The year 2014 will mark the 75th anniversary of the release of David O. Selznick's “Gone With the Wind,” starring Clark Gable, Vivian Leigh, Leslie Howard and Olivia de Havilland.
Next Dec. 18, The Scene Dock plans to release “Fred Parrish, the Man Behind the Camera,” to commemorate the historic anniversary of the premiere of the most popular motion picture ever made in this country.
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Author Ross Hawkins. In barnyard at Atanta History Center, which houses many artifacts from ‘Gone With the Wind’ filming. Photo, Tyler St. Mark
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Historic photographer Fred Parrish
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Rare photo of Margaret Mitchell, who wrote the novel ‘Gone With the Wind’
“Fred Parrish” is the story of the man whose still photos went behind the scenes during the making of “Gone With the Wind.”
Mr. Parrish was much more than a still photographer. A documentary filmmaker, he made motion pictures in Samoa, East Africa, and Hawaii. He invented a 3-D motion picture camera and an all-inclusive camera truck that he used to film action sequences for movies and television.
Born in the Wisconsin hamlet of Boscobel, home of the annual “Muskets and Memories” re-enactment of Civil War battles that honors and supports John McDermott Post 101, Grand Army of the Republic Hall, a repository of rare Civil War memorabilia. Mr. Parrish’s wife Darlene was the first female camera operator to hold a camera operator's union card.
When he was 14 years old, Mr. Parrish ran away from home. He rode a freight train to Mason City, Iowa, where he worked in a brickyard as a day laborer. Mason City is remembered as the home of Meredith Willson (1902-1984), author of “The Music Man.”
During World War I, Mr. Parrish joined a machine gun battalion that saw action in France under Gen. Leonard A Wood, a 1920 Presidential candidate who had fought against Geronimo in the 1880s and commanded the 1st Volunteer Cavalry during the Spanish-American War.
One day Mr. Parrish was overheard saying that after serving as a machine gunner during World War I, he was not afraid of anyone in Hollywood.
In addition to Fred and Darlene Parrish's photos and film clips, a tour of the Atlanta History Museum and the Margaret Mitchell house where she wrote “Gone With the Wind” will be included. Photos and movie clips from Mr. Parrish's earlier works will be shown as well as stills from David O. Selznick classics that Mr. Parrish worked on such as “A Star Is Born,” “Nothing Sacred” and “The Prisoner of Zenda.”
Never-before-seen interviews with Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Daniel Selznick, Ann Rutherford, Evelyn Keyes, Fred Crane, Rodney Gottlieb, Marcella Rabwin, David O. Selznick's executive assistant, and Martha and Woodie Tolkin, Mr. Parrish's next door neighbors will be seen for the first time.
An extensive interview with Atlanta historian Joanne Arrieta about Margaret Mitchell was recorded in the same room where the author wrote “Gone With the Wind.”
Mark Morris, Tyler St. Mark and this writer filmed extensively at the Atlanta History Center as well as other Atlanta area locations, including Marietta, home of an extensive “Gone With the Wind” museum. Leigh Massey, Senior Director of Marketing at the Atlanta History Center and Connie Sutherland, director of the Gone With the Wind Museum in Marietta were helpful in assisting the producers obtain information and photos to be used in “Fred Parrish, the Man Behind the Camera.”
The documentary is being edited by Andre Champagne who has worked with The Scene Dock on several projects including “Red Skelton's Great American Celebration” and “Celluloid Cowboys.”
Mr. Hawkins may be contacted at rjhculvercity@aol.com
