Tom Barnes's Blog: Tom's 'RocktheTower' Blog - Posts Tagged "rko"
Selznick, Paramount and The Creek Indian War
This Week
Selznick Memos
Tungee's Gold and a Legend
Writers Notebook: Sherwood Anderson
Memos:
According to Rudy Behlmer, editor of David O. Selznick's Memos, David's first official memo was written to Mr. Harry Rapf on October 15, 1926. The subject was in regards to the film, 'The Armed Cruiser Potemkin.' The memo expressed his enthusiasm for the picture and suggested that MGM executives should look at it with the idea of acquiring the services of the film's director Sergi Eisenstein.
Possibly after one too many memos and an argument Hunt Stromberg, producer of White Shadows in the South Pacific, David Selznick found himself without a job and on the street again.
Following several months of inactivity his phone rang and he was asked to come to B.P. Schulberg's office at Paramount.
Schulberg offered David a job, but with less money, David declined the offer and walked out of the office.
Schulberg thought Selznick was arrogant and figured good riddance.
Several of David's pals director William Wellman, Paul Bern, B.P. Feinman and Bernie Zeidman heard what had happened, they thought Schulberg had made a mistake and told him so.
Schulberg bowed to the pressure and gave David two weeks to prove himself. Following the two week trial Schulberg apparently agreed with Wellman and the others and appointed David Selznick his executive assistant.
During that trial period David had proposed several good picture ideas, and at the same time proved to be a whiz at making up great picture titles. Paramount was giving a hundred dollar bonus for titles that were used and David made out like a bandit.
Those were the years of transition from silent to sound and every studio in Hollywood was racing to get talkies to the market. Giant sound stages were being built all over Hollywood. Paramount had their own sound stage under construction when the unfinished structure caught fire and unfortunately burned to the ground.
Paramount was never at a loss for innovative ideas though and this tragedy was no exception. B.P. Schulberg called a meeting that night to discuss a plan he'd come up with. They would put every sound picture they had on their schedule into production immediately. The only difference was that they would shoot at night. Hire off duty police to control traffic and cut down on street noise, then proceed to make movies.
The plan worked and the old slogan of turning lemons into lemonade was alive and well at Paramount. The tragic fire had actually given them an edge. So if you ever get the chance to see any of those early Paramount films, you might think – what a novel idea.
A memo sent to B.P. Schulberg July 2, 1928 regarding a planned film Dirigible gives us an idea about the importance Selznick placed on special effects, at the time referred to as trick photography. Other memos reflected his thoughts about public previews and editing as a way to shape audience emotions.
One particular subject was constantly on the minds of Paramount executives, and that was story material for the stars they had under contract. In 1929 some of their star players were Richard Arlen, Nancy Carroll, William Powell, Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent, Ruth Chatterton, Gary Cooper, Buddy Rogers and George Bancroft.
There was one picture that got more memo traffic and buzz at meetings than any other and that was 'Paramount on Parade' 1930. David Selznick alone put in several dozen memos.
.Variety's review of the film sums it up very nicely. 'Paramount on Parade' 1930 links together an almost incredible smoothness of achievements from the smallest technical detail to the greatest artistic endeavor. Interspersed through the twenty numbers and eleven songs was the work of thirteen writers...' Writing credit went to Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
To fill out that ensemble you need to go behind the camera and find the eleven directors then view the stars through the lens. The directors were Dorothy Arzrner, Victor Heerman, Ernst Lubitsch, Edward Sutherland, Otto Brower, Edwin H. Knopf, Lothar Mendes, Edmund Goulding, Rowland V. Lee, Victor Schertzinger and Frank Tuttle.
Leading the parade of actors was Maurice Chevalier, Jean Arthur, Gary Cooper, Clara Bow, Jack Oakie, George Bancroft, Clive Brooks, Leon Errol, Stuart Erwin and Kay Francis. (You late night old movie buffs will recognize those stars.)
During his years at Paramount, that lasted from early 1928 to June of 1931, David Selznick was in the middle of the decision making process at the executive level. As B.P. Schulberg's executive assistant he acquired practical experience he could not have purchased any other place at any price. And while he didn't produce a single film during that period he had input at executive planning sessions along with his own memos and suggestions to Schulberg.
Don't get the impression that David Selznick was all work and no play, he went to parties, drank with the best of them and he gambled. At one of those social events he met, fell in love with Irene Mayer. They married on April 29, 1930.
David had worked hard during the year of 1930 and with thoughts of raising a family he believed he deserved a raise in pay. On February 2, 1931 David sent a long memo to his boss B,P. Schulberg citing chapter and verse on the subject of executive pay. He compared his and other executives with directors and line producers and felt there was a wide disparity. He felt that his hours alone were worth more than he was being paid for. He got no answer to his memo, however, on June 15, 1931 he wrote Mr. Schulberg in reply to Schulberg's general memo asking all executives to decide and propose their own salary cut.
David Selznick fired off an answer announcing that he was not about to take a pay cut.
He was asked to resign, which he did in late June 1931.
(To be continued) Next is RKO Hepburn, Barrymore in 'Bill of Divorcement.'
Tungee's Gold: The Legend of Ebo Landing
Tungee Cahill background. Creek Indian War.
Hawkinsville, Georgia
Summer, 1836
Mama Sue Cahill wore a buckskin dress and sat on the front steps. Her raven hair fell loosely to her waist and she softly sang the words of an old hymn. “Amazing.Grace ... 'Tis grace hath brolt me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home ... “
The quiet of the afternoon was broken only by her gentle voice blending with the summer sounds of crickets and the river waters slapping against the boat dock at the bottom of the hill.
The boys watched their mother from the porch swing. Tungee was-twelve and looked like his Scottish father, Davy was two years younger and resembled Mama Sue, a full blood Creek Indian.
Davy whispered. "What is it this time, Tungee?"
"I don't know, but Mama is sure worried."
A bird call came from far up river and that was soon followed by the muffled sounds of hoofbeats. Riders were approaching along the river road at the gallop.
Soon two Creek braves, leading a third horse, came into the clearing and turned toward the house. The warriors sat erect and rode slowly up the hill and stopped in the front yard. The third horse, Papa Cahill's sorrel, halted just behind the others. The sorrel carried a blanket covered body strapped to the saddle. Papa's familiar leather boots hung across the horse's neck at the withers.
Mama Cahill stopped singing and tears coursed down her cheeks and she began to sob. The boys ran to her side and even as Tungee tried to comfort his mother, his emotions spilled into the open. "Damn you, Papa," he wailed, "it's all been a lie."
Mama Sue heard her son's invective, but ignored it for the moment. Papa had to be buried and the sooner the better. She drew a deep breath, scanned the area and quickly pointed to a plot hidden from the river by the scuppernong arbor.
As the braves dug a grave for their comrade they told the family what had happened. Their war party rode out of Hawkinsville expecting to take part in two or three small raids. But by the time they got to West Georgia a full scale war had broken out between the Indians and white settlers.
Their party was ordered to ride south along the Chattahooche River and take part in an attack on a white village below Columbus. Some Alabama Creeks got there early and set fire to the town. The Hawkinsville party rode into the middle of a fire fight and a burning inferno. Smoke was so thick you couldn't see more than a dozen yards. Robert caught a stray bullet that knocked him out of his saddle and he was dead by the time he hit the ground.
The men finished digging the grave and gently lowered Papa Cahill into the clay pit. Mama Sue read from the Bible while a sullen Tungee and tearful Davy stood beside their father's grave. As soon as the final prayer was said, the braves filled in the pit. And by the time they packed the dirt down and scattered a few leaves on top, there was no sign of a burial plot.
(To be Continued
Writers Notebook:
Sherwood Anderson on writing integrity:
Consider for a moment the materials of the prose writer, the teller of tales.
His materials are human lives. To him these figures of his fancy, these people
who live in his fancy should be as real as living people. He should be no more
ready to sell them out than he would sell out his men friends or the woman he
loves. To take the lives of these people and bend or twist them to suit the need
of some cleverly thought out plot to give your readers a false emotion is as
mean and ignoble as to sell out living men or women. For the writer there is no
escape, as there is no real escape for any craftsman… That is the truth.
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
Selznick Memos
Tungee's Gold and a Legend
Writers Notebook: Sherwood Anderson
Memos:
According to Rudy Behlmer, editor of David O. Selznick's Memos, David's first official memo was written to Mr. Harry Rapf on October 15, 1926. The subject was in regards to the film, 'The Armed Cruiser Potemkin.' The memo expressed his enthusiasm for the picture and suggested that MGM executives should look at it with the idea of acquiring the services of the film's director Sergi Eisenstein.
Possibly after one too many memos and an argument Hunt Stromberg, producer of White Shadows in the South Pacific, David Selznick found himself without a job and on the street again.
Following several months of inactivity his phone rang and he was asked to come to B.P. Schulberg's office at Paramount.
Schulberg offered David a job, but with less money, David declined the offer and walked out of the office.
Schulberg thought Selznick was arrogant and figured good riddance.
Several of David's pals director William Wellman, Paul Bern, B.P. Feinman and Bernie Zeidman heard what had happened, they thought Schulberg had made a mistake and told him so.
Schulberg bowed to the pressure and gave David two weeks to prove himself. Following the two week trial Schulberg apparently agreed with Wellman and the others and appointed David Selznick his executive assistant.
During that trial period David had proposed several good picture ideas, and at the same time proved to be a whiz at making up great picture titles. Paramount was giving a hundred dollar bonus for titles that were used and David made out like a bandit.
Those were the years of transition from silent to sound and every studio in Hollywood was racing to get talkies to the market. Giant sound stages were being built all over Hollywood. Paramount had their own sound stage under construction when the unfinished structure caught fire and unfortunately burned to the ground.
