A Year in Books/Day 175: Memo from David O. Selznick

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  • Title: Memo from David O. Selznick
  • Selected and Edited by: Rudy Behlmer (With an Introduction by S.N. Behrman)
  • Year Published: 1972 (The Viking Press)
  • Year Purchased: 1990s
  • Source: Antique Barn, Ohio State Fair
  • About: Over the years, and quite by accident, I have amassed a nice sub-section to my Cinema Library, what I call The Lives and Times of Ruthless Moguls. This book started it all. The memos, covering the years 1926-1962, provide us with intimate access to the professional dealings and private concerns of one of the most powerful men in Hollywood during the greatest years of the studio system. As cold as the format sounds, it is better than any biography or scholarly study. There is an immediacy here that is never found in words written years after the fact, or knowingly, winkingly for posterity. It is unvarnished history, often raw and uncompromising but always, from the first to last words, fascinating and illuminating. You’ll read your way through the making of films as diverse as Dinner at Eight; Dancing Lady; Viva Villa!; David Copperfield; A Tale of Two Cities; The Garden of Allah; A Star is Born; Nothing Sacred; Gone With the Wind; Rebecca; For Whom the Bell Tolls; The Song of Bernadette; Since You Went Away; Duel in the Sun; and Portrait of Jennie.
  • Motivation: I was already an avid classic film fan, buying books on the subject at every opportunity.
  • Times Read: 1
  • Random Excerpt/Pages 101 and 102: “She (Marlene Dietrich) is in no position to command any fabulous salary-at least she is in no position to command it from me, although it is entirely possible that some other producer will give it to her. I am perfectly willing to give her a percentage deal whereby, if she thinks she is bigger than I think she is at the moment, she will get what perhaps she thinks she is entitled to: and, whereby, further, she will get all the money she can possibly want if, and when, she again becomes the star that she was after Morocco, and before the long line-up of Dishonored, Song of Songs, The Blonde Venus, The Scarlett Empress, etc….I don’t mean to appear independent about the matter. I frankly want her on the right terms. I think she is one of the most magnificent personalities that the screen has had in many years and I think it a crying shame that she has been dragged down as she has been….”
  • Happiness Scale: 9

4 thoughts on “A Year in Books/Day 175: Memo from David O. Selznick”

    • It is wonderful. The memos are extremely detailed. I am about to re-read it; I guess I liked my review so much that I am intrigued all over again! 🙂

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