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207-510: He was replaced as one of the directors of Gone with the Wind (1939), but he went on to direct The Philadelphia Story (1940), Gaslight (1944), Adam's Rib (1949), Born Yesterday (1950), A Star Is Born (1954), Bhowani Junction (1956), and won the Academy Award for Best Director for My Fair Lady (1964), which was his fifth time nominated. He continued to work into

414-436: A Ferris wheel and likely referencing the glittering amusement park at New York's Coney Island . Cugat affixed reclining nudes within the flapper's irizes and added a green tint to the streaming tear. Cugat's final cover, which Max Perkins hailed as a masterpiece, was the only work he completed for Scribner's and the only book cover he ever designed. Although Fitzgerald likely never saw the final gouache painting prior to

621-666: A hustler and that Cukor knew of his past, so Gable used his influence to have him discharged. Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland learned of Cukor's firing on the day the Atlanta bazaar scene was filmed, and the pair went to Selznick's office in full costume and implored him to change his mind. Victor Fleming , who was directing The Wizard of Oz , was called in from MGM to complete the film. However, Cukor continued privately to coach Leigh and De Havilland. Another MGM director, Sam Wood , worked for two weeks in May when Fleming temporarily left

828-403: A "standout" as Melanie; Nugent was also especially taken with de Havilland's performance, describing it as a "gracious, dignified, tender gem of characterization". Hattie McDaniel's performance as Mammy was singled out for praise by many critics: Nugent believed she gave the best performance in the film after Vivien Leigh, with Flinn placing it third after Leigh's and Gable's performances. At

1035-551: A Plaza Hotel suite, Gatsby and Tom argue about the affair. Gatsby insists Daisy declare that she never loved Tom. Daisy claims she loves Tom and Gatsby, upsetting both. Tom reveals Gatsby is a swindler whose money comes from bootlegging alcohol. Upon hearing this, Daisy chooses to stay with Tom. Tom scornfully tells Gatsby to drive her home, knowing that Daisy will never leave him. While returning to East Egg, Gatsby and Daisy drive by Wilson's garage and their car strikes Myrtle, killing her instantly. Later Gatsby reveals to Nick that Daisy

1242-497: A bonus should the film be completed on time. Cukor was to be replaced by Jean Negulesco. There was limited press at the time about the project restarting and even less on Cukor being replaced. When Monroe was found dead in her home in the beginning of August, Cukor would give a high profile interview discussing Monroe's many reported problems. Two years later, Cukor achieved one of his greatest successes with My Fair Lady (1964). Throughout filming, there were mounting tensions between

1449-431: A boy, Cukor learned Hebrew phonetically, with no real understanding of the meaning of the words or what they represented. As a result, he was ambivalent about his faith and dismissive of old world traditions from childhood, and as an adult he embraced Anglophilia to remove himself even further from his roots. As a child, Cukor appeared in several amateur plays and took dance lessons, and at the age of seven he performed in

1656-590: A certain ambivalence towards the Jazz Age, an era whose themes he would later regard as reflective of events in his own life. The Great Gatsby reflects various events in Fitzgerald's youth. He was a young Midwesterner from Minnesota . Like the novel's narrator who went to Yale , he was educated at an Ivy League school, Princeton . There the 18-year-old Fitzgerald met Ginevra King , a 16-year-old socialite with whom he fell deeply in love. Although Ginevra

1863-452: A comprehensive documentary about his life and work titled On Cukor directed by Robert Trachtenberg in 2000. Cukor died of a heart attack on January 24, 1983, and was interred in Grave D, Little Garden of Constancy, Garden of Memory (private), Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) , California. Records in probate court indicated his net worth at the time of his death was $ 2,377,720. In 1983,

2070-561: A confidential memo written in September 1938, four months before principal photography began, Selznick flirted with the idea of replacing him with Victor Fleming . "I think the biggest black mark against our management to date is the Cukor situation and we can no longer be sentimental about it...We are a business concern and not patrons of the arts." Cukor was relieved of his duties, but he continued to work with Leigh and Olivia de Havilland off

2277-547: A contract that reimbursed him for his train fare and initially paid him $ 600 per week with no screen credit during a six-month apprenticeship. He arrived in Hollywood in February 1929, and his first assignment was to coach the cast of River of Romance to speak with an acceptable Southern accent. In October, the studio lent him to Universal Pictures to conduct the screen tests and work as a dialogue director for All Quiet on

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2484-518: A dark blue skyline. A little-known Barcelonan painter named Francis Cugat —born Francisco Coradal-Cougat—was commissioned by an unknown individual in Scribner's art department to illustrate the cover while Fitzgerald was composing the novel. In a preliminary sketch, Cugat drew a concept of a dismal gray landscape inspired by Fitzgerald's original title for the novel, Among Ash Heaps and Millionaires . Discarding this gloomy concept, Cugat next drew

2691-685: A daughter whom Rhett nicknames Bonnie Blue, but Scarlett still pines for Ashley and, chagrined at the perceived ruin of her figure, refuses to have any more children or share a bed with Rhett. One day at Frank's mill, Ashley's sister, India, sees Scarlett and Ashley embracing. Harboring an intense dislike of Scarlett, India eagerly spreads rumors. Later that evening, Rhett, having heard the rumors, forces Scarlett to attend Ashley's birthday party. Melanie, however, stands by Scarlett. After returning home, Scarlett finds Rhett downstairs drunk, and they argue about Ashley. Rhett kisses Scarlett against her will, stating his intent to have sex with her that night, and carries

2898-435: A divergent study which became the prefiguration to the final cover: A pencil and crayon drawing of a flapper's half-hidden visage over Long Island Sound with scarlet lips, one celestial eye, and a single diagonal tear. Expanding upon this study, his subsequent drawing featured two bright eyes looming over a shadowy New York cityscape. In later iterations, Cugat replaced the shadowy cityscape with dazzling carnival lights evoking

3105-578: A fairy. I have to work with a real man." Cukor's dismissal from Wind freed him to direct The Women (1939), which has an all-female cast, followed by The Philadelphia Story (1940). He also directed Greta Garbo , another of his favorite actresses, in Two-Faced Woman (1941), her last film before she retired from the screen. In 1942, at the age of 43, Cukor enlisted in the Signal Corps . Following basic training at Fort Monmouth , he

3312-402: A false start. Some of this early draft resurfaced in the 1924 short story "Absolution". In earlier drafts, Daisy was originally named Ada and Nick was Dud, and the two characters had shared a previous romance prior to their reunion on Long Island. These earlier drafts were written from the viewpoint of an omniscient narrator as opposed to Nick's perspective. A key difference in earlier drafts

3519-513: A fence with her pony. Scarlett and Rhett visit Melanie, who has suffered complications from a new pregnancy, on her deathbed. As Scarlett consoles Ashley, Rhett prepares to leave Atlanta. Having realized that it was Rhett, and not Ashley, whom she truly loved all along, Scarlett pleads with Rhett to stay, but he rebuffs her and walks away into the morning fog. A distraught Scarlett resolves to return home to Tara, vowing to one day win Rhett back. Before

3726-525: A final review of the proofs, he asked if it would be possible to re-title it Trimalchio or Gold-Hatted Gatsby , but Perkins advised against it. On March 19, 1925, Fitzgerald expressed enthusiasm for the title Under the Red, White, and Blue , but it was too late to change it at that stage. The novel was published as The Great Gatsby on April 10, 1925. Fitzgerald believed the book's final title to be merely acceptable and often expressed his ambivalence with

3933-508: A gala "premiere" at the Loew's Grand Theater. It was attended by Selznick and many other stars of the film, including Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland; Clark Gable had died the previous year. For its 1967 re-release, the film was blown up to 70mm , and issued with updated poster artwork featuring Gable—with his white shirt ripped open—holding Leigh against a backdrop of orange flames. There were further re-releases in 1971, 1974, and 1989; for

4140-407: A hurry. Hecht wrote, "After each scene had been performed and discussed, I sat down at the typewriter and wrote it out. Selznick and Fleming, eager to continue with their acting, kept hurrying me. We worked in this fashion for seven days, putting in eighteen to twenty hours a day. Selznick refused to let us eat lunch, arguing that food would slow us up. He provided bananas and salted peanuts ... thus on

4347-474: A job as an assistant stage manager and bit player with a touring production of The Better 'Ole , a popular British musical based on Old Bill , a cartoon character created by Bruce Bairnsfather . In 1920, he became the stage manager for the Knickerbocker Players, a troupe that shuttled between Syracuse, New York and Rochester, New York, and the following year he was hired as general manager of

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4554-483: A law degree in 1967. That fall Towers married a woman, and his relationship with Cukor evolved into one of father and son, and for the remainder of Cukor's life the two remained very close. By the mid-1930s, Cukor was not only established as a prominent director, but also socially as an unofficial head of Hollywood's gay subculture. His home, redecorated in 1935 by gay actor-turned-interior designer William Haines with gardens designed by Florence Yoch and Lucile Council ,

4761-691: A letter to Cather apologizing for any unintentional plagiarism. During this period of revisions, Scott saw and was influenced by early sketches for the book's dust jacket art. Soon after this burst of effort, work slowed while the Fitzgeralds moved to the Villa Marie in Saint-Raphaël on the French Riviera , where a marital crisis soon developed. Despite his ongoing marital tension, Fitzgerald continued to write steadily and submitted

4968-489: A limited number of theaters at prices upwards of $ 1—more than double the price of a regular first-run feature—with MGM collecting an unprecedented 70 percent of the box office receipts, as opposed to the typical 30–35 percent of the period. After reaching saturation as a roadshow, MGM revised its terms to a 50 percent cut and halved the prices before it finally entered general release in 1941 at "popular" prices. Including its distribution and advertising costs, total expenditure on

5175-431: A long working relationship and who had spent almost two years in pre-production on Gone with the Wind , was replaced after less than three weeks of shooting. Selznick and Cukor had already disagreed over the pace of filming and the script, but other explanations put Cukor's departure down to Gable's discomfort at working with him. Emanuel Levy , Cukor's biographer, claimed that Gable had worked Hollywood's gay circuit as