Paramount was never at a loss for innovative ideas though and this tragedy was no exception. B.P. Schulberg called a meeting that night to discuss a plan he'd come up with. They would put every sound picture they had on their schedule into production immediately. The only difference was that they would shoot at night. Hire off duty police to control traffic and cut down on street noise, then proceed to make movies.
The plan worked and the old slogan of turning lemons into lemonade was alive and well at Paramount. The tragic fire had actually given them an edge. So if you ever get the chance to see any of those early Paramount films, you might think – what a novel idea.
A memo sent to B.P. Schulberg July 2, 1928 regarding a planned film Dirigible gives us an idea about the importance Selznick placed on special effects, at the time referred to as trick photography. Other memos reflected his thoughts about public previews and editing as a way to shape audience emotions.
One particular subject was constantly on the minds of Paramount executives, and that was story material for the stars they had under contract. In 1929 some of their star players were Richard Arlen, Nancy Carroll, William Powell, Clara Bow, Evelyn Brent, Ruth Chatterton, Gary Cooper, Buddy Rogers and George Bancroft.
There was one picture that got more memo traffic and buzz at meetings than any other and that was 'Paramount on Parade' 1930. David Selznick alone put in several dozen memos.
.Variety's review of the film sums it up very nicely. 'Paramount on Parade' 1930 links together an almost incredible smoothness of achievements from the smallest technical detail to the greatest artistic endeavor. Interspersed through the twenty numbers and eleven songs was the work of thirteen writers...' Writing credit went to Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
To fill out that ensemble you need to go behind the camera and find the eleven directors then view the stars through the lens. The directors were Dorothy Arzrner, Victor Heerman, Ernst Lubitsch, Edward Sutherland, Otto Brower, Edwin H. Knopf, Lothar Mendes, Edmund Goulding, Rowland V. Lee, Victor Schertzinger and Frank Tuttle.
Leading the parade of actors was Maurice Chevalier, Jean Arthur, Gary Cooper, Clara Bow, Jack Oakie, George Bancroft, Clive Brooks, Leon Errol, Stuart Erwin and Kay Francis. (You late night old movie buffs will recognize those stars.)
During his years at Paramount, that lasted from early 1928 to June of 1931, David Selznick was in the middle of the decision making process at the executive level. As B.P. Schulberg's executive assistant he acquired practical experience he could not have purchased any other place at any price. And while he didn't produce a single film during that period he had input at executive planning sessions along with his own memos and suggestions to Schulberg.
Don't get the impression that David Selznick was all work and no play, he went to parties, drank with the best of them and he gambled. At one of those social events he met, fell in love with Irene Mayer. They married on April 29, 1930.
David had worked hard during the year of 1930 and with thoughts of raising a family he believed he deserved a raise in pay. On February 2, 1931 David sent a long memo to his boss B,P. Schulberg citing chapter and verse on the subject of executive pay. He compared his and other executives with directors and line producers and felt there was a wide disparity. He felt that his hours alone were worth more than he was being paid for. He got no answer to his memo, however, on June 15, 1931 he wrote Mr. Schulberg in reply to Schulberg's general memo asking all executives to decide and propose their own salary cut.
David Selznick fired off an answer announcing that he was not about to take a pay cut.
He was asked to resign, which he did in late June 1931.
(To be continued) Next is RKO Hepburn, Barrymore in 'Bill of Divorcement.'
Tungee's Gold: The Legend of Ebo Landing
Tungee Cahill background. Creek Indian War.
Hawkinsville, Georgia
Summer, 1836
Mama Sue Cahill wore a buckskin dress and sat on the front steps. Her raven hair fell loosely to her waist and she softly sang the words of an old hymn. “Amazing.Grace ... 'Tis grace hath brolt me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home ... “
The quiet of the afternoon was broken only by her gentle voice blending with the summer sounds of crickets and the river waters slapping against the boat dock at the bottom of the hill.
The boys watched their mother from the porch swing. Tungee was-twelve and looked like his Scottish father, Davy was two years younger and resembled Mama Sue, a full blood Creek Indian.
Davy whispered. "What is it this time, Tungee?"
"I don't know, but Mama is sure worried."
A bird call came from far up river and that was soon followed by the muffled sounds of hoofbeats. Riders were approaching along the river road at the gallop.
Soon two Creek braves, leading a third horse, came into the clearing and turned toward the house. The warriors sat erect and rode slowly up the hill and stopped in the front yard. The third horse, Papa Cahill's sorrel, halted just behind the others. The sorrel carried a blanket covered body strapped to the saddle. Papa's familiar leather boots hung across the horse's neck at the withers.
Mama Cahill stopped singing and tears coursed down her cheeks and she began to sob. The boys ran to her side and even as Tungee tried to comfort his mother, his emotions spilled into the open. "Damn you, Papa," he wailed, "it's all been a lie."
Mama Sue heard her son's invective, but ignored it for the moment. Papa had to be buried and the sooner the better. She drew a deep breath, scanned the area and quickly pointed to a plot hidden from the river by the scuppernong arbor.
As the braves dug a grave for their comrade they told the family what had happened. Their war party rode out of Hawkinsville expecting to take part in two or three small raids. But by the time they got to West Georgia a full scale war had broken out between the Indians and white settlers.
Their party was ordered to ride south along the Chattahooche River and take part in an attack on a white village below Columbus. Some Alabama Creeks got there early and set fire to the town. The Hawkinsville party rode into the middle of a fire fight and a burning inferno. Smoke was so thick you couldn't see more than a dozen yards. Robert caught a stray bullet that knocked him out of his saddle and he was dead by the time he hit the ground.
The men finished digging the grave and gently lowered Papa Cahill into the clay pit. Mama Sue read from the Bible while a sullen Tungee and tearful Davy stood beside their father's grave. As soon as the final prayer was said, the braves filled in the pit. And by the time they packed the dirt down and scattered a few leaves on top, there was no sign of a burial plot.
(To be Continued
Writers Notebook:
Sherwood Anderson on writing integrity:
Consider for a moment the materials of the prose writer, the teller of tales.
His materials are human lives. To him these figures of his fancy, these people
who live in his fancy should be as real as living people. He should be no more
ready to sell them out than he would sell out his men friends or the woman he
loves. To take the lives of these people and bend or twist them to suit the need
of some cleverly thought out plot to give your readers a false emotion is as
mean and ignoble as to sell out living men or women. For the writer there is no
escape, as there is no real escape for any craftsman… That is the truth.
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
Hepburn, Astaire, King Kong and Ebo Landing
This Week
David Selznick at RKO
Tungee, Davy and Mama Sue
Writers Notebook: Steinbeck on dialogue
David O. Selznick Part 3
Hollywood Stonewall in New York
David Selznick's departure from Paramount was not so much a dead-end as was the case when was fired from MGM.
During the years at Paramount Selznick had put aside funds and built personal and business relationships with a large number of talented people in the Hollywood community.
David and Lewis Milestone, producer of All's Quiet on the Western Front and Front Page, had a hand shake agreement to organize a small production company. Ernst Lubitsch and King Vidor were to direct the first two films.
David went east to raise money for the project and also to arrange for a release for their films. He was unsuccessful in both instances. As it turned out he was blocked by his father-in-law Louis B. Mayer, the head of MGM. Mayer and some of the other studio heads determined that if these small units were allowed to make pictures at will, they would would cut into the profits of the major studios.
So without a release for their films the fund raising went no where.
David understood why the big studios wanted to protect their turf, but his thinking was that he had to find a way to produce films without having to go through the studio system.
After weeks at a stalemate it became obvious that he needed someone with clout that was outside the Hollywood group. That someone turned out to be David Sarnoff the president of RCA, which at that time owned RKO Radio. David made his pitch and as it turned out General Sarnoff was sympathetic to his situation and after several days of negotiation David Selznick signed an agreement in October of 1931 to take over RKO Radio and RKO Pathe, and to merge the two companies into a production unit.
RKO was formed in 1928 when the Keith Albee Orpheum theater chains and Joseph Kennedy's Booking Offices of America studio were brought together under the control of the Radio Corporation of America. RCA chief David Sarnoff engineered the merger in order to create a market for the company's sound on film technology, RCA Photophone.
RKO was located just around the corner from Paramount Pictures. It's ironic but that was the case. The physical distance was two city blocks, to work out the the corporate details was a lot farther away. That took a trip to New York and almost a miracle to put Selznick and Sarnoff in a position to negotiate a deal.
Once they signed the agreement there was only one thing on David Selznick's agenda and that was the production of motion pictures.
'Bill of Divorcement' had been on David's mind as a possible film for a long time but he could never get anyone else interested. Now that he was head of a studio 'Bill of Divorcement' was one of his first acquisitions.
David wanted a fresh face for the leading lady and George Cukor talked him into testing Katherine Hepburn. Selznick wasn't sure her looks would pass public scrutiny and he took all kinds of abuse from people at the studio as they referred to Ms. Hepburn as Old Horse Face. David Selznick had a great instinct when it came to talent and something told him that Hepburn would be accepted. As it turned out the camera loved her face and there was something in her personality that transcended physical appearance, not to mention her quick wit and personality.
In spite of all the outside carping about Katharine Hepburn's looks the film was produced by David O. Selznick and George Cukor. And once the public saw the film Hepburn was not only accepted but declared 'a new star on the cinema horizon' by The Hollywood Reporter.
'Bill of Divorcement' cast included John Barrymore, Katharine Hepburn, Billie Burke and David Manners.
When Selznick took over RKO he immediately realized that the company had a large investment in an animation process conceived by Willis O'Brien. Selznick hired Merian Cooper, an executive he had worked with at Paramount, and one of his jobs was to study O'Brien's animation process with the idea of how best to utilize it in films. Cooper went a step farther and not only figured a way to put O'Brien's system to work, he came up with some ideas that would utilize the process and a jungle story as well.
Cooper pitched his idea to his boss and with great enthusiasm David Selznick gave him the go ahead.
