Filmmaker and AFI founder George Stevens Jr. from "Separate but Equal" and "Thurgood" joins us on Story & Craft.
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Filmmaker and AFI founder George Stevens Jr. from “Separate but Equal” and “Thurgood” joins us on Story & Craft.
Across a seventy-year career as a writer, producer and director, George founded the American Film Institute, co-created the Kennedy Center Honors, and won Emmy, Writers Guild and Peabody awards and an honorary Oscar. We talk about advising presidents from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama and his memoir, “My Place in the Sun.”
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
George Stevens Jr. joins Story & Craft
Hollywood Transition and Filmmaking Legacy
Cinema’s Future and Presidential Filmmaking
Time, White House Relationships
Advice for Filmmakers and Actors
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Full Transcript
Part 1
Speaker:00:00:01
George Stevens, Jr.: President Kennedy took an interest in the
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George Stevens Jr. joins Story & Craft
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George Stevens, Jr.: films we were making and I would receive an
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George Stevens, Jr.: occasional phone call from him.
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George Stevens, Jr.: He called me to say I think you ought to
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George Stevens, Jr.: enter that film in the Academy Awards.
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Announcer: Welcome to Story and Craft.
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Announcer: Now here's your host, Marc Preston.
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Announcer: Well, hello there.
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Announcer: How are?
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Marc Preston: you Good to have you here.
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Marc Preston: I'm Marc Preston.
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Marc Preston: This is Story and Craft.
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Marc Preston: If this is your first time, thank you for
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Marc Preston: checking out the show.
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Marc Preston: If you're coming back, you've been checking
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Marc Preston: out previous episodes.
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Marc Preston: Well, gosh, darn it.
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Marc Preston: Thank you for coming back by, I appreciate
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Marc Preston: it.
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Marc Preston: I love the fact you're liking the show and
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Marc Preston: checking out my Mischief Today.
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Marc Preston: This is a cool episode.
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Marc Preston: I mean, they're all cool episodes, of
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Marc Preston: course, but this one's special.
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Marc Preston: I think I'm talking with an actual, bona
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Marc Preston: fide Hollywood legend.
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Marc Preston: His name is George Stevens Jr.
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Marc Preston: He has spent 70 years working in Hollywood
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Marc Preston: as a writer, a producer, a director.
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Marc Preston: He has done all kinds of things that are
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Marc Preston: that in and of themselves would be cool.
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Marc Preston: I mean, he founded the American Film
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Marc Preston: Institute, the AFI.
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Marc Preston: He co-created the Kennedy Center Honors.
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Marc Preston: He's consulted and been friends with
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Marc Preston: presidents all the way back to John F
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Marc Preston: Kennedy, through President Obama, who
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Marc Preston: actually appointed him to be the co-chair
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Marc Preston: of the President's Committee on the Arts
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Marc Preston: and Humanities.
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Marc Preston: He's also gotten literally so many awards.
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Marc Preston: I don't have time to list them all here,
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Marc Preston: but just generally he's won numerous Emmys,
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Marc Preston: writers Guild, peabody Awards, even got an
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Marc Preston: Oscar and an honorary Oscar for his
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Marc Preston: lifelong contributions to the film industry.
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Marc Preston: This was an absolutely wonderful chat.
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Marc Preston: I had a great time talking with George.
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Marc Preston: He's got a new book, by the way, recounting
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Marc Preston: all of the great things he's done, all the
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Marc Preston: stories he has to tell.
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Marc Preston: It is called my Place in the Sun.
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Marc Preston: It is in bookstores and on Amazon and all
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Marc Preston: that jazz.
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Marc Preston: So, by the way, don't forget about
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Marc Preston: Storyandcraftpod.com Easy, easy way to find
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Marc Preston: out everything that I've got going on with
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Marc Preston: the show social media links.
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Marc Preston: You want to send me a message?
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Marc Preston: You can also send me a voicemail.
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Marc Preston: Well, just anything, storyandcraft.
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Marc Preston: Go to the site Storyandcraftpod.com.
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Marc Preston: And thank you so much again for being here.