5382-509: A monetary windfall from the novel were unrealized. When the author died in 1940, he believed himself to be a failure and his work forgotten. During World War II , the novel experienced an abrupt surge in popularity when the Council on Books in Wartime distributed free copies to American soldiers serving overseas. This new-found popularity launched a critical and scholarly re-examination, and

5589-628: A more natural manner. Additionally, Cukor softened the Scarecrow's makeup and gave Margaret Hamilton a different hairstyle for the Wicked Witch of the West, as well as altering her makeup and other facial features. Cukor also suggested that the studio cast Jack Haley , on loan from 20th Century Fox , as the Tin Man. Cukor spent many hours coaching Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland before

5796-456: A mythical version of themselves and attempted to live up to this legend. Dispirited by critics failing to understand the novel, Fitzgerald remained hopeful that the novel would at least be a commercial success, perhaps selling as many as 75,000 copies. To Fitzgerald's great disappointment, Gatsby was a commercial failure in comparison with his previous efforts, This Side of Paradise (1920) and The Beautiful and Damned (1922). By October,

6003-459: A near-final version of the manuscript to his editor, Maxwell Perkins , on October 27. Perkins informed him in a November letter that Gatsby was too vague as a character and that his wealth and business, respectively, needed a convincing explanation. Fitzgerald thanked Perkins for his detailed criticisms and claimed that such feedback would enable him to perfect the manuscript. Having relocated with his wife to Rome, Fitzgerald made revisions to

6210-469: A one-off airing, and it was broadcast in two parts on successive evenings. It became at that time the highest-rated television program ever presented on a single network, watched by 47.5 percent of the households sampled in America, and 65 percent of television viewers, still the record for the highest-rated film to ever air on television. In 1978, CBS signed a deal worth $ 35 million to broadcast

6417-457: A parade of limousines featuring stars from the film, receptions, thousands of Confederate flags, and a costume ball. Eurith D. Rivers , the governor of Georgia, declared December 15 a state holiday. An estimated 300,000 Atlanta residents and visitors lined the streets for seven miles to view the procession of limousines that brought stars from the airport. Only Leslie Howard and Victor Fleming chose not to attend: Howard had returned to England due to

George Cukor - Misplaced Pages Continue

6624-426: A party ensues, which ends with Tom slapping Myrtle and breaking her nose after she mentions Daisy. One morning, Nick receives a formal invitation to a party at Gatsby's mansion. Once there, Nick is embarrassed that he recognizes no one and begins drinking heavily until he encounters Jordan. While chatting with her, he is approached by a man who introduces himself as Jay Gatsby and insists that both he and Nick served in

6831-604: A poet and educator, wrote " Birth of a Nation was such a barefaced lie that a moron could see through it. Gone with the Wind is such a subtle lie that it will be swallowed as truth by millions of whites and blacks alike." Following Hattie McDaniel's Oscar win, Walter Francis White , leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People , accused her of being an Uncle Tom . McDaniel responded that she would "rather make seven hundred dollars

7038-419: A private letter from journalist Susan Myrick to Margaret Mitchell in February 1939: "George [Cukor] finally told me all about it. He hated [leaving the production] very much he said but he could not do otherwise. In effect he said he is an honest craftsman and he cannot do a job unless he knows it is a good job and he feels the present job is not right. For days, he told me he has looked at the rushes and felt he

7245-563: A quotation from a literary work, provided that no such use shall be permitted which is intrinsically objectionable or offends good taste". With that amendment, the Production Code Administration had no further objection to Rhett's closing line. Selznick chose Max Steiner to compose the score, with whom he had worked at RKO Pictures in the early 1930s. Warner Bros.—who had contracted Steiner in 1936—agreed to lend him to Selznick. Steiner spent twelve weeks working on

7452-540: A recital with David O. Selznick , who in later years became a mentor and friend. As a teenager, Cukor frequently was taken to the New York Hippodrome by his uncle. Infatuated with theatre, he often cut classes at DeWitt Clinton High School to attend afternoon matinees. During his senior year, he worked as a supernumerary with the Metropolitan Opera , earning 50¢ per appearance, and $ 1 if he

7659-597: A reputation as a director who could coax great performances from actresses and he became known as a "woman's director", a title he resented. Despite this reputation, during his career, he oversaw more performances honored with the Academy Award for Best Actor than any other director: James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940), Ronald Colman in A Double Life (1947), and Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (1964). One of Cukor's earlier ingenues

7866-587: A rough cut still missing several musical numbers was assembled, and Cukor had mixed feelings about it. When the last scene finally was filmed in the early morning hours of July 28, 1954, Cukor already had departed the production and was unwinding in Europe. The first preview the following month ran 210 minutes and, despite ecstatic feedback from the audience, Cukor and editor Folmar Blangsted trimmed it to 182 minutes for its New York premiere in October. The reviews were

8073-435: A rough draft of the novel in 1924. He submitted it to editor Maxwell Perkins , who persuaded Fitzgerald to revise the work over the following winter. After making revisions, Fitzgerald was satisfied with the text, but remained ambivalent about the book's title and considered several alternatives. Painter Francis Cugat 's dust jacket art, named Celestial Eyes , greatly impressed Fitzgerald, and he incorporated its imagery into

8280-507: A third and fatal heart attack and died believing his work forgotten. His obituary in The New York Times hailed him as a brilliant novelist and cited Gatsby as his greatest work. In the wake of Fitzgerald's death, a strong appreciation for the book gradually developed in writers' circles. Future authors Budd Schulberg and Edward Newhouse were deeply affected by it, and John O'Hara acknowledged its influence on his work. By

8487-611: A title for his novel and entertained many choices before reluctantly deciding on The Great Gatsby , a title inspired by Alain-Fournier 's Le Grand Meaulnes . Previously he had shifted between Among Ash Heaps and Millionaires , Trimalchio , Trimalchio in West Egg , On the Road to West Egg , Under the Red, White, and Blue , The Gold-Hatted Gatsby , and The High-Bouncing Lover . The titles The Gold-Hatted Gatsby and The High-Bouncing Lover came from Fitzgerald's epigraph for

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8694-463: A troupe that included Louis Calhern , Ilka Chase , Phyllis Povah , Frank Morgan , Reginald Owen , Elizabeth Patterson and Douglass Montgomery , all of whom worked with Cukor in later years in Hollywood. Lasting only one season with the company was Bette Davis . Cukor later recalled: "Her talent was apparent, but she did buck at direction. She had her own ideas, and though she only did bits and ingenue roles, she didn't hesitate to express them." For

8901-519: A week playing a maid than seven dollars being one"; she further questioned White's qualification to speak on behalf of black people since he was light-skinned and only one-eighth black. Opinion in the black community was generally divided upon release, with the film being called by some a "weapon of terror against black America" and an insult to black audiences, and demonstrations were held in various cities. Malcolm X later recalled that "when Butterfly McQueen went into her act, I felt like crawling under

9108-551: A woman suffering from suspicion with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer . During this era, Cukor forged an alliance with screenwriters Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon , who had met in Cukor's home in 1939 and married three years later. Over the course of seven years, the trio collaborated on seven films, including A Double Life (1947) starring Ronald Colman , Adam's Rib (1949), Born Yesterday (1950), The Marrying Kind (1952), and It Should Happen to You (1954), all featuring Judy Holliday , another Cukor favorite, who won

9315-461: Is a less complete failure of Gatsby's dream. Another difference is that the argument between Tom Buchanan and Gatsby is more balanced, although Daisy still returns to Tom. Work on The Great Gatsby resumed in earnest in April 1924. Fitzgerald decided to depart from the writing process of his previous novels and told Perkins that he was intent on creating an artistic achievement. He wished to eschew

9522-441: Is married to Tom Buchanan, formerly a Yale football star whom Nick knew during his college days. The couple has recently relocated from Chicago to a mansion directly across the bay from Gatsby's estate. There, Nick encounters Jordan Baker, an insolent flapper and golf champion who is a childhood friend of Daisy's. Jordan confides to Nick that Tom keeps a mistress, Myrtle Wilson, who brazenly telephones him at his home and who lives in

9729-517: Is most associated with the film today is the melody that accompanies Tara, the O'Hara plantation; in the early 1940s, "Tara's Theme" formed the musical basis of the song "My Own True Love" by Mack David . In all, there are ninety-nine separate pieces of music featured in the score. Due to the pressure of completing on time, Steiner received some assistance in composing from Friedhofer, Deutsch, and Heinz Roemheld , and in addition, two short cues—by Franz Waxman and William Axt —were taken from scores in

9936-458: Is no Scarlett and Rhett love theme. Steiner drew considerably on folk and patriotic music, which included Stephen Foster tunes such as "Louisiana Belle", "Dolly Day", "Ringo De Banjo", " Beautiful Dreamer ", " Old Folks at Home ", and "Katie Belle", which formed the basis of Scarlett's theme; other tunes that feature prominently are: "Marching through Georgia" by Henry Clay Work , " Dixie ", " Garryowen ", and " The Bonnie Blue Flag ." The theme that

10143-447: Is not one of the great American writers of today". John McClure of The Times-Picayune insisted the plot was implausible and the book itself seemed raw in its construction. After reading these reviews, Fitzgerald believed that many critics misunderstood the novel. He despaired that "of all the reviews, even the most enthusiastic, not one had the slightest idea what the book was about". In particular, Fitzgerald resented criticisms of

10350-481: Is that the celestial eyes are reminiscent of those of optometrist T. J. Eckleburg depicted on a faded commercial billboard near George Wilson's auto repair shop. Author Ernest Hemingway supported this latter interpretation and claimed that Fitzgerald had told him the cover referred to a billboard in the valley of the ashes. Although this passage has some resemblance to the imagery, a closer explanation can be found in Fitzgerald's explicit description of Daisy Buchanan as

