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David O. Selznick

Fellows Find: David O. Selznick constructs a “natural beauty”

May 31, 2016 - Milan Hain

Ingrid Bergman in a publicity image for Intermezzo. From the David O. Selznick collection at the Harry Ransom Center.

Producer of movies and star identities

[Read more…] about Fellows Find: David O. Selznick constructs a “natural beauty”

Filed Under: Film, Research + Teaching Tagged With: authenticity, Casablanca, David O. Selznick, Fellows Find, Fellowships, film history, Gaslight, Gregg Toland, Ingrid Bergman, Intermezzo: A Love Story, Kay Brown, naturalness, producer, Research, Spellbound, star identities

Beyond the steel center: Incoming fellow Leslie A. Przybylek to research film industry’s impact on Western Pennsylvania

May 9, 2016 - Kathleen Telling

[Read more…] about Beyond the steel center: Incoming fellow Leslie A. Przybylek to research film industry’s impact on Western Pennsylvania

Filed Under: Research + Teaching Tagged With: 2016-2017 fellowships, David O. Selznick, early film industry, Edwin S. Porter, Fellowships, Film, film industry, Heinz History Center, Lewis Selznick, Mercantile Library, Myron Selznick, Peter Matthiessen, Pittsburgh, Robert De Niro, Southwest Regional Archives, The Deer Hunter, Warner Brothers, western Pennsylvania

Hattie McDaniel’s landmark Academy Awards win

February 26, 2016 - Steve Wilson

The 12th Academy Awards ceremony was held on February 29, 1940, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, with Bob Hope hosting. Gone With The Wind was nominated for 13 awards and won for [Read more…] about Hattie McDaniel’s landmark Academy Awards win

Filed Under: Film Tagged With: Academy Awards, African-American, David O. Selznick, Film, Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel, movies, Oscars

Biography sheds light on William Cameron Menzies, the first production designer

February 4, 2016 - Harry Ransom Center

Gone With The Wind production designer William Cameron Menzies.

While researching his recent book William Cameron Menzies: The Shape of Films to Come, author James Curtis visited the Ransom Center to seek insight about Menzies’s career. Menzies worked with producer David O. Selznick on several projects, including Gone With The Wind and Spellbound. Using the Selznick collection at the Ransom Center, Curtis was able to research the work and efforts of the film industry’s first production designer. Below, Curtis recounts some of his findings. [Read more…] about Biography sheds light on William Cameron Menzies, the first production designer

Filed Under: Film, Research + Teaching Tagged With: art director, biography, David O. Selznick, Gone with the Wind, James Curtis, mkex, production designer, William Cameron Menzies

“Nothing can match the serene, silent images of Ingrid Bergman’s first Hollywood screen test”

November 23, 2015 - Jennifer Tisdale

Still from Ingrid Bergman’s first screen test. David O. Selznick collection.

Mantaray Film’s recently released documentary Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words reveals the legendary actress through her own movies, letters and diaries, including footage that Bergman shot herself. The film premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and is now being screened at select locations in the United States.

[Read more…] about “Nothing can match the serene, silent images of Ingrid Bergman’s first Hollywood screen test”

Filed Under: Film Tagged With: David O. Selznick, documentary, Film, film collection, Ingrid Bergman

Meet the Staff: Webmaster Daniel Zmud

December 4, 2014 - Sarah Strohl

Photo of Daniel Zmud by Pete Smith.

Meet the Staff is a Q&A series on Cultural Compass that highlights the work, experience, and lives of staff at the Harry Ransom Center. Daniel Zmud, who joined the Ransom Center in 2001, manages everything web-related and supervises the digitization of the Center’s archival sound recordings, videotapes, and motion picture films. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Radio-Television-Film from The University of Texas at Austin in 1996 and has led the Ransom Center through two major website redesigns, the latest of which launched in 2008.

 

Can you tell us a little about what you do here at the Ransom Center?

My responsibilities have grown over time. At first I was only producing the public website and online research tools, but since then I’ve also been supervising the audiovisual digitization lab and creating interactive installations for the exhibition galleries.

 

What do you like most about working at the Ransom Center?

