David O. Selznick Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Today is actress Evelyn Keyes' birthday; her year of birth seems to be disputed (1916 or 1919), but so far as I can tell, she's still with us. Keyes was born in Port Arthur, Texas, which some of you might recognize as also being the birthplace of Janis Joplin. Keyes arrived in Hollywood in the 1930s and acted in films and on TV until well into the late 1980s. She was sometimes a leading lady in 1940s films like Here Comes Mr. Jordan, The Jolson Story, and Mrs. Mike, and later played Tom Ewell's wife in The Seven Year Itch. She's been married four times, most notably to director John Huston and bandleader Artie Shaw. However, Keyes is most remembered for her small role as Suellen O'Hara, Scarlett's pill of a sister in Gone with the Wind. In fact, Keyes' autobiography, written in the 1970s, is titled Scarlett O'Hara's Younger Sister.

I'm not the fan of Gone with the Wind that I was in high school. Over the years, the racial stereotyping has started to bother me more, and I'm less convinced by Clark Gable's performance as Rhett Butler. Also, it is difficult to love a four-hour film. However, I still love reading about the making of Gone with the Wind -- the huge and lavish production, David O. Selznick's baby, has generated many fascinating stories. Looking at my bookshelf, I realize I own at least four books related to the making of the movie (including the above-mentioned Keyes bio). I also love the costumes by Walter Plunkett, especially Scarlett's dresses. The Harry Ransom Center in Austin has Selznick's archives and a lot of other material from the movie, including faithful reproductions of Scarlett's most gorgeous dresses. Take a look at the HRC online exhibition of Gone with the Wind, especially the Costumes and Makeup section. You can see pictures of all the dresses, the "makeup stills" taken of most of the cast members, including Keyes. Every photo or description is accompanied by memos from Selznick about what he wanted (or didn't like) -- he was a notorious memo writer. Many of the memos are collected in a book called Memo from David O. Selznick ... yes, I own that one too.

Today is Gregory Peck's birthday -- he would have been 90 years old, had he not died in 2003. He had more than 50 film credits, but the one most people remember best is the role for which he won an Oscar: Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. I figured everyone's seen stills from that movie many times, so I picked a promo photo from 15 years earlier: The Paradine Case, an Alfred Hitchcock film in which Peck plays a lawyer who becomes smitten with his client (Alida Valli). Many reviewers seem to feel that Peck was miscast; Hitchcock may have been forced into the casting by producer David O. Selznick. The film was Hitchcock's last (and least) collaborative effort with Selznick, who is also credited with the screenplay. I've never seen The Paradine Case myself, and in fact the DVD is currently out of print in the U.S. right now.

Peck's filmography is not only impressive, it's downright amusing when you notice that among his many roles, he played Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Josef Mengele, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and author Ambrose Bierce. And I haven't even mentioned Roman Holiday, Cape Fear (both versions), The Yearling, Spellbound, and The Omen. If you want to celebrate Peck's birthday by watching one of his movies, you've got any number of excellent choices.