10557-504: Is the literary expression of the concept of America: The land of opportunity". However, Pearson noted that Fitzgerald's particular treatment of this theme is devoid of the discernible optimism in the writings of earlier American authors. He suggests Gatsby serves as a false prophet of the American dream, and pursuing the dream only results in dissatisfaction for those who chase it, owing to its unattainability. In this analytical context,

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10764-669: Is thrown from his horse and killed. Unable to pay the Reconstructionist taxes imposed on Tara, Scarlett unsuccessfully appeals to Rhett, then dupes her younger sister Suellen's fiancé, the middle-aged and wealthy general store owner Frank Kennedy, into marrying her. Frank, Ashley, Rhett, and several other accomplices make a night raid on a shanty town after Scarlett is attacked while driving through it alone, resulting in Frank's death. Shortly after Frank's funeral, Rhett proposes to Scarlett, and she accepts. Rhett and Scarlett have

10971-463: Is thus similar to Jay Gatsby in that he became engaged while a military officer stationed far from home and then sought immense wealth in order to provide for the lifestyle to which his fiancée had become accustomed. After his success as a short-story writer and as a novelist, Fitzgerald married Zelda in New York City, and the newly-wed couple soon relocated to Long Island. Despite enjoying

11178-455: The 12th Academy Awards , Gone with the Wind set a record for Academy Award wins and nominations, winning in eight of the competitive categories it was nominated in, from a total of thirteen nominations. It won for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Editing, and received two further honorary awards for its use of equipment and color (it also became

11385-485: The 3rd Infantry Division during the war. Gatsby attempts to ingratiate himself with Nick and when Nick leaves the party, he notices Gatsby watching him. In late July, Nick and Gatsby have lunch at a speakeasy . Gatsby tries impressing Nick with tales of his war heroism and his Oxford days. Afterward, Nick meets Jordan again at the Plaza Hotel . Jordan reveals that Gatsby and Daisy met around 1917 when Gatsby

11592-518: The Academy Award for Best Actress for Born Yesterday . In December 1952, Cukor was approached by Sid Luft , who proposed the director helm a musical remake of A Star Is Born (1937) with his then-wife Judy Garland in the lead role. Cukor had declined to direct the earlier film because it was too similar to his own What Price Hollywood? (1932), but the opportunity to direct his first Technicolor film and work with screenwriter Moss Hart and especially Garland appealed to him, and he accepted. Getting

11799-593: The American Dream in the hedonistic Jazz Age, a name for the era which Fitzgerald claimed to have coined. In 1970, scholar Roger L. Pearson asserted that Fitzgerald's work—more so than other twentieth century novels—is especially linked with this conceptualization of the American dream. Pearson traced the literary origins of this dream to Colonial America . The dream is the belief that every individual, regardless of their origins, may seek and achieve their desired goals, "be they political, monetary, or social. It

12006-758: The American Dream . The Great Gatsby is widely considered to be a literary masterpiece and a contender for the title of the Great American Novel . Set on the prosperous Long Island of 1922, The Great Gatsby provides a critical social history of Prohibition-era America during the Jazz Age. F. Scott Fitzgerald 's fictional narrative fully renders that period—known for its jazz music, economic prosperity, flapper culture, libertine mores, rebellious youth, and ubiquitous speakeasies . Fitzgerald uses many of these 1920s societal developments to tell his story, from simple details like petting in automobiles to broader themes such as bootlegging as

12213-770: The Confederate States Army , Scarlett's mother sends her to the Hamilton home in Atlanta. She creates a scene by attending a charity bazaar in mourning attire and waltzing with Rhett, now a blockade runner for the Confederacy . The tide of war turns against the Confederacy after the Battle of Gettysburg . Many of the men of Scarlett's town are killed. Eight months later, as the Union Army besieges

12420-679: The Hays Office fined Selznick $ 5,000 for using the word "damn" in Butler's exit line , in fact, the Motion Picture Association board passed an amendment to the Production Code on November 1, 1939, that forbade the use of the words "hell" or "damn" except when their use "shall be essential and required for portrayal, in proper historical context, of any scene or dialogue based upon historical fact or folklore ... or

12627-459: The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for his career achievements. Black commentators have criticized the film since its release for its depiction of black people and "whitewashing" of the issue of slavery. Still, initially, newspapers controlled by white Americans did not report on these criticisms. Carlton Moss , a black dramatist, observed in an open letter that whereas The Birth of a Nation

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12834-537: The Midwest and a World War I veteran—journeys to New York City to obtain employment as a bond salesman . He rents a bungalow in the Long Island village of West Egg, next to a luxurious estate inhabited by Jay Gatsby , an enigmatic multi-millionaire who hosts dazzling soirées yet does not partake in them. One evening, Nick dines with a distant cousin, Daisy Buchanan , in the old money town of East Egg. Daisy

13041-591: The Paramount -issued silent film version brought in money for the author, Fitzgerald lamented that the novel fell far short of the success he had hoped for and would not bring him recognition as a serious novelist in the public eye. With the onset of the Great Depression , The Great Gatsby was regarded as little more than a nostalgic period piece. By the time Fitzgerald died in 1940, the novel had fallen into near obscurity. In 1940, Fitzgerald suffered

13248-507: The most profitable film ever made up to that point . It eventually opened in Japan in September 1952 and became the highest-grossing foreign film there. Even though it earned its investors roughly twice as much as the previous record-holder, The Birth of a Nation , the box-office performances of the two films were likely much closer. The bulk of the earnings from Gone with the Wind came from its roadshow and first-run engagements, where

13455-465: The " valley of ashes ", a sprawling refuse dump. That evening, Nick sees Gatsby standing alone on his lawn, staring at a green light across the bay. Days later, Nick reluctantly accompanies a drunken and agitated Tom to New York City by train. En route, they stop at a garage inhabited by mechanic George Wilson and his wife Myrtle. Myrtle joins them, and the trio proceed to a small New York apartment that Tom has rented for trysts with her. Guests arrive and

13662-423: The "girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs". Charles Scribner's Sons published The Great Gatsby on April 10, 1925. Fitzgerald cabled Perkins the day after publication to monitor reviews: "Any news?" "Sales situation doubtful [but] excellent reviews", read a telegram from Perkins on April 20. Fitzgerald responded on April 24, saying the cable dispirited him, closing

13869-417: The "pivot of the picture" and believed her to be "so perfectly designed for the part by art and nature that any other actress in the role would be inconceivable". Similarly, Hoellering found her "perfect" in "appearance and movements"; he felt her acting best when she was allowed to "accentuate the split personality she portrays" and thought she was particularly effective in such moments of characterization like

14076-415: The 1954 version of A Star Is Born , considered by many to be his greatest picture, was restored to its original runtime of 181 minutes. The film was initially released at 181 minutes and received enormous critical and box office success. Finding that the length restricted the number of daily showings, the studio cut the movie to 154 minutes. Cukor believed this re-release "butchered" the gradual development of

14283-463: The 1990's that showed at least 37 minutes of total footage had survived. Then Monroe travelled to New York to appear at a birthday celebration for President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden, where she serenaded Kennedy. Studio documents released after Monroe's death confirmed that her appearance at the political fundraising event was approved by Fox executives. The production came to a halt when Cukor had filmed every scene not involving Monroe and

14490-463: The 20th century and became ingrained in popular culture. Although the film has been criticized as historical negationism , glorifying slavery and the Lost Cause of the Confederacy myth, it has been credited with triggering changes in the way in which African Americans were depicted cinematically. Gone with the Wind is regarded as one of the greatest films of all time , and in 1989, became one of

14697-472: The American Dream to entrenched class disparities in American society. The novel underscores the limits of the American lower class to transcend their station of birth . Scholar Sarah Churchwell contends that Fitzgerald's novel is a tale of class warfare in a status-obsessed country that refuses to acknowledge publicly it even has a class system. Although scholars posit different explanations for

14904-587: The Garland–Mason relationship. In 2013, The Film Society of Lincoln Center presented a comprehensive weeks-long retrospective of his work titled "The Discreet Charm of George Cukor". In 2019, Cukor's film Gaslight was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Gone with

15111-413: The Jazz Age. The character of Daisy Buchanan has been identified specifically as personifying the emerging cultural archetype of the flapper. Flappers were typically young, modern women who bobbed their hair and wore short skirts. They also drank alcohol and had premarital sex . Despite the newfound societal freedoms attained by flappers in the 1920s, Fitzgerald's work critically examines

15318-588: The MGM library. On September 9, 1939, Selznick, his wife, Irene , investor John "Jock" Whitney , and film editor Hal Kern drove out to Riverside, California to preview the film at the Fox Theatre . The film was still a rough cut at this stage, missing completed titles and needing special optical effects. It ran for four hours and twenty-five minutes; it was later cut to under four hours for its proper release. A double bill of Hawaiian Nights and Beau Geste

15525-507: The Selznick studio lot. For the burning of Atlanta, new false facades were built in front of the Selznick backlot's many old abandoned sets, and Selznick himself operated the controls for the explosives that burned them down. Sources at the time put the estimated production costs at $ 3.85 million, making it the second most expensive film made up to that point, with only Ben-Hur (1925) having cost more. Although legend persists that

15732-629: The United States to coincide with the film's 75th anniversary, and again over three days in 2024, to celebrate its 85th anniversary. The film received its U.S. television premiere on the HBO cable network on June 11, 1976, and played on the channel fourteen times throughout the rest of the month. Other cable channels also broadcast the film during June. It made its network television debut in November of that year; NBC paid $ 5 million for

15939-494: The Western Front , released in 1930. That year, he co-directed three films at Paramount, and his weekly salary was increased to $ 1,500. He made his solo directorial debut with Tarnished Lady (1931) starring Tallulah Bankhead . Cukor was then assigned to One Hour with You (1932), an operetta with Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald , when original director Ernst Lubitsch opted to concentrate on producing

