Mei Man: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

Chapter 214 The Hollywood Party

Ended with a short visit to Disney Studios.

That night, under the leadership of Howard Hughes, Colin in formal clothes came to Hollywood near the coast of San Pedro Bay and participated in a party.

Entering the scene, you are first attracted by the cheerful music.

The gorgeous crystal chandelier in the hall exudes soft light, illuminating the entire party scene brightly. Following the reputation of the music, Ke Lin saw the band playing on the stage and the gorgeously dressed guests in the hall. Most of them All are Hollywood celebrities.

Among them, women's dresses are mainly evening dresses and long skirts. The shape is simple and smooth, and the shape is slender. The shoulders are padded and widened, and the waist is tightened and slender. After wearing it, women can highlight their graceful temperament.At the same time, most of the hairstyles are the most popular curly hair nowadays, with curly eyelashes and delicate red lips, fully showing the feminine characteristics.

Compared with women's clothing, men's clothing is much simpler, and suits have become their mainstream clothing.

"Hughes, I haven't seen you for a while..."

Stepping into the hall, a familiar person came forward to greet Howard Hughes.

"I thought you stopped making movies?"

"I did have this plan in the first place, and I actually put it into action."

Howard Hughes built an aircraft repair shed in Hollywood. There are many secrets. He expressed it bluntly. Immediately afterwards, Hughes turned the topic to Colin and said: "However, in the end I was moved by the new script and decided to make a decision after filming the film."

Following Hughes' explanation, the man's eyes immediately fell on Colin who was beside him.

At the same time, Howard Hughes also introduced at the right time: "William, this is Colin Luper, the screenwriter of my new movie, and he is also the boss of the New York "Daily Courier."

"Colin, this is William Wheeler, a well-known Hollywood director."

"I dare not admit this title. There are quite a few directors who are more famous than me."

Shaking his head and rejecting Hughes' introduction to himself, William Wheeler reached out and shook hands with Colin in front of him.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Colin Luper."

"Me too, William Wheeler."

As William Wheeler said, he was not a very well-known director at the party. He did not participate in film production for a long time. He studied violin at the music school in Paris, France, and did not arrive until after World War I. Worked in New York, initially in the New York office, until later in the studio, as an assistant in the production process of some films, and gradually rose to assistant director.

It was not until 1925, that is, a few years ago, that he officially became a film director. Most of them have been mainly western films. The most famous masterpiece he has shot so far is only the movie "Hell Hero" a few years ago.

The reason why he was able to be at the party and get acquainted with Howard Hughes actually relied on another layer of his identity.

William Wheeler's uncle, Karl Lahnmüller, was the founder and chairman of Universal Studios, which is the main reason why he came to work in the studio.

Of course, this is just the trajectory of William Wheeler's life at this stage.

In fact, William Wheeler has indeed become a well-known director in the true sense, as Hughes introduced.

He shot a series of classic films including "Wuthering Heights", "The Home of the Brave", "The Golden Age", "Roman Holiday", "Ben-Hur" and so on, among which "Roman Holiday" is regarded as a classic of Hollywood black and white movies , but in fact, "Ben-Hur" is William Wheeler's most famous masterpiece.

Because of this film, William Wheeler received 12 nominations, and finally won 11 awards including the best picture award, creating the record for the most Oscar awards.

Although Ke Lin doesn't have many loyal viewers of movies, it is quite interesting to meet such a famous director in film history.

And, throughout the evening, there were not a few celebrities like William Wheeler.

"So, Hughes, what kind of movie do you plan to shoot this time?"

After greeting Colin, William Wheeler brought up the topic of Hughes' new movie. However, a script that can impress Howard Hughes is obviously not an ordinary existence.

"All I can say is, the movie will absolutely blow your mind."

Didn't reveal too many details about the new movie, Hughes just said with raised eyebrows.

Seeing that he didn't get much useful content from Hughes, William Wheeler turned his attention to Colin who was on the side.

And the latter also shrugged, and said with an innocent face: "I'm only the screenwriter of the script, and Hughes is actually in charge of filming."

If it were someone else, William Wheeler would think that all of this was just a way for the other party to make a fool of himself. However, Howard Hughes, a Hollywood maverick, can make any kind of movie with the other party's character. Not even William Wheeler could figure it out.

"Then, I'm looking forward to the release of your movie."

"let us wait and see."

After expressing his most cinematic expectations to Hughes, William Wheeler turned away and chatted with the other guests at the party.

As for the other, watching the back of William Wheeler leaving, Hughes also casually explained to Colin on the side: "Although William is a good guy, the financial situation of Universal behind him has been mediocre recently, so , For a long time to come, William should only be responsible for shooting some simple movies."

In this regard, Colin deeply agrees.

As Hughes said, although William Wheeler produced some films during the Great Depression, most of them were not well-known, and most of them were low-cost Western films.

This is also related to Universal's strategy. Due to the impact of the Great Depression, the film industry generally does not make money. Therefore, low-cost films can avoid losses to the greatest extent and guarantee box office value.

Looking away from the direction where William Wheeler was, Hughes glanced at a crowded position in the party, and said in a low voice: "In fact, not only Universal, but the current situation of major Hollywood studios is generally very bad. That's one of the reasons why I see bad movies."

Hollywood believes that Hughes' aircraft repair shed is a complete absurdity, but if you look at it another way, if Hollywood is still making money, why would he devote so much energy to the production of aircraft.

