LIVING HISTORY
THE LOST MAGIC
of PICTURECITY
If movie mogul Lewis J. Selznick
had his way, Hobe Sound would
have been Hollywood
BY WM F. CRARY II
Some business deals
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are as big as the movies,
and all it takes
to make them look
real is suspension of
disbelief. In the 1920s, when
the nation went crazy with
Florida land-boom fever, any
castle in the air looked like a
good investment. Even a master
of make-believe like Lewis
J. Selznick, one of cinema’s
best-known producers of that
day, got caught up in his own
illusions. If Selznick and his
backers had lucked out with
their long-shot gamble, Martin
County would have become
the movie-making center of
the globe. On July 1, 1925, the
day he arrived in Jacksonville
to tour the state with his sons,
Myron and David, no one
doubted his grandiose goal
was achievable.
“We will locate the biggest
studio in the world in Florida,”
Selznick proclaimed to the Jacksonville
Journal. “You can count
on that; that’s definite.”
“Studio” was too small a word to describe the vision
flickering on the big screen of the famous producer’s
imagination. The Miami News captured the magnitude of his
intentions better when it reported that Selznick was “investigating
the possibilities of founding the largest cinema
city in the world.” He wanted to find a place to fabricate an
instant metropolis, like a made-to-order set for one of his
silent films. Selznick proclaimed his studio would be “large
enough for the motion-picture-making activities of hundreds
of independent producers.”
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LIBRARY oF CongRess
Lewis J. selznick, a pioneer of silent films, was once the bestknown
movie producer in America.
HIstoRICAL soCIetY oF MARtIn CountY
the name of selznick’s incredible project was painted on a water tower.