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Browsing the Cinevent Library, Part 2 — 2 Comments

  1. Silver, that business about Dmytryk not reading Raintree County is mentioned in Larry Lockridge's biography of his father; Dmytryk said it in an interview with a Canadian TV producer. I suspect he was trying to piggyback on John Ford's famous remark when asked how he made such a great film in The Grapes of Wrath: "I never read the book." In the first place, I'm not sure I believe that; I'll bet Ford was just yanking an interviewer's chain, something he loved to do. But even if he didn't read the book, he had a far better script from Nunnally Johnson than Dmytryk got from Millard Kaufman. Besides, Dmytryk on his best day was never in Ford's league; for every Crossfire or Caine Mutiny he had a Carpetbaggers, Bluebeard or Left Hand of God to pull down his average.

    In his autobiography It's a Hell of a Life But Not a Bad Living, Dmytryk called Lockridge's novel — which, remember, he never read — "a long, rambling, involved story of small-town life in Indiana." He claimed Kaufman "did pretty well, mostly by ignoring a good deal of the novel and striking off in new directions."

  2. I am quite – QUITE – jealous of your new treasures, especially Rafael Sabatini's "Bardleys the Magnificent". I didn't know Sabatini was the author of "Captain Blood", "The Sea Hawk", etc.

    Sad story about the author of "Raintree County". And I can't believe Edward Dmytryk never read the book!!