European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 8, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Books ii us by Kenneth turan los Angeles times showman Tho Ulfo of David o. Solon Lack by David Thomson Alfred a. Knopf it is not Given to most men to know the manner of their going but David o. Selznick who definitely was not most men knew exactly what would happen after he was gone. A the obituaries will begin a David o. Selznick producer of gone with the wind died today a a a he groused to associates a and in a trying like hell to rewrite  while most Hollywood producers then and now would be Content to be known As the Power behind the most popular film Ever made this was not enough for ., the perfectionist who decided everything from whether Clark Gable would play Rhett Butler he would or noisy cellophane would be used to wrap the opening night program it . The son of a failed movie Mogul the brother of a Man who practically invented Modem Agentina the son in Law who also Rose by marrying the daughter of the most powerful Man in Hollywood Selznick considered himself the Premier movie maker in the known world. Every project he put his hand to he insisted and there were Many from Rebecca and a Star is bom to Duel in the Sun and King Konga is an attempt to be one of the outstanding pictures of the  True there were scoffers before the throne peo pie like Katharine Hepburn More or less a Selznick discovery who impish by compared him to a a beautifully designed and very expensive shoe a he Wasny to creative but he was a piece of  but no matter. Selznick believed others yet unborn would be properly appreciative and a sleeping Beauty awaiting Prince charming a kiss a he prepared for the moment carefully. To begin with Selznick apparently never threw out a piece of paper if he could help it. His personal and business archives ran to 3 million items a full 57,000 pounds of material. The reason posits David Thomson is that a somewhere in the advancing future David saw his vindication resting in his Archive a waiting for a  Thomson is that person and in Many ways he is As promising a rescuer As Selznick himself might wish for. A respected film critic and novelist Thomson is a thoughtful and elegant writer someone who understands both interpersonal dynamics and those of Hollywood. He has told Selznick a Story with five years Worth of thoroughness even mastering the wearing intricacies of the Many a often baffling business dealings. Thomson a Book is quite a feat and yet it finally ends up As obsessive and exhausting As its subject. A trial to almost everyone he came in Contact with while he was alive Selznick has from beyond the grave performed the unfortunate trick of getting his biographer to lose patience with him As Well. Certainly there was enough in Selznick to frustrate a Host of biographers. He was As Thomson ably Points out an irritating mixture of qualities arrogant As Well As idealistic incisive and sentimental insecure and self right Eotis. He was a Womanizer addicted to cigarettes and the artificial Energizer Benz Edrine an incurable and elaborate present giver an indifferent father who simultaneously spoiled and neglected his children. A the was a mass of conflicting impulses a said his astute first wife of inc Mayer t Selznick a the wanted All ends As Well As the Middle. His worst enemy the Only Man who could Ever Stop him was always  the most telling ways Selznick was his father s son. Lewis Selznick was one of those self invented self destructive immigrants who helped create the movie business. Neglecting formal uca1u�n.l dec Ter to concentrate on the business David had i own Letterhead at age 14, was in charge of hundreds of employees when he was 18, and then was 21, found himself out of work when his father s bankrupt film company permanently collapsed. Undaunted David went out to Hollywood. Unprepossessing physically Clumsy and with a Middle in David o. Selznick in i9s7. Tial of his own invention he was nevertheless overflowing with Energy Charm idealism and infectious laughter a a an eager Alert St. Bernard a remembers novelist Budd Schulberg a sometime prot6g�. These qualities helped David not Only to a Job at Mem but also to the hand of the youngest daughter of the studios reigning lion Louis b. Mayer. Selznick and Irene Mayer were married in 1930, in what Thomson Calls a the most serious Deal David would Ever  she was Small dark prudent and controlling he was Large expansive and lavishly romantic. The marriage would produce a pair of sons and the kind of intricate psychodrama Only the very