LIVING HISTORY
never made another movie. He lost his Rolls, his servants,
his objets d’art, and his plush Park Avenue digs. His rags to
riches story ended back in rags. And yet, even though he
stayed broke, Selznick wasn’t broken. An easy-come, easygo
philosophy held the former big shot aloft through his
remaining years.
“He envisioned a bigger fortune in Florida, where he
planned a studio city that would push Hollywood off the
map,” his daughter-in-law Irene Mayer Selznick affirmed in
her autobiography, “A Private View.” In spite of the colossal
flop, she said she never heard “Pop” or his sons “squawk”
about all the majestic grandeur and luxury they had lost.
Lewis Selznick followed his sons out to California, where
their careers in showbiz began to take off. They gave their
father stakes for poker games he played with Chico Marx.
He had always been a devoted father, and they were devoted
sons. Until David got married, daddy tucked him into bed
almost every night. In 1933, the once-powerful producer
passed away suddenly at the age of 62. Hollywood let his
memory quickly fade.
Some people say the Selznick brothers spent the rest of
their lives trying to vindicate their father’s fall from glory. If
so, they vindicated him with a vengeance. There’s no doubt
his sons picked up a double dose of the magic he lost in
Picture City. Myron Selznick became the most powerful talent
agent in Hollywood, representing many A-list actors, including
Vivian Leigh. And David O. Selznick became, perhaps, the
greatest producer of all time, attending to every tiny detail
in each of his movies, including his most magnificent blockbuster:
Gone With the Wind. >>
33
When shipments of lumber, nails, and cement suddenly
came to a halt, nothing could be built anywhere. Countless
projects up and down the state — including Picture City —
had to hit the brakes. Sometimes bad news becomes too big
to cover up. The South Florida Developer’s headlines from Oct.
27, 1925, seem to have said it all: State Road Chiefs Refuse
to Aid Martin County; Rigid Embargo Goes Into Effect: No
Relief Seen.
A pause in construction gave speculators everywhere some
time to sober up. When they began to realize that Florida’s
land values had soared only on the fuel of collective fantasies,
the rocket suddenly sputtered. After weeks of lagging sales,
on Jan. 19, 1926, Picture City took out an ad in the Stuart
Daily News to proclaim, “We have the utmost faith and belief
in the future of Florida.” Feeble assurances like that failed
to reignite euphoria. Close scrutiny of what the advertisement
didn’t say told readers what was really happening.
The swanky casino had not been built. The 50 homes weren’t
completed. The movie studio hadn’t even broken ground.
By the next month, the advertisements got a lot smaller,
and the only mention of Picture City was hidden in the fine
print. Even though press agents, politicians, and newspaper
editors kept on painting happy faces on all the storm clouds,
Florida’s economy was clearly being blown to pieces. It took
two more years and two horrendous hurricanes for Gov. Martin
to get real and stop selling hooey. Little by little, grand
productions like Picture City faded from memory, as if they
had all been dreams.
END OF RICHES
Picture City turned out to be Selznick’s last production; he
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