Glacier County chief., 1940-09-13
WHO'S
NEWS
THIS
WEEK
By LEMUEL F. PARTON


NEW YORK.-Producing "Gone
y With the Wind" turned David
o. Selznick's hair gray. He worked
81 hours without sleep and stocked up
c on benzredine
In 81 Hour Bout and then, in
With Morpheus order 70 hang
ish. Liquidating his company, SELF
nick International Pictures, Inc,
shaping a new one to meet changed
conditions due to the war, will no
doubt be easy after all that. The
| liquidation and the formation of Da-
vid 0. Selznick Productions, Inc, il
a major adjustment in the film in
dustry, after internationally Hercu-
lean efforts and success in filming
the classics.
Although he weighs 200 pounds.
Mr.. Selznick was always light on
his feet. He is a second generation
producer, but he started from
scratch, after his father, L. ]. SELF
nick, a Russian immigrant, had
made and lost millions in the film
business. When David was 81, his
father had tried to fill some inside
straights, without any luck and the
young man had a one-dollar bill,
with which to start his career, plus
some schooling in movie-making and
his old mans yen for taking q
chance.
He saw possibilities in Luis
Angel Firpo for a profitable
quickie. He pencilled out q plot,
borrowed $1,000 from a friend,
paid Firpo 81 900, took q few
shorts of the Wild Bull of the
Pampas and within three days
took profit of $S75 on his film.
He went on from there to his
gallery Of the classics, including
THE Tale of Two Cities" ''Da-
vid Copperfield," Little Lord
Fauntleroy," "The Prisoner Of
Zenda," and ''Tom Sawyer"
In Russia, the family name was
Zeleznick. Zeleznick pere left home
at IL, met establishment as hard
driven factory hand in England, and
found his slice of the American
dream waiting for him when he
landed here, as jeweler, banker,
promoter and film-producer. All
this, and his own venturesome ca
reer, has made the younger SELF
nick eager to film America only as
going concern. Six feet, one, mus
cular and energetic, he has placid
face rarely caught in a frown-un-
less somebody tells him that ERE
becca" was a better film than
wind" That burns him up.
THE Nizam of Hyderabad is said
L to be the richest man in the
world, but he gets his shoes half
soled three or four times and wears
Nizan Is World'. p inse H e,o.e-
Richest Man, Yet his gift Of
Paragon of Thrift 500, 600 to the
American planes is gesture some
what like that of the late Hetty
Green suddenly buying somebody a
drink-and she never drank. As
his fortune is rated around $780,
900, 1000, the gift represents a SINH
lar strain on his resources.
The Nizam, a pale, bent, nervous
little man, worried and watchful,
lives in splendor, but his sometimes
fabulous expenditures are for re-
quirements of state. Although he
has 400 up-to-date automobiles, he
rides in a 26-year-old car and fire.
quently walks quite a distance to
save gas. For ceremonial journeys
he keeps a train steamed up, with
% pullmans needed to accommodate
his encourage.
This writer never could get it
quite straight as to how many
men the Nizam could bury in
diamonds. Estimates vary from
four to seven. At any rate, there
are always "men working" signs
around his palace, as his dia-
monds, emeralds, rubies and
gold-pieces are being shoveled
this way and that. He fuses
lot about just where and how
his treasure is stored, and is al
ways adding it up and shifting it
somewhere else.
In 1926, the British were worried
about signs of unrest among the
Mohammedan potentate's is, OOO, 900
subjects. There were reports that
he was becoming autocratic, and If
anyone drove up in a car he liked,
he might add it to his collection.
The viceroy interfered and certain
controls were set up which seemed
| to settle everything nicelv