16146-620: The Wind by Selznick in 1936, even before the book was published. He spent the next two years involved with pre-production, including supervision of the numerous screen tests of actresses anxious to portray Scarlett O'Hara . Cukor favored Hepburn for the role, but Selznick, concerned about her reputation as "box office poison", would not consider her without a screen test, and the actress refused to film one. Of those who did, Cukor preferred Paulette Goddard , but her supposedly illicit relationship with Charlie Chaplin (they were, in fact, secretly married) concerned Selznick. Between his Wind chores,

16353-612: The Wind (film) This is an accepted version of this page Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American epic historical romance film adapted from the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell . The film was produced by David O. Selznick of Selznick International Pictures and directed by Victor Fleming . Set in the American South against the backdrop of the American Civil War and the Reconstruction era ,

16560-493: The actress remained unavailable. 20th Century Fox executive Peter Levathes fired her and hired Lee Remick to replace her, prompting co-star Dean Martin to quit because his contract guaranteed he would be playing opposite Monroe. It was also reported at the time that with the production already $ 2 million over budget and everyone back at the starting gate, the studio pulled the plug on the project. However, Monroe successfully renegotiated her contract from $ 100,000 to $ 500,000 with

16767-564: The actress who came closest to winning her approval was Miriam Hopkins, whom Mitchell felt was just the right type of actress to play Scarlett as written in the book. However, Hopkins was in her mid-thirties at the time and was considered too old for the part. Four actresses, including Jean Arthur and Joan Bennett, were still under consideration by December 1938; however, only two finalists, Paulette Goddard, and Vivien Leigh, were tested in Technicolor , both on December 20. Goddard almost won

16974-488: The art of film. It was an open secret in Hollywood that Cukor was gay, at a time when society was against it, although he was discreet about his sexual orientation and "never carried it as a pin on his lapel", as producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz put it. He was a celebrated bon vivant whose luxurious home was the site of weekly Sunday afternoon parties attended by closeted celebrities and the attractive young men they met in bars and gyms and brought with them. At least once, in

17181-560: The attention of the New York critics. Writing in the Brooklyn Eagle , drama critic Arthur Pollock called it "an unusual piece of work by a director not nearly so well known as he should be." Cukor directed six more Broadway productions, then departed for Hollywood in 1929. When Hollywood began to recruit New York theater talent for sound films, Cukor immediately answered the call. In December 1928, Paramount Pictures signed him to

17388-549: The bay at the green light emanating from the end of Daisy's dock. Fitzgerald began outlining his third novel in June 1922. He longed to produce an exquisite work that was beautiful and intricately patterned, but the troubled production of his stage play The Vegetable repeatedly interrupted his progress. The play flopped, and Fitzgerald wrote magazine stories that winter to pay debts incurred by its production. He viewed these stories as all worthless, although included among them

17595-470: The bay from Great Neck—places that were home to many of New York's wealthiest established families. This real-life juxtaposition gave Fitzgerald his idea for "West Egg" and "East Egg". In the novel, Great Neck ( Kings Point ) became the "new money" peninsula of West Egg and Port Washington ( Sands Point ) became the "old money" East Egg. Several Gold Coast mansions in the area served as inspiration for Gatsby's estate including Land's End, Oheka Castle , and

17802-413: The best of Cukor's career, but Warner executives, concerned the running time would limit the number of daily showings, made drastic cuts without Cukor, who had departed for Pakistan to scout locations for the epic Bhowani Junction in 1954–1955. At its final running time of 154 minutes, the film had lost musical numbers and crucial dramatic scenes, and Cukor called it "very painful". He was not included in

18009-437: The book had sold fewer than 20,000 copies. Although the novel went through two initial printings, many copies remained unsold years later. Fitzgerald attributed the poor sales to the fact that women tended to be the primary audience for novels during this time, and Gatsby did not contain an admirable female character. According to his ledger, he earned only $ 2,000 from the book. Although Owen Davis ' 1926 stage adaptation and

18216-445: The characterization was "as close to Miss Mitchell's conception—and the audience's—as might be imagined", a view which Nugent concurred with, although Hoellering felt that Gable did not quite convince in the closing scenes, as Rhett walks out on Scarlett in disgust. Of the other principal cast members, both Hoellering and Flinn found Leslie Howard to be "convincing" as the weak-willed Ashley, with Flinn identifying Olivia de Havilland as

18423-453: The characters dominate in the second part, he concluded this is where the main fault of the film lay, commenting that "the characters alone do not suffice". Despite many excellent scenes, he considered the drama to be unconvincing and that the "psychological development" had been neglected. Much of the praise was reserved for the casting, with Vivien Leigh, in particular, being singled out for her performance as Scarlett. Nugent described her as

18630-482: The city in the Atlanta campaign , Melanie gives birth with Scarlett's aid, and Rhett helps them flee the city. Rhett chooses to go off to fight, leaving Scarlett to make her own way back to Tara. She finds Tara deserted, except for her father, sisters, and former slaves, Mammy and Pork. Scarlett learns that her mother has just died of typhoid fever , and her father has lost his mind. With Tara pillaged by Union troops and

18837-399: The construction of one sequence." According to Hecht's biographer William MacAdams, "At dawn on Sunday, February 20, 1939, David Selznick ... and director Victor Fleming shook Hecht awake to inform him he was on loan from MGM and must come with them immediately and go to work on Gone with the Wind , which Selznick had begun shooting five weeks before. It was costing Selznick $ 50,000 each day

19044-496: The continuation of class differences in the United States, there is a consensus regarding the novel's message in conveying its underlying permanence. Although Gatsby ' s fundamental conflict occurs between entrenched sources of socio-economic power and upstarts like Gatsby who threaten their interests, Fitzgerald's novel shows that a class permanence persists despite the country's capitalist economy that prizes innovation and adaptability. Dianne Bechtel argues Fitzgerald plotted

19251-553: The death of her first husband Irving Thalberg . He often entertained literary figures like Sinclair Lewis , Theodore Dreiser , Hugh Walpole , Aldous Huxley , and Ferenc Molnár . Frances Goldwyn , second wife and widow of studio mogul Sam Goldwyn , long considered Cukor to be the love of her life, but their relationship remained platonic . According to biographer A. Scott Berg , Frances even arranged for Cukor's burial to be adjacent to her own plot at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery . The PBS series American Masters produced

19458-498: The director and designer Cecil Beaton ; Cukor was thrilled with leading lady Audrey Hepburn , but the crew was less enchanted with her diva-like demands. Although several reviews were critical of the film – Pauline Kael said it "staggers along" and Stanley Kauffmann thought Cukor's direction was like "a rich gravy poured over everything, not remotely as delicately rich as in the Asquith – Howard 1937 [ sic ] Pygmalion "—the film

19665-428: The director assisted with other projects. He filmed the cave scene for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938), and, following the firing of its original director Richard Thorpe , Cukor spent a week on the set of The Wizard of Oz (1939). Although he filmed no footage, he made crucial changes to the look of Dorothy by eliminating Judy Garland 's blonde wig and adjusting her makeup and costume, encouraging her to act in

19872-479: The distributor received 70 percent and 50 percent of the box-office gross, respectively, rather than its general release, which at the time typically saw the distributor's share set at 30–35 percent of the gross. In the case of The Birth of a Nation , its distributor, Epoch, sold off many of its distribution territories on a "states rights" basis—which typically amounted to 10 percent of the box-office gross—and Epoch's accounts are only indicative of its own profits from

20079-612: The double-murder of a man and his lover on September 14, 1922, mere weeks before Fitzgerald arrived in Great Neck. Scholars have speculated that Fitzgerald based certain aspects of the ending of The Great Gatsby and various characterizations on this factual incident. Inspired by the Halls–Mills case, the mysterious persona of Gerlach and the riotous parties he attended on Long Island, Fitzgerald had written 18,000 words for his novel by mid-1923 but discarded most of his new story as

20286-474: The earlier consensus among professional critics that The Great Gatsby was merely a sensational story or a nostalgic period piece had effectively vanished. The tireless promotional efforts of literary critic Edmund Wilson, who was Fitzgerald's Princeton classmate and his close friend, led this Fitzgerald revival. In 1951, three years after Zelda's death in a hospital fire, Professor Arthur Mizener of Cornell University published The Far Side of Paradise ,

20493-491: The early 1980s. Cukor was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the younger child and only son of Hungarian-Jewish immigrants Viktor, an assistant district attorney, and Helén Ilona Gross. His parents selected his (first and) middle name in honor of Spanish–American War hero George Dewey . The family was not particularly religious (pork was a staple on the dinner table), and when he started attending temple as

20700-433: The end of the week, had succeeded in revising the entire first half of the script. Selznick undertook to rewrite the second half himself but fell behind schedule, so Howard returned to work on the script for one week, reworking several key scenes in part two. "By the time of the film's release in 1939, there was some question as to who should receive screen credit", writes Yeck. "But despite the number of writers and changes,

20907-606: The entirety of the novel. Roger Ebert wrote that "perhaps Fitzgerald's words 'compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired ' is the best possible description of Thompson's life's work." By the mid-2000s, many literary critics considered The Great Gatsby to be one of the greatest novels ever written, and the work was part of the assigned curricula in the near majority of U.S. high schools. As of early 2020, The Great Gatsby had sold almost 30 million copies worldwide and continues to sell an additional 500,000 copies annually. Numerous foreign editions of

21114-512: The event, but McDaniel persuaded him to attend. President Jimmy Carter later recalled it as "the biggest event to happen in the South in my lifetime". Premieres in New York and Los Angeles followed; the latter attended by some of the actresses who had been considered for the part of Scarlett, among them Paulette Goddard, Norma Shearer, and Joan Crawford. From December 1939 to July 1940, the film played only advance-ticket road show engagements at