King Kong was the film and it was co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernst Schoedsack, adapted for the screen by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman from a story by Merian Cooper and Edgar Wallace and produced by David O. Selznick. The film tells of an island dwelling gorilla like creature called Kong who dies in an attempt to possess a beautiful young woman. The film stars Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot and it opened in New York City on March 2, 1933 to good reviews.
Fred and Adele Astaire: Born in Omaha, Nebraska Adele and younger brother Fred were ushered onto the Vaudeville stage in the early teens by their stage mother.
During the 20s,the sister and brother act appeared on Broadway and on the London stage in Lady be Good, Funny Face and The Band Wagon. They won over theater audiences on both sides of the Atlantic and Fred's tap dancing got rave reviews by the critics. Robert Benchley wrote in 1930, 'I don't think that I will plunge the nation into war by stating that Fred Astaire is the greatest tap-dancer in the world.'
On January 13, 1933 Selznick wrote an internal memo to Associate Producer Louis Brock and director Mark Sandrich lamenting the fact that RKO didn't have the budget to buy a bankable star. However, in the next paragraph he was enthused by New York's suggestion that Fred Astaire be considered. 'If he photographs he may prove to be a really sensational bet...' '...Astaire is one of the great artist's of the day a magnificent performer. A man conceded to be perhaps, next to Leslie Howard the most charming in American theater...' ...'He would be in my opinion, good enough to use in a lead in a million-dollar Lubitsch picture – provided only he photographs.'
Selznick signed Fred Astaire to an RKO contract, but the test made back in New York was clearly a disappointment to him and he said so. 'I am uncertain about the man, but I feel, in spite of his enormous ears and bad chin line, that his charm is so tremendous that it comes through even on this wretched test.'
According to Hollywood folklore, the early screen test report from New York read: 'Can't sing, can't act, balding, can dance a little.'
(To be continued.)
Tungee's Gold: The Legend of Ebo Landing
Background...Central Georgia 1836
Tungee, Davy and Mama Sue.
Tungee sat on the end of the boat dock and thought about his mother's story regarding the whereabouts of Papa Cahill.
'He's gone to Scotland, to take care of Grandfather Cahill's will and the family estate.' That was the lie she told and it was only after the Indian braves talked about the war party and how Papa Cahill died that Tungee's twelve year old mind began to comprehend the gravity of their situation. Of course he already knew the truce between white's and Indians was over. Washington had made that clear as they pressured the Creeks and their neighbors, the Choctaw, Chickasaw and Cherokee land owners to give up their homes and relocate to some promised land West of the Mississippi.
Mama Sue walked down the hill, crossed the dock and knelt down beside her son.
He looked out past the river and said quietly, "That sure was a whopper you told, Mama."
"You mean about Grandfather Cahill?"
"Uh huh."
"It was your father's idea and since he left in the middle of the night, he said it was best that you boys didn't know. None of the whites knew your father was fighting on the side of my people and taking part in those raids. He knew if they found out it would put all of us in jeopardy. Why, the land speculators would swoop in like vultures and take our home and our land."
Tungee thought for a moment and said, "I understand, Mama."
"Your father was committed to the Indian struggle long before we were married. He was involved in Creek politics for years, but that had to be kept secret."
Tungee's eyes brightened, "I never guessed that."
"It wasn't always easy keeping that secret from you and Davy." Then she sat upright and said with pride and affection, "Your father was a hero and he did make a difference. Robert just kept on looking for some sign of fairness from the government. But all we ever got from Washington was worthless treaties and broken promises."
Tears ran down Tungee's face. "I never got a chance to tell Papa I loved him. The last thing I ever said to him was, I hate you."
"What was that all about, son?"
"Same as usual, his drinking and whoring around. I hated him for that."
"Your father wasn't perfect, he drank and he may have strayed from time to time." Then she took her son's hand. "But you must forgive your father, Tungee."
He wasn't quite ready for that, but he didn't want to disappoint his mother either. So he nodded and said, "Yes, Mama." Then he sat upright. "What do we do now?"
"Tomorrow morning, you and Davy make the rounds, collect the pelts and furs. We must carry on the business and if anyone asks about your father, talk freely about your Grandfather Cahill and Papa's trip to Scotland. A little gossip will help to keep the lie."
Their white neighbors believed Papa Cahill had gone to Scotland. And it stayed that way for the better part of the next year. Eventually, though, there was implied doubt in the questions concerning his whereabouts. Mama Sue listened to the gossip and when the truth became part of the rumor, she knew it was only a matter of time. There was no doubt about their fate. They would be rounded up like the others and forced to march West in shackles and chains. The trail that had already become an American tragedy. A trail littered with graves of the dead and marked by blood and tears of the survivors.
(To be Continued)
Writers Notebook:
Another thought or two from Steinbeck: If a scene or section gets the better of you and you still think you want it – bypass it and go on. When you’ve finished the whole you can come back to it and then you may find that the reason it gave you trouble is because it didn’t belong there.
If you’re using dialogue say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.
Here’s another wrinkle on Steinbeck’s dialogue line. Use his method, but when you’re finished take a little cassette tape recorder and record those pieces of dialogue you’re working on and play them back. Take it from me; you’ll know if they sound real or not.
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.
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http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
www.tombarnes39.com
David Selznick at RKO
Tungee, Davy and Mama Sue
Writers Notebook: Steinbeck on dialogue
David O. Selznick Part 3
Hollywood Stonewall in New York
David Selznick's departure from Paramount was not so much a dead-end as was the case when was fired from MGM.
During the years at Paramount Selznick had put aside funds and built personal and business relationships with a large number of talented people in the Hollywood community.
David and Lewis Milestone, producer of All's Quiet on the Western Front and Front Page, had a hand shake agreement to organize a small production company. Ernst Lubitsch and King Vidor were to direct the first two films.
David went east to raise money for the project and also to arrange for a release for their films. He was unsuccessful in both instances. As it turned out he was blocked by his father-in-law Louis B. Mayer, the head of MGM. Mayer and some of the other studio heads determined that if these small units were allowed to make pictures at will, they would would cut into the profits of the major studios.
So without a release for their films the fund raising went no where.
David understood why the big studios wanted to protect their turf, but his thinking was that he had to find a way to produce films without having to go through the studio system.
After weeks at a stalemate it became obvious that he needed someone with clout that was outside the Hollywood group. That someone turned out to be David Sarnoff the president of RCA, which at that time owned RKO Radio. David made his pitch and as it turned out General Sarnoff was sympathetic to his situation and after several days of negotiation David Selznick signed an agreement in October of 1931 to take over RKO Radio and RKO Pathe, and to merge the two companies into a production unit.
RKO was formed in 1928 when the Keith Albee Orpheum theater chains and Joseph Kennedy's Booking Offices of America studio were brought together under the control of the Radio Corporation of America. RCA chief David Sarnoff engineered the merger in order to create a market for the company's sound on film technology, RCA Photophone.
RKO was located just around the corner from Paramount Pictures. It's ironic but that was the case. The physical distance was two city blocks, to work out the the corporate details was a lot farther away. That took a trip to New York and almost a miracle to put Selznick and Sarnoff in a position to negotiate a deal.
Once they signed the agreement there was only one thing on David Selznick's agenda and that was the production of motion pictures.
'Bill of Divorcement' had been on David's mind as a possible film for a long time but he could never get anyone else interested. Now that he was head of a studio 'Bill of Divorcement' was one of his first acquisitions.
David wanted a fresh face for the leading lady and George Cukor talked him into testing Katherine Hepburn. Selznick wasn't sure her looks would pass public scrutiny and he took all kinds of abuse from people at the studio as they referred to Ms. Hepburn as Old Horse Face. David Selznick had a great instinct when it came to talent and something told him that Hepburn would be accepted. As it turned out the camera loved her face and there was something in her personality that transcended physical appearance, not to mention her quick wit and personality.
In spite of all the outside carping about Katharine Hepburn's looks the film was produced by David O. Selznick and George Cukor. And once the public saw the film Hepburn was not only accepted but declared 'a new star on the cinema horizon' by The Hollywood Reporter.
'Bill of Divorcement' cast included John Barrymore, Katharine Hepburn, Billie Burke and David Manners.
When Selznick took over RKO he immediately realized that the company had a large investment in an animation process conceived by Willis O'Brien. Selznick hired Merian Cooper, an executive he had worked with at Paramount, and one of his jobs was to study O'Brien's animation process with the idea of how best to utilize it in films. Cooper went a step farther and not only figured a way to put O'Brien's system to work, he came up with some ideas that would utilize the process and a jungle story as well.
Cooper pitched his idea to his boss and with great enthusiasm David Selznick gave him the go ahead.
King Kong was the film and it was co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernst Schoedsack, adapted for the screen by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman from a story by Merian Cooper and Edgar Wallace and produced by David O. Selznick. The film tells of an island dwelling gorilla like creature called Kong who dies in an attempt to possess a beautiful young woman. The film stars Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot and it opened in New York City on March 2, 1933 to good reviews.
Fred and Adele Astaire: Born in Omaha, Nebraska Adele and younger brother Fred were ushered onto the Vaudeville stage in the early teens by their stage mother.
During the 20s,the sister and brother act appeared on Broadway and on the London stage in Lady be Good, Funny Face and The Band Wagon. They won over theater audiences on both sides of the Atlantic and Fred's tap dancing got rave reviews by the critics. Robert Benchley wrote in 1930, 'I don't think that I will plunge the nation into war by stating that Fred Astaire is the greatest tap-dancer in the world.'
On January 13, 1933 Selznick wrote an internal memo to Associate Producer Louis Brock and director Mark Sandrich lamenting the fact that RKO didn't have the budget to buy a bankable star. However, in the next paragraph he was enthused by New York's suggestion that Fred Astaire be considered. 'If he photographs he may prove to be a really sensational bet...' '...Astaire is one of the great artist's of the day a magnificent performer. A man conceded to be perhaps, next to Leslie Howard the most charming in American theater...' ...'He would be in my opinion, good enough to use in a lead in a million-dollar Lubitsch picture – provided only he photographs.'
