hollywood - triumph of the studio system (thomas schatz)

The research centers on a period of approximately eight months from March 1943 when Selznick began preparations for the event to October 1943 when he scrapped his plans for the documentary.

This essay provides a case study of “The China Film” and the historical event it chronicles, drawing on primary documents in the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin and a rough cut of the film from the Margaret Clapp Library at Wellesley College. In the months after Soong’s departure, Selznick tried unsuccessfully to turn footage of the Hollywood Bowl event into a documentary film, which, bearing the working title of “The China Film,” was made but never distributed. Selznick, best known for producing classic blockbuster films such as Gone with the Wind (1939), Rebecca (1940), and Since You Went Away (1944), played a key role in welcoming the international luminary to Los Angeles by organizing the spectacular, star-studded pageant mentioned above. The blurring of reality and fiction in this passage characterizes media coverage not only of the visit, but also of Soong Mei-ling (Madame Chiang’s given name) as a popular political celebrity in the United States during the late thirties and early forties. But it was Madame Chiang’s gracious charm, her indomitable spirit and her deeply stirring account of China’s six-year war against Japanese aggression which made the dramatic climax of the afternoon. All Hollywood had contributed talent toward making this event a triumph of showmanship. Under the serene blue California skies, Madame Chiang Kai-shek concluded her nationwide tour at a spectacular mass meeting held in the Hollywood bowl. To the tinseled home of make-believe last week went a realistic star of the first magnitude. In spring 1943 an article in Life magazine described Madame Chiang Kai-shek’s diplomatic trip to Los Angeles in the following way, juxtaposing the real life drama of war-torn China with the fabricated dramas of the Hollywood dream factory: – Anonymous, Sonnet III, “Three Sonnets Written for Madame Chiang” When she goes through the far horizon, home. Your triumph ours: sacred as ours, your loam,” “Our cause is common, and your pride our pride And all who once loved peace and sorely tried īut she shall take her people this reply:

Hollywood - triumph of the studio system (thomas schatz)