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ENTERTAINMENT
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Page 12Thursday, October 7,1999
Nebraska
filmmaker
unknown
to state
By JoshKrauter
Senior staff writer
Darryl F. Zanuck’s childhood sounds like die
subject of a Jerry Springer episode, but his lega
cy is far from it
He was the son of an alcoholic hotel cleric
and the hotel owner’s allegedly promiscuous
daughter. His parents divorced, and they both
abandoned him when he was 13.
At age 15, he lied about his age to get into
the military and fight in Belgium in World War
I. After returning, he worked a series of odd jobs,
including stints as a steelworker and a boxer.
Despite a hard childhood, Zanuck worked
his way up the film studio ladder, first as a
writer, then as a producer. He eventually became
’one of the most powerful producers in the histo
I;
and loved making money, he believed
his films could better society, Ladely said.
“He was concerned with making films with
r y x
of
Hollywood.
Zanuck, a Wahoo
native, got his start in film after a short story he
wrote for a pulp magazine, Physical Culture,
was turned into a film script. That film was
never made, but he was able to sell other scripts
later. Warner Bros, hired him as a scriptwriter,
and he wrote most of the Rin Tin Tin movies.
By age 23, Zanuck was promoted to head of
production. His business savvy and feel for
many different genres of film helped make
Warner Bros, a major studio, said Dan Ladely,
director of the Mary Riepma Ross Film
Theater.
“He was really famous for gangster films,
social dramas and musicals,” he said. “He was
very expansive at what he could encompass.”
Some of Zanuck’s biggest productions at
Warner Bros, include “The Jazz Singer” (1927)
and “The Public Enemy” (1931).
Ladely said Zanuck was very innovative and
knew when something was going to be popular.
He was a proponent of sound in film, although
he didn’t originate the idea.
Ladely said filmmakers and studios were
interested only in using sound for a film’s musi
cal score. They didn’t think audiences would be
interested in talking.
When “The Jazz Singer” was being filmed,
A1 Jolson made a few comments after singing a
song. The studio wanted to cut the chat off the
wr .' film’s
soundtrack,
but Zanuck said to
leave it in. Audiences responded.
“People went crazy,” Ladely said. “Almost
overnight, it changed the film world.”
Zanuck was a powerful producer, and he was
getting more powerful every year. Warner Bros,
was uncomfortable with Zanuck’s “hands-on”
production style, and he had a bitter falling out
with the company.
In 1933, he quit Warner Bros, and formed
his own company, Twentieth Ceptury Pictures.
In 1935, his company bought out the bankrupt
Fox studios. The company was then named
Twentieth Century Fox.
Zanuck became even more controlling as
head of his own studio.
“Unlike other producers, he kept his finger
in the pie of all his films,” Ladely said.
He would often tell directors what to shoot
and editors what to cut, which made him many
enemies. He even took over for the directors on
“Cleopatra” (1963) and “The Longest Day”
(1962), though he wasn’t credited. Ladely said
Zanuck clashed with directors “all the time.”
He invited this difficult reputation, especial
ly in his office. Zanuck’s office was huge, but
had very little furniture in it. When visitors or
studio employees needed to talk to him, Zanuck
sat at a long table across the room from them.
“He was very intimidating,” Ladely said.
Although Zanuck was controlling, difficult
a social impact, ne said, une or me grearesi
examples is ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ (1940).”
Zanuck returned to social themes again and
again in his work, including his second-to-last
production, “The Longest Day.”
“He tried to do something more important
than the typical frothy stuff,” Ladely said.
Zanuck worked with “Grapes of Wrath”
director John Ford on several projects, though
both men were adamant about having control
over the film and argued bitterly.
Zanuck had better relationships with actors
and worked to make them stars, such as Henry
Fonda.
After leaving his wife in the late 1950s,
Zanuck gave his girlfriends starring roles in his
studio’s films, but they didn’t catch on with the
movie-going public.
Also in the late ’50s, Zanuck slowly
removed himself from power at Twentieth
Century Fox for a few years. He returned as
president in 1962 and made his son, Richard,
head of production. After a power dispute,
Zanuck fired his son but was deposed himself in
1971. v
His son was then appointed president.
Richard Zanuck is still a major Hollywood pro
ducer.
Zanuck stayed out of the spotlight until his
death in 1979, but his influence on the film
industry is still felt.
“He was a genius,” Ladely said. “He’s had
such a huge impact on the film world, but a loT of
Nebraskans don’t know him.”