Selznick signed Fred Astaire to an RKO contract, but the test made back in New York was clearly a disappointment to him and he said so. 'I am uncertain about the man, but I feel, in spite of his enormous ears and bad chin line, that his charm is so tremendous that it comes through even on this wretched test.'
According to Hollywood folklore, the early screen test report from New York read: 'Can't sing, can't act, balding, can dance a little.'
(To be continued.)
Tungee's Gold: The Legend of Ebo Landing
Background...Central Georgia 1836
Tungee, Davy and Mama Sue.
Tungee sat on the end of the boat dock and thought about his mother's story regarding the whereabouts of Papa Cahill.
'He's gone to Scotland, to take care of Grandfather Cahill's will and the family estate.' That was the lie she told and it was only after the Indian braves talked about the war party and how Papa Cahill died that Tungee's twelve year old mind began to comprehend the gravity of their situation. Of course he already knew the truce between white's and Indians was over. Washington had made that clear as they pressured the Creeks and their neighbors, the Choctaw, Chickasaw and Cherokee land owners to give up their homes and relocate to some promised land West of the Mississippi.
Mama Sue walked down the hill, crossed the dock and knelt down beside her son.
He looked out past the river and said quietly, "That sure was a whopper you told, Mama."
"You mean about Grandfather Cahill?"
"Uh huh."
"It was your father's idea and since he left in the middle of the night, he said it was best that you boys didn't know. None of the whites knew your father was fighting on the side of my people and taking part in those raids. He knew if they found out it would put all of us in jeopardy. Why, the land speculators would swoop in like vultures and take our home and our land."
Tungee thought for a moment and said, "I understand, Mama."
"Your father was committed to the Indian struggle long before we were married. He was involved in Creek politics for years, but that had to be kept secret."
Tungee's eyes brightened, "I never guessed that."
"It wasn't always easy keeping that secret from you and Davy." Then she sat upright and said with pride and affection, "Your father was a hero and he did make a difference. Robert just kept on looking for some sign of fairness from the government. But all we ever got from Washington was worthless treaties and broken promises."
Tears ran down Tungee's face. "I never got a chance to tell Papa I loved him. The last thing I ever said to him was, I hate you."
"What was that all about, son?"
"Same as usual, his drinking and whoring around. I hated him for that."
"Your father wasn't perfect, he drank and he may have strayed from time to time." Then she took her son's hand. "But you must forgive your father, Tungee."
He wasn't quite ready for that, but he didn't want to disappoint his mother either. So he nodded and said, "Yes, Mama." Then he sat upright. "What do we do now?"
"Tomorrow morning, you and Davy make the rounds, collect the pelts and furs. We must carry on the business and if anyone asks about your father, talk freely about your Grandfather Cahill and Papa's trip to Scotland. A little gossip will help to keep the lie."
Their white neighbors believed Papa Cahill had gone to Scotland. And it stayed that way for the better part of the next year. Eventually, though, there was implied doubt in the questions concerning his whereabouts. Mama Sue listened to the gossip and when the truth became part of the rumor, she knew it was only a matter of time. There was no doubt about their fate. They would be rounded up like the others and forced to march West in shackles and chains. The trail that had already become an American tragedy. A trail littered with graves of the dead and marked by blood and tears of the survivors.
(To be Continued)
Writers Notebook:
Another thought or two from Steinbeck: If a scene or section gets the better of you and you still think you want it – bypass it and go on. When you’ve finished the whole you can come back to it and then you may find that the reason it gave you trouble is because it didn’t belong there.
If you’re using dialogue say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.
Here’s another wrinkle on Steinbeck’s dialogue line. Use his method, but when you’re finished take a little cassette tape recorder and record those pieces of dialogue you’re working on and play them back. Take it from me; you’ll know if they sound real or not.
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.
Facebook and Twitter
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
www.tombarnes39.com
David Selznick, Charles Dickens and Tungee's Gold
This Week
David Selznick Back to MGM
Tungee Cahill Tragedy in Georgia
Writers Notebook: A Tip From Neil Simon
David O. Selznick Part 4
David left RKO when his original contract expired. There were many reasons for his decision to leave, but I consider one line from an unsent memo dated February 3, 1933 to be the most obvious....'I consider that it would be completely impossible for any production head to operate if he had to submit himself to what Mr. Aylesworth demanded – the approval by himself of every script and budget...'
Of course David was married to MGM in more ways than one. His wife Irene might have been on father L.B. Mayer's side in urging a reluctant son-in-law to return to MGM.
The fact that he had, earlier in his career, been fired from the company had to be troubling to him. Of course the result is that he put all that behind him and accepted their offer to become a vice president at MGM with the agreement that he would be in charge of his own production unit.
The fact that he was now part of the family probably made the transition easier and also faster. It took only about two weeks for him to settle into his new office at MGM and firing off memos regarding his first production.
Dinner at Eight was David Selznick's first production on his return to MGM. George Cukor directed a screenplay that was adapted from George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's Broadway play by Frances Marion, Herman J. Mankiewicz and Donald Ogden Stewart.
The Movie starred Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Lionel Barrymore and Lee Tracy.
Dinner at Eight received good reviews, however it must be added that the first half was superior to the last according to most reviewers.
One of the outstanding films produced during Selznick's time at MGM was Viva Villa, which was also one of his favorites. Jack Conway directed the film from a screenplay by Ben Hecht. The stars were Wallace Beery, Leo Carrillo and Fay Wray. (Lady in the arms of King Kong.)
Selznick was not alone in his enthusiasm for the film for Variety said Viva Villa was a Corking western. The public and the Academy agreed and gave it a best picture nomination.
Charles Dickens classic story of David Copperfield was another Selznick favorite for different reasons from Viva Villa. David had fallen love with the Dickens stories as a boy and he had a passion to bring Copperfield to the screen, which turned out to be quite a challenge.
George Cukor directed the film from a screenplay written by Howard Estabrook and Hugh Walpole. Cast included W.C. Fields, Lionel Barrymore, Freddie Bartholomew, Frank Lawton, Edna May Oliver and Roland Young.
Variety's review brings up the point of how difficult it was to bring the Dickens story to the screen, but agreed that Selznick's production had pulled all the parts together and the actors gave performances worthy of the material they were working with. W.C. Fields was perfect in the role of Micawber. The Academy of Motion Pictures gave the classic a best picture nomination.
David Selznick said in some of his correspondence that from early March of 1933 and the first day he set foot on the MGM lot following his stint at RKO he was having second thoughts. By June he was openly trying to get out of his contract. He wrote a very long memo explaining why he didn't want to be a part of MGM. There was no doubt in his mind that he had made a mistake, however, MGM management including his father-in-law stood fast to the present contract and would not give him a release.
Of course he was making $4,000.00 dollars a week, a very good salary for the time. David was aware that nepotism played a part and he hated the constant carping and son-in-law jokes that were all at his expense. The classic was 'the son-in-law also rises.'
He honored the contract and kept his commitment even as he bridled in his own displeasure. David did receive comfort from his wife Irene, the one person that was really caught between two strong willed men, her husband David Selznick and father L.B. Mayer.
However, personal problems notwithstanding, David Selznick continued to produce good films at MGM.
Anna Karenina directed by Clarence Brown from a screenplay by Clemence Dane, Salka Viertel and S.N. Behrman. The stars were Greta Garbo, Fredric March, Freddie Bartholomew, Basil Rathbone, Maurine O'Sullivan and May Robson.
Another Selznick boyhood classic A Tale of Two Cities directed by Jack Conway and written by W.B. Lipscomb and S.N. Behrman. The cast was Ronald Coleman, Elizabeth Allan, Edna May Oliver, Reginald Owen, Basil Rathbone and Blanche Yurka. The story line of A Tale of Tow Cities follows the turmoil and aftermath of the French Revolution.
The film got excellent reviews and was nominated for best picture of 1936.
(To Be continued)
Tungee's Gold: The Legend of Ebo Landing
Excerpt background 1836 Central Georgia.
It was almost a year after they buried Papa Cahill. Tungee and Davy were riding home from the mill with burlap bags filled with cornmeal strapped to the back of their
saddles. Gunshots rang out in the distance and that was not unusual except that it sounded awfully close to their house.
Tungee urged his bay gelding to pick up the pace and Davy followed along on his pinto.
"Bet somebody just bagged a turkey or maybe a deer," Davy shouted.
Tungee hoped his brother was right, but something deep inside told him otherwise.
They pulled their mounts up near the kitchen and quickly poured the meal into a clean bin.
Davy, in almost a whisper, said, "Tungee?"
"What."
"Something ain't right."
"I know."
They called, "Mama," a dozen times, but all they got in return was a piece of an echo. The place was still and it seemed the only thing in the world that moved was the river at the bottom of the hill as it's muddy waters flowed past the boat dock.
The boys ran through the house and kept calling and opening doors and the doors didn't even make their proper sound. A muffled quiet was all they heard.
Davy said excitedly, "She must be down at the bee-hives."
They ran out the front door, jumped the porch rail, just missing Mama's flowers, and landed on the run. Tungee and Davy both called out as they crossed the sandy yard and raced for the brush covered trail that led to the hives.
They stopped short of the wood. Horrified at what they saw. Their mother's lifeless body was sprawled near the trees. She must have died instantly from a single gun shot wound to the head. Her protective bee clothing was still in tact. Her left hand clutched the smoker and her right lay lifeless beside a two-gallon pail of honey.
Davy grabbed one hand and Tungee took the other s they knelt down and called to her -- unsure about what to do.
A horseman could be heard thrashing through the brush. The youngsters froze in place, too scared to move. When the rider came into the clear they relaxed. It was their cousin, Ray, one of Mama's kin.