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Marc Preston: It means a lot to me and I've been getting
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Marc Preston: some really nice messages.
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Marc Preston: Also, if I haven't had a chance to reply to
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Marc Preston: you just yet, thank you, I appreciate it.
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Marc Preston: Okay, let's get after it.
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Marc Preston: Today it is Hollywood Legend Day.
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Marc Preston: It is George Stevens Junior Day, right here
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Marc Preston: on StoryandCraft.
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Marc Preston: Where are you?
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George Stevens, Jr.: joining me from today, washington DC, in my
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George Stevens, Jr.: house in Georgetown.
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Marc Preston: Now, are you from DC or did you grow up
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Marc Preston: somewhere else?
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Marc Preston: I was born in the Hollywood Hospital.
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Marc Preston: I'm a fifth generation Californian.
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Marc Preston: You know I did see something that even your
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Marc Preston: grandparents were in the industry.
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Marc Preston: Now, was this something that was sort of
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Marc Preston: destiny for you or it was always in the DNA?
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Marc Preston: Or did you have other aspirations, other
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Marc Preston: things you wanted to do when you were
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Marc Preston: coming up?
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George Stevens, Jr.: I was a great admirer of Grantl and Rice
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George Stevens, Jr.: and Red Smith.
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George Stevens, Jr.: I wanted to be a sports writer and I love
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George Stevens, Jr.: baseball and basketball and golf.
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George Stevens, Jr.: And then the year I graduated from high
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George Stevens, Jr.: school I didn't have a summer job and my
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George Stevens, Jr.: father said you can help me.
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George Stevens, Jr.: And he gave me two assignments.
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George Stevens, Jr.: One was to break down Theodore Dreiser's An
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George Stevens, Jr.: American Tragedy, parts 1 and 2, the great,
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George Stevens, Jr.: the classic novel, and put them in
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George Stevens, Jr.: notebooks, all the details, because he was
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George Stevens, Jr.: about to start the screenplay of A Place in
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George Stevens, Jr.: the Sun based on that book.
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George Stevens, Jr.: And the other was to read stuff the scripts
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George Stevens, Jr.: and books that came from Paramount that
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George Stevens, Jr.: they were proposing for movies, and it was
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George Stevens, Jr.: pretty much trickly love stories that were
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George Stevens, Jr.: not too appealing to a 17-year-old on hot
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George Stevens, Jr.: summer afternoons and one afternoon I
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George Stevens, Jr.: picked up this book and read it in the
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George Stevens, Jr.: afternoon.
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George Stevens, Jr.: I went over to see my father that night and
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George Stevens, Jr.: he was reading in bed and I held it up and
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George Stevens, Jr.: I said, dad, this is a great story, you
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George Stevens, Jr.: ought to read it.
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George Stevens, Jr.: And he said why don't you tell me the story?
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George Stevens, Jr.: And so I found myself pacing around his bed
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George Stevens, Jr.: trying to tell him the story of Shane,
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George Stevens, Jr.: which I had read in Jack Schaeffer's novel
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George Stevens, Jr.: that afternoon and I realize now that him
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George Stevens, Jr.: offering me these two assignments was a way
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George Stevens, Jr.: of letting me find out whether I had an
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George Stevens, Jr.: aptitude or an interest in his profession.
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George Stevens, Jr.: And by the next summer I was in Jackson
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George Stevens, Jr.: Hole Wyoming with the job of company clerk
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George Stevens, Jr.: on the location for the shooting of Shane.
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George Stevens, Jr.: It was my first experience on a movie.
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Marc Preston: Now, of course, your father, george Stevens
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Marc Preston: Sr.
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Marc Preston: He wasn't the first person in your family
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Marc Preston: who was in this industry.
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Marc Preston: I think it went, I believe, all the way
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Marc Preston: back, if I'm not mistaken, to your
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Marc Preston: grandparents, who I believe were actors as
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Marc Preston: well, correct?
