Editing King Vidor (section)

== A silent-era magnum opus: ''The Big Parade'': 1925 ==
[[File:King Vidor (Center) with Renée Adorée (L) and John Gilbert. On the set of The Big Parade (1925 film), M-G-M studios.jpg|left|thumb|King Vidor (center) with Renée Adorée and John Gilbert. On the set of ''The Big Parade'']]
{{quote box|width=30em|bgcolor=cornsilk|align=right|fontsize=90%|salign=right|quote= "One of his least satisfactory silent films ... ''The Big Parade'' does not wear well: the portrait of [[World War I]] is softened and sentimentalized out of existence, soldiers portrayed as innocents thrust into the maw of battle, the cannons wreathed in scriptwriter's roses ... The scenes on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] look trivial alongside contemporary photographs: the lice, the rats, and roaches, the urine and blood, the disease, fear, and horror of the true events are altogether lost in this version."—Biographer [[Charles Higham (biographer)|Charles Higham]], in ''The Art of the American Film'' (1973).<ref>Higham, 1973 p. 21</ref>}}

In 1925 Vidor directed ''[[The Big Parade]]'', among the most acclaimed films of the silent era, and a tremendous commercial success.<ref>Thomson, 2007: "The film was a huge hit, collecting about $20 million at the box office worldwide, and until the release of ''Gone with the Wind'', was the studio's highest-grossing picture." And: "The success of ''The Big Parade'' turned Vidor into a top asset at MGM."</ref> ''The Big Parade'', a war romance starring [[John Gilbert (actor)|John Gilbert]], established Vidor as one of MGM's top studio directors for the next decade. The film would influence contemporary directors [[G. W. Pabst]] in ''[[Westfront 1918]]'' and [[Lewis Milestone]] in ''[[All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 film)|All Quiet on the Western Front]]'', both 1930.<ref>Berlinale 2020, 2020</ref> Producer [[Irving Thalberg]] arranged for Vidor to film two more Gilbert vehicles: ''[[La Bohème (1926 film)|La Bohème]]'' and ''[[Bardelys the Magnificent]]'', both released in 1926. In ''La Bohème'', a film of "great and enduring merit", leading lady [[Lillian Gish]] exerted considerable control over the film's production. ''Bardelys the Magnificent,'' a picaresque swashbuckler mimicked the films of [[Douglas Fairbanks]]. Vidor would spoof the movie on his own ''[[Show People]]'' (1928) with comedienne [[Marion Davies]].<ref>Baxter 1976 pp. 26, 28: "a la Fairbanks..."<br />Durgnat and Simmons, 1988 Also p. 76: On Gish's "auteurism" and control over La Bohème. See p. 59: Vidor "ashamed" of Bardelys the Magnificent. And pp. 90–91 on spoof.</ref>

Vidor's next film would be a startling departure from romantic entertainment to an exposure of the "cruel deception of the American dream".<ref>Baxter 1976 p. 33<br />Thomson, 2007: "one of the boldest departures in American silent pictures..."</ref>

=== ''The Crowd'' (1928) and cinematic populism ===
In the late 1920s European films, especially from German directors, exerted a strong influence on filmmakers internationally. Vidor's ''[[The Crowd (1928 film)|The Crowd]] '' resonates with these populist films, a "pitiless study" of a young working man's descent into isolation and loss of morale who is ultimately crushed by the urban "assembly line", while his wife struggles to maintain some order in their relationship. Though the most uncharacteristic of Vidor's pictures, it was his personal favorite: the picture, he said "came out of my guts."

Employing relatively unknown actors, the film had modest box office success, but was widely praised by critics. In 1928, Vidor received an Oscar nomination, and his first for Best Director. M-G-M executives, who had been content to allow Vidor an "experimental" film found that bleak social outlook of ''The Crowd'' troubling – reflected in their one-year delay in releasing the film. ''The Crowd'' has since been recognized as one of the "masterpieces" of the late silent era.<ref>Berlinale, 2020. "Guts" quote.<br />Silver 2010: "one of the crown jewels of the [late Silent Era]."<br />Baxter 1972 p. 151<br />Thomson, 2007<br />Baxter 1976 pp. 30, 33</ref><ref>Holliman, year: "The Crowd proved to be so uncompromising and unsentimental in its approach that MGM mogul Irving Thalberg held up its release for a year. Although it was eventually released to international critical acclaim..."<br />Hodsdon, 2013: The Crowd was influenced by "an international wave of populist films in the '20s and '30s including the German populism" and "generally well-received critically and its reputation has continued to grow. The oft-repeated statement that it was a failure with the public seems inaccurate. While it was not a smash hit, ''The Crowd'' grossed more than double its considerable production costs and returned a small profit to the studio. And "It now stands as one of the great silent films"  and inspired Italian director Vittorio De Sica's 1948 film ''Ladri di {{not a typo|biciclette}}'' ([[Bicycle Thieves]]).<br />Durgnat and Simmons, 1988 Also pp. 78–79: "The Crowd belongs to an internationalist wave of populist films..." dealing with working class issues.<br />Baxter 1976 p. 30: "German filmmakers enjoyed an American vogue [due to their] artistic success" And: "his most unusual and uncharacteristic film of the [nineteen-]twenties. And p. 31: Wage earners are "reduced to numbers in a characterless office."</ref>