In addition to directing and producing, he also owns the right to operate hundreds of movie theaters in Los Angeles. He is more sensitive to the context of Hollywood movies than some people present. The ticket prices of movies have been showing a downward trend since the beginning of this year. , The income of movie theaters has also dropped sharply. It is precisely because Hughes has seen this clearly that he will devote more energy to the aviation business.

"Of course our Titanic will be an exception."

Although the environment is harsh, it does not affect Hughes' confidence in his films.

It can also be seen from this point that he is a very conceited existence.

Immediately afterwards, in Hughes' introduction, Colin saw Gloria Swanson at the party, the queen of Hollywood's silent film era, but now it seems that she has been eliminated by sound films. Although there was still a smile on his face, there was a hint of sadness.

As an actor, Gloria Swanson is extremely talented, and she is very good at trying to figure out and cater to the public's psychology and values.Therefore, the clothes worn, whether on the screen or in daily life, are often finely printed in fashion magazines, and their every move is also widely reported.

However, the emergence of sound films made Gloria Swanson's glory no longer. Although she also starred in several sound films, her transformation has not been smooth, and she had to quit the film industry sadly .

Later, Gloria Swanson came back and played the line spoken by the outdated actress in "Sunset Boulevard", which also explained the impact of sound films on silent films: "We don't need dialogue, We have expressions."

However, Greta Garbo, an actress who also came from the silent film era, was relatively lucky.

Colin and Walt once watched Greta Garbo's main sound film "Grand Hotel", in which Greta Garbo presented her wonderful performance, and at the same time completed the transformation from the queen of silent films to sound films.

At the party, Greta Garbo had a sweet smile on her face, in stark contrast to the sadness in Gloria Swanson's eyes not far away.

Of course, in addition to these female stars of the silent film era, there were also many male stars in the party, but Ke Lin didn't pay much attention to these stars, and could only roughly recognize a few famous stars, including those who had also appeared in "Grand Hotel" before. John Barrymore, who starred in ", Douglas Fairbanks Jr., is the son of Douglas Fairbanks, the prototype of the prince in "Snow White" that Colin had seen in the Disney studio before, but according to Hugh Si revealed that the relationship between father and son was not good, and they even maintained a state of hostility.

Apart from these bright Hollywood stars, Ke Lin had the most contact with the director at the party.

As William Wheeler said, there were many directors at the party who were better known than him.

During the period, Colin met John Ford, the only filmmaker in Hollywood history who has won the best director four times. He is famous for his western films, but none of the four Oscars he won came from western films. Movie.

It is worth mentioning that the background of "The Grapes of Wrath" in the Academy Award won by John Ford is based on the economic crisis of the Great Depression as the main axis.

However, during this period, the films made by John Ford were still mainly Western films. At the same time, the great director was also adapting to the transition from the silent film era to sound films, and did not win the favor of Oscars.

When Colin saw him, the other party was discussing the era of sound films and the difficulties of Western films with Frank Capra. Frank Capra was a director contracted by Columbia Studios and had been making sound films since 1928. In just four years, ten sound films were shot, almost all of which were comedies.

Also involved in the discussion was a director named George Fitzmaurice. Although he was not as famous as the other two, he also participated in the production of many films and had a brief relationship with Alfred Hitchcock. master-student relationship.

The reason why Ke Lin contacted the director so actively was because of his purpose.

During his visit to Disney Studios, Colin also asked Roy about Paramount's situation, and learned that Paramount's internal business problems have been quite serious, and the loss has exceeded 2000 million and has entered the brink of bankruptcy. It is said that the New York Federal District The court has already intervened in the investigation, and once it is confirmed that Paramount is unable to operate, it will declare it bankrupt.

And once Paramount is declared bankrupt by the court, what it will face next will be a lengthy reorganization process, and this is also Colin's opportunity.

Specifically, it took Paramount two years to complete the bankruptcy reorganization.

During this period, there is enough time for Colin to prepare. At the same time, once he decides to accept the bankrupt Paramount, he will naturally need enough directors and actors to support the operation of the film company. important occasions.

This is one of the reasons why he agreed to take Hughes' plane to and from Los Angeles.

If you want to gain a foothold in Hollywood, it is not realistic to go it alone.

Even Howard Hughes, his uncle Rupert Hughes is also a well-known screenwriter in Hollywood.

"Colin, I think I've found a candidate for the heroine of Titanic!"

Here, just as Colin got to know the director through the party to establish his contacts in Hollywood, Hughes approached him on the other side and said with a somewhat excited expression.

"where is it?"

Noticing the change in the expression on Hughes' face, Colin apologized to director Robert Z Leonard in front of him.

Following the direction Hughes pointed at, Colin saw an actress in the crowd who wanted to be a maverick. She didn't get together like everyone else, but stood quietly by herself.She has a rather straight nose, which gives people a heroic feeling.

"Katharine Hepburn, I have already asked her. She is currently signed to RKO and does not have much experience in filming. She has only performed in Broadway theaters."

Katharine Hepburn.

Hearing this name, Colin glanced at Hughes beside him, and the expression in his eyes flickered slightly.

When it comes to Hepburn, many people will subconsciously think of Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday", but in fact, Hollywood already has a queen of its own before that, and that is Katharine Hepburn in front of her.

(End of this chapter)