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George Stevens, Jr.: That family history that I really
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George Stevens, Jr.: crystallized in my mind in the writing of
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George Stevens, Jr.: this book was my great-grandmother was
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George Stevens, Jr.: Georgia Woodthorpe, and she was a great
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George Stevens, Jr.: actress on the stage in San Francisco and
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George Stevens, Jr.: the youngest Ophelia to the great Edwin
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George Stevens, Jr.: Booth's Hamlet, the greatest Shakespearean
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George Stevens, Jr.: actor of all time, and her daughter was my
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George Stevens, Jr.: father's mother.
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George Stevens, Jr.: But Georgia Woodthorpe started five
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George Stevens, Jr.: generations of Stevens as in show business
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George Stevens, Jr.: and then my mother's mother, alice Howell,
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George Stevens, Jr.: was a silent film comedian and big star.
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Marc Preston: Now, of course, you had your father to
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Marc Preston: speak with I mean, when it comes to I
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Marc Preston: pretty much anything in the industry.
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Marc Preston: But considering that you had grandparents
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Marc Preston: who were also in the industry, did you have
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Marc Preston: access to them to kind of pick their brain
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Marc Preston: as well on just whatever questions you had,
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Marc Preston: or just kind of to satisfy your curiosities
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Marc Preston: about the film industry?
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George Stevens, Jr.: They were around but sadly I never spoke to
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George Stevens, Jr.: them about it.
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George Stevens, Jr.: I was really hardly conscious that they
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George Stevens, Jr.: were actors.
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George Stevens, Jr.: But an important experience for me was when
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George Stevens, Jr.: I graduated from high school again.
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George Stevens, Jr.: I was supposed to go into the Air Force and
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George Stevens, Jr.: the Korean War ended, so I had an empty
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George Stevens, Jr.: dance card and my father invited me to join
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George Stevens, Jr.: him with the two writers, and the four of
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George Stevens, Jr.: us would sit every morning and work on the
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George Stevens, Jr.: screenplay of Giant.
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George Stevens, Jr.: So I spent eight months with kind of a
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George Stevens, Jr.: master class in screenwriting, as I
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George Stevens, Jr.: listened and pitched in occasionally as
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George Stevens, Jr.: this masterful screenplay was developed
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George Stevens, Jr.: that supported a film that has really stood
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George Stevens, Jr.: the test of time.
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Marc Preston: And of course, if a memory serves, that was
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Marc Preston: a big one for Rock Hudson, correct?
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George Stevens, Jr.: It was Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor and
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George Stevens, Jr.: James Dean and you know it is a classic
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George Stevens, Jr.: that has made it through the years.
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George Stevens, Jr.: My father always kind of believed in this
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George Stevens, Jr.: idea of the test of time, that a picture is
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George Stevens, Jr.: really measured by how it lasts rather than
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George Stevens, Jr.: how fashionable it might have been in the
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George Stevens, Jr.: year it came out.
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Marc Preston: That kind of brings me to another question
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Marc Preston: I had for you, because you've had this
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Marc Preston: really uncanny opportunity, this very
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Marc Preston: unique opportunity to, from a front row
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Marc Preston: seat, to see the evolution of film in the
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Marc Preston: US.
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Marc Preston: Just in general terms, I'm curious how do
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Marc Preston: you think film has evolved?
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Marc Preston: Or really more to the point, what do you
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Marc Preston: think film means in an art form?
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Marc Preston: Just kind of generally.
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George Stevens, Jr.: Well, I would say, looking at it from here
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George Stevens, Jr.: in the United States, film is the most
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George Stevens, Jr.: wonderful messenger the United States has
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George Stevens, Jr.: had, and I think one of the reasons we were
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George Stevens, Jr.: so long thought of as a leading country in
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George Stevens, Jr.: the world was everybody was seeing American
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George Stevens, Jr.: movies.
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George Stevens, Jr.: My father, I remember him saying he was in
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George Stevens, Jr.: combat, led the combat photography during
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George Stevens, Jr.: the war in Europe, and he said that the
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George Stevens, Jr.: French people would see these GIs and they
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George Stevens, Jr.: all talked like Jimmy Stewart and Henry
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George Stevens, Jr.: Fonda and they immediately loved them.
