Myself and the World by Hamblin Robert W.;

Author:Hamblin, Robert W.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Published: 2016-03-06T16:00:00+00:00

Faulkner’s starting record for Warner Bros. Studios, 1942.

In desperation, both financially and emotionally, he sought to return to Hollywood, on whatever terms could be arranged. William Herndon, a young and inexperienced agent, secured a scriptwriting job for him at Warner Bros. Studio, although, because of Faulkner’s reputation as a heavy drinker, the pay would be only $300 per week (less than half of his previous salary in Hollywood) and although, as Faulkner would later learn to his chagrin, Herndon had had to agree to a series of options that would keep Faulkner contractually tied to Warner Bros. for seven years. Still, it was work, and he had no better options.

On a happier note, returning to Hollywood afforded him the opportunity to resume his relationship with Meta Carpenter. Meta had given up on waiting for Faulkner and had married Wolfgang Rebner, a concert pianist, but the marriage had not lasted, because, some believed, she was still in love with Faulkner. Meta had heard that Faulkner was coming back to Hollywood, but she didn’t yet know the date. Then, one evening, driving up to her apartment, she found Faulkner sitting on her front steps. They went to their favorite restaurant, Musso and Frank’s, for dinner. Meta had long since given up her dream that Faulkner would one day marry her, but she was glad to have him back in her life. And Faulkner needed Meta in his, now more than ever.

Faulkner’s first assignment for Warner Bros. was to author an original screenplay on the career of General Charles De Gaulle, the leader of the Free French forces and an American ally against Germany in World War II. Given the antiwar movies of the Vietnam and post-Vietnam eras, it is hard to imagine that during World War II Hollywood became a virtual propaganda agency for the U.S. government. Jack Warner, a close friend of President Roosevelt, was a willing partner in this arrangement; and William Faulkner, who had been recently judged too old for wartime service, found an expression of his patriotism by writing scripts that supported the war effort.

Over a four-month period, incorporating information and advice from Free French consultants representing General De Gaulle, Faulkner produced a story outline, initial and expanded story treatments, and two different versions of a completed screenplay. Despite all of Faulkner’s hard work and high hopes, however, the De Gaulle project was cancelled and never filmed.

There were several reasons that The De Gaulle Story never made it to the screen, none of which seems to have had much to do with the quality of Faulkner’s script. Most importantly, there was the ongoing conflict between Faulkner and the Free French consultants regarding the focus of the script. The Gaullists wanted the film to be primarily a biography of Charles De Gaulle, whereas Faulkner wanted to focus on ordinary French citizens (in the script, two brothers) caught up in the conflict between the Free French and the Vichy French. Eventually, becoming more and more exasperated by the consultants’ unwillingness

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