As soon a he saw the boys he put his finger to his lips, signaling them to be quiet. Riding his sorrel bareback, Ray leaned over the mane, nudged his mount closer and whispered, "Tungee, you and Davy clear out. Run away. Hide yourself, don't stay here and don't take a boat. They're watchin' the river."
"What'll you do?" Tungee asked.
"I'm goin' West to join Menawa. He's gonna try and make a stand."
"Why can't we go with you?"
"Because I say you can't."
Ray wheeled his horse and kicked him into a trot. Then he called over his shoulder, "Now bury your ma and git."
As the hoofbeats faded in the distance the boys realized why the place was so quiet. The animals were gone. Stolen by the same people who killed Mama.
Tungee and Davy set about digging a grave and burying Mama Sue Cahill next to their father.
When the burial was done they went into the house and gathered a few belongings into two separate saddlebags, and walked back out to the front porch. They dropped the bags on the steps, ran down to the dock, scuttled and sank their two boats.
As they walked back up the hill Tungee's mind raced. Where do we go? Maybe we should go to Augusta and contact Uncle Mitchell Cahill. They had only seen their father's brother two or three times and he wasn't like Papa, he was a businessman who had always lived in a city. Tungee worried about the reception they might get. Then he remembered the most exciting place he had ever seen. Papa Cahill had taken him along on a business trip to Savannah. A quiver went through his body as he recalled the experience and his first look at the Savannah River. The wharf was lined with tall
ships, cargo and people from all over the world. And as they neared the houses he looked up at the sky and said to himself, I'm going to be a part of that world.
When they got back to the porch Davy said, "Should we lock the door?"
What a silly notion, Tungee thought. "No, we're going to burn the house."
"Why would you do a fool thing like that?"
Tungee set his jaw and said bitterly, "They may take the land, Davy, but they'll not have our home. We can't let them steal that."
Davy wasn't quite sure what his brother meant, but he followed him into the house. Tungee lighted a torch from the kitchen stove and instructed Davy to pour turpentine on the carpets and furniture in all the downstairs rooms. Then they set five small fires and ran to the front porch, picked up their saddlebags and strapped them into place.
They stood in the yard until the fire began to burn and produce flames and smoke. Then as they scrambled into their saddles, Davy asked, "Where are we going?"
Tungee took a long breath and announced, "Savannah."
The boys didn't need a map, they had hunted the woods and fished the streams, they knew the way. Follow the trail on the left bank of the Ocmulgee, ford the Ohopee, then take the shell road to the port city.
Writers Notebook:
Pay attention writers to this timely observation and tip made by one of Broadway’s most prolific comedy writers. Neil Simon develops character first, and then plot. But he has said on a number of occasions that the main force that drives his comedy is conflict. Keep that in mind when you're putting your plot together and look for ways to keep the conflict honest.
Tom's Books and Blogs:
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.
Facebook and Twitter
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
www.tombarnes39.com
David Selznick Back to MGM
Tungee Cahill Tragedy in Georgia
Writers Notebook: A Tip From Neil Simon
David O. Selznick Part 4
David left RKO when his original contract expired. There were many reasons for his decision to leave, but I consider one line from an unsent memo dated February 3, 1933 to be the most obvious....'I consider that it would be completely impossible for any production head to operate if he had to submit himself to what Mr. Aylesworth demanded – the approval by himself of every script and budget...'
Of course David was married to MGM in more ways than one. His wife Irene might have been on father L.B. Mayer's side in urging a reluctant son-in-law to return to MGM.
The fact that he had, earlier in his career, been fired from the company had to be troubling to him. Of course the result is that he put all that behind him and accepted their offer to become a vice president at MGM with the agreement that he would be in charge of his own production unit.
The fact that he was now part of the family probably made the transition easier and also faster. It took only about two weeks for him to settle into his new office at MGM and firing off memos regarding his first production.
Dinner at Eight was David Selznick's first production on his return to MGM. George Cukor directed a screenplay that was adapted from George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's Broadway play by Frances Marion, Herman J. Mankiewicz and Donald Ogden Stewart.
The Movie starred Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Lionel Barrymore and Lee Tracy.
Dinner at Eight received good reviews, however it must be added that the first half was superior to the last according to most reviewers.
One of the outstanding films produced during Selznick's time at MGM was Viva Villa, which was also one of his favorites. Jack Conway directed the film from a screenplay by Ben Hecht. The stars were Wallace Beery, Leo Carrillo and Fay Wray. (Lady in the arms of King Kong.)
Selznick was not alone in his enthusiasm for the film for Variety said Viva Villa was a Corking western. The public and the Academy agreed and gave it a best picture nomination.
Charles Dickens classic story of David Copperfield was another Selznick favorite for different reasons from Viva Villa. David had fallen love with the Dickens stories as a boy and he had a passion to bring Copperfield to the screen, which turned out to be quite a challenge.
George Cukor directed the film from a screenplay written by Howard Estabrook and Hugh Walpole. Cast included W.C. Fields, Lionel Barrymore, Freddie Bartholomew, Frank Lawton, Edna May Oliver and Roland Young.
Variety's review brings up the point of how difficult it was to bring the Dickens story to the screen, but agreed that Selznick's production had pulled all the parts together and the actors gave performances worthy of the material they were working with. W.C. Fields was perfect in the role of Micawber. The Academy of Motion Pictures gave the classic a best picture nomination.
David Selznick said in some of his correspondence that from early March of 1933 and the first day he set foot on the MGM lot following his stint at RKO he was having second thoughts. By June he was openly trying to get out of his contract. He wrote a very long memo explaining why he didn't want to be a part of MGM. There was no doubt in his mind that he had made a mistake, however, MGM management including his father-in-law stood fast to the present contract and would not give him a release.
Of course he was making $4,000.00 dollars a week, a very good salary for the time. David was aware that nepotism played a part and he hated the constant carping and son-in-law jokes that were all at his expense. The classic was 'the son-in-law also rises.'
He honored the contract and kept his commitment even as he bridled in his own displeasure. David did receive comfort from his wife Irene, the one person that was really caught between two strong willed men, her husband David Selznick and father L.B. Mayer.
However, personal problems notwithstanding, David Selznick continued to produce good films at MGM.
Anna Karenina directed by Clarence Brown from a screenplay by Clemence Dane, Salka Viertel and S.N. Behrman. The stars were Greta Garbo, Fredric March, Freddie Bartholomew, Basil Rathbone, Maurine O'Sullivan and May Robson.
Another Selznick boyhood classic A Tale of Two Cities directed by Jack Conway and written by W.B. Lipscomb and S.N. Behrman. The cast was Ronald Coleman, Elizabeth Allan, Edna May Oliver, Reginald Owen, Basil Rathbone and Blanche Yurka. The story line of A Tale of Tow Cities follows the turmoil and aftermath of the French Revolution.
The film got excellent reviews and was nominated for best picture of 1936.
(To Be continued)
Tungee's Gold: The Legend of Ebo Landing
Excerpt background 1836 Central Georgia.
It was almost a year after they buried Papa Cahill. Tungee and Davy were riding home from the mill with burlap bags filled with cornmeal strapped to the back of their
saddles. Gunshots rang out in the distance and that was not unusual except that it sounded awfully close to their house.
Tungee urged his bay gelding to pick up the pace and Davy followed along on his pinto.
"Bet somebody just bagged a turkey or maybe a deer," Davy shouted.
Tungee hoped his brother was right, but something deep inside told him otherwise.
They pulled their mounts up near the kitchen and quickly poured the meal into a clean bin.
Davy, in almost a whisper, said, "Tungee?"
"What."
"Something ain't right."
"I know."
They called, "Mama," a dozen times, but all they got in return was a piece of an echo. The place was still and it seemed the only thing in the world that moved was the river at the bottom of the hill as it's muddy waters flowed past the boat dock.
The boys ran through the house and kept calling and opening doors and the doors didn't even make their proper sound. A muffled quiet was all they heard.
Davy said excitedly, "She must be down at the bee-hives."
They ran out the front door, jumped the porch rail, just missing Mama's flowers, and landed on the run. Tungee and Davy both called out as they crossed the sandy yard and raced for the brush covered trail that led to the hives.
They stopped short of the wood. Horrified at what they saw. Their mother's lifeless body was sprawled near the trees. She must have died instantly from a single gun shot wound to the head. Her protective bee clothing was still in tact. Her left hand clutched the smoker and her right lay lifeless beside a two-gallon pail of honey.
Davy grabbed one hand and Tungee took the other s they knelt down and called to her -- unsure about what to do.
A horseman could be heard thrashing through the brush. The youngsters froze in place, too scared to move. When the rider came into the clear they relaxed. It was their cousin, Ray, one of Mama's kin.
As soon a he saw the boys he put his finger to his lips, signaling them to be quiet. Riding his sorrel bareback, Ray leaned over the mane, nudged his mount closer and whispered, "Tungee, you and Davy clear out. Run away. Hide yourself, don't stay here and don't take a boat. They're watchin' the river."
"What'll you do?" Tungee asked.
"I'm goin' West to join Menawa. He's gonna try and make a stand."
"Why can't we go with you?"
"Because I say you can't."
Ray wheeled his horse and kicked him into a trot. Then he called over his shoulder, "Now bury your ma and git."
As the hoofbeats faded in the distance the boys realized why the place was so quiet. The animals were gone. Stolen by the same people who killed Mama.
Tungee and Davy set about digging a grave and burying Mama Sue Cahill next to their father.
When the burial was done they went into the house and gathered a few belongings into two separate saddlebags, and walked back out to the front porch. They dropped the bags on the steps, ran down to the dock, scuttled and sank their two boats.