=== The Marion Davies comedies, 1928–1930 ===

[[Cosmopolitan Pictures]], a subsidiary of M-G-M studios and controlled by influential newspaper magnate [[William Randolph Hearst]], insisted that Vidor direct Marion Davies – Hearst's longtime mistress – in these Cosmopolitan-supervised films, to which Vidor acquiesced. Though not identified as a director of comedies, Vidor filmed three "[[Screwball comedy|"screwball"]]-like comedies that revealed Davies talents with her "drive-you-to-distraction persona".
{{multiple image
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| image1 = King Vidor (director) and actor Marion Davies on the set of The Patsy (1928 film). Davies imitating Gloria Swanson.jpg
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| image2 = King Vidor (director) and actor Marion Davies on the set of The Patsy (1928 film). Davies imitating Lillian Gish.jpg
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| footer = Left image: Davies imitating [[Gloria Swanson]] with King Vidor
<br /> Right image: Davies imitating [[Lillian Gish]], both from the set of ''The Patsy''<ref>Baxter, 1976 p. 36: See here for composite photo of same images + Mae Murray imitation</ref>}}
''[[The Patsy (1928 film)|The Patsy]]'', a comedy of manners, brought [[Marie Dressler]] and [[Dell Henderson]], veterans of [[Mack Sennett]] "[[slapstick]]" era out of retirement to play Davies' farcical upper-class parents. Davies performs a number of amusing celebrity imitations she was known for at social gatherings at [[Hearst Castle|Hearst's San Simeon estate]], including [[Gloria Swanson]], [[Lillian Gish]], [[Pola Negri]] and [[Mae Murray]].<ref>Baxter p, 34: Here for remarks regarding Hearst influence. And p. 36: Composite photo showing Davis impersonating the film stars.<br />Durgnat and Simmon, 1988 p, 87: "...dramatic challenges tended to highlight her limitations...[but] Vidor converted her....into a touchingly resilient screwball comedienne."And p. 90: On Davis' impersonations. And p. 92: "drive you to distraction persona"</ref>
The scenario for ''[[Show People]]'' (1928) was inspired by the glamorous Gloria Swanson, who began her film career in slapstick. Davis' character Peggy Pepper, a mere comic, is elevated to the high-style star Patricia Pepoire. Vidor spoofs his own recently completed ''[[Bardelys the Magnificent]]'' (1926), an over-the-top swashbuckling costume drama featuring romantic icon [[John Gilbert (actor)|John Gilbert]]. Some of the best-known film stars of the silent era appeared in cameos, as well as Vidor himself. ''Show People'' remains the enduring picture of the Vidor–Davies collaborations.
<ref>Baxter 1976 p. 35–36: names of the cameo stars provided. And p. 38: "...Peggy [character] based on Gloria Swanson..."<br />Durgnat and Simmons, 1988 p. 90-91 And p. 92: Vidor's "affable ironies about ''Bardelys the Magnificent''..." And p. 94: On its enduring qualities "...even sixty years later" still a highly engaging film, an "enduring success".</ref>

Vidor's third and final film with Davies was his second sound film (after ''[[Hallelujah (film)|Hallelujah]]'' (1929)): ''[[Not So Dumb]]'' (1930), adapted from the 1921 Broadway comedy ''Dulcy'' by [[George S. Kaufman]]. The limitations of early sound, despite recent innovations, interfered with the continuity of Davies' performance that had enlivened her earlier silent comedies with Vidor.<ref>Durgnat and Simmon, 1988 p, 93 "...his second sound film..." And p. 93: "Davies' charm looks panicky" due to sound necessitated cutting. And p. [[Franklin Pangborn|Pangborn]] has the "funniest bits" <br />Baxter 1976 p. 35 "Not So Dumb reveals Davies' "thin talent""</ref>

