4/23/24
Newsletter #588
The Crack of Dawn
I have little pads of paper all over the place. They are filled with ideas, thoughts, phone numbers, appointments, and song lyrics. Any time I hear them, I always try to write down mixed metaphors.
That bus has sailed – heard somewhere recently.
On his podcast/show Club Random, Bill Maher, right at the beginning as he and Sheryl Crow were just sitting down, Bill said off the cuff, “We’ve lost our sonar; we’re flying blind.”
My old buddy Scott, who worked at a market, said a guy bought some sort of liquor, and when asked what he thought, he said, “Smooth as a whistle.”
I saw this on Google and wrote it down, “Download Free Jewish Calendar, $1.00.”
One of my favorites was by the great boxing announcer, Jim Lampley, who said excitedly during a fight, “The fulcrum has turned!”
A note says, “Von Sternberg spraying aluminum.” The films of director Josef Von Sternberg (real name, Jonas Sternberg, an Austrian Jew), don’t look like anyone else’s movies. One of the things he did, that he discussed in his autobiography, Fun in a Chinese Laundry, was to spray liquid aluminum particles into shadows, making them reflective. I’ve never heard of such a thing before or since. I have no doubt that the concoction was toxic as hell. Still, it was part of what gave Von Sternberg’s movies such a distinct look. His idea was to attract the light to the shadows; but to not light the shadows. It certainly is interesting.
A note in a pad reads, “Burning, Atlanta, Vivian Leigh.” What that just fired off in my old noodle was, how about a good, multi-part, limited series called, say, Gone With the Wind Produced by David O. Selznick. Show what it took to make that movie. Regarding the note to myself, this was in reference to December 11, 1938, the first day of shooting on Gone With the Wind, which was 2nd unit.
Our Selznick Netflix limited series begins with the burning of Atlanta. What this means is that they had to get rid of the old sets on the RKO-Pathé lot – next door to MGM – to make way for the new GWTW sets. One of the sets that they burned was the main gate of Skull Island from King Kong (1933). The giant gate was originally built as the main gate to Jerusalem for Cecil B. De Mille’s 1927 King of Kings. In any event, it was set ablaze. It was a big, controlled burn. They had stunt people portraying Rhett Butler leading the wagon with a stunt Scarlett O’Hara inside in front of a backdrop of real flames, all photographed in three-strip Technicolor.
Now, who should play David Selznick? A 37-year-old, Jewish, top executive producer, who had already run a studio, with his older brother Myron, when he was 21 years old – no shit – and was now about to make the most expensive movie ever made with the biggest star in the world, Clark Gable. Since David Selznick was Jewish — and looked it — naturally it should be Bradley Cooper, and he can save money by using the same nose as he used for Leonard Bernstein. All he needs are round glasses.
Except as of this first night of shooting, Selznick hasn’t yet cast the lead, Scarlett O’Hara. He’s auditioned every actress in town and has had over 1200 auditions done in cities across America with young, pretty girls.
So, we’re on the set of Atlanta burning as it is shooting 2nd unit shots. We meet Selznick sitting in a director’s chair along with all of the other top studio dogs. Victor Fleming actually directed GWTW — but didn’t come aboard until the third week, and he is presently, Fleming was shooting The Wizard of Oz next door at MGM — so George Cukor was still the director at that time. There would have been the Technicolor directors of photography, the art director, William Cameron Menzies, but no actors. Selznick would soon be borrowing Clark Gable from MGM, and when Gable was available, that’s when principal photography would begin.
Myron Selznick, David’s elder brother (with whom he ran a studio when they were both in their early 20s), was now a big talent agent. He had recently signed the well-regarded young British actor, Laurence Olivier, who was in Hollywood shooting Willam Wyler’s Wuthering Heights. Laurence Olivier brought along his beautiful actress wife, Vivian Leigh. What people don’t realize is that Vivian Leigh had a real career and a fair amount of film experience in British films before that, having already made five or six films, one of which, anyway, was pretty good.
Vivian Leigh had already decided that she was perfect for the part of Scarlett O’Hara and had said so to Olivier, Myron, and anyone else who would listen. So, it was during this blazing, fiery, 2nd unit night shoot, on the RKO-Pathé lot, that David O. Selznick met Vivian Leigh. He was obviously swept away and gave her the part. And she deserved it. I’ll bet you that Vivian Leigh had already researched the shit out of her Georgia accent and performed it for Selznick.
And there you have it. The first scene of the six-part Netflix series, Selznick.
Wow. 1200 auditions. "Baby, you're one in 1200"