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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