Editing Victor Fleming (section)

==Biography==
===Early life===
Fleming was born at the Banbury Ranch near what is now [[La Cañada Flintridge, California]], the son of Eva (née Hartman) and William Richard Lonzo Fleming.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=615TAGHm8WYC&pg=PT19|title=Victor Fleming: An American Movie Master |author=Michael Sragow|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|date=2013|page=19|isbn=9780813144429 }}</ref>

===Career===
He served in the photographic section for the [[United States Army]] during [[World War I]], and acted as chief photographer for President [[Woodrow Wilson]] in [[Treaty of Versailles|Versailles]], France.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/articles/Victor-Fleming-9297044|publisher=biography.com|title=Victor Fleming Biography|access-date=June 26, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090716231954/http://www.biography.com/articles/Victor-Fleming-9297044|archive-date=July 16, 2009|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Beginning in 1918, Fleming taught at and headed [[Columbia University]]'s School of Military Cinematography, training over 700 soldiers to cut, edit, shoot, develop, store and ship film; filmmakers that participated in the program included [[Josef von Sternberg]], [[Ernest B. Schoedsack]], and [[Lewis Milestone]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ask Alma's Owl: Victor Fleming and Columbia's School of Military Cinematography|url=https://news.columbia.edu/news/ask-almas-owl-victor-fleming-and-columbias-school-military-cinematography|access-date=2022-01-03|website=Columbia News|language=en}}</ref> He showed a mechanical aptitude early in life; while working as a car mechanic, he met the director [[Allan Dwan]], who took him on as a camera assistant. He soon rose to the rank of cinematographer, working with both Dwan and [[D. W. Griffith]], and directed his first film in 1919.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Glen O.|last1=Gabbard|first2=Krin|last2=Gabbard|title=Psychiatry and the Cinema|publisher=American Psychiatric Press, Inc.|location=Washington DC|page=37|date=1999|edition=2|isbn=0-88048-826-3}}</ref>

Many of his [[silent films]] were action movies, often starring [[Douglas Fairbanks]], or Westerns. Because of his robust attitude and love of outdoor sports, he became known as a "man's director"; however, he also proved an effective director of women. Under his direction, [[Vivien Leigh]] won the [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress Oscar]], [[Hattie McDaniel]] won for [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]], and [[Olivia de Havilland]] was nominated.

In the opinion of veteran cinematographer [[Archie Stout]], of all the directors he worked with Fleming was the most knowledgeable when it came to camera angles and appropriate lenses.<ref name=Donati1996>{{Cite book|last=Donati|first=William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Whjb4eJKkHYC&q=Ida%2520Lupino%2520Democrat&pg=PT215|title=Ida Lupino: A Biography|date=2013|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-4352-1|page=215}}</ref> He was remembered by [[Van Johnson]] as a being a masterful director but a "tough man" to work for.<ref>''Burt Reynolds’ Conversations with... Hollywood,'' episode with Jimmy Stewart et al. CBS Entertainment Productions, 1991.</ref> He was close friends with another veteran cinematographer, [[Charles Schoenbaum]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sragow |first1=Michael |title=Victor Fleming: An American Movie Master |date=2013 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |location=Lexington, KY |isbn=9780813144436 |page=195 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WS0KAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22victor+fleming%22+AND+schoenbaum+AND+lunch&pg=PA195}}</ref>

===Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer===
{{quote box|width=30em|bgcolor=cornsilk|fontsize=100%|salign=center|quote=  “Fleming wasn’t a joking man, he was a very serious, demanding man, and very positive in what he wanted to get, and most of his leading men were patterned after his own behavior; he was a real tough man. I think there was more Fleming in [[Clark Gable]] at the end than there was Gable in Gable. I think that Gable mimicked Fleming and became that kind of man on the screen.”—Filmmaker [[Henry Hathaway]], from interview in ''Focus on Film'' No. 7, 1971<ref>Canham, 1973 p. 142</ref>}}
In 1932, Fleming joined [[MGM]] and directed some of the studio's most prestigious films. ''[[Red Dust (1932 film)|Red Dust]]'' (1932), ''[[Bombshell (1933 film)|Bombshell]]'' (1933), and ''[[Reckless (1935 film)|Reckless]]'' (1935) showcasing [[Jean Harlow]], while ''[[Treasure Island (1934 film)|Treasure Island]]'' (1934) starring [[Wallace Beery]] and ''[[Captains Courageous (1937 film)|Captains Courageous]]'' (1937) with [[Spencer Tracy]] brought a touch of literary distinction to [[Boy's Own Paper|boy's-own]] adventure stories. His two most famous films came in 1939, when ''[[The Wizard of Oz]]'' was closely followed by ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]''.

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Wizard of Oz 01.jpg|thumb|left|On the set of ''[[The Wizard of Oz]]'', L-R: [[Mervyn Leroy]], [[Judy Garland]], and Victor Fleming holding [[Terry (dog)|Toto]], surrounded by the [[Leo Singer|Singer Midgets]] as the Munchkins{{deletable image-caption|Monday, 7 February 2022|F7}}]] -->
Fleming's version of ''[[Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941 film)|Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]'' (1941), with [[Spencer Tracy]], was generally rated below [[Rouben Mamoulian]]'s 1931 [[pre-Code Hollywood|pre-Code]] version, which had starred [[Fredric March]]. Fleming's 1942 film version of [[John Steinbeck]]'s ''[[Tortilla Flat (film)|Tortilla Flat]]'' starred Tracy, [[John Garfield]], [[Hedy Lamarr]], and [[Frank Morgan]]. Other films that Fleming made with Tracy include ''Captains Courageous'' (for which Tracy won his first Oscar), ''A Guy Named Joe'', and ''Test Pilot''. He directed [[Clark Gable]] in a total of five films – ''Red Dust'', ''The White Sister'', ''Test Pilot'', ''Gone with the Wind'', and ''Adventure''.