As they walked back up the hill Tungee's mind raced. Where do we go? Maybe we should go to Augusta and contact Uncle Mitchell Cahill. They had only seen their father's brother two or three times and he wasn't like Papa, he was a businessman who had always lived in a city. Tungee worried about the reception they might get. Then he remembered the most exciting place he had ever seen. Papa Cahill had taken him along on a business trip to Savannah. A quiver went through his body as he recalled the experience and his first look at the Savannah River. The wharf was lined with tall
ships, cargo and people from all over the world. And as they neared the houses he looked up at the sky and said to himself, I'm going to be a part of that world.
When they got back to the porch Davy said, "Should we lock the door?"
What a silly notion, Tungee thought. "No, we're going to burn the house."
"Why would you do a fool thing like that?"
Tungee set his jaw and said bitterly, "They may take the land, Davy, but they'll not have our home. We can't let them steal that."
Davy wasn't quite sure what his brother meant, but he followed him into the house. Tungee lighted a torch from the kitchen stove and instructed Davy to pour turpentine on the carpets and furniture in all the downstairs rooms. Then they set five small fires and ran to the front porch, picked up their saddlebags and strapped them into place.
They stood in the yard until the fire began to burn and produce flames and smoke. Then as they scrambled into their saddles, Davy asked, "Where are we going?"
Tungee took a long breath and announced, "Savannah."
The boys didn't need a map, they had hunted the woods and fished the streams, they knew the way. Follow the trail on the left bank of the Ocmulgee, ford the Ohopee, then take the shell road to the port city.
Writers Notebook:
Pay attention writers to this timely observation and tip made by one of Broadway’s most prolific comedy writers. Neil Simon develops character first, and then plot. But he has said on a number of occasions that the main force that drives his comedy is conflict. Keep that in mind when you're putting your plot together and look for ways to keep the conflict honest.
Tom's Books and Blogs:
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.
Facebook and Twitter
http://thehurricanehunter.blogspot.com
www.tombarnes39.com
Orson Welles, Citizen Kane and Tungee's Gold
This Week
Orson Welles
Tungee's Gold
Writers Notebook
Orson Wells and Citizen Kane
Orson Welles born May 6, 1915 died October 10, 1985. Welles was an American filmmaker, actor, director, screenwriter, and producer.
He went on stage, in his home town of Kenosha, Wisconsin, as a child actor and his talent was apparent from the beginning.
Orson went to New York in his early twenties, made the rounds and In 1933 played opposite Katharine Cornell as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and Marchbanks in Candida. He also worked for some time with the Federal Theater project and staged a number of highly successful productions including Macbeth in 1936 and Dr. Faustus in 1937.
It was in that same year when Welles and John Houseman founded the Mercury Theater.The Mercury Theater made an immediate impact on the theater world and was noted for its off beat, innovative and dramatic productions.
Welles first found national fame as director and narrator of the 1938 radio adaptation of H.G. Welles novel The War of the Worlds. The Mercury Theatre broadcast to an American audience was taken by some listeners as a news cast, and caused panic in some communities when they thought they were hearing the details of an actual invasion from outer space. Those people that believed the broadcast was factual were probably few in numbers, but the overall effect of the production was so tremendous that it rocketed Welles to instant notoriety.
Following that successful War of the Worlds broadcast Welles got immediate offers from several Hollywood studios. Welles told the company and in short order, John Housman and the other Mercury Theater members agreed to move their operation to Hollywood.
Welles listened to all the offers, and in the end signed a contract with RKO. The Studio was so high on Welles and his talent that even as an untried director he was given the freedom to develop his own story and use his own cast and crew. He was also given final cut privilege. That kind of contract was almost unheard of, but given his shining star status at the time you can understand why RKO didn't want to see Orson Welles sign with another studio.
That whole sequence of events had gone off in such rapid fire order that the main ingredient in putting a film project together had been left out of the mix. The story. Not just any story, in Orson Welles mind it had to be drama on a grand scale.
Although he didn't have a particular story in mind he did know that the main character would be powerful and well known. His initial thought was to rule out politicians because half the population don't trust them and should you pick the wrong party you'd probably alienate another half and then where's your audience. Howard Hughes was high on the list. Other considerations might be a powerful industrial tycoon or a newspaper magnate.
During this early Hollywood time Orson's ex wife Virginia moved to Los Angeles. She was in her twenties, beautiful and intelligent, she was also in the upper tier social circle and had suitors lined up at her door. Among that group was Charles Lederer a member of the Hollywood literary circle, which included some of the old Algonquin Round Table regulars Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley and Alexander Woollcott. Lederer was a favorite nephew of actress Marion Davies and intimate friend of William Randolph Hearst. And Lederer was often a guest at the Hearst Castle at San Simeon.
For someone in Welles position, looking to find status in the film community, being invited to San Simeon would have been an important boost to his career. However, the fact that Virginia and Lederer were part of the circle made it awkward for Hearst to invite Welles.
Herman J. Mankiewicz was a friend of Orson Welles and was once on the Mercury Theater payroll. At one time Mankiewicz had been a regular guest at Hearst parties, but no more. His drinking had gotten him banished from Hearst activities. So for one reason or another both Welles and Mankiewicz had wound up on the wrong side of the tracks – according to the Hearst house rules.
For his first movie Welles wanted a good collaborator, a working writer with a creative mind and Herman Mankiewicz was that, he was also good company.
Mankiewicz listened to Welles pitch and agreed to give it a try. As to the story, they only had a general idea about a strong leading character. Mankiewicz said sometime later that the Hearst and Marion Davies characters came out of a discussion about technique. The main character would be shown in a March of Time sequence and then the film would go on and tell about the person.
Once they worked out a scenario in rough form they got down to work and did a couple of rewrites. Welles passed a draft along to the RKO legal department and it was promptly rejected with a note that Hearst will sue your pants off.
Back to the drawing board and more rewrites. This time Welles and Mankiewicz had input from John Housman and Joseph Cotton during their rewrite sessions. In order to fictionalize the story they added the unsuccessful attempt to assassinate President Roosevelt in Miami. Finally they had a story and even though it still contained a lot of William Randolph Hearst in the screenplay it wasn't considered libelous by the legal departmant.
'In 1940, alone at his fantastically surrealistic and magnificently opulent estate known as Xanadu Charles Foster Kane dies at the age of seventy. When he dies his last word is 'Rosebud' and from his hand a glass ball – one of those novelties containing a miniature snow scene....'
Then the search is on for who or what is Rosebud?
Citizen Kane is often times considered the greatest film of all time and particularly praised for its innovative cinematography, music, and narrative structure. The film was nominated for Academy awards in nine categories; it won an award for best original screenplay by Herman Mankiewicz and Orson Welles.
Citizen Kane was a critical success but failed in its first run to recoup it's negative cost.
The film quickly faded from view, but its reputation was restored by French critics and even more widely after its American revival in 1956. There is a kind of consensus among film critics that Citizen Kane is the greatest film ever made. Roger Ebert quipped, 'So it's settled, Citizen Kane is the official greatest film of all time.'
It has topped both the AFI 100 best movies and the tenth anniversary update as well as all the sight and sound polls of the ten greatest films for more than half a century.
Orson Welles continued to produce films but none of them reached the heights of Kane. Some of the others were The Magnificent Ambersons, The Lady from Shanghai, Othello, Touch of Evil, The Trial and F is for Fake.
You Tube has a good collection of Orson Welles movie clips.
Don't miss this one. Citizen Kane movie trailer: Click Here
Tungee's Gold: The Legend of Ebo Landing
An introduction to a historical and adventure novel.
Tungee Cahill is shanghaied at San Francisco into a world where conspiracies, distortions and lies are the rule. Tungee joins the skipper in a battle of bigots and bullets just to stay alive. It took a mutiny, the icy hell of Cape Horn and a brush with the African slave trade to make him take a hard look at himself.
The idea for this historical novel came from an old slave tale, ‘The Legend of Ebo Landing.’ I first heard the story in Savannah, Georgia while doing research and writing a series of documentaries for PBS Television.
The human tragedy got my attention and I followed up by going to the source of the story, Saint Simons Island. After talking to the natives and tromping around the place I began taking notes and asking myself the obvious question, why? The answer came in the form of a novel I call ‘Tungee’s Gold.’
(More to come)
Writers Notebook:
Edna Ferber from A Peculiar Treasure.
…’You read what you wrote yesterday. Not so terrible. With a soft lead pencil you make some changes, tightening a line here, crossing out a word there, inserting a margin note for the next draft.
I have learned not to tear up my stuff until I’ve slept on it. I have sometimes written page after page through the work day in a kind of agony of ineffectualness, feeling weary, limp and unvital, only to discover on reading it bright and fresh next morning that the stuff has, somehow miraculously, pace and meaning.’
Stephen King agrees with Ferber’s overnight concept as pointed out in an earlier segment of Writers Notebook.
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
Orson Welles
Tungee's Gold
Writers Notebook
Orson Wells and Citizen Kane
Orson Welles born May 6, 1915 died October 10, 1985. Welles was an American filmmaker, actor, director, screenwriter, and producer.
He went on stage, in his home town of Kenosha, Wisconsin, as a child actor and his talent was apparent from the beginning.
Orson went to New York in his early twenties, made the rounds and In 1933 played opposite Katharine Cornell as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and Marchbanks in Candida. He also worked for some time with the Federal Theater project and staged a number of highly successful productions including Macbeth in 1936 and Dr. Faustus in 1937.
It was in that same year when Welles and John Houseman founded the Mercury Theater.The Mercury Theater made an immediate impact on the theater world and was noted for its off beat, innovative and dramatic productions.
Welles first found national fame as director and narrator of the 1938 radio adaptation of H.G. Welles novel The War of the Worlds. The Mercury Theatre broadcast to an American audience was taken by some listeners as a news cast, and caused panic in some communities when they thought they were hearing the details of an actual invasion from outer space. Those people that believed the broadcast was factual were probably few in numbers, but the overall effect of the production was so tremendous that it rocketed Welles to instant notoriety.