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George Stevens, Jr.: And so we have this wonderful calling card,
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George Stevens, Jr.: not always the most salutary vision of
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George Stevens, Jr.: America, but overall for generations people
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George Stevens, Jr.: saw and understood the United States
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George Stevens, Jr.: through its movies.
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Marc Preston: You know, that's not the first time I've
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Marc Preston: heard that.
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Marc Preston: Actually, that's kind of a unique way that
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Marc Preston: I think people overseas have had insight
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Marc Preston: into American culture, without a doubt.
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Hollywood Transition and Filmmaking Legacy
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Marc Preston: Now you know, of course, beyond working
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Marc Preston: with your father and spending time and
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Marc Preston: learning from him, when did you actually
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Marc Preston: start collecting a paycheck, working in
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Marc Preston: this industry and creating and doing things,
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Marc Preston: creating your own projects?
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George Stevens, Jr.: After I got out of the Air Force and I
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George Stevens, Jr.: worked on the editing of Giant with my
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George Stevens, Jr.: father and then I was kind of on the
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George Stevens, Jr.: pavement looking for work and Jack Webb,
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George Stevens, Jr.: who was the creator and star of Dragnet and
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George Stevens, Jr.: also made several movies, gave me a job as
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George Stevens, Jr.: an assistant and I started working with
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George Stevens, Jr.: Jack Webb and after about a year and a half
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George Stevens, Jr.: he said I think you ought to be a director
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George Stevens, Jr.: and he assigned a pilot for me to direct
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George Stevens, Jr.: that starred his colleague Ben Alexander,
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George Stevens, Jr.: and the pilot was never sold.
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George Stevens, Jr.: But then I started directing episodic
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George Stevens, Jr.: television for Jack Webb and then I had the
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George Stevens, Jr.: opportunity to direct Alfred Hitchcock
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George Stevens, Jr.: Presents and Peter Gunn and that was really
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George Stevens, Jr.: my start, actually at a very young age, it
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George Stevens, Jr.: was 25.
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George Stevens, Jr.: And I started directing those programs.
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Marc Preston: Now back then, were your contemporaries?
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Marc Preston: Were most of them roughly in the same age
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Marc Preston: range as you, or were the people creating
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Marc Preston: and directing and running the show?
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Marc Preston: Were they mostly people with gray hair?
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George Stevens, Jr.: Oh well, I greatly admired the friends of
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George Stevens, Jr.: my father, Fred Zenim and Ruben Mamoulian,
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George Stevens, Jr.: King Vidor, Frank Capra, William Weiler,
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George Stevens, Jr.: John Ford.
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George Stevens, Jr.: I was tremendously influenced by them, but
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George Stevens, Jr.: the people running the studios were
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George Stevens, Jr.: certainly a generation older Now, in your
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George Stevens, Jr.: early career.
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Marc Preston: I mean that obviously was very advantageous
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Marc Preston: to have your father be who he was.
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Marc Preston: I'm sure it managed to get some doors open
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Marc Preston: for you.
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Marc Preston: That gave you the opportunity to show what
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Marc Preston: you were capable of, and you then evolved
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Marc Preston: throughout the years and created some
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Marc Preston: things which were kind of uniquely your own,
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Marc Preston: like the American Film Institute.
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Marc Preston: I was hoping you could touch a little bit
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Marc Preston: on your evolution.
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Marc Preston: You know how you went from working with
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Marc Preston: your father to creating your own thing, as
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Marc Preston: it were.
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,660 --> 00:11:56,663
George Stevens, Jr.: Yeah, well, I've written a book called my
269
,723 --> 00:11:58,967
George Stevens, Jr.: Place in the Sun Life in the Golden Age of
270
,267 --> 00:12:02,612
George Stevens, Jr.: Hollywood in Washington, in which I talk
271
,652 --> 00:12:05,256
George Stevens, Jr.: about the transition in my life, which was
272
,817 --> 00:12:07,559
George Stevens, Jr.: I was happily enjoying my career in
273
,600 --> 00:12:07,880
George Stevens, Jr.: Hollywood.