=== Early sound era: 1929–1937 ===
In early 1928, Vidor and his spouse Eleanor Boardman were visiting France in the company of [[F. Scott Fitzgerald|Scott]] and [[Zelda Fitzgerald|Zelda]] Fitzgerald. There Vidor mixed with literary expatriates, among them [[James Joyce]] and [[Ernest Hemingway]]. Vidor was shaken by news that US film studios and theaters were converting to sound technology and he returned quickly to Hollywood, concerned about the impact on silent cinema.<ref>Baxter 1976 p. 43: On influence of Hemingway's literary style on film.<br />Durgnat and Simmons, 1988 p. 61, p. 95: Vidor expressed his view that sound films would "...do away entirely with the art of motion pictures..." (Interview with ''[[Motion Picture News]]'', July 14, 1928)</ref> Adjusting to the advent of sound, Vidor enthusiastically embarked upon his long-desired project of making a picture about rural black American life incorporating a musical soundtrack.  He quickly completed writing the scenario for ''Hallelujah'' and began recruiting an all African-American cast.<ref>Durgnat and Simmons, 1988 p. 97: "Vidor's long-cherished project about southern black life..."</ref>

M-G-M studios had not yet decided which emerging sound technology they would invest in, [[Vitaphone]] or [[Movietone sound system|Movietone]], a decision that would determine what camera system Vidor would use. Vidor circumvented the dilemma by appealing directly to President of [[Loews Cineplex Entertainment|Lowe's Inc.]] [[Nicholas Schenck]], who authorized Vidor to begin shooting outdoor location sequences without sound and with the caveat that Vidor waive his $100,000 salary.<ref>Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 95</ref>

==== ''Hallelujah'' (1929) ====
[[File:Nina McKinney Louise.jpg|thumb|Nina Mae McKinney as Chick in ''Hallelujah'']] 
Vidor's first sound film ''[[Hallelujah (film)|Hallelujah]]'' (1929) combines a dramatic rural tragedy with a documentary-like depiction of black agrarian community of sharecroppers in the South. [[Daniel L. Haynes]] as Zeke, [[Nina Mae McKinney]] as Chick and [[William Fontaine]] as Hot Shot developed a love-triangle that leads to a revenge murder. A quasi-musical, Vidor's innovative integration of sound into the scenes, including jazz and gospel adds immensely to the cinematic effect.<ref>Reinhardt, 2020: Accordingly, music and dance play an outstanding role and add enormously to the work.<br />Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 97: "...both is and isn't a musical..."</ref>

Vidor, a third-generation Texan, encountered black workers employed at his father's sawmills when he was a child, and there he became familiar with their [[Spiritual (music)|spirituals]]. As an adult, he was not immune to the racial prejudices common among whites in the South of the 1920s. His paternalistic claim to know the character of the "real negro" is reflected in his portrayal of some rural black characters as "childishly simple, lecherously promiscuous, fanatically superstitious, and shiftless". Vidor, nonetheless, avoids reducing his characters to [[Uncle Tom]] stereotypes and his treatment bears no resemblance to the overt racism in [[D. W. Griffith]]'s ''[[The Birth of a Nation]]'' (1915).<ref>Baxter 1972 p. 152: "real negro"<br />Silver, 2010:  "Certainly, Vidor could never be accused of the overt racial venom exhibited by Griffith in ''The Birth of a Nation''."</ref>

The black sharecroppers resemble more the poor white agrarian entrepreneurs Vidor praised in his 1934 ''[[Our Daily Bread (1934 film)|Our Daily Bread]]'', emphasizing the class, rather than race, of his subjects. The film emerges as a human tragedy in which elemental forces of sexual desire and revenge contrast with family affection and community solidarity and redemption.<ref>Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 97–98: "The cotton-picking black folk...don't carry [[Uncle Tom]] overtones, for Vidor celebrates the same life in the enterprising white community of Our Daily Bread." And p. 98-99: The film "unleashes forces...[revealing] a moral polarity between family affection versus apparently passionate sexuality..." And p. "...the film affirms the value...of diligence, frugality, hard work...the puritan ethic- mediated through an Afro-ethnicity." <br />Reinhardt, 2020: "But the limitations and prejudices [in the film] are largely class and social ones, not racial. Vidor was all over the place ideologically and politically, notwithstanding his undoubted general sympathy for the poor and marginalized" and "the film's universal message."(emphasis in original)<br />Vidor, an unabashed Texan, carried much of the baggage of a Southern upbringing..." Also "scenes of great tragedy" including the death Zeke's younger brother.</ref>

''Hallelujah'' enjoyed an overwhelmingly positive response in the United States and internationally, praising Vidor's stature as a film artist and as a humane social commentator. Vidor was nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards of 1929.<ref>Galleghar, 2007: "''Hallelujah'' in 1929, Vidor was internationally celebrated, even in America, as a titanic film artist who was both socially committed and commercial. Had a poll been taken, Vidor might well have been voted the greatest filmmaker in history, the one who had finally realized cinema's poetic potential."</ref><ref>Reinhardt, 2020</ref>

