Gone With the Wind, Garbo and Doc Holliday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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