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On Film Making
A fascinating blend of the human history of film, the personalities in front of and behind the cameras.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1973
About the author
King Vidor
18 books2 followersKing Vidor was an American screenwriter, film director and producer.
Vidor was born in Galveston, Texas, where he survived the great Galveston Hurricane of 1900.
A freelance newsreel cameraman and cinema projectionist, Vidor made his debut as a director in 1913 with The Grand Military Parade.
In Hollywood from 1915, he worked as a screenwriter and as director of a series of six short juvenile-delinquency films for Judge Willis Brown before directing his first feature, The Turn in the Road, in 1919. A successful mounting of Peg o' My Heart in 1922 won him a long-term contract with Goldwyn Studios (later to be absorbed into MGM).
Three years later he made The Big Parade, among the most acclaimed war films of the silent era, and a tremendous commercial success. This success established him as one of MGM's top studio directors for the next decade. In 1928, Vidor received his first Oscar nomination, for The Crowd, widely regarded as his masterpiece and one of the greatest American silent films. In the same year, he made the classic Show People, a comedy about the film industry starring Marion Davies, and his much-loved screwball comedy The Patsy, which also starred Davies and was his last silent film.
Vidor's first sound film was Hallelujah!, a groundbreaking film featuring an African-American cast.
Some of his better known sound films include Stella Dallas, Our Daily Bread, The Citadel, Duel in the Sun, The Fountainhead, and War and Peace. He directed the Kansas sequences in The Wizard of Oz (including "Over the Rainbow" and the twister) when director Victor Fleming had to replace George Cukor on Gone with the Wind, but did not receive screen credit.
Vidor died at age 88 of a heart ailment at his ranch in Paso Robles, California, on November 1, 1982.
Vidor was born in Galveston, Texas, where he survived the great Galveston Hurricane of 1900.
A freelance newsreel cameraman and cinema projectionist, Vidor made his debut as a director in 1913 with The Grand Military Parade.
In Hollywood from 1915, he worked as a screenwriter and as director of a series of six short juvenile-delinquency films for Judge Willis Brown before directing his first feature, The Turn in the Road, in 1919. A successful mounting of Peg o' My Heart in 1922 won him a long-term contract with Goldwyn Studios (later to be absorbed into MGM).
Three years later he made The Big Parade, among the most acclaimed war films of the silent era, and a tremendous commercial success. This success established him as one of MGM's top studio directors for the next decade. In 1928, Vidor received his first Oscar nomination, for The Crowd, widely regarded as his masterpiece and one of the greatest American silent films. In the same year, he made the classic Show People, a comedy about the film industry starring Marion Davies, and his much-loved screwball comedy The Patsy, which also starred Davies and was his last silent film.
Vidor's first sound film was Hallelujah!, a groundbreaking film featuring an African-American cast.
Some of his better known sound films include Stella Dallas, Our Daily Bread, The Citadel, Duel in the Sun, The Fountainhead, and War and Peace. He directed the Kansas sequences in The Wizard of Oz (including "Over the Rainbow" and the twister) when director Victor Fleming had to replace George Cukor on Gone with the Wind, but did not receive screen credit.
Vidor died at age 88 of a heart ailment at his ranch in Paso Robles, California, on November 1, 1982.
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