Following that successful War of the Worlds broadcast Welles got immediate offers from several Hollywood studios. Welles told the company and in short order, John Housman and the other Mercury Theater members agreed to move their operation to Hollywood.
Welles listened to all the offers, and in the end signed a contract with RKO. The Studio was so high on Welles and his talent that even as an untried director he was given the freedom to develop his own story and use his own cast and crew. He was also given final cut privilege. That kind of contract was almost unheard of, but given his shining star status at the time you can understand why RKO didn't want to see Orson Welles sign with another studio.
That whole sequence of events had gone off in such rapid fire order that the main ingredient in putting a film project together had been left out of the mix. The story. Not just any story, in Orson Welles mind it had to be drama on a grand scale.
Although he didn't have a particular story in mind he did know that the main character would be powerful and well known. His initial thought was to rule out politicians because half the population don't trust them and should you pick the wrong party you'd probably alienate another half and then where's your audience. Howard Hughes was high on the list. Other considerations might be a powerful industrial tycoon or a newspaper magnate.
During this early Hollywood time Orson's ex wife Virginia moved to Los Angeles. She was in her twenties, beautiful and intelligent, she was also in the upper tier social circle and had suitors lined up at her door. Among that group was Charles Lederer a member of the Hollywood literary circle, which included some of the old Algonquin Round Table regulars Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley and Alexander Woollcott. Lederer was a favorite nephew of actress Marion Davies and intimate friend of William Randolph Hearst. And Lederer was often a guest at the Hearst Castle at San Simeon.
For someone in Welles position, looking to find status in the film community, being invited to San Simeon would have been an important boost to his career. However, the fact that Virginia and Lederer were part of the circle made it awkward for Hearst to invite Welles.
Herman J. Mankiewicz was a friend of Orson Welles and was once on the Mercury Theater payroll. At one time Mankiewicz had been a regular guest at Hearst parties, but no more. His drinking had gotten him banished from Hearst activities. So for one reason or another both Welles and Mankiewicz had wound up on the wrong side of the tracks – according to the Hearst house rules.
For his first movie Welles wanted a good collaborator, a working writer with a creative mind and Herman Mankiewicz was that, he was also good company.
Mankiewicz listened to Welles pitch and agreed to give it a try. As to the story, they only had a general idea about a strong leading character. Mankiewicz said sometime later that the Hearst and Marion Davies characters came out of a discussion about technique. The main character would be shown in a March of Time sequence and then the film would go on and tell about the person.
Once they worked out a scenario in rough form they got down to work and did a couple of rewrites. Welles passed a draft along to the RKO legal department and it was promptly rejected with a note that Hearst will sue your pants off.
Back to the drawing board and more rewrites. This time Welles and Mankiewicz had input from John Housman and Joseph Cotton during their rewrite sessions. In order to fictionalize the story they added the unsuccessful attempt to assassinate President Roosevelt in Miami. Finally they had a story and even though it still contained a lot of William Randolph Hearst in the screenplay it wasn't considered libelous by the legal departmant.
'In 1940, alone at his fantastically surrealistic and magnificently opulent estate known as Xanadu Charles Foster Kane dies at the age of seventy. When he dies his last word is 'Rosebud' and from his hand a glass ball – one of those novelties containing a miniature snow scene....'
Then the search is on for who or what is Rosebud?
Citizen Kane is often times considered the greatest film of all time and particularly praised for its innovative cinematography, music, and narrative structure. The film was nominated for Academy awards in nine categories; it won an award for best original screenplay by Herman Mankiewicz and Orson Welles.
Citizen Kane was a critical success but failed in its first run to recoup it's negative cost.
The film quickly faded from view, but its reputation was restored by French critics and even more widely after its American revival in 1956. There is a kind of consensus among film critics that Citizen Kane is the greatest film ever made. Roger Ebert quipped, 'So it's settled, Citizen Kane is the official greatest film of all time.'
It has topped both the AFI 100 best movies and the tenth anniversary update as well as all the sight and sound polls of the ten greatest films for more than half a century.
Orson Welles continued to produce films but none of them reached the heights of Kane. Some of the others were The Magnificent Ambersons, The Lady from Shanghai, Othello, Touch of Evil, The Trial and F is for Fake.
You Tube has a good collection of Orson Welles movie clips.
Don't miss this one. Citizen Kane movie trailer: Click Here
Tungee's Gold: The Legend of Ebo Landing
An introduction to a historical and adventure novel.
Tungee Cahill is shanghaied at San Francisco into a world where conspiracies, distortions and lies are the rule. Tungee joins the skipper in a battle of bigots and bullets just to stay alive. It took a mutiny, the icy hell of Cape Horn and a brush with the African slave trade to make him take a hard look at himself.
The idea for this historical novel came from an old slave tale, ‘The Legend of Ebo Landing.’ I first heard the story in Savannah, Georgia while doing research and writing a series of documentaries for PBS Television.
The human tragedy got my attention and I followed up by going to the source of the story, Saint Simons Island. After talking to the natives and tromping around the place I began taking notes and asking myself the obvious question, why? The answer came in the form of a novel I call ‘Tungee’s Gold.’
(More to come)
Writers Notebook:
Edna Ferber from A Peculiar Treasure.
…’You read what you wrote yesterday. Not so terrible. With a soft lead pencil you make some changes, tightening a line here, crossing out a word there, inserting a margin note for the next draft.
I have learned not to tear up my stuff until I’ve slept on it. I have sometimes written page after page through the work day in a kind of agony of ineffectualness, feeling weary, limp and unvital, only to discover on reading it bright and fresh next morning that the stuff has, somehow miraculously, pace and meaning.’
Stephen King agrees with Ferber’s overnight concept as pointed out in an earlier segment of Writers Notebook.
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
The War of the Worlds and Sailing to Cape Horn
This Week
Mercury Theater Radio
Treacherous Cape Horn Waters
Writers Notebook: Somerset Maugham
Orson Welles and the War of the Worlds:
The Mercury Theater company was founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and John Houseman. After a string of live theatrical productions, in 1938 the Mercury Theater moved into their best-known period as The Mercury Theater on the Air radio. It was during that time when one of their most notable and infamous radio broadcasts of all time was produced. The War of the Worlds, adapted from an H.G. Welles story was broadcast on October 30, 1938. The Mercury Theater on the Air produced live radio dramas during the years of 1938–39 and 40.
The Mercury Theater troupe included Welles, Houseman, Carl Frank, Joseph Cotten, Martin Gabel, Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, Hans Conreid, Paul Stewart, Will Geer, George Coulouris, Olive Stanton, and Everett Sloane.
Welles had already worked extensively in radio drama, playing the title character in The Shadow and directing a seven-part adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables for the Mutual Broadcasting System.
In 1938, he was offered a chance to direct his own weekly, hour-long radio series. Wells didn't take the first offer, but later worked out a deal for The Mercury Theater on the Air. His intent was to put a revolving repertory company of actors together. That was why
Welles insisted his Mercury company actors and crew be involved in the radio series.
The Mercury Theater on the Air was an hour-long dramatic radio program which began in the summer of 1938 on the CBS radio network. Welles was given complete creative control by CBS over the new series. Collaborating with John Houseman and other writers, Welles wrote, directed and performed in the productions. Some of the most memorable Mercury Theater productions were adaptations of great novels. Several good examples are the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Tale of Two Cities, and Heart of Darkness. John
Houseman wrote the early scripts for the series, but later turned the job over to Howard Koch. Music was conducted by Bernard Herrmann. Their first radio production was Bram Stoker's Dracula, and other adaptations included Treasure Island, The Thirty-Nine Steps and The Count of Monte Cristo.
The show was originally scheduled for nine weeks, but the network extended the run and moved it in as the summer substitute for the Lux Radio Theater on Sunday night opposite Edgar Bergen's popular variety show.
The early dramas got high praise by the critics, but even so their ratings were low. However, the airing on October 30, 1938 of an adaptation of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds changed all that.
No one can be sure, but the chances are that thousands of people listening to the show were taken in by the realism of the production and thought Martians were invading the earth. It was amazing how much publicity was generated by the show and as a consequence The Mercury Theater quickly became one of radio's top-rated shows.
The show's new found popularity had a huge side effect as the Campbell Soup Company signed on to sponsor the show guaranteeing Mercury's survival.
The company moved to Hollywood and settled in at the RKO Studios with Welles' final performance on the radio series coming in March 1940.
A number of the original group were cast in Welles' films that were produced at RKO Studios in Gower Street, Hollywood.
Tungee's Gold (Excerpt)
The Clipper Ship MFC is on a southerly heading down the west coast of South America toward Cape Horn.
The barometer had been steadily dropping along with the temperature. And not to be caught with his sails billowing out full when the gale struck, Foster had done the prudent thing by taking off large sections of canvas. All the sailors in the rigging were holding on a bit tighter as the running sea preceding the high wind caused the masts to sway like some giant pendulum swinging it's circle and exerting enormous centrifugal force.
Tungee was on the port side of the fore royal yard and saw the sky light up with a flash followed by the rolling crack-bang thunder bouncing off the building waves. Jeff was on his right Dobbs and the kid were below on the fore upper topsail completing their furl.
"Hang onto to what you've got now, men. The wind from the squall line is going to hit any minute," Tungee yelled.
Dobbs declared, "I've got me a grip on this here foremast that lovers just dream about, mate."
Cheny raced from the quarterdeck and took a position halfway between the main and foremast, leaned back and yelled new orders. "Yo, fore and main top men spill and secure your outer and inner jibs and all stays.
The men in the rigging had just gone to work on Cheny's order when the man in the crow's nest bellowed, "Land ho."
"Give me a point and what you see," Captain Foster ordered.
"Broad on the port bow, sir. They are distant, sir, but they are hills, make no mistake about that, sir."
