This photograph was taken sometime in 1939, during the production of “Gone With the Wind,” on the backlot of the Selznick Studio in Culver City.
More about this shot in a moment.
The photographer was Fred A. Parrish, David Selznick's still photographer from 1936 until 1940.
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Parrish was responsible for taking still photographs to document the production of “A Star Is Born”(1937), “The Prisoner of Zenda” (1937), “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” (1938), and “Gone With the Wind”(1939).
Parrish used an 8×10 portrait camera, a 4×5 format camera and a 35 mm camera to shoot photographs ranging from studio portraits, wardrobe stills and posed publicity photos to spontaneous shots of the cast and crew on the sets.
Preserving for the Future
By the time the “Gone With the Wind” production was complete, it had been given the most extensive coverage ever devoted to a film. More than 10,000 photos were shot.
Producer David O. Selznick allowed Parrish to keep his collection of behind-the-scenes photographs. After Parrish's death in 1980, still photographer and photo retouching artist Rodney Gottlieb began work on restoring the Parrish collection, which has had exhibits in Atlanta and Hollywood.
Gottlieb has the original negatives for most of the photos in the collection. He has catalogued the “Gone With the Wind” photos in the order that they were shot for an upcoming documentary, “Behind the Scenes of “Gone With the Wind.”
Hundreds of these photos were taken of the extras who appeared in “Gone With the Wind.” Many of the extras were citizens of Culver City.
Extra, Extra – If You Want to Work
Former Culver City Deputy Fire Chief Ray Moselle recalled that they “swept the streets clean” in Culver City, looking for extras for the most expensive film made up to that period.
Moselle was a young fireman at the time, on duty at the Selznick lot during the Atlanta fire sequence, the first scene shot on the film. Moselle remembered that it was his job to keep the fire from jumping the old sets from “King Kong,” ”King of Kings,” and “Last of the Mohicans” to the Tara set.
If anyone recognizes this individual in the Fred Parrish photo and can positively identify them, the person will receive two passes to the Backlot Film Festival, which has been shifted from spring to autumn, next Oct. 7-10.
The winner may redeem his or her prize by calling me at 310.204.6920 or emailing me at rjhculvercity@aol.com
More than 25 of the photos from the Fred Parrish collection will be on exhibit at the Backlot Film Festival, which will be at the Vets Auditorium, Culver City.
