David O. Selznick

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia David O Selznick May 10 1902 June 22 1965 was an American film producer screenwriter and film studio executive He is best known for producing Gone with the Wind 1939 and Rebecca 1940 both earning him an Academy Award for Best Picture In 1926 Selznick moved to Hollywood and with the help of his fathers connections he got a job as an assistant story editor at MetroGoldwynMayer He left MGM for Paramount Pictures in 1928 where he worked until 1931 when he joined RKO as Head of Production His years at RKO were fruitful and he worked on many films including A Bill of Divorcement 1932 What Price Hollywood 1932 Rockabye 1932 Bird of Paradise 1932 Our Betters 1933 and King Kong 1933 While at RKO he also gave George Cukor his directing break In 1933 he returned to MGM where his fatherinlaw Louis B Mayer was studio CEO Mayer established a second prestige production unit for David parallel to that of powerful Irving Thalberg who was in poor health Selznicks unit output included the all star cast movie Dinner at Eight 1933 David Copperfield 1935 Anna Karenina 1935 and A Tale of Two Cities 1935 Selznick went on to make more films at MGM Paramount and RKO but he wanted more independence and formed Selznick International Pictures in 1935 Here he produced classics such as Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind overshadowed the rest of Selznicks career Later he was convinced that he had wasted his life trying to outdo it The closest he came to matching the film was with Duel in the Sun 1946 featuring future wife Jennifer Jones in the role of the primary character Pearl With a huge budget the film is known for causing moral upheaval because of the then risqué script written by Selznick And though it was a troublesome shoot with a number of directors the film would be a major success The film was the second highestgrossing film of 1947 and was the first movie that Martin Scorsese saw inspiring Scorseses own directorial career