reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (12/02/85)
"Memo from David O. Selznick" is not a new book, but it is a must-read
for anyone interested in how movies are made, in particular how they
were made in the Thirties, Forties, and Fifties.
David O. Selznick, one of the great American film producers of all times,
is best known for producing "Gone With the Wind", but he ran a studio for
a while (RKO) and held major production jobs at two others (Paramount and
MGM) and produced many fine independent films, including "Rebecca", "Since
You Went Away", and "Duel in the Sun". Selznick is probably the finest
example of a producer in the old Hollywood sense one would ever find. If
ever there was an auteur on a Hollywood film, it was Selznick, who personally
involved himself in each and every decision about every aspect of his films.
His care, intelligence, and taste were always evident in his films.
Selznick is also famous, or infamous, for one other thing: his memos.
Selznick preferred to communicate his intentions via voluminous memos
rather than personal meetings. These memos ran many, many pages on occasion.
Alfred Hitchcock, who directed several films for Selznick, confided
that he started Selznick's first memo on "Rebecca" shortly after receiving
it, but still hadn't finished it years later.
Rudy Behlmer did the community of those interested in film an inestimable
service by spending literally years culling through the thousands of memos
Selznick wrote and filed during his career. Behlmer presented the results
in this book, "Memo from David O. Selznick". Anyone interested in the answer
to the question, "What does a producer do?" will find it here, in an
extremely entertaining form. Selznick wrote, or, rather, dictated, quite
well. (In fact, though he never received credit, he almost invariably was
intimately involved in writing the scripts of his films. Similarly, he
performed many of the functions normally reserved for a director, and
sometimes directed substantial portions of his films himself.) In these
memos, Selznick reveals what his job was about, from catering to the
demands of stars, to casting problems, to production design, to untangling
problems with rights, to tempermental and slow directors, to running a studio,
to publicity and distribution, and many, many other aspects of his chosen
profession.
Selznick's memos are fascinating reading. There is enough film esoterica
in there to make up a full edition of Trivial Pursuit. Also, Selznick
frequently touches on some of the fundamental principles of filmmaking.
I wish that everyone who was adapting a popular book or play into a film
would read what Selznick had to say about doing so, both his desire to
retain as much of the original as possible and his acuity in seeing what
would work on screen and what wouldn't. Selznick also has words of wisdom
regarding the selection of writers and directors, how to write screenplays,
how to direct, how to edit film, and how to score a film. Selznick really
was a man who could, were he willing to spend the effort himself, do all of
the creative jobs on a film (barring acting and composing): writing, directing,
photographing, designing, and editing.
"Memo from David O. Selznick" was published in 1972, and is not, to my
knowledge, still in print. Good libraries should have a copy, though,
and it might also be found in used book stores. Searching out a copy is
well worth the effort for film fans.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiherhofbauer@utcsri.UUCP (John Hofbauer) (12/06/85)
> well. (In fact, though he never received credit, he almost invariably was > intimately involved in writing the scripts of his films. Similarly, he He DID receive screen credit for writing "Since You Went Away". It read, "screenplay by the producer".