different children of two Strong willed moguls could manufacture. A though his Energy gained him jobs Selznick a a ambition made it difficult for him to keep them. He left Mem went to work at Paramount left that. In 1931, at age 29, he became head of West coast production for Rio where he had a hand in King Kong helped launch Hepburn and director George Cukor pushed for the signing of Fred Astaire and encouraged Max Steiner to change the face of Modem movie scores. Still it Wasny to enough. A desperate seeker after perfection in a notoriously pragmatic business Selznick yearned to be in a position Well funded enough to allow him to concentrate obsessively on one film at a time without having to bother with the smaller Fry that paid the Bills. When in 1936, he joined forces with Jock Whitney one of the wealthiest men in America and formed Selznick International it seemed his dream had come True. And for the space of one legendary film it had. For it was Selznick International that produced gone with the wind and seemed to validate David a particular Brand of auteur ism which held that no actor no director certainly no writer was As important to a David o. Selznick picture As  Himself. Paperbacks Stalin Bra Akar of nations by Robert Conquest Penguin. This biography analyses the personal attributes and political machinery that enabled Stalin to seize Power and maintain it through state terrorism. Daus tors by Paule Marshall plume. This novel proposes that Black women must learn to separate from their fathers a and by Extension patriarchy a to make the most of their lives and their culture. Ursa Mackenzie who is of West Indian and american heritage accomplishes this task when she Battles the corrupt political system that has seduced her father a Leader of a fictional Caribbean Island. Also just out is Marshall a 1969 novel the chosen place the timeless people Vintage contemporaries which depicts the conflict arising when american social researchers come to another mythical Island. A the new York times i s i is i i i renew Tome times hit fiction 1 m Tan at it lady thai by and Rice last week 1, list 3 2 in store site team by Sidney Shewn tort week 2 weeks on list 4 s a Rudai fired by pick Francis Lesl week 9 weeks on fist 2 4 Maloy har Toee by Douglas Adams last week 10 weeks on list 2 9 a Abms too Woleab by Nick Talock last week i weeks Tisi 4 i Wattay la mine by Terry Mcmillan last week 3 Weeton Ifni 24 7 in Hiim Ohta by Robert Jordan last week 9 weeks on St. 4 a in ape Molm by John Grisham tort week 5 weeks on list 35 i Orton Alabon by Nick mock last week 13 weeks on St 10 10 in labial inny by Gonna Tad Tost week a weeks on St 0 ii inn Kreame mint by Jimmy bulk last week 7 weeks on m 11 11 to or Daas at mad toe Dawnly by Robert James Wallet last week 11 weeks Onnist 13 19 Oanfa oame by Stephen King last week 12 weeks on list 17 14 Memea by junes a. 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Steele weeks on list 29 _ u 9 Whan you leak in year pasc Gort Nele it s Tima la 9a Hama by Erma Bombeck first week on list 7 Maly Mao Cahl pay thut can 9n? by Molly Ivins first week on list 9 to Bauor Wornom Nodal by Martin l Gross weeks on list 11 9 Yasuju Aldol undo mad by Deborah Tannen weeks on list 77 10 in Nad lose travelled by m. Scott Peck weeks on list 470 pop Orbock miscellaneous 1 to int Gonano Catena and Hobbes by Bill Walter son weeks on list 7 2 to Suva Habra us it my Elfo Cdv Nagle by Stephen r. Covey weeks on list 94 9 lne a ume tast Wiltow Book by h. Jackson Brownjr. Weeks on list 65 4 to to Pador fat Oram counter by Jamie Pope Cor die and Martin Natahn weeks on list 113 9 mrs. Futema cookie 9aok by Debby Fields first week on list at stars and stripes bookstores la not Ava Lafato let of Boot to hero it sum and Strippa a hopping can tar Book Toraa fiction 1 to Sian wine Gavm by Sidney Sheldon 2 Herat Segama by Stephen King 9 wham la pm merchant by Jimmy Buriet 4 fun Hausa by Doan Koontz 9 fair Tad by Robert Harris 9 Stead try Man by Julian May 7 Shadow by John Saul 9 pump a m madman aunty by Robert j. Waller 9 Mcnespy e tuck by Lawrence Sanders 10 Eye at me storm by Jack Higgins non fiction 1 it does t Taka a hero by h. Norman Schwa Kopl and Peter Petre 2 Sai by Madonna 3 every a Vang thing by James Herriot 4 to slant pm Mil by Gail Sheehy 9 woman in run Kwh in Zahrte by Clarissa Estes i Diana mar Tea Story by Andrew Morion 7 to Tel Piglet by Benjamin Hod i Earth la too Matoaca by a Gore 9 Truman by David Mccullough 10 senator my Tan Yaari with Ted Kennedy by Richard e Burke november 8. 1992 sun0ay a Page 25 w