21321-512: The eventual choice, Vivien Leigh, were actually tested for the role, including Ardis Ankerson ( Brenda Marshall ), Jean Arthur , Tallulah Bankhead, Diana Barrymore , Joan Bennett , Nancy Coleman , Frances Dee , Terry Ray ( Ellen Drew ), Paulette Goddard , Edythe Marrenner ( Susan Hayward ), Anita Louise , Haila Stoddard , Margaret Tallichet , Lana Turner , and Linda Watkins . Although Margaret Mitchell refused to publicly name her choice,

21528-437: The exclusive Long Island milieu, Fitzgerald quietly disapproved of the extravagant parties, and the wealthy persons he encountered often disappointed him. While striving to emulate the rich, he found their privileged lifestyle to be morally disquieting. Although Fitzgerald—like Gatsby—had always admired the rich, he nonetheless possessed a smoldering resentment towards them. In spring 1922, Nick Carraway —a Yale alumnus from

21735-422: The fields untended, Scarlett vows to ensure her and her family's survival. With the defeat of the Confederacy, the O'Haras toil in the cotton fields. Ashley returns but finds he is of little help to Tara. When Scarlett begs him to run away with her, he confesses his desire for her and kisses her passionately but says he cannot leave Melanie. Scarlett's father attempts to chase away a carpetbagger from his land but

21942-470: The fiftieth-anniversary reissue in 1989, it was given a complete audio and video restoration. It was released in theaters one more time in the United States, in 1998, by Time Warner -owned New Line Cinema . In 2013, a 4K digital restoration was released in the United Kingdom to coincide with Vivien Leigh's centenary. In 2014, special screenings were scheduled over two days at theaters across

22149-539: The film as a reminder of the "limit" put on black aspiration by old prejudices. Upon its release, Gone with the Wind broke attendance records everywhere. At the Capitol Theatre in New York alone, it averaged eleven thousand admissions per day in late December, and within four years of its release had sold an estimated sixty million tickets across the United States—sales equivalent to just under half

22356-588: The film instead. At first the two men worked well together, but two weeks into filming Lubitsch began arriving on the set on a regular basis, and he soon began directing scenes with Cukor's consent. Upon the film's completion, Lubitsch approached Paramount general manager B.P. Schulberg and threatened to leave the studio if Cukor's name wasn't removed from the credits. When Schulberg asked him to cooperate, Cukor filed suit. He eventually settled for being billed as assistant director and then left Paramount to work with David O. Selznick at RKO Studios . Cukor quickly earned

22563-434: The film received a standing ovation. In his biography of Selznick, David Thomson wrote that the audience's response before the film had even started "was the greatest moment of [Selznick's] life, the greatest victory and redemption of all his failings", with Selznick describing the preview cards as "probably the most amazing any picture has ever had". When Selznick was asked by the press in early September how he felt about

22770-448: The film tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara ( Vivien Leigh ), the strong-willed daughter of a Georgia plantation owner, following her romantic pursuit of Ashley Wilkes ( Leslie Howard ), who is married to his cousin, Melanie Hamilton ( Olivia de Havilland ), and her subsequent marriage to Rhett Butler ( Clark Gable ). The film had a troubled production. The start of filming was delayed for two years until January 1939 because Selznick

22977-648: The film twenty times over as many years. Turner Entertainment acquired the MGM film library in 1986, but the deal did not include the television rights to Gone with the Wind , which were still held by CBS. An agreement was struck in which the rights were returned to Turner Entertainment, and CBS's broadcast rights to The Wizard of Oz were extended. The film was used to launch two cable channels owned by Turner Broadcasting System : Turner Network Television (1988) and Turner Classic Movies (1994). The film debuted on videocassette in March 1985, where it placed second in

23184-452: The film was as high as $ 7 million. In 1942, Selznick liquidated his company for tax reasons and sold his share in Gone with the Wind to his business partner, John Whitney, for $ 500,000. In turn, Whitney sold it to MGM for $ 2.8 million; thus, the studio owned the film outright. MGM immediately re-released the film in the spring of 1942, and again in 1947 and 1954. The 1954 reissue

23391-565: The film was on hold, waiting for a final screenplay rewrite, and time was of the essence. Hecht was in the middle of working on the film At the Circus for the Marx Brothers . Recalling the episode in a letter to screenwriter friend Gene Fowler , he said he hadn't read the novel, but Selznick and director Fleming could not wait for him to read it. They acted in scenes based on Sidney Howard's original script, which needed to be rewritten in

23598-576: The film's six Oscar nominations. Over the next 10 years, Cukor directed a handful of films with varying success. Les Girls (1957) won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy , and Wild Is the Wind (also 1957) earned Oscar nominations for Anna Magnani and Anthony Quinn , but neither Heller in Pink Tights nor Let's Make Love (both 1960) were box-office hits. Another project during this period

23805-512: The film, and not the local distributors. Carl E. Milliken , secretary of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association , estimated that The Birth of a Nation had been seen by fifty million people by 1930. When re-released in 1947, it earned a $ 5 million rental in the United States and Canada and was one of the year's top ten releases. Successful re-releases in 1954 and 1961 enabled it to retain its position as

24012-468: The film, he said: "At noon I think it's divine, at midnight I think it's lousy. Sometimes I think it's the greatest picture ever made. But if it's only a great picture, I'll still be satisfied". About 300,000 people came out in Atlanta for the film's premiere at the Loew's Grand Theatre on December 15, 1939. It was the climax of three days of festivities hosted by Mayor William B. Hartsfield , which included

24219-469: The film. Yet, writer Gore Vidal , in his autobiography Point to Point Navigation , recounted that Gable demanded that Cukor be fired off Wind because, according to Vidal, the young Gable had been a male hustler and Cukor had been one of his johns. This has been confirmed by Hollywood biographer E.J. Fleming, who has recounted that, during a particularly difficult scene, Gable erupted publicly, screaming: "I can't go on with this picture. I won't be directed by

24426-442: The final script was remarkably close to Howard's version. The fact that Howard's name alone appears on the credits may have been as much a gesture to his memory as his writing, for in 1939, Sidney Howard died at age 48 in a farm-tractor accident, and before the movie's premiere." Selznick, in a memo written in October 1939, discussed the film's writing credits: "[Y]ou can say frankly that of the comparatively small amount of material in

24633-438: The first African American to win an Academy Award). It set records for the total number of wins and nominations at the time. Gone with the Wind was immensely popular when first released. It became the highest-earning film made up to that point and held the record for over a quarter of a century. When adjusted for monetary inflation , it is still the highest-grossing film in history . It was re-released periodically throughout

24840-492: The first African-American to win an Academy Award—beating out her co-star Olivia de Havilland, who was also nominated in the same category—but was racially segregated from her co-stars at the awards ceremony at the Coconut Grove ; she and her escort were made to sit at a separate table at the back of the room. Meanwhile, screenwriter Sidney Howard became the first posthumous Oscar winner and Selznick personally received

25047-427: The first biography of Fitzgerald. Mizener's bestselling biography emphasized The Great Gatsby ' s positive reception by literary critics, which may have further influenced public opinion and renewed interest in it. By 1960—thirty-five years after the novel's original publication—the book was steadily selling 100,000 copies per year. Renewed interest in it led The New York Times editorialist Mizener to proclaim

25254-465: The first color film to win Best Picture). The film's record of eight competitive wins stood until Gigi (1958) won nine, and its overall record of ten was broken by Ben-Hur (1959) which won eleven. Gone with the Wind also held the record for most nominations until All About Eve (1950) secured fourteen. It was the longest American sound film made up to that point, and may still hold

25461-549: The first third of the film—mostly everything prior to Melanie having the baby—but did not receive a credit. Most of the filming was done on " the back forty " of Selznick International with all the location scenes being photographed in California, mostly in Los Angeles County or neighboring Ventura County . Tara, the fictional Southern plantation house, existed only as a plywood and papier-mâché facade built on

25668-451: The general sentiment by acknowledging that while it was the most ambitious film production made up to that point, it probably was not the greatest film ever made, but he nevertheless found it to be an "interesting story beautifully told". Franz Hoellering of The Nation was of the same opinion: "The result is a film which is a major event in the history of the industry but only a minor achievement in motion-picture art. There are moments when

25875-586: The green light on the Buchanans' dock (visible across Long Island Sound from Gatsby's house) is frequently interpreted as a symbol of Gatsby's unrealizable goal to win Daisy and, consequently, to achieve the American Dream. Also, scholar Sarah Churchwell points out that adultery in the novel is linked to the loss of faith and broken promises, which symbolizes the corruption of the American Dream. Scholars and writers commonly ascribe Gatsby's inability to achieve

26082-432: The illicit source of Gatsby's fortune. Fitzgerald conveys the hedonism of Jazz Age society by placing a relatable plotline within the historical context of the most raucous and flashiest era in American history. In Fitzgerald's eyes, the era represented a morally permissive time when Americans of all ages became disillusioned with prevailing social norms and obsessed with pleasure-seeking. Fitzgerald himself had

26289-428: The industry's top earner, despite substantial challenges from more recent films such as Ben-Hur , but it was finally overtaken by The Sound of Music in 1966. The 1967 reissue was unusual because MGM chose to roadshow it, which turned it into the most successful re-release in the industry's history. It generated a box-office gross of $ 68 million, making it MGM's most lucrative film after Doctor Zhivago from

26496-589: The latter half of the decade. MGM earned a rental of $ 41 million from the release, with the U.S. and Canadian share amounting to over $ 30 million, placing it second only to The Graduate for that year. Including its $ 6.7 million rental from the 1961 reissue, it was the fourth highest-earner of the decade in the North American market, with only The Sound of Music , The Graduate and Doctor Zhivago making more for their distributors. A further re-release in 1971 allowed it to briefly recapture

26703-496: The latter part of the story had been trimmed. The Manchester Guardian felt that the film's one serious drawback was that the story lacked the epic quality to justify the outlay of time and found the second half, which focuses on Scarlett's "irrelevant marriages" and "domestic squabbles", mostly superfluous, and the sole reason for their inclusion had been "simply because Margaret Mitchell wrote it that way." The Guardian believed that if "the story had been cut short and tidied up at