I like being a part of activities that shine some light on our collections. They could sit on a dark shelf forever, but it’s much more enjoyable to take them out for exhibitions or research. I was lucky enough to be around when we were scanning the Gutenberg Bible. It’s almost never out of its display case, so it was a pretty rare opportunity to have it there on the scanning station, turning every page, and getting to see it up close. We had to have an armed guard on duty…it was an incredible experience.

 

I hear you have spent some time building the web exhibition for The Making of Gone With The Wind. How has that been going?

It has been a whirlwind of activity this spring and summer. The web exhibition will include Gone With The Wind content that we’ve previously published, but we’re also integrating a fan-mail database. People can search by name or topic and read actual correspondence that was sent to David O. Selznick’s film production company before, during, and after the making of the film. You’ll be able to type in your relatives’ names to see if they sent in any comments or applied for a job.

 

Do you have a favorite item or collection here at the Ransom Center?

I haven’t seen every collection, but I always want to tell people about the Norman Dawn collection. He was a special effects inventor for film projects in the early 1900s. We have over 150 display cards from him, and each one describes a different special effect. Special effects at that time were so new—directors didn’t want to spend money on them unless they knew that they were actually going to work. He used a variety of artistic techniques like sketching, watercolor, and painting to sell the special effects to whoever was making a movie, and then he went back after the fact and inserted film stills of the finished special effect. The skill and artistry involved is incredible.

 

Can you tell us about your car restoration hobby and the cars you’ve been working on lately?

Well, I go to antique malls pretty often, and one time around three years ago I came across this stack of car-customizing magazine from the ’50s and ’60s. They really showed me the creative element in repairing and customizing old cars. I never thought it was something I would be able to do, but flipping through those magazines, I realized that older cars are actually simple machines. So, I was going through Craigslist around that time, and I came across a 1965 Chevrolet Corvair that just intrigued me. It was in rough shape, and I thought to myself, “Here’s a blank slate!” With the help of many people giving me advice and directing me to spare parts, I was able to get that car looking really nice within a year, and I ended up reluctantly selling it. What I learned was that once you finish a project, you are eager to start another one. Right now, I’m working on two Mazda Miatas.

Below, watch Zmud drive the 1965 Chevrolet Corvair that he restored.

 

Where is your favorite place to travel?

Every year since 1988 I’ve gone to Taos, New Mexico for a week or two in the summer. I like to hit the reset button there. I’m with my family, and it’s not a typical trip where every minute is scheduled. I just get to relax, take in the scenery, and escape the heat.

 

Do you happen to collect anything?

I collect snapshots. You’ll find these buckets full of snapshots in antique stores, and I like flipping through every last one of them. When one sticks with me as interesting or artistic, I decide to take it home. People can be accidentally artistic, even when they are just taking a picture of their aunt and uncle, or the picture isn’t in focus.

 

Photo of Daniel Zmud by Pete Smith.
Photo of Daniel Zmud by Pete Smith.
Taos, New Mexico. July 2014. Photo by Daniel Zmud.
Taos, New Mexico. July 2014. Photo by Daniel Zmud.
Tsankawi, New Mexico. July, 2014. Photo by Daniel Zmud.
Tsankawi, New Mexico. July, 2014. Photo by Daniel Zmud.
Tsankawi, New Mexico. July, 2014. Photo by Daniel Zmud.
Tsankawi, New Mexico. July, 2014. Photo by Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Austin, Texas. July 4, 1942. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Austin, Texas. July 4, 1942. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Austin, Texas. 1960. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Austin, Texas. 1960. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.
Unknown. Courtesy of Daniel Zmud.

Filed Under: Exhibitions + Events, Meet the Staff Tagged With: car restoration, Chevrolet Corvair, classic cars, Daniel Zmud, David O. Selznick, Gone with the Wind, Mazda Miata, Meet the Staff, The Harry Ransom Center, The Making of Gone With The Wind, The Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, web exhibition, Webmaster

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Ransom Center Magazine is an online and print publication sharing stories and news about the Harry Ransom Center, its collections, and the creative community surrounding it.

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