Victor Fleming: An American Movie Master

Contents

Contents introduction: The Real Rhett Butler 3 1 Born in a Tent 11 2 Cars, Cameras, Action! 24 3 The Importance of Shooting Doug 41 4 In Manhattan for the Great War 55 5 Filming the Conquering Hero: With Wilson in Europe 66 6 The Importance of Directing Doug 75 7 Scaling Paramount Pictures 86 8 Courage and Clara Bow 99 9 A Lost Epic: The Rough Riders 117 10 From The Way of All Flesh to Abie’s Irish Rose 130 11 Creating Gary Cooper 145 12 A Woman’s Film and a Man’s Adventure at Fox 159 13 Guiding Gable in Red Dust 176 14 Pioneering the Screwball Comedy: Jean Harlow in Bombshell 197 15 Treasure Island 210 Srag_9780375407482_3p_fm_r2.z.qxp 10/13/08 10:38 AM Page vii contents viii 16 Introducing Henry Fonda, Farewell to Jean Harlow 220 17 Bagging Game on Safari, Losing The Good Earth 230 18 Spencer Tracy and Captains Courageous 235 19 Test Pilot 256 20 Salvaging The Great Waltz 270 21 Putting Oz into The Wizard of Oz 282 22 Saving Tara and Gone With the Wind 316 23 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 356 24 The Yearling That Wasn’t 375 25 Bonhomie in Bel-Air and Tortilla Flat 385 26 World War II with Tears: A Guy Named Joe 401 27 A Confounding Political Life 425 28 One Last Adventure at MGM 436 29 Ingrid Bergman and Joan of Arc 446 30 Death in the Desert 490 afterword: A Great American Movie Director 501 acknowledgments 507 notes 515 filmography 581 bibliography 597 index 613 Srag_9780375407482_3p_fm_r2.z.qxp 10/13/08 10:38 AM Page viii victor fleming Srag_9780375407482_3p_fm_r2.z.qxp 10/13/08 10:38 AM Page 1 Srag_9780375407482_3p_fm_r2.z.qxp 10/13/08 10:38 AM Page 2 ...