==== M-G-M 1930–1931: ''Billy the Kid'' and ''The Champ'' ====
Filmed just before passage of the [[Motion Picture Production Code|Production Code]] of 1933, Vidor's ''Billy the Kid'' is free of the fixed moral dualities that came to typify subsequent Good Guy vs. Bad Guy Westerns in Hollywood. Starring former football champion [[Johnny Mack Brown]] as Billy and [[Wallace Beery]] as his nemesis Sheriff [[Pat Garrett]], the protagonists display a gratuitous violence that anticipates Vidor's 1946 masterpiece ''[[Duel in the Sun (film)|Duel in the Sun]]'' (1946). Homicidal behavior resonates with the brutal and deadly desert landscape, [[Ernest Hemingway|Hemingwayesque]] in its brevity and realism. Studio executives were concerned that the excessive violence would alienate audiences, though the [[Prohibition era]] in the United States was saturated with news of the gangster-related killings.
<ref>Baxter, 1972 p. 152-153: "...the integration of character into landscape as never before permitted."And "...a natural complement to Duel in the Sun."<br />Baxter, 1976 p. 44-45<br />Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 180: "...an exploration of social violence...."And p. 184"...a strange synthesis of Western innocence and gangster morality..." and reference to Hemingway.</ref>

Shot partially in the new [[70 mm Grandeur film|70 mm Grandeur system]], the film was conceived by producers to be an epic, but few cinemas were equipped to handle the new wide-screen technology. The film did poorly at the box-office.<ref>Durgnat and Simmons, 1988 p. 180: "...for twenty years thereafter, Westerns were fated to simple moral dichotomies between white Stetsons and black." And p. 11:"...Vidor's Billy the Kid [celebrates] another serial killer...without [[Hays Code]] objections." And p. 181: The Brown/Billy character "shuttles between being a justified and near-psychotic murderer."<br />Baxter, 1972 p, 152–153: "...the integration of character...into an alien [desert] landscape...as bare and stark as the moon." And: "...in Billy the Kid, [Vidor] struck a balance between the commercial necessities of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and his own vision of life." And p. 153: "...Billy the Kid as a fit companion piece to ''[[Scarface (1932 film)|Scarface]]'' and other exercises in the celebration of violence."<br />Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 96: "...one of the experiments [in 1930 with] 70 millimeter wide-screen photography." and "compromised in impending popularity of gangsters films such  ''[[The Public Enemy|Public Enemy]]'' (1931) and ''[[Scarface (1932 film)|Scarface]]'' (1932) and the popularity of mobster [[Al Capone]] among some ethnic groups.<br />Baxter, 1976 p. 45<br />Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 114:"A melting-pot Western...a populist plot... stressing the.diverse [European] heritages of the immigrants to [[New Mexico]]..."</ref><ref>Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 96: "...one of the experiments [in 1930 with] 70 millimeter wide-screen photography."<br />Baxter, 1972 p, 152–153: Baxter reports that only "twelve theaters" in the US were fitted to present 70 millimeter prints, with 35mm used in most movie houses.<br />Baxter, 1976 p. 45<br /> Smith, TMC: "The box office failure of Metro's widescreen Billy the Kid in the autumn of 1930 may have killed the A-list career of John Mack Brown but it in no way deterred subsequent recreations of the myth."</ref>

Upon his return to M-G-M after his sojourn to complete ''[[Street Scene (film)|Street Scene]]'' for Samuel Goldwyn, Vidor embarked on his second picture starring actor Wallace Beery, this time with child actor [[Jackie Cooper]] in ''[[The Champ (1931 film)|The Champ]]''. Based on a story by [[Francis Marion]], Vidor adapts a standard plot about a socially and economically impaired parent who relinquishes a child to insure his/her escape from squalid conditions to achieve an upwardly mobile future. The film is a descendant of director [[Charlie Chaplin]]'s ''[[The Kid (1921 film)|The Kid]]'' (1921), as well as Vidor's own early silent [[short film|shorts]] for [[Judge Willis Brown]]. Vidor owed M-G-M a more conventional and "fool-proof" production after executives allowed him to make the more experimental ''[[Street Scene (film)|Street Scene]]'' in 1931. The Champ would prove to be a successful vehicle for Berry and propel him to top-rank among M-G-M movie stars.<ref>Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 96, p. 124: The film is a "clear model" of Chaplin's The Kid. And p. 126: "inter-ethnic" kid movies for Brown. And: a "conventional" film for the studio to balance his experimental efforts e.g. Street Scene.<br />Miller, TMC</ref>