The skipper knew that Wellington was behind them, present position had to put them off the Strait of Magellan. The crow's nest must be reporting the hills of Punta Arenas.
"Give me a distance," Foster demanded.
"I'd reckon a score of miles, sir."
"Helmsman, we'll wear ship to a starboard heading of one hundred ninety five degrees."
The MFC was nearer land than the skipper had intended and with that starboard maneuver the ship would likely be on a collision course with the storm. But Captain Foster figured it was better to stick his bow into the turbulent waters rather than drift toward the shoals and in the end be broadsided and slammed onto the rocks by the storm's fury.
All top men had returned to the deck and ducked inside the forecastle by the time white pebbles began to bounce off the mast and decking.
Tungee held onto a lifeline and made his way back to the quarterdeck where Foster and Cheny stood just outside the chart room observing the helmsman. They would soon find out how the ship handled in a real storm. She had weathered some rain and gale force winds, but nothing like old Cape Stiff could dish out.
Tuck Rogers was at the wheel and was as good a helmsman as you'd ever want to see, especially on tack and close haul sailing. By the time hailstones began to collect in the scuppers, intermittent sprinkles of freezing rain started to fall. The sea was running wild and a monstrous roller built up and moved ominously toward the starboard bow. The big one missed, but all of a sudden the men on deck were looking down at a trough below.
Captain Foster yelled, "We can tie the wheel down, if you'd like, Mr. Rogers."
"If you don't mind, I'll stick with her for now, sir."
"You feel you have some steerage then."
"Aye, she's a bit cranky, but that's to be expected in these crazy cross seas."
The ship rode the top of that giant wave for a few brief moments and then she plunged and dove down into a canyon. Dirty gray walls of water churned up on either side of the ship and they still hadn't hit bottom. When those huge walls collapse we'll be overwhelmed, Tungee thought. They bottomed out and he was forced to his knees. He knew the sides would come crashing in, but they didn't. Those gray walls held. The ship was in the pit of the trough and just as fast as they had fallen to the bottom they were spat up and out again.
The wind was not much more than gale force and it was somewhat dryer than they had expected, so the skipper ordered a modest sail change. "Call out the watch, Mr. Cheny. "I'd like to set the stays and jibs."
Tungee peered into the black night and worried about the overcast and how the captain planned to navigate when there was no chance to shoot the stars.
And before the night was done, the MFC had collected a veneer of ice that covered both deck and rigging. The storm raged and screamed as it blew in off the South Pole and sent the thermometer's mercury retreating far below zero.
Writers Notebook:
A few words from Somerset Maugham about story form.
‘I think you must make sure not to divide the interest in a story; Checkov, however haphazard his appear sometimes, took care never to do this. In fact, in a story as in a play, you must make up your mind what your point is and stick to it like grim death. That is just another way of saying it must have form.’
Tom's Books and Blogs:
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
Mercury Theater Radio
Treacherous Cape Horn Waters
Writers Notebook: Somerset Maugham
Orson Welles and the War of the Worlds:
The Mercury Theater company was founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and John Houseman. After a string of live theatrical productions, in 1938 the Mercury Theater moved into their best-known period as The Mercury Theater on the Air radio. It was during that time when one of their most notable and infamous radio broadcasts of all time was produced. The War of the Worlds, adapted from an H.G. Welles story was broadcast on October 30, 1938. The Mercury Theater on the Air produced live radio dramas during the years of 1938–39 and 40.
The Mercury Theater troupe included Welles, Houseman, Carl Frank, Joseph Cotten, Martin Gabel, Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, Hans Conreid, Paul Stewart, Will Geer, George Coulouris, Olive Stanton, and Everett Sloane.
Welles had already worked extensively in radio drama, playing the title character in The Shadow and directing a seven-part adaptation of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables for the Mutual Broadcasting System.
In 1938, he was offered a chance to direct his own weekly, hour-long radio series. Wells didn't take the first offer, but later worked out a deal for The Mercury Theater on the Air. His intent was to put a revolving repertory company of actors together. That was why
Welles insisted his Mercury company actors and crew be involved in the radio series.
The Mercury Theater on the Air was an hour-long dramatic radio program which began in the summer of 1938 on the CBS radio network. Welles was given complete creative control by CBS over the new series. Collaborating with John Houseman and other writers, Welles wrote, directed and performed in the productions. Some of the most memorable Mercury Theater productions were adaptations of great novels. Several good examples are the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Tale of Two Cities, and Heart of Darkness. John
Houseman wrote the early scripts for the series, but later turned the job over to Howard Koch. Music was conducted by Bernard Herrmann. Their first radio production was Bram Stoker's Dracula, and other adaptations included Treasure Island, The Thirty-Nine Steps and The Count of Monte Cristo.
The show was originally scheduled for nine weeks, but the network extended the run and moved it in as the summer substitute for the Lux Radio Theater on Sunday night opposite Edgar Bergen's popular variety show.
The early dramas got high praise by the critics, but even so their ratings were low. However, the airing on October 30, 1938 of an adaptation of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds changed all that.
No one can be sure, but the chances are that thousands of people listening to the show were taken in by the realism of the production and thought Martians were invading the earth. It was amazing how much publicity was generated by the show and as a consequence The Mercury Theater quickly became one of radio's top-rated shows.
The show's new found popularity had a huge side effect as the Campbell Soup Company signed on to sponsor the show guaranteeing Mercury's survival.
The company moved to Hollywood and settled in at the RKO Studios with Welles' final performance on the radio series coming in March 1940.
A number of the original group were cast in Welles' films that were produced at RKO Studios in Gower Street, Hollywood.
Tungee's Gold (Excerpt)
The Clipper Ship MFC is on a southerly heading down the west coast of South America toward Cape Horn.
The barometer had been steadily dropping along with the temperature. And not to be caught with his sails billowing out full when the gale struck, Foster had done the prudent thing by taking off large sections of canvas. All the sailors in the rigging were holding on a bit tighter as the running sea preceding the high wind caused the masts to sway like some giant pendulum swinging it's circle and exerting enormous centrifugal force.
Tungee was on the port side of the fore royal yard and saw the sky light up with a flash followed by the rolling crack-bang thunder bouncing off the building waves. Jeff was on his right Dobbs and the kid were below on the fore upper topsail completing their furl.
"Hang onto to what you've got now, men. The wind from the squall line is going to hit any minute," Tungee yelled.
Dobbs declared, "I've got me a grip on this here foremast that lovers just dream about, mate."
Cheny raced from the quarterdeck and took a position halfway between the main and foremast, leaned back and yelled new orders. "Yo, fore and main top men spill and secure your outer and inner jibs and all stays.
The men in the rigging had just gone to work on Cheny's order when the man in the crow's nest bellowed, "Land ho."
"Give me a point and what you see," Captain Foster ordered.
"Broad on the port bow, sir. They are distant, sir, but they are hills, make no mistake about that, sir."
The skipper knew that Wellington was behind them, present position had to put them off the Strait of Magellan. The crow's nest must be reporting the hills of Punta Arenas.
"Give me a distance," Foster demanded.
"I'd reckon a score of miles, sir."
"Helmsman, we'll wear ship to a starboard heading of one hundred ninety five degrees."
The MFC was nearer land than the skipper had intended and with that starboard maneuver the ship would likely be on a collision course with the storm. But Captain Foster figured it was better to stick his bow into the turbulent waters rather than drift toward the shoals and in the end be broadsided and slammed onto the rocks by the storm's fury.
All top men had returned to the deck and ducked inside the forecastle by the time white pebbles began to bounce off the mast and decking.
Tungee held onto a lifeline and made his way back to the quarterdeck where Foster and Cheny stood just outside the chart room observing the helmsman. They would soon find out how the ship handled in a real storm. She had weathered some rain and gale force winds, but nothing like old Cape Stiff could dish out.
Tuck Rogers was at the wheel and was as good a helmsman as you'd ever want to see, especially on tack and close haul sailing. By the time hailstones began to collect in the scuppers, intermittent sprinkles of freezing rain started to fall. The sea was running wild and a monstrous roller built up and moved ominously toward the starboard bow. The big one missed, but all of a sudden the men on deck were looking down at a trough below.
Captain Foster yelled, "We can tie the wheel down, if you'd like, Mr. Rogers."
"If you don't mind, I'll stick with her for now, sir."
"You feel you have some steerage then."
"Aye, she's a bit cranky, but that's to be expected in these crazy cross seas."
The ship rode the top of that giant wave for a few brief moments and then she plunged and dove down into a canyon. Dirty gray walls of water churned up on either side of the ship and they still hadn't hit bottom. When those huge walls collapse we'll be overwhelmed, Tungee thought. They bottomed out and he was forced to his knees. He knew the sides would come crashing in, but they didn't. Those gray walls held. The ship was in the pit of the trough and just as fast as they had fallen to the bottom they were spat up and out again.
The wind was not much more than gale force and it was somewhat dryer than they had expected, so the skipper ordered a modest sail change. "Call out the watch, Mr. Cheny. "I'd like to set the stays and jibs."
Tungee peered into the black night and worried about the overcast and how the captain planned to navigate when there was no chance to shoot the stars.
And before the night was done, the MFC had collected a veneer of ice that covered both deck and rigging. The storm raged and screamed as it blew in off the South Pole and sent the thermometer's mercury retreating far below zero.
Writers Notebook:
A few words from Somerset Maugham about story form.
‘I think you must make sure not to divide the interest in a story; Checkov, however haphazard his appear sometimes, took care never to do this. In fact, in a story as in a play, you must make up your mind what your point is and stick to it like grim death. That is just another way of saying it must have form.’
Tom's Books and Blogs:
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
Tom's 'RocktheTower' Blog
I do a variety blog and post every Wednesday. I am an actor, writer and hurricane hunter and my subjects are generally written about those fields. During Hurricane Season I do at least one story every
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