Memo from David O. Selznick : The Creation of "Gone with the Wind" and Other Motion Picture Classics, as Revealed in the Producer's Private Letters, Telegrams, Memorandums, and Autobiographical Remarks

Selznick was a prolific memo writer. His memos were detailed and fascinating to read. I am teaching a Zoom class this winter about a movie that was produced by David O. Selznick. There is a memo in the book regarding the movie that I will use in my lecture. Much of the book is devoted to Gone With The Wind. Selznick was involved with every aspect of GWTW. His memo about Clark Gable's wardrobe made me smile. No detail was ever overlooked by Selznick. I learned a lot about how movies were made during the Golden Age of Hollywood from this book.Highly recommended.

Es el producto de más de dos mil cajas con notas mecanografiadas. Pero además posee una conferencia de Selznick donde explica lo que era para él el rol de productor que me ha parecido de los más valioso del libro. Muy recomendable. El prólogo de Scorsese es un corta pega que demuestra que no aporta nada, y que solo está ahí como reclamo publicitario.

At first glance suspect most would find such a title boring. Nothing could be further from the truth. The editor, Rudy Behlmer, converted a huge pile of Selznick missives into readable insights about the trade and a few well known movies.

The life of a producer has its extreme highs and lows, and Selznick faithfully recorded them all in his letters to family, friends, colleagues, and rivals. A very personal look at "film history."

Selznick was a genius. His memos re GONE WITH THE WIND are sooooo interesting to read. In today's world we 'micro managers' get a bad name, but there's alot to be said for Selznick's mico managing, without it we'd never have the classic we all love.

An epic film and an epic tale that nearly killed all of the participants- a great read and look at classic Hollywood.

About 30+ years after I must have received this book as a gift, or bought it, it caught my eye upon visiting my old bedroom at my parents' house.Unread.Considering my professional life has been in film and video production, I could not believe what was presenting there on the bottom shelf of the bookcase. My cover is not like this latest release (mine a purple-tinged photo of Scarlett walking amongst the injured Civil War soldiers, plus an introduction by only the author himself and not Roger Ebert)... but ostensibly the very same book.My conclusion: the greatest book on filmmaking that anyone interested in any aspect of feature films could read. If your knowledge of movies and the people involved stretches back into Hollywood's Golden Age, you should find it hard to put this book down. If you actually make films yourself, the incredible insight into the rationale of decisions, the wheeling, dealing, art and business choices is a golden gift..I don't think you could ever take rejection personally ever again after witnessing how Selznick's decisions (often motoring at breakneck speed through piles of creatives), were rarely personal, but all about the minutiae of achieving his vision, and doing it in hopefully the most cost effective way. His instructions to his underlings to find writers for instance, in the early days, was often to find someone really talented, who had just had a string of miserable failures, so that Selznick could get them cheaply. To overlook a more successful writer was not a personal decision, but a scheming practical one.Selznick's incredible and audacious capacity to creatively micro-manage on a sub-atomic scale probably never before encountered comes across as the biggest revelation, and explains his many fallouts with artists who understandably could not in a million lifetimes tolerate his incessant meddling and demands of control. He would watch everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) they did either standing right behind them, seemingly with binoculars, giving counter-orders, or watching through a high-powered telescope from a distance and firing through never-ending suggestions that weren't ever short of self-promotion and rationalisation, most arguments circling back to his impressive track record.This micro-management surely reached its zenith when he was promoting his second wife Jennifer Jones for parts and agonising over her career advancement and the pictures she was in having to look good in every possible way.And agree or disagree with him, for the most part you can't fault his track record, nor his vast experience, and so he had pretty solid ground upon which to stand. Albeit he drove many people insane who refused to collaborate in a way which was clearly not collaboration in the usually accepted sense. (Although Selznick could fire through to you a 5 page memo arguing indeed it WAS collaboration and because of his many successes he was doing you a very great favour of which you should be eternally grateful.) So many people must have stormed off yelling, "Do it yourself!"From the safe distance of not having to work for him, this book is an utterly fascinating and instructive, enlightening read.

"Memo from David O. Selznick" is a terrific look at Hollywood the way it was, run by the great moguls. One was David O. Selznick, a man who really knew how to make films. He didn't want "Gone with the Wind" to be on his tombstone, but as hard as he tried, he never did beat it.The various memos of how Gone with the Wind came about are especially interesting. "We have the perfect cast," he writes. "Ten years ago." Also, we're in on his first sighting of Jennifer Jones, whom he mistakenly believed was Phyllis Thaxter. For Selznick, it was truly love at first sight.Humorous and fast-paced, these memos give a good picture of the man and his methods. It's a wild ride, but you won't be sorry you jumped on.