==== ''Bird of Paradise'' and RKO Pictures : Sojourn in Hawaii, 1932 ====

After finishing the sentimental vehicle starring Wallace Beery, in ''[[The Champ (1931 film)|The Champ]]'', Vidor was loaned to [[RKO Pictures|Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO)]] to make a "South Seas" romance for producer [[David Selznick]] filmed in the [[Hawaii Territory|US territory of Hawaii]]. Starring [[Dolores del Río]] and [[Joel McCrea]], the tropical location and mixed-race love theme in ''[[Bird of Paradise (1932 film)|Bird of Paradise]]'' included nudity and sexual eroticism.<ref>Durgnat and Simmon 1988 p. 136-137: "...nothing prepares us for Selznick's volcano sacrifice." And "...Old World cultures are there for Americans and their lovers to transcend...If the film renounces miscegenation, that's not Vidor's fault... [the movie] yearns the other way. But the strictures against miscegenation were so strong that fatalism was built into [the story's] premise."</ref>

During production Vidor began an affair with script assistant [[Elizabeth Hill (screenwriter)|Elizabeth Hill]] that led to a series of highly productive screenplay collaborations and their marriage in 1937.  Vidor divorced his wife, actress [[Eleanor Boardman]] shortly after ''Bird of Paradise'' was completed.<ref>Durgnat and Simmon 1988 p. 96, 173, 174, 177</ref><ref>Baxter 1976 p. 49</ref>

==== Great Depression: 1933–1934 ====
''[[The Stranger's Return]]'' (1933) and ''[[Our Daily Bread (1934 film)|Our Daily Bread]]'' (1934) are Depression era films that present protagonists who flee the social and economic perils of urban America, plagued by high unemployment and labor unrest to seek a lost rural identity or make a new start in the agrarian countryside. Vidor's expressed enthusiasm for the [[New Deal]] and [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]]'s exhortation in his first inaugural in 1933 for a shift of labor from industry to agriculture.<ref>Durgnat and Simmon, 1988 p. 138: "...an escape to family-owned land away from modern [urban] economic and spiritual problems." And also quotes passage from FDR inaugural And p. 154: Vidor's "admiration for the New Deal spirit..."</ref>

In ''[[The Stranger's Return]]'', a city girl ([[Miriam Hopkins]]) abandons her life in a great metropolis to visit her grandfather ([[Lionel Barrymore]]) in Iowa, the aging patriarch of a working farm. Her arrival upsets the schemes of parasitic relatives to seize the property in anticipation of Grandpa Storr's passing. The scenario presents the farm as "bountiful", even in the midst of the [[Dust Bowl]] where banks seized tens-of-thousands of independent family farms in the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]] and drove millions into low wage seasonal agricultural labor.<ref>Durgnat and Simmon, 1988 p. 140: M-G-M studio and Vidor "hedge[s]" his depiction of [Depression-era] agriculture..." And: the farm "remains safely bountiful..." And: The Storr enterprise with its "expensive threshers" is not a "collective" but a "company".</ref> The picture is a paean to family "blood" ties and rural generational continuity, manifested in the granddaughter's commitment (though raised in New York City) to inherit the family farm and honor its agrarian heritage.<ref>Durgnat and Simmon, 1988 p. 139: "...her ultimate commitment to the land..." And p. 145: "blood" relations and rural family continuity</ref>

Vidor continued his "back to the land" theme in his 1934 ''Our Daily Bread''. The picture is the second film of a trilogy he referred to as "War, Wheat and Steel". His 1925 film ''[[The Big Parade]]'' was "war" and his 1944 ''[[An American Romance]]'' was "steel". ''Our Daily Bread'' – "wheat" – is a sequel to his silent masterpiece ''The Crowd'' (1928).<ref>Higham, 1972: "...his masterpiece, ''The Crowd'' And "... a trilogy Vidor thought of as "War, Wheat and Steel". It was not until 1944...that Vidor got the chance to make the "Steel" portion. He called it "An American Romance."</ref><ref>Baxter, 1976 p. 51-52</ref>

''Our Daily Bread'' is a deeply personal and politically controversial work that Vidor financed himself when M-G-M executives declined to back the production.  M-G-M was uncomfortable with its characterization of big business, and particularity banking institutions, as corrupt.<ref>Higham, 1972: "Thalberg of MGM said it was out of the question."<br />Durgnat and Simmon, 1988 p. 149: "...directly political" implications. And "...a politically charged subject" on the question of labor and land ownership. And p. 151; The studio viewed the film as "an attack on big business" and refused to finance it. And see p. 151 for Vidor's financing of project.<br />Baxter 1972 p. 158: "Vidor's more personal work...financed by him [with] a controversial theme."<br />Silver, 2010: "It is some measure of the ardor Vidor felt for Our Daily Bread that he managed to make it outside the studio system and in spite of American cinema's traditional aversion to controversial subjects.<br />Higham, 1972: "Vidor mortgaged his house and sold everything he owned to do the picture.</ref>
A struggling Depression-era couple from the city inherit a derelict farm, and in an effort to make it a productive enterprise, they establish a cooperative in alliance with unemployed locals who possess various talents and commitments. The film raises questions as to the legitimacy of the American system of democracy and to government imposed social programs.<ref>Durgnat and Simmon, 1988 p. 149-150: "The film touches on the implications that the whole American democratic system is corrupt and should be left behind by this [rural] community."</ref>

