First Manassas: July 21, 1861
For this historical event we are preempting and delaying Prologue Part 6 for one week.
Tuesday July 16, 1861
Courier delivers secret note from Washington to Confederate General Beauregard in Northern Virginia. ‘Order issued McDowell to march on Manassas tonight.’
Showdown: Beauregard immediately notifies Rebel commanders to send, without delay, divisions to be positioned along the Bull Run.
‘The Goring Collection’
Followed by FBI agents, Sam Brannan…
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Added by Tom Barnes on July 22, 2009 at 2:06pm —
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‘
The Goring Collection’
Prologue Part 5
On his return trip to San Francisco Jacob had time to think and reflect on his experiences of the past three days. What was truly amazing to him was how he had fit right in with the Bromfield family and their friends. Then as he looked out at the California countryside he was reminded of Tony Rockwell’s remark about his political leanings. ‘…Are you truly as far left as you profess to be?’ Jacob was aware that his zest for the Communist Party was no…
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Added by Tom Barnes on July 15, 2009 at 7:29pm —
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Researching a legend Part 4
Griffin Slave Sale and Magnolias.
Griffin, Georgia Doc Holliday’s birthplace is right smack in the middle of the Old South. And while the city has grown and taken on a more modern look, some of the buildings from the 1800’s are still standing beside the modern, and from time to time you might get a touch of nostalgia when you smell the magnolias.
Among the buildings built in the 1800’s is the Byington Hotel, located at Broadway and Hill; another is a two-stor…
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Added by Tom Barnes on July 8, 2009 at 2:36pm —
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Researching a Legend Part 3
North on Fourth and left on Fremont
I paused at the corner of Fourth and Allen and took out my 1881 street map to refresh my memory just to get a better idea of how it looked then. Some of the prominent landmarks I’d read about were still there some were not.
Walking north toward Fremont Street Hafford’s Corner Saloon was first on my right with the Brown Hotel, Gun Shop and News Stand farther along.
On the left was an Assayer’s office, Zeckendorf Building, a v…
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Added by Tom Barnes on July 1, 2009 at 1:55pm —
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Researching a Legend Part 2
On the Ground in Tombstone
I was excited to actually see the town of Tombstone as I drove past the city limits sign. I found the motel I had booked, checked in and unloaded my bags. I doubt that I spent ten minutes in the room. I walked out to those dusty streets of Tombstone just to get a sense of place. The first day I didn’t carry a notebook or recorder, didn’t want to inhibit the atmosphere. All I wanted to do was walk, look and listen to the sights and sou…
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Added by Tom Barnes on June 24, 2009 at 3:59pm —
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Researching a Legend:
Part One
Chasing Hurricanes had its moments but the last two segments of my TV Series; “Georgia’s Heritage” took anxiety and fear to a whole new level. I was given 3 days to research, write and narrate, on camera, a film documentary of the Okefenokee Swamp. With the help of an inventive and hard working crew we managed to finish the film and beat the deadline. Then we were off to Valdosta, Georgia where I had my first brush with the legendary Doc Holliday.
We filmed…
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Added by Tom Barnes on June 17, 2009 at 2:00pm —
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Birdstone’s success and Desormeaux’s redemption:
Sons of Birdstone: Summer Bird and Mine that Bird finished first and third in Saturday’s Belmont.
The youngsters were true to their breeding showing tenacity and stamina passed along to them by Papa Birdstone. While the Belmont didn’t produce a Triple Crown this year it might have done just as much for racing by highlighting an overlooked stud. Of course now that the secrets out Birdstone will be getting more respect and I predict his stud…
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Added by Tom Barnes on June 10, 2009 at 2:10pm —
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Mine that Bird and the Belmont
It was announced over the weekend that Rachel Alexandra will not run in the Belmont Stakes this Saturday and thus will deny the match up most people had hoped for. Not to worry though, there will be a race on Saturday and Mine that Bird winner of the Kentucky Derby and second in the Preakness will be out to make a statement.
However, we’ll first have to get past the flap his jockey Borel caused with an over confident remark, ‘We’re going to win it, no quest…
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Added by Tom Barnes on June 3, 2009 at 2:13pm —
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Inside Doc Holliday’s World
Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone: Tuberculosis, the road west and Sister Melanie.
False accusations and outright lies aimed to darken the Holliday legend was not lost on journalist, Lucy Caldwell and producer, Bobby Anderson. They were convinced that the true Holliday legend was hidden beneath a veneer that Dime Store novels had drawn and Hollywood perpetuated. Lucy and Bobby worked independently, searching for the real Doc Holliday, but success comes on…
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Added by Tom Barnes on May 27, 2009 at 2:00pm —
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Let’s go to the Movies Part 18
Hollywood Grows Up.Hollywood came of age during the 1930’s and movie fans lined up in droves to watch the latest film. The industry grew in every aspect of filmmaking, silents to sound, black and white to color, and a thousand other film techniques the public was not aware of.
With every passing year during that decade writers and directors were delivering a better product.
Suddenly a funny thing happened, it was like the whole Hollywood colony took aim at…
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Added by Tom Barnes on May 20, 2009 at 2:29pm —
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Let’s go to the Movies
Part 17
The flap with the Hays office over ‘Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn’ was just one of dozens of problems that David Selznick had to resolve between the time filming was complete in early July 1939 to the Atlanta Premier on December 15th.
