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View Full Version : William Faulkner in Hollywood



Basil
05-07-2005, 12:36 PM
Hilarious.

http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-writers/dir/faulkner_william/hollywood.jpg

"As told by biographer Joseph Blotner, Faulkner's first days in Hollywood were portentous. He arrived on a Saturday, not long before quitting time. His boss, Sam Marx, noticed that he had been drinking, and that he had a bleeding cut on his head. Faulkner said he had been hit by a cab while changing trains -- in New Orleans -- but that he was fine and wanted to get right to work:

"We're going to put you on a Wallace Beery picture," Marx told him.
"Who's he?" asked Faulkner. "I've got an idea for Mickey Mouse."
After explaining that Mickey Mouse films were made at Disney Studios, Marx had his office boy take Faulkner to the screening room to see Beery as a prizefighter in The Champ, as the new film, Flesh, was to feature Beery as a wrestler. Faulkner did not want to watch, preferring to talk to the office boy:

"Do you own a dog?" he asked the boy, who said no. Faulkner said, "Every boy should have a dog." He should be ashamed not to own a dog, and so should everybody else who didn't own a dog.
Faulkner soon walked out, saying that he knew how the story was going to end. When alerted, Marx initiated a search, but Faulkner had disappeared. When he showed up again, nine days later, he explained that he had been wandering in Death Valley, but that now he really was ready to work."

Read the whole story here (http://www.todayinliterature.com/today.asp?Search_Date=5/7/2005).

mono
05-08-2005, 01:10 AM
How interesting! Thank you for the story and link, Basil.
Unfortunately, I have not had the pleasure of reading much of William Faulkner's material, besides some collected short stories. Perhaps this means that I ought to read more next time I go book shopping. :)

mister_noel_y2k
05-08-2005, 04:25 AM
he is a very difficult writer to read i'm told

:banana:

baddad
05-10-2005, 12:28 AM
Thanks for the laugh and the link Basil. Nothing like a crazy artist to drive the sane insane...

byquist
05-11-2005, 04:11 PM
Yea, I guess Hollywood had a hard time taking the Mississippi out of Faulkner. Mister Noel, he's really fun to read. He can write one sentence that goes on for 3/4 of a page. But his vocabulary usage is really impressive. I really like his short story, The Bear.