The picture garnered a mixed response among social and film critics, some regarding it as a socialistic condemnation of capitalism and others as tending towards fascism – a measure of Vidor's own ambivalence in organizing his social outlook artistically.<ref>Durgnat and Simmon, 1988 p. 149-150<br />Thomson 2007: " strange but stirring film that finds equal fault with socialism and democracy and sets about creating a system of its own, based on the charisma of one man..."</ref><ref>Silver, 2010: "[Our Daily Bread] is still naive, simplistic, and awkward, but it remains extremely lovely in its innocence."<br />Baxter, 1972 p. 158: "...one cannot accept Our Daily Bread as anything more than a well-mounted political tract from a theorist unwilling or unable see a situation with any real insight."<br />Durgnat and Simmon, 1988 p. 152: See here for Vidor's "political ambiguity."</ref>

=== The Goldwyn films: 1931–1937 ===

''[[Street Scene (film)|Street Scene]]'' (1931), ''[[Cynara (1932 film)|Cynara]]'' (1932), ''[[The Wedding Night]]'' (1935), ''[[Stella Dallas (1937 film)|Stella Dallas]]'' (1937)

During the 1930s Vidor, though under contract to M-G-M studios, made four films under loan-out to independent producer [[Samuel Goldwyn]], formerly with the Goldwyn studios that had amalgamated with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1924. Goldwyn's insistence on fidelity to the prestigious literary material he had purchased for screen adaptations imposed cinematic restraints on his film directors, including Vidor. The first of their collaborations since the silent era was ''[[Street Scene (film)|Street Scene]]'' (1931)<ref>Baxter, 1976 p. 18<br />Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 117<br />Baxter, 1972 p. 153: Goldwyn "pursuing as ever his goal of 'cultural' films..."</ref>

The adoption of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by [[Elmer Rice]] depicts a microcosm in a major American metropolis and its social and economic inequalities. The cinematic limitations imposed by a single set restricted to a New York City block of tenements building and its ethnically diverse inhabitants presented Vidor with unique technical challenges. He and cinematographer [[George Barnes (cinematographer)|George Barnes]] countered and complemented these structural restrictions by using a roving camera mounted on cranes, an innovation made possible by recent developments in early sound technology.<ref>Miller, TMC: "...Vidor realized that the play's single setting outside the apartment building was one of its greatest strengths. ...to keep the film from being static, he worked with cameraman George Barnes to find innovative ways to move and place the camera...Vidor had been one of the first directors to move the camera after the arrival of talking pictures, which was also excellent preparation for adapting the one-set play."<br />Baxter 1976 p. 45-46: "By focusing on a single organism in the city, Rice exposed the universal blight of social inequality."<br />Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 117-118: "...the composition became the action..."<br />Baxter, 1972 p. 153: "Vidor made use of a fluid camera in order to overcome the static nature of the action...craning dizzyingly"</ref>

The excellent cast, drawn largely from the [[Broadway production]], contributed to the critical success of the film, as did the huge publicity campaign engineered by Goldwyn. Street Scene's immense box-office profits belied the financial and economic crisis of the early [[Great Depression|Depression]] years, when movie studios feared bankruptcy.<ref>Thomson, 2011: "The Crash of 1929 was followed by years of sinking economic depression. In the early '30s, the size of the audience withered. The studios faced ruin.<br />Miller, TMC</ref>

''[[Cynara (1932 film)|Cynara]]'' (1932), a romantic melodrama of a brief, yet tragic affair between a British barrister and a shopgirl, was Vidor's second sound collaboration with Goldwyn. Starring two of Hollywood's biggest stars of the period, [[Ronald Colman]] and [[Kay Francis]], the story by [[Francis Marion]] is a cautionary tale concerning upper- and lower-class sexual infidelities set in England. Framed, as in the play and novel, in a series of flashbacks told by the married barrister Warlock (Colman), the story ends in honorable redemption for the barrister and death for his mistress. Vidor was able to inject some "pure cinema" into a picture that was otherwise a "dialogue-heavy" talkie: "Colman [in London] tears up a piece of paper and throws the pieces out a window, where they fly into the air. Vidor cuts to [[Piazza San Marco|St. Mark's Square]] in Venice (where Francis, his spouse is vacationing), with pigeons flying into the air".<ref>Berlinale archive, 2020: Warlock "succumbs to the erotic charms of a lower-class woman – with fatal consequences." <br />Landazuri, TMC</ref>