If there were a problem it would eventually land on Selznick’s desk. But of course that’s the task you assume as motion picture producer.
Just to name a few items; editing the long film down to a reasonable time, hiring…
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Added by Tom Barnes on May 13, 2009 at 1:00pm —
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Mine That Bird Rail to Wire Win
Dream up all the cliché’s in the book and you’ll find several that will fit into Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
When Calvin Borel looked at Mine that Bird’s past performance chart he saw a mixed bag. Two-year-old champion in Canada and then some unmentionable races in the States. But as he studied the form some things became apparent. Mine that Bird’s losses came with consistency when he got caught wide on the turns.
I suspect a wry grin crossed Calvin’s face…
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Added by Tom Barnes on May 6, 2009 at 1:28pm —
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Let’s go to the Movies
Part 15
Victor Fleming returned to work and Sam Wood stayed on to help.
According to David Selznick Sam Wood did an outstanding job filling in for Fleming and in one of his memos he stated that there was no loss in picture quality during that period.
Fleming was back on the set the second week of May and Sam Wood agreed to stick around and help out where ever he was needed. By that time in the production the working script was in place and Selznick’s idea was to dr…
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Added by Tom Barnes on April 29, 2009 at 1:33pm —
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Let’s Go to the Movies
Part 14
Exhausted!
Victor Fleming never got a break between his work on ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and his assignment to ‘Gone With the Wind.’
Under normal circumstances, with only a couple of days rest it would have been enough for a routine transition. However, his assignment to ‘Gone With the Wind,’ was anything but routine. The general public had already formed opinions and had high expectations of what they wanted from reading the 1034 page novel. And David Selznick h…
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Added by Tom Barnes on April 22, 2009 at 2:16pm —
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Let’s go to the Movies
David Selznick had some sleepless nights mulling over his vision for the final cut of his Gone With the Wind film. Not only did it involve the length of the picture it involved the grand scope of every frame. Could they make a larger than life picture within the confines of their back lot? The answer was a resounding NO.
Selznick tackled the problem and alluded to a partial answer in a memo dated March 9, 1939 directed to Ray Klune, his production manager,
Selznick…
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Added by Tom Barnes on April 15, 2009 at 2:13pm —
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Let’s go to the Movies
I grew up watching dozens of nameless faces on that giant silver screen. Saturday at the Bijou or in my case the Princess Theatre in Jackson, Georgia you’d likely see two features a western, Bulldog Drummond, a thriller serial with a cliffhanger ending, a newsreel and a couple of cartoons all for a dime. Wow – what a bargain.
Saturday was the day when we became familiar with many of those nameless faces. There was a lot of typecasting with the expected bad guys alm…
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Added by Tom Barnes on April 8, 2009 at 1:40pm —
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Let’s go to the Movies
Part 11
Cast in order of appearance:
Gerald O’Hara – Thomas Mitchell
Ellen O’Hara – Barbara O’Neil
Scarlett O’Hara – Vivien Leigh
Suellen O’Hara – Evelyn Keyes
Careen O’Hara – Ann Rutherford
Brent Tarleton – George Reeves
Stuart Tarleton – Fred Crane
Mammy – Hattie McDaniel
Pork – Oscar Polk
Prissy – Butterfly McQueen
Jonas Wilkerson – Victor Jory
Big Sam – Everett Brown
John Wilkes – Howard Hickman
India Wilkes – Alicia Rhett
Ashley Wilkes – Leslie Howard
Melanie H…
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Added by Tom Barnes on April 1, 2009 at 2:47pm —
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Let’s Go to the Movies
Part 10
Quiet on the set – Roll Camera -- Action
January 26, 1939
Lowell V. Calvert
Selznick International Pictures
New York, NY
‘Started shooting “Gone With the Wind” today.’
David O. Selznick
Technicolor was still in its infancy in 1939. All the technical people cinematographers, camera operators, lighting, costume designers, set designers were all making the transition from black and white film to color. David Selznick was a tough taskmaster and didn’t make it…
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Added by Tom Barnes on March 25, 2009 at 12:31pm —
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Let’s Go to the Movies: Part 8
A back lot face-lift, under the direction of William Cameron Menzies, was moving at a rapid pace putting new facades on old sets in order to simulate Atlanta buildings during the period of the Civil War.
All this activity was aimed at one short scene to be shot by seven Technicolor cameras photographing doubles for the characters of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara in medium and long shots against the background of Atlanta burning. The timing of the burn wa…
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Added by Tom Barnes on March 11, 2009 at 2:06pm —
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Let’s Go to the Movies
Part 7
The summer of ‘38
From late March, when the deal for Gary Cooper fell through, until mid August when MGM signed an agreement for Clark Gable to play Rhett Butler, much of Selznick International’s pre production work on Gone With the Wind was slowed to a crawl. Of course that didn’t relieve any of the pressure on Selznick himself because other pictures took much of his time. He also had a couple of worrisome problems that required his attention, one was the G…
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Added by Tom Barnes on March 4, 2009 at 2:07pm —
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