The Whitney's, David Selznick and Doc Holliday

This Week
Selznick International
Doc Holliday: Fact or Fiction
Writers Notebook: Tip from Stephen King

David O. Selznick Part 5

David Selznick's stay at MGM was not without its rewards. The production facilities and personnel alone were a big plus and for the most part he managed to get good story material. There were a few exceptions such as Vanessa: Her Love Story and Meet the Barron, both of those stories found their way to Selznick's production unit through studio pressure.
Two other pictures were less than successful because of casting errors, Clark Gable was not suited to the part in Night Flight and Reckless was originally intended for Joan Crawford but replace by Jean Harlow, which didn't work out.
Dancing Lady was a rehab picture for Joan Crawford coming off two box offices failures Rain and Today we Live.
Dancing Lady was successful and with its large cast had a number of personal success stories outside the film.

The film starred Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone and it featured the screen debut of Fred Astaire, borrowed from RKO to play himself. Dancing Lady also featured the the first credited film appearance of Nelson Eddy. Robert Benchley an old Algonquin Round Table Regular had a featured role and in minor roles were three characters that were later to become the Three Stooges, Moe Howard, Curly Howard and Larry Fine.
Quite a collection of characters, and it turned out to be a pretty good film.

Manhattan Melodrama was a low cost film that was a big box office hit that was no doubt helped by the casting of Clark Gable, William Powell and Myrna Loy. The chemistry between Powell and Loy might have sparked their later pairing for The Thin Man, which eventually turned into a series for both film and radio.
Manhattan Melodrama was also the lure that was used by The Lady in Red, an FBI informant, to bring John Dillinger out of hiding. As The Lady in Red and Dillinger left the Chicago theater Dillinger was gunned down by the FBI to the dismay of the general public. John Dillinger had become quite a folk hero to many Americans during those dull depression years.
Nearing the end of his contract with MGM, word got out that David Selznick would be leaving the studio. All the executives including L.B. Mayer pleaded with him to stay on with a renewed and better contract. Greta Garbo came to him and asked him to stay and produce all of her films. That would have been a great honor, but David Selznick was on track to fulfill his dream, produce pictures he could be proud of and without too much outside interference.
Financing was the first order of business and being in the middle of a depression it would not be easy. However his reputation as a first line producer had grown over the years both inside and outside the industry. It was no secrete that he was going to form his own company, Selznick International and produce first class motion pictures. David was not as sure about financing his company as he was in his own personal abilities as a producer. Fortunately, in this case, his reputation as a producer had grown even larger than his ego.
The proof of that remark came when Irving Thalberg and his wife Anne Sheridan became the first investors in Selznick International. They gave him $200, 000.00 in seed money and that was matched by David's brother Myron.
And with almost a half million dollars in the bank, David set off for New York again. He felt more confident this time as his associate Merian C. Cooper (of King Kong fame) introduced David to some of New York's old money millionaires. All of those contacts were interested, but the bulk of the financing for Selznick International came from the Whitney family. John Hay (Jock) Whitney, C.V. Whitney and Mrs. Charles S. Payson, Jock Whitney's sister.
Cooper and the Whitney's owned Pioneer Productions and part of the deal with Selznick was that he would take over certain responsibilities in Pioneer along with operational control of his own Selznick International production company.
Selznick International Pictures set up shop in Culver City, California only a few blocks from MGM. The building was originally The Thomas Ince Studio built in 1919 and located on Washington Boulevard in Culver City, California. The Colonial style building, used as a movie set by Ince, was converted into an office building by Cecil B. DeMille during his independent years.
Little Lord Fauntleroy was the first film produced by Selznick International. Directed by John Cromwell written by Hugh Walpole with a cast that included C. Aubrey Smith, Freddie Bartholomew and Dolores Costello and was released in 1936.
Fauntleroy went through its production stages without a hitch. The same couldn't be said for The Garden of Allah directed by Richard Boleslawski, screenplay by W.B. Lipscomb and Lynn Rigggs.
The Actors were Marlene Dietrich, Charles Boyer, Basil Rathbone and C. Aubrey Smith. During production of the film Dietrich got into a the habit of slurring lines and changing a few words of dialog form time to time. Selznick was scrupulous when it came to the proper word and when he saw Marlene drifting away from the script he made a fuss about it. To get his point across Selznick used a string of memos to the director, which eventually got Dietrich's attention. She argued and bridled a bit, but eventually began to use the words written in the script. The Garden of Allah was completed and released in 1936.
A Star is born was filmed in technicolor and directed by William A. Wellman from a script written by Wellman, Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell. It stars were Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, other cast members included Adolph Menjou, May Robson and Andy Devine.
The production was filmed during the months from October through December of 1936 and Premiered April 29, 1937 at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
The industry paper Variety's review said, ...'Although not the first film, which has attempted to capitalize the International reputation of Hollywood, it is unquestionably the most effective one yet made. The highly commendable results are achieved with a minimum of satiric hokum and a maximum of honest storytelling.' ...'The story relates the experience of a young girl who rises to cinema fame while her husband, having touched the heights, is on a swift descent. Love is the heroine; alcohol, the villain.'...
The scene of the falling star walking into the ocean at sunset caused Selznick and the whole production staff many sleepless nights trying to strike the right balance, was Norman Main's death the result of an accident or was it suicide?
(To be Continued)