In his third collaboration with Goldwyn, Vidor was tasked with salvaging the producer's huge investment in Soviet-trained Russian actress [[Anna Sten]]. Goldwyn's effort to elevate Sten to the stature of [[Marlene Dietrich|Dietrich]] or [[Greta Garbo|Garbo]] had thus far failed despite his relentless promotion when Vidor began directing her in ''[[The Wedding Night]]'' (1935).<ref>Landazuri, TMC: "...Sten became known as "Goldwyn's Folly" in the 1930s, because of the failed attempt by movie mogul Sam Goldwyn to make her into the next Garbo or Dietrich."<br />Baxter, 1976 p. 52<br />Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 166<br />Baxter, 1972 p. 159: "...The Wedding March was [Goldwyn's] last extravagant fling" at establishing Sten as major Hollywood actress.</ref>

A tale of a doomed affair between a married New Yorker (Gary Cooper) (whose character Vidor based on novelist [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]]) and a farm girl (Sten) from an [[Old World]] Polish family, Vidor provided thoughtful direction to Cooper and Sten while cinematographer [[Gregg Toland]]'s devised effective lighting and photography. Despite good reviews the picture did not establish Sten as a star among movie-goers and she remained "Goldwyn's Folly".<ref>Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 165<br />Landazuri, TMC<br />Baxter, 1976 p. 52-53:</ref>

In 1937 Vidor made his final and most profitable picture with Samuel Goldwyn: ''[[Stella Dallas (1937 film)|Stella Dallas]]''. A remake of Goldwyn's most successful silent movie, the 1925 ''[[Stella Dallas (1925 film)|Stella Dallas]]'', also an adaption of [[Olive Higgins Prouty]]'s popular novel. [[Barbara Stanwyck]] stars as the eponymous "martyr of motherhood" in the sound re-make. Vidor analyzed director [[Henry King (director)|Henry King]]'s handling of his silent production and incorporated or modified some of its filmic structure and staging. Stanwyck's performance, reportedly without undue oversight by Vidor, is outstanding, benefited by her selective vetting of [[Belle Bennett]]'s famous portrayal. Vidor contributed to defining Stanwyck's role substantially in the final cut, providing a sharper focus on her character and delivering one of the great tear-jerkers in film history.
<ref>Miller, TMC: See Miller for Vidor's preoccupation with filming, not with directing his lead actors.<br />Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 200–201: The changes Vidor make to Henry King's version "owe something to the remake being a star vehicle for Barbara Stanwyck" And "Vidor identically, cut, shot and staged" some of the material from the 1925 version. And Vidor "a master... of wringing audience tears." Also "...the final gut punch" ending. And p. 205: See footnote on Vidor's "final editing" And also Stanwyck's study of Bennett's performance. And Stella Dallas "lines up with the 'pure' weepies"</ref>

Despite the success of the film it would be his last with Goldwyn, as Vidor had tired of the producer's outbursts on the set. Vidor emphatically declined to work with the "mercurial" producer again.<ref>Miller, TMC: When Vidor finished shooting Stella Dallas, "he posted a sign over his desk reading, "NO MORE GOLDWYN PICTURES!"<br />Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 173: Same "no more Goldwyn pictures!" quote.</ref>

===Paramount Pictures: 1935–1936===

''[[So Red the Rose (film)|So Red the Rose]]'' (1935) and ''[[The Texas Rangers (1936 film)|The Texas Rangers]]'' (1936)

Paramount production manager at [[Paramount Pictures]], [[Ernst Lubitsch]], persuaded Vidor to undertake the direction of a film based on a story that afforded a "[[Culture of the Southern United States|"Southern"]] perspective, ''So Red the Rose'', an [[American Civil War]] epic.

The topic appealed to the Texas-bred Vidor and he offered a dual vision of the [[antebellum South]]'s response to the war among the white [[planter class]], sentimentalizing their struggle and defeat. Here, the western "pioneer" plantation owners possess less of the anti-Northern fury that led to [[secession]] by their "Old South" counterparts. The scion of the estate, Duncan Bedford ([[Randolph Scott]]) initially refuses to join the Confederate army ("I don't believe Americans should fight Americans") but his sister Vallette Duncan ([[Margaret Sullavan]]) scorns his pacifism and singlehandedly diverts her slaves from rebellion. The white masters of the "Portobello" plantation in Mississippi emerge from the conflict content that North and South made equal sacrifices, and that a "New South" has emerged that is better off without its white aristocracy and slavery. With Portobello in ruins, Valette and Duncan submit to the virtues of hard work in a pastoral existence.<ref>Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 176-177: Vidor's interpretation of the Civil War South is that of "an unrepentant – unreconstructed Southerner..." And "Vidor presents "two distinct southern regional responses" to the Civil War. And p. 199: The film describes "a split between Texans and Southerners [who behave] according to different senses of 'honor'..." And p. 176: The loss of Portobello "toughens" [the former slaveholders] into survivors" who now work and live simply on the land. And for "pacifism" and "American" quotes, see p. 176, p. 179.<br />Baxter, 1976 p. 53-54: Thumbnail sketch of So Red the Rose.</ref>