26910-467: The letter with "Yours in great depression". Fitzgerald soon received letters from contemporaries Willa Cather , Edith Wharton , and poet T. S. Eliot praising the novel. Although gratified by such correspondence, Fitzgerald sought public acclaim from professional critics. The Great Gatsby received generally favorable reviews from literary critics of the day. Edwin Clark of The New York Times felt

27117-414: The main objective of casting the role, but created "priceless" publicity. Early frontrunners included Miriam Hopkins and Tallulah Bankhead , who were regarded as possibilities by Selznick prior to the purchase of the film rights; Joan Crawford , who was signed to MGM, was also considered as a potential pairing with Gable. After a deal was struck with MGM, Selznick held discussions with Norma Shearer —who

27324-455: The manuscript throughout the winter. Content after a few rounds of revision, Fitzgerald submitted the final version in February 1925. Fitzgerald's alterations included extensive revisions of the sixth and eighth chapters. He declined an offer of $ 10,000 for the serial rights to the book so that it could be published sooner. He received a $ 3,939 advance in 1923 and would receive $ 1,981.25 upon publication. Fitzgerald had difficulty choosing

27531-601: The midst of his reign at MGM, he was arrested on vice charges, but studio executives managed to get the charges dropped and all records of it expunged, and the incident was never publicized by the press. In the late 1950s, Cukor became involved with a considerably younger man named George Towers. He financed his education at the Los Angeles State College of Applied Arts and Sciences and the University of Southern California, from which Towers graduated with

27738-482: The morning after the marital rape scene. Flinn also found Leigh suited to the role physically and felt she was best in the scenes where she displays courage and determination, such as the escape from Atlanta and when Scarlett kills a Yankee deserter. Leigh won in the Best Actress category for her performance at the 1939 New York Film Critics Circle Awards . Of Clark Gable's performance as Rhett Butler, Flinn felt

27945-439: The name. The artwork for the first edition of The Great Gatsby, known as Celestial Eyes , is among the most celebrated in American literature and represents a unique instance in literary history in which a novel's commissioned artwork directly influenced the composition of the text. Rendered in an Art Deco visual style, the artwork depicts the disembodied face of a Jazz Age flapper with celestial eyes and rouged mouth over

28152-506: The newly formed Lyceum Players, an upstate summer stock company. In 1925, he formed the C.F. and Z. Production Company with Walter Folmer and John Zwicki, which gave him his first opportunity to direct. Following their first season, he made his Broadway directorial debut with Antonia by Hungarian playwright Melchior Lengyel , then returned to Rochester, where C.F. and Z. evolved into the Cukor-Kondolf Stock Company,

28359-582: The next day at Ashley's home, Twelve Oaks , a nearby plantation, Scarlett makes an advance on Ashley but is rebuffed; however, she catches the attention of another guest, Rhett Butler . The party is disrupted by news of President Lincoln's call for volunteers to fight the South , and the Southern men rush to enlist. Scarlett marries Melanie's younger brother, Charles, to arouse jealousy in Ashley before he leaves to fight. Following Charles's death while serving in

28566-401: The next several decades, Davis claimed she was fired, and although Cukor never understood why she placed so much importance on an incident he considered so minor, he never worked with her again. For the next few years, Cukor alternated between Rochester in the summer months and Broadway in the winter. His direction of a 1926 stage adaptation of The Great Gatsby by Owen Davis brought him to

28773-479: The nicest little touches of contemporary observation you could imagine—so light, so delicate, so sharp". In The Chicago Daily Tribune , H. L. Mencken judged the work's plot to be highly improbable, although he praised the writing as elegant and the "careful and brilliant finish". Several reviewers felt the novel left much to be desired following Fitzgerald's previous works and criticized him accordingly. Harvey Eagleton of The Dallas Morning News predicted that

28980-422: The novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway 's interactions with Jay Gatsby , the mysterious millionaire with an obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan . The novel was inspired by a youthful romance Fitzgerald had with socialite Ginevra King , and the riotous parties he attended on Long Island's North Shore in 1922. Following a move to the French Riviera , Fitzgerald completed

29187-508: The novel have been published, and the text has been translated into 42 different languages. The work is Scribner's most popular title; in 2013, the e-book alone sold 185,000 copies. The novel's U.S. copyright expired on January 1, 2021, when all works published in 1925 entered the public domain . Since then, numerous altered and incomplete reprints have flooded the market. Following the novel's revival, later critical writings on The Great Gatsby focused on Fitzgerald's disillusionment with

29394-476: The novel signaled the end of Fitzgerald's artistic success. Ralph Coghlan of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch dismissed the work as an inconsequential performance by a once-promising author who had grown bored and cynical. Ruth Snyder of New York Evening World lambasted the book's style as painfully forced and declared the editors of her newspaper were "quite convinced after reading The Great Gatsby that Mr. Fitzgerald

29601-403: The novel to illustrate that class transcends wealth in America. Even if the poorer Americans become rich, they remain inferior to those Americans with "old money". Consequently, Gatsby and other characters in the novel are trapped in a rigid American class system. Besides exploring the difficulties of achieving the American dream, The Great Gatsby explores societal gender expectations during

29808-410: The novel was a masterwork of 20th-century American literature . By 1974, The Great Gatsby had attained its status as a literary masterwork and was deemed a contender for the title of the " Great American Novel ". Hunter S. Thompson retyped pages of The Great Gatsby "just to get a feeling of what it was like to write that way." According to Thompson's friend William Nack , Thompson once retyped

30015-535: The novel was a mystical and glamorous tale of the Jazz Age. Similarly, Lillian C. Ford of the Los Angeles Times hailed the novel as a revelatory work of art that "leaves the reader in a mood of chastened wonder". The New York Post described Fitzgerald's prose style as scintillating and genuinely brilliant. The New York Herald Tribune was less impressed, referring to The Great Gatsby as "a literary lemon meringue" that nonetheless "contains some of

30222-415: The novel's plot as implausible since he had never intended for the story to be realistic. Instead, he crafted the work to be a romanticized depiction that was largely scenic and symbolic. According to his friend John Peale Bishop , Fitzgerald further resented the fact that critics failed to perceive the many parallels between the author's life and the character of Jay Gatsby; in particular, that both created

30429-453: The novel's publication, Cugat's preparatory drafts influenced his writing. Upon viewing Cugat's drafts before sailing for France in April–May 1924, Fitzgerald was so enamored that he later told editor Max Perkins that he had incorporated Cugat's imagery into the novel. This statement has led many to analyze interrelations between Cugat's art and Fitzgerald's text. One popular interpretation

30636-494: The novel, one which he wrote himself under the pen name of Thomas Parke D'Invilliers . Fitzgerald initially preferred titles referencing Trimalchio , the crude upstart in Petronius 's Satyricon , and even refers to Gatsby as Trimalchio once in the novel. Unlike Gatsby's spectacular parties, Trimalchio participated in the orgies he hosted but, according to literary critic Tony Tanner , there are subtle similarities between

30843-428: The novel. After its publication by Scribner's in April 1925, The Great Gatsby received generally favorable reviews, though some literary critics believed it did not equal Fitzgerald's previous efforts. Compared to his earlier novels, This Side of Paradise (1920) and The Beautiful and Damned (1922), the novel was a commercial disappointment. It sold fewer than 20,000 copies by October, and Fitzgerald's hopes of

31050-424: The outbreak of World War II , and Fleming had fallen out with Selznick and declined to attend any of the premieres. Hattie McDaniel was also absent, as she and the other black cast members were prevented from attending the premiere due to Georgia's Jim Crow laws, which kept them from sitting with their white colleagues. Upon learning that McDaniel had been barred from the premiere, Clark Gable threatened to boycott

31257-461: The owners of Selznick International), and she had requested in February that her name be submitted for consideration as Scarlett. By the summer of 1938, the Selznicks were negotiating with Alexander Korda , to whom Leigh was under contract, for her services later that year. Selznick's brother arranged for them to meet for the first time on the night of December 10, 1938, when the burning of Atlanta

31464-480: The picture which is not from the book, most is my own personally, and the only original lines of dialog which are not my own are a few from Sidney Howard and a few from Ben Hecht and a couple more from John Van Druten . Offhand I doubt that there are ten original words of [Oliver] Garrett's in the whole script. As to construction, this is about eighty per cent my own, and the rest divided between Jo Swerling and Sidney Howard, with Hecht having contributed materially to

31671-534: The point marked by the interval, and if the personal drama had been made subservient to a cinematic treatment of the central theme—the collapse and devastation of the Old South—then Gone With the Wind might have been a really great film". Likewise, Hoellering also found the second half of the film to be weaker than the first half: identifying the Civil War to be the driving force of the first part while

31878-642: The population at the time . It repeated its success overseas, and was a sensational hit during the Blitz in London, opening in April 1940 and playing for four years at the Little Ritz in Leicester Square . By the time MGM withdrew it from circulation, at the end of 1943, its worldwide distribution had returned a gross rental (the studio's share of the box office gross) of $ 32 million, making it

32085-573: The production due to exhaustion. Although some of Cukor's scenes were later reshot, Selznick estimated that "three solid reels" of his work remained in the final cut. As of the end of principal photography, Cukor had undertaken eighteen days of filming, Fleming ninety-three, and Wood twenty-four. Cinematographer Lee Garmes began the production, but on March 11, 1939—after a month of shooting footage that Selznick and his associates regarded as "too dark"—was replaced with Ernest Haller , working with Technicolor cinematographer Ray Rennahan . Garmes completed

32292-426: The publication of the novel, several Hollywood executives and studios declined to create a film based on it, including Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Pandro S. Berman at RKO Radio Pictures , and David O. Selznick of Selznick International Pictures . Jack L. Warner of Warner Bros. considered purchasing the rights after reading the synopsis, but his biggest star Bette Davis