The Life and Times of John Henry Holliday.
Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone is a novel, using real and imaginary people, the story begins just as the American Civil War is coming to a close. It's the story of passion and deceit, loyalty and adventure – beginning in the old South and later plays out on the Western Frontier.
Most of the settings, characters and incidents are real, the births and deaths of family members within the Holliday household are documented by factual accounts.
John Henry Holliday was born in Griffin, Georgia and the family’s move to Valdosta, Georgia in 1864 is a matter of record as is the death of his mother Alice Holliday in August of 1866. John Henry's father, Henry B. Holliday, caused an irreparable rift with his son when he courted and married Rachel Martin before Alice was cold in her grave.
John Henry's association and work with Dr. Frederick Frink of Valdosta led to his attending and graduating The Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in March of 1872 are also a matter of record.
John Henry's return to Georgia and romantic relationship with his cousin Mattie Holliday, setting up a dental office in Griffin are more ambiguous. However, his inheritance of property in Griffin, Georgia, his being diagnosed as having tuberculosis, the death of his adopted brother Francisco from their shared disease is a matter of record.
The sale of John Henry’s Griffin real estate that coincided with Francisco’s death is recorded and was likely the reason John Henry went west in search of a drier climate.
Doc’s life in the West, his gambling, gun fighting, some time dentist, and tumultuous relationship with Kate Elder are well known. His friendship with Wyatt Earp is a part of Western Lore. And Doc's standing with the Earps on the side of law and order at the shootout at the OK Corral is well documented.
Following the shootout the Earps and Holliday were charged with murder and hauled into court. As you read Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone you will be inside Judge Spicer's courtroom every day of that 28-day hearing.
But even as law and order won the day in the courtroom, the night guns came out and everyone on the side of law and order were targets. Mayor Clum and judge Spicer were shot at and missed, but Virgil Earp was severely wounded and Morgan Earp was shot in the back and killed.
A blood bath ensued and when the killing, on both sides, got out of hand Doc decided to leave the shooting to others and go to Colorado. Wyatt argued against it, but eventually sided with Doc and followed his friend out of the Tombstone Territory.
Doc had several encounters, with the law, during his stay in Colorado, but the greatest tragedy came when Mattie wrote and told JohnHenry that she had entered St. Vincent's Academy to become a nun.
( Next week: Doctor John Henry Holliday graduates from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery)

Writers Notebook:
Inside the front flap of my writer’s notebook are several notes; among them is one that always makes me stop and think. ‘What is the single most important piece of advice you’ve ever gotten about writing?’ I’m not quite sure, but this note contained in that same flap is high on the list. Stephen King once said, ‘I write about four hours a day – first draft – just write. Let it all hang out – don’t stop for misspelled words – punctuation – nothing. Let the passion and heat of the moment take charge. And don’t rewrite that same day. Write in am and rewrite in pm – no, no, no. Leave it alone, at least overnight.’

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.
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