Walter Wanger, Hollywood Independent

535 Pages·2000·33.12 MB·English

by  Wanger

Walter Wanger
Hollywood Independent
COMMERCE AND MASS CULTURE SERIES
Edited by Justin Wyatt
Walter Wanger, Hollywood Independent
Matthew Bernstein
Hollywood Goes Shopping
David Desser and Garth S. Jowett, Editors
Screen Style: Fashion and Femininity in 1930s Hollywood
Sarah Berry
Active Radio: Pacifica's Brash Experiment
Jeff Land
Walter Wanger
Hollywood
Independent
Matthew Bernstein
Foreword by Robert Wise
Commerce and Mass Culture Series
University of Minnesota Press
Minneapolis London
"Fritz Lang, Incorporated" was originally published by the University of Texas Press in Velvet
Light Trap 22 (1986): 33-52. "Hollywood's Arty Cinema" was originally published by The Johns
Hopkins University Press in Wide Angle 10, no. 1 (January 1988). "Hollywood Martyrdoms:
Joan of Arc and Independent Production in the Late 1940s" was originally published in Current
Research in Film (1988): 89-113; reprinted with permission from Ablex Publishing Corporation.
"Institutions and Individuals: 'Riot in Cell Block 11'" was originally published by the University
of Texas Press in Velvet Light Trap 28 (fall 1991): 3-31. "Hollywood's Semi-Independent Pro-
duction" was originally published by the University of Texas Press in Cinema Journal 32, no. 3
(May 1993): 41-55.
Copyright 1994 by the Regents of the University of California
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
First published in hardcover by the University of California Press, 1994
First University of Minnesota Press edition, 2000
Published by the University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
http://www.upress.umn.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bernstein, Matthew.
Walter Wanger, Hollywood independent / Matthew Bernstein ; foreword by Robert
Wise. — 1st University of Minnesota ed.
p. cm. — (Commerce and mass culture series)
Originally published: Berkeley : University of California Press, 1994. With new foreword.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8166-3548-X (alk. paper)
1. Wanger, Walter, 1894-1968. 2. Motion picture producers and directors—United
States—Biography. I. Title. II. Series.
PN1998.3.W345 B47 2000
791.43'0232'092—dc21
[B] 99-088848
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer.
11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Natalie
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/ know that in an accidental sort of way, struggling
through the unreal part of life, I haven't always been
able to live up to my ideal. But in my own real world,
I have never done anything wrong, never denied my
faith, never been untrue to myself. I've been threat-
ened and blackmailed and insulted and starved. But
I've played the game. I've fought the good fight. And
now it's all over, there's an indescribable peace. I be-
lieve in Michael Angelo, Velasquez and Rembrandt; in
the might of design, the mystery of color, the redemp-
tion of all things by Beauty everlasting, and the mes-
sage of Art that has made these hands blessed. Amen.
—Louis Dubedat, The Doctor's Dilemma
by George Bernard Shaw
A producer comes on the set and says, "I don't like
the shoes."
—Mike Nichols, quoted by
John Gregory Dunne
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Foreword xi
Preface xiii
Part One Personal History
1 The Gentleman from the West (1894-1911) 3
2 The Boy Manager (1911-1914) 13
3 Finding a Niche (1915-1919) 23
Part Two The Executive Apprentice
4 Giving the Movies "Class" (1920-1924) 41
5 Organizational Demands (1924-1931) 54
6 Too Much Interference (1932-1934) 71
Part Three Going "Independent"
7 Semi-Independent Production (1934-1936) 93
8 A Fine and Daring Producer (1936-1938) 114
9 An Independent in Every Sense
of the Word (1938-1939) 129
10 Having It All (1939-1941) 151
11 Wanger at War (1941-1945) 174
IX