32499-583: The rank of private—he even called upon Frank Capra to intercede on his behalf—he never achieved officer's status or any commendations during his six months of service. In later years, Cukor suspected his homosexuality impeded him from receiving any advances or honors, although rumors to that effect could not be confirmed. The remainder of the decade was a series of hits and misses for Cukor. Both Two-Faced Woman and Her Cardboard Lover (1942) were commercial failures. More successful were A Woman's Face (1941) with Joan Crawford and Gaslight (1944) about

32706-416: The realism of his previous two novels and to compose a creative work of sustained imagination. To this end, he consciously imitated the literary styles of Joseph Conrad and Willa Cather . He was particularly influenced by Cather's 1923 work, A Lost Lady , which features a wealthy married socialite pursued by a variety of romantic suitors and who symbolically embodies the American dream. He later wrote

32913-483: The record from The Sound of Music , bringing its total worldwide gross rental to about $ 116 million by the end of 1971—more than trebling its earnings from its initial release—before losing the record again the following year to The Godfather . The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald . Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island , near New York City,

33120-553: The record of the longest Best Picture winner depending on how it is interpreted. The running time for Gone with the Wind is just under 221 minutes, while Lawrence of Arabia (1962) runs for just over 222 minutes; however, including the overture , intermission , entr'acte , and exit music, Gone with the Wind lasts for 234 minutes (although some sources put its full length at 238 minutes) while Lawrence of Arabia comes in slightly shorter at 232 minutes with its additional components. Hattie McDaniel became

33327-421: The role of Rhett Butler, Selznick from the start wanted Clark Gable , but Gable was under contract to MGM, which never loaned him to other studios. Gary Cooper was considered, but Samuel Goldwyn —to whom Cooper was under contract—refused to loan him out. Warner offered a package of Bette Davis, Errol Flynn , and Olivia de Havilland for lead roles in return for the distribution rights. By this time, Selznick

33534-600: The role, but controversy over her marriage to Charlie Chaplin caused Selznick to change his mind. Selznick had been quietly considering Vivien Leigh, a young English actress who was still little known in America, for the role of Scarlett since February 1938 when Selznick saw her in Fire Over England and A Yank at Oxford . Leigh's American agent was the London representative of the Myron Selznick talent agency (headed by David Selznick's brother, one of

33741-475: The rug". Even so, some sections of the black community recognized McDaniel's achievements to be representative of progress: some African-Americans crossed picket lines and praised McDaniel's warm and witty characterization, and others hoped that the industry's recognition of her work would lead to increased visibility on screen for other black actors. In its editorial congratulation to McDaniel on winning her Academy Award, Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life used

33948-455: The sales charts, and has since been released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats. Upon its release, consumer magazines and newspapers generally gave Gone with the Wind excellent reviews; however, while its production values, technical achievements, and scale of ambition were universally recognized, some reviewers of the time found the film to be too long and dramatically unconvincing. Frank S. Nugent for The New York Times best summed up

34155-555: The same shirt twice, used the phrase "old sport", and fostered myths about himself including that he was a relation of the German Kaiser . These details about Gerlach inspired Fitzgerald in his creation of Jay Gatsby . During this same time period, the daily newspapers sensationalized the Hall–Mills murder case over many months, and the highly publicized case likely influenced the plot of Fitzgerald's novel. The case involved

34362-448: The score, the most prolonged period he had ever spent writing one, and at two hours and thirty-six minutes long, it was also the longest he had ever written. Five orchestrators were hired: Hugo Friedhofer , Maurice de Packh, Bernhard Kaun , Adolph Deutsch and Reginald Bassett. The score is characterized by two love themes, one for Ashley and Melanie's sweet love and another that evokes Scarlett's passion for Ashley, though notably, there

34569-485: The set to make revisions ... but Howard refused to leave New England [and] as a result, revisions were handled by a host of local writers". Selznick dismissed director George Cukor three weeks into filming and sought out Victor Fleming, who was directing The Wizard of Oz at the time. Fleming was dissatisfied with the script, so Selznick brought in the screenwriter Ben Hecht to rewrite the entire screenplay within five days. Hecht returned to Howard's original draft and, by

34776-579: The set. Various rumors about the reasons behind his dismissal circulated throughout Hollywood. Selznick's friendship with Cukor had crumbled slightly when the director refused other assignments, including A Star Is Born (1937) and Intermezzo (1939). Given that Gable and Cukor had worked together before (on Manhattan Melodrama , 1934) and Gable had no objection to working with him then, and given Selznick's desperation to get Gable for Rhett Butler , if Gable had any objections to Cukor, certainly they would have been expressed before he signed his contract for

34983-735: The seventh day I had completed, unscathed, the first nine reels of the Civil War epic." MacAdams writes, "It is impossible to determine exactly how much Hecht scripted ... In the official credits filed with the Screen Writers Guild , Sidney Howard was of course awarded the sole screen credit, but four other writers were appended ... Jo Swerling for contributing to the treatment, Oliver H. P. Garrett and Barbara Keon to screenplay construction, and Hecht, to dialogue ..." Principal photography began on January 26, 1939, and ended on July 1, with post-production work continuing until November 11, 1939. Director George Cukor , with whom Selznick had

35190-507: The since-demolished Beacon Towers . While living on Long Island, the Fitzgeralds' enigmatic neighbor was Max Gerlach . Purportedly born in America to a German immigrant family, Gerlach had been a major in the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, and he later became a gentleman bootlegger who lived like a millionaire in New York. Flaunting his new wealth, Gerlach threw lavish parties, never wore

35397-468: The sparsely attended funeral. After Gatsby's death, Nick comes to hate New York and decides that Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and he were all Midwesterners unsuited to Eastern life . Nick encounters Tom and initially refuses to shake his hand. Tom admits he was the one who told George that Gatsby owned the vehicle that killed Myrtle. Before returning to the Midwest, Nick returns to Gatsby's mansion and stares across

35604-436: The start of filming Wind , but Clark Gable resisted his efforts to get him to master a Southern accent. However, despite rumors about Gable being uncomfortable with Cukor on the set, nothing in the internal memos of David O. Selznick indicates or suggests that Clark Gable had anything to do with Cukor's dismissal from the film. Rather, they show Selznick's mounting dissatisfaction with Cukor's slow pace and quality of work. From

35811-399: The start of production until the end of 1938, when Selznick's distribution deal with United Artists concluded. Selznick used the delay to continue to revise the script and, more importantly, build publicity for the film through their endeavors to cast the role of Scarlett . Selznick began a nationwide casting call interviewing 1,400 unknowns. The effort cost $ 100,000 and proved useless for

36018-460: The struggling Scarlett to the bedroom. The next day, Rhett apologizes for his behavior and offers Scarlett a divorce, which she rejects, saying it would be a disgrace. When Rhett returns from an extended trip to London, England, Scarlett informs him that she is pregnant, but an argument ensues, resulting in her falling down a flight of stairs and suffering a miscarriage . While recovering, tragedy strikes again when Bonnie dies while attempting to jump

36225-694: The television movies Love Among the Ruins (1975) and The Corn Is Green (1979). At the age of 82, Cukor directed his final film, Rich and Famous for MGM in 1981, starring Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen . In 1970, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement . In 1976, Cukor was awarded the George Eastman Award , given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to

36432-549: The time that Gatsby was republished in Edmund Wilson 's edition of The Last Tycoon in 1941, the prevailing opinion in writers' circles deemed the novel to be an enduring work of fiction. In the spring of 1942, mere months after the United States' entrance into World War II , an association of publishing executives created the Council on Books in Wartime with the stated purpose of distributing paperback Armed Services Editions books to combat troops . The Great Gatsby

36639-577: The twenty-five inaugural films selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry . In 1861, on the eve of the American Civil War , Scarlett O'Hara lives at Tara , her family's cotton plantation in Georgia, with her parents, two sisters, and their black slaves. Scarlett is deeply attracted to Ashley Wilkes and learns he is to be married to his cousin , Melanie Hamilton . At an engagement party

36846-441: The two categories meet on good terms, but the long stretches between are filled with mere spectacular efficiency." While the film was praised for its fidelity to the novel, this aspect was also singled out as the main factor contributing to the lengthy running time. John C. Flinn wrote for Variety that Selznick had "left too much in", and that as entertainment, the film would have benefited if repetitious scenes and dialog from

37053-463: The two characters. By November 1924, Fitzgerald wrote to Perkins that he had settled upon the title of Trimalchio in West Egg . Disliking Fitzgerald's chosen title of Trimalchio in West Egg , editor Max Perkins persuaded him that the reference was too obscure and that people would be unable to pronounce it. Zelda and Perkins both expressed their preference for The Great Gatsby , and the next month Fitzgerald agreed. A month before publication, after

37260-434: The updated A Star Is Born (1954) to the screen proved to be a challenge. Cukor wanted Cary Grant for the male lead and went so far as to read the entire script with him, but Grant, while agreeing it was the role of a lifetime, steadfastly refused to do it, and Cukor never forgave him. The director then suggested either Humphrey Bogart or Frank Sinatra tackle the part, but Jack L. Warner rejected both. Stewart Granger

37467-421: The vocal work of the cast, noting the lack of criticism when the film came out. Of the original screenplay writer, Sidney Howard , film historian Joanne Yeck writes, "reducing the intricacies of Gone with the Wind ' s epic dimensions was a herculean task ... and Howard's first submission was far too long, and would have required at least six hours of film; ... [producer] Selznick wanted Howard to remain on

37674-422: The work soon became a core part of most American high school curricula and a part of American popular culture. Numerous stage and film adaptations followed in the subsequent decades. Gatsby continues to attract popular and scholarly attention. Scholars emphasize the novel's treatment of social class , inherited versus self-made wealth , gender , race , and environmentalism , and its cynical attitude towards

