
“Do you think he could compete?”
“We’ve had him in some match races, down home. He won every event he started.”
“That sounds good to me. You know when I get tired of sitting at the keyboard, I let go, take the train out to Long Island and spend a day at the races.”
John Henry shook his head at the remark and laughed. “What with all the stalls you mucked out back home, I’d think horses would be the last thing you wanted to see.”
“You may not believe this, but some of the best days of my life were spent down home working around the barns.”
The train chugged in and boarded passengers. John Henry said good-bye to HC and stood on the platform and watched the train ease out of the station and head north.
Get away day.
It happens every year, pack you belongings say good-bye and go out into the real world. The down stairs hall and parlor area at Mrs. Greens boarding house looked like a baggage terminal, bags packed and strewn all over the place. Hacks and drivers parked on the street were waiting for fares.
John Henry and Robert McReynolds had gathered up their luggage and headed for the front door when Arnold Primrose, with a bag in each hand, walked down the wide staircase. John Henry glanced up and they made eye contact.
McReynolds nudged John Henry and suggested he forget what happened last night. Arnie wore an affable smile on his chubby face as he descended the stairs and crossed the room. Then when he got close he suddenly dropped the bags and extended a hand toward John Henry. “Guess I owe you an apology.”
“You guessed right for one time in your life, Primrose.” McReynolds quipped.
A wry grin crossed John Henry face. “I’m listening, Arnie.”
Primrose cleared his throat and with his bad Southern accent said, “Ah should be most honored, Doctor Holliday. I Arnold Primrose, in the most humble manner I can command, wish to apologize for the scene I caused last evening. I apologize to you and I apologize to your friend, Mr. Glover. And now, descending from my soapbox, may I add that I feel somewhat like an ass.”
John Henry widened his grin. “I accept your apology, Mr. Primrose and I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the part about the soapbox and the ass.”

Writers Notebook:
The idea for my writing notebook came from Somerset Maugham. Maugham's notebook was a kind of journal while mine is a collection of conversations and tips that have been passed along by some of our famous writers.
This one is guaranteed to get your attention and might even make you think. Ray Bradbury says, ‘Write from the heart, not from the mind. Go ahead and jump over the cliff – build your parachute on the way down.’

Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels Tungee's Gold, The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
Www.tombarnes39.com
www.RocktheTower.com
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com