The novel ''So Red the Rose'' (1934) by [[Stark Young]] in its narrative and theme anticipates author [[Margaret Mitchell]]'s ''[[Gone with the Wind (novel)|Gone with the Wind]]'' (1936). Vidor, initially tapped to direct Mitchell's epic, was ultimately assigned to director [[George Cukor]].<ref>Baxter, 1976 p. 53-54</ref>

The box-office failure of ''So Red the Rose'' led the film industry to anticipate the same for Cukor's adaption of Mitchell's Civil War epic. To the contrary, ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'' (1939) enjoyed immense commercial and critical success.<ref>Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 172, p.176</ref>

At a period in the 1930s when Western theme films were relegated to low-budget [[B movie]]s, Paramount studios financed an A Western for Vidor at $625,000 (lowered to $450,000 when star [[Gary Cooper]] was replaced with [[Fred MacMurray]] in the lead role.)<ref>Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 185</ref> ''The Texas Rangers'', Vidor's second and final film for Paramount reduced, but did not abandon, the level of sadistic and lawless violence evidenced in his ''Billy the Kid''. Vidor presents a morality play where the low-cunning of the outlaws ''cum'' vigilantes heroes is turned to the service of law-and-order when they kill their erstwhile accomplice in crime – the "Polka Dot Bandit.".<ref>Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 181-182: "A light morality play...the two Rangers begin outside society, then join it, then acknowledge a duty to maintain it."</ref><ref>Baxter, 1976 p. 54: See thumbnail sketch of film and "Polka Dot Bandit".</ref>

The film's scenario and script was penned by Vidor and wife Elizabeth Hill, based loosely on ''The Texas Rangers: A History of Frontier Defense of the Texas Rangers'' by [[Walter Prescott Webb]]. Made on the 100th anniversary of the formation of the [[Texas Ranger Division]] the picture includes standard [[B movie|B western]] tropes, including Indian massacres of white settlers and a corrupt city official who receives small town justice at the hands of a jury composed of saloon denizens. The film presages, as does Vidor's ''Billy the Kid'' (1931), his portrayal of the savagery of civilization and nature in producer [[David O. Selznick]]'s ''Duel in the Sun'' (1946).<ref>Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 186: Vidor and Hill's script "comes across as entirely too quirky" to be an adaptation of Webb's historical account of the Texas Rangers. And p. 185: Vidor's movie "contains what amounts to two B Westerns: "The Texas Rangers wipe out the Injuns" and "The Texas Rangers wipe out a monopolist."</ref><ref>Baxter, 1976 p. 54: "The Texas Rangers collapsed into a series of Western cliches.."</ref><ref>Berlinale 2020: "...civilization and the savagery of nature collide, provide hints to the basic conflict Vidor would explore in later Westerns – and carry to a glorious extreme in Duel in the Sun."</ref>

In an effort to retain Vidor at Paramount, the production head [[William LeBaron]] offered him a biopic of Texas icon, [[Sam Houston]]. Vidor emphatically declined: "... "I've [had] such a belly-full of Texas after the Rangers that I find myself not caring whether Sam Houston takes Texas from the Mexicans or lets them keep it."<ref>Durgnat and Simmon, 1988: p. 172-173</ref>

===Screen Directors Guild===

In the 1930s Vidor became a leading advocate for the formation of the Screen Directors Guild (SDG) and since 1960 called the [[Directors Guild of America]] (DGA), when television directors joined its ranks.

In an effort to enlarge movie director's meager influence in studio production decisions, Vidor personally exhorted a dozen or more leading directors, among them [[Howard Hawks]], [[William Wellman]], [[Ernst Lubitsch]] and [[Lewis Milestone]] to form a union, leading to the incorporation of the SDG in January 1936. By 1938, the collective bargaining unit had grown from a founding membership of 29 to an inclusive union of 600, representing Hollywood directors and assistant directors. The demands under Vidor's tenure at SDG were mild, seeking increased opportunities to examine scripts before filming and to make the initial cut on a movie.<ref>Thomson, 2007: "The Guild was not overreaching in its claims. It sought more time in preproduction, a proper chance to examine a script before filming, and the right to make at least a first cut.</ref>

As the SDG's first president, and a founding member of the anti-Communist group the [[Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals]] Vidor failed to bring the SDG into affiliation with the [[American Federation of Labor]] (AFL) that had already organized actors and screenwriters (deemed a "[[Bolshevik]]" political front by anti-communist critics). Not until 1939 would the directors sign an accord with these sister guilds, under then SDG president [[Frank Capra]].<ref>Durgnat and Simmons, 1988: p. 172<br />Thomson, 2011</ref>