37881-764: Was " Winter Dreams ", which Fitzgerald described as his first attempt at the Gatsby idea. "The whole idea of Gatsby", he later explained to a friend, "is the unfairness of a poor young man not being able to marry a girl with money. This theme comes up again and again because I lived it". In October 1922, after the birth of their only child, Frances Scott "Scottie" Fitzgerald , the Fitzgeralds moved to Great Neck, New York , on Long Island. Their neighbors in Great Neck included such newly wealthy personages as writer Ring Lardner , actor Lew Fields and comedian Ed Wynn . These figures were all considered to be nouveau riche , unlike those who came from Manhasset Neck , which sat across

38088-416: Was Hollywood's persistent failure to accurately portray Southern accents . The studio believed that if the accent was not accurately depicted, it could prove detrimental to the film's success. Selznick hired Susan Myrick (an expert on Southern speech, manners, and customs recommended to him by Mitchell) and Will A. Price to coach the actors on speaking with a Southern drawl . Mitchell was complimentary about

38295-411: Was MGM's top female star at the time—but she withdrew herself from consideration after negative feedback from movie fans. Katharine Hepburn lobbied hard for the role with the support of her friend, George Cukor, who had been hired to direct, but she was vetoed by Selznick, who felt she was not right for the part. Many actresses, both known and unknown, were considered, but only thirty, in addition to

38502-601: Was a "frontal attack on American history and the Negro people", Gone with the Wind was a "rear attack on the same". He went on to characterize it as a "nostalgic plea for sympathy for a still-living cause of Southern reaction". Moss further called out the stereotypical black characterizations, such as the "shiftless and dull-witted Pork", the "indolent and thoroughly irresponsible Prissy", Big Sam's "radiant acceptance of slavery", and Mammy with her "constant haranguing and doting on every wish of Scarlett". Similarly, Melvin B. Tolson ,

38709-604: Was a box-office hit which won him the Academy Award for Best Director , the Golden Globe Award for Best Director , and the Directors Guild of America Award after having been nominated for each several times. Following My Fair Lady , Cukor became less active. He directed Maggie Smith in Travels with My Aunt (1972) and helmed the critical and commercial flop The Blue Bird (1976), the first joint Soviet-American production. He reunited twice with Katharine Hepburn for

38916-417: Was actress Katharine Hepburn , who debuted in A Bill of Divorcement (1932) and whose looks and personality left RKO officials at a loss as to how to use her. Cukor directed her in several films, both successful, such as Little Women (1933) and Holiday (1938), and disastrous, such as Sylvia Scarlett (1935). Cukor and Hepburn became close friends off the set. Cukor was hired to direct Gone with

39123-578: Was also a frequent guest. Cukor's friends were of paramount importance to him and he kept his home filled with their photographs. Regular attendees at his soirées included Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy , Joan Crawford and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. , Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart , Claudette Colbert , Marlene Dietrich , Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh , actor Richard Cromwell , Stanley Holloway , Judy Garland , Gene Tierney , Noël Coward , Cole Porter , director James Whale , costume designer Edith Head , and Norma Shearer , especially after

39330-527: Was an officer in the American Expeditionary Forces . They fell in love, but when Gatsby was deployed overseas, Daisy reluctantly married Tom. Gatsby hopes that his newfound wealth and dazzling parties will make Daisy reconsider. Gatsby uses Nick to stage a reunion with Daisy, and the two embark upon an affair. In September, Tom discovers the affair when Daisy carelessly addresses Gatsby with unabashed intimacy in front of him. Later, at

39537-695: Was assigned to the old Paramount studios in Astoria, Queens (where he had directed three films in the early 1930s), although he was permitted to lodge at the St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan. Working with Irwin Shaw , John Cheever and William Saroyan , among others, Cukor produced training and instructional films for army personnel. Because he lacked an officer's commission, he found it difficult to give orders and directions to his superiors. Despite his efforts to rise above

39744-672: Was briefly replaced by Sam Wood while taking some time off due to exhaustion. Post-production concluded in November 1939, just a month before its premiere. It received generally positive reviews upon its release on December 15, 1939. While the casting was widely praised, the long running-time received criticism. At the 12th Academy Awards , Gone with the Wind received ten Academy Awards (eight competitive, two honorary) from thirteen nominations, including wins for Best Picture , Best Director (Fleming), Best Adapted Screenplay (posthumously awarded to Sidney Howard), Best Actress (Leigh), and Best Supporting Actress ( Hattie McDaniel , becoming

39951-598: Was commissioned as a second lieutenant . While awaiting deployment to the Western front where he hoped to die in combat, he was stationed at Camp Sheridan in Montgomery, Alabama , where he met Zelda Sayre , a vivacious 17-year-old Southern belle . After learning that Ginevra had married wealthy Chicago businessman William "Bill" Mitchell, Fitzgerald asked Zelda to marry him. Zelda agreed but postponed their marriage until he became financially successful. Fitzgerald

40158-469: Was determined to get Gable, and in August 1938 he eventually struck a deal with his father-in-law, MGM chief Louis B. Mayer: MGM would provide Gable and $ 1,250,000 for half of the film's budget, and in return, Selznick would have to pay Gable's weekly salary; half the profits would go to MGM while Loew's, Inc —MGM's parent company—would release the film. The arrangement to release through MGM meant delaying

40365-471: Was determined to secure Gable for the role of Rhett, and filming concluded in July. The role of Scarlett was challenging to cast, and 1,400 unknown women were interviewed for the part. Sidney Howard 's original screenplay underwent many revisions by several writers to reduce it to a suitable length. The original director, George Cukor , was fired shortly after filming began and was replaced by Fleming, who in turn

40572-453: Was driving the car, but that he intends to take the blame for the accident to protect her. Nick urges Gatsby to flee to avoid prosecution, but he refuses. After Tom tells George that Gatsby owns the car that struck Myrtle, a distraught George assumes the owner of the vehicle must be Myrtle's lover. George fatally shoots Gatsby in his mansion's swimming pool, then kills himself. Several days after Gatsby's murder, his father Henry Gatz arrives for

40779-557: Was failing...the things did not click as it should. Gradually he became convinced that the script was the trouble...So George just told David he would not work any longer if the script was not better and he wanted the [Sidney] Howard script back...he would not let his name go out over a lousy picture...and bull-headed David said 'OK get out!'" Selznick had already been unhappy with Cukor ("a very expensive luxury") for not being more receptive to directing other Selznick assignments, even though Cukor had remained on salary since early 1937; and in

40986-501: Was filmed. In a letter to his wife two days later, Selznick admitted that Leigh was "the Scarlett dark horse", and after a series of screen tests, her casting was announced on January 13, 1939. Just before the shooting of the film, Selznick informed newspaper columnist Ed Sullivan : "Scarlett O'Hara's parents were French and Irish. Identically, Miss Leigh's parents are French and Irish." A pressing issue for Selznick throughout casting

41193-473: Was madly in love with him, her upper-class family openly discouraged his courtship of their daughter because of his lower-class status, and her father purportedly told him that "poor boys shouldn't think of marrying rich girls". Rejected by Ginevra's family as a suitor because of his lack of financial prospects, a suicidal Fitzgerald enlisted in the United States Army amid World War I and

41400-414: Was not interested at the time, and Darryl F. Zanuck of 20th Century-Fox had not offered enough money. However, Selznick changed his mind after his story editor Kay Brown and business partner John Hay Whitney urged him to buy the film rights. In July 1936—a month after it was published—Selznick bought the rights for $ 50,000. The casting of the two lead roles became a complex, two-year endeavor. For

41607-487: Was one of them. Within the next several years, 155,000 copies of Gatsby were distributed to U.S. soldiers overseas, and the book proved popular among beleaguered troops, according to the Saturday Evening Post ' s 1945 report. By 1944, a full-scale Fitzgerald revival had occurred. Full-length scholarly articles on Fitzgerald's works were being published in periodicals and, by the following year,

41814-409: Was playing, but after the first feature it was announced that instead of the second bill, the theater would be screening a preview of an unnamed upcoming film; the audience were informed they could leave but would not be readmitted once the film had begun, nor would phone calls be allowed once the theater had been sealed. When the title appeared on the screen, the audience cheered, and after it had ended,

42021-605: Was required to perform in blackface . Following his graduation in 1917, Cukor was expected to follow in his father's footsteps and pursue a career in law. He halfheartedly enrolled in the City College of New York , where he entered the Students Army Training Corps in October 1918. His military experience was limited; Germany surrendered in early November , and Cukor's duty ended after only two months. He left school shortly afterwards. Cukor obtained

42228-422: Was the first time the film was shown in widescreen , compromising the original Academy ratio and cropping the top and bottom to an aspect ratio of 1.75:1. In doing so, several shots were optically re-framed and cut into the three-strip camera negatives, forever altering five shots in the film. A 1961 release of the film commemorated the centennial anniversary of the start of the Civil War, and it also included

42435-476: Was the front runner for a period of time, but he backed out when he was unable to adjust to Cukor's habit of acting out scenes as a form of direction. James Mason eventually was contracted, and filming began on October 12, 1953. As the months passed, Cukor was forced to deal not only with constant script changes but a very unstable Garland, who was plagued by chemical and alcohol dependencies, extreme weight fluctuations, and real and imagined illnesses. In March 1954,

42642-452: Was the ill-fated Something's Got to Give , an updated remake of the comedy My Favorite Wife (1940). Cukor liked leading lady Marilyn Monroe but found it difficult to deal with her erratic work habits, frequent absences from the set, and the constant presence of Monroe's acting coach Paula Strasberg . It was reported at the time that after 32 days of shooting, the director had only 7½ minutes of usable film. Footage would be discovered in

42849-413: Was the scene of many gatherings for the industry's homosexuals. The close-knit group reputedly included Haines and his partner Jimmie Shields , writer W. Somerset Maugham , director James Vincent , screenwriter Rowland Leigh , costume designers Orry-Kelly and Robert Le Maire, and actors John Darrow , Anderson Lawler , Grady Sutton , Robert Seiter, and Tom Douglas. Frank Horn, secretary to Cary Grant,

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