274
,040 --> 00:12:10,725
George Stevens, Jr.: I had finished working with my father as
275
,785 --> 00:12:13,490
George Stevens, Jr.: the associate producer on the diary of Anne
276
,510 --> 00:12:16,054
George Stevens, Jr.: Frank and I directed the location scenes
277
,841 --> 00:12:18,426
George Stevens, Jr.: and we were about to start the greatest
278
,466 --> 00:12:22,725
George Stevens, Jr.: story ever told, and Edward R Murrow had
279
,266 --> 00:12:25,189
George Stevens, Jr.: been appointed by President Kennedy to run
280
,570 --> 00:12:27,413
George Stevens, Jr.: the United States Information Agency.
281
,300 --> 00:12:33,586
George Stevens, Jr.: And Murrow and I met by coincidence really,
282
,528 --> 00:12:36,209
George Stevens, Jr.: and the next thing I knew he'd invited me
283
,249 --> 00:12:39,173
George Stevens, Jr.: to come back and join him and run the
284
,914 --> 00:12:42,781
George Stevens, Jr.: Motion Picture Division of USIA, and that
285
,821 --> 00:12:45,148
George Stevens, Jr.: brought me into the world of Kennedy's new
286
,188 --> 00:12:45,669
George Stevens, Jr.: frontier.
287
,720 --> 00:12:48,344
Marc Preston: Well, edward R Murrow.
288
,384 --> 00:12:51,230
Marc Preston: He's just definitely on the Mount Rushmore
289
,771 --> 00:12:53,094
Marc Preston: of American journalists.
290
,541 --> 00:12:55,024
Marc Preston: I mean that must have been a wonderful
291
,064 --> 00:12:55,626
Marc Preston: connection to make.
292
,886 --> 00:12:58,753
Marc Preston: How did you come to meet Edward R Murrow?
293
,262 --> 00:13:05,430
George Stevens, Jr.: And when Kennedy was elected, a friend of
294
,470 --> 00:13:08,274
George Stevens, Jr.: mine and I at 20th Century Fox had an idea
295
,140 --> 00:13:10,746
George Stevens, Jr.: as a public service we wanted to make a
296
,348 --> 00:13:13,737
George Stevens, Jr.: film of Jacqueline Kennedy's trip to India.
297
,777 --> 00:13:15,603
George Stevens, Jr.: That had been announced and we wrote to Ed
298
,623 --> 00:13:17,369
George Stevens, Jr.: Murrow proposing it.
299
,381 --> 00:13:20,544
George Stevens, Jr.: And before we got a reply we learned that
300
,584 --> 00:13:22,748
George Stevens, Jr.: Murrow was coming to speak to the film
301
,788 --> 00:13:25,573
George Stevens, Jr.: industry at Chasen's Restaurant on a Sunday
302
,713 --> 00:13:29,147
George Stevens, Jr.: evening and it was all the moguls and the
303
,287 --> 00:13:30,591
George Stevens, Jr.: big directors and stars.
304
,420 --> 00:13:33,825
George Stevens, Jr.: And we sent a message to Murrow saying well,
305
,845 --> 00:13:35,709
George Stevens, Jr.: you know, it is the new frontier.
306
,749 --> 00:13:37,292
George Stevens, Jr.: Would you like to meet some younger people?
307
,162 --> 00:13:40,004
George Stevens, Jr.: And he accepted.
308
,726 --> 00:13:42,410
George Stevens, Jr.: On a Friday afternoon at the director's
309
,450 --> 00:13:46,144
George Stevens, Jr.: guild Paul Newman was there, richard Zanick,
310
,806 --> 00:13:50,752
George Stevens, Jr.: stuart Stern, writer a group of us about a
311
,812 --> 00:13:53,181
George Stevens, Jr.: dozen met with Murrow and we had a
312
,242 --> 00:13:57,110
George Stevens, Jr.: conversation about how we thought we might
313
,150 --> 00:13:58,312
George Stevens, Jr.: help with the new frontier.
314
,401 --> 00:14:02,569
George Stevens, Jr.: And the next day I got a call from Sam
315
,609 --> 00:14:03,211
George Stevens, Jr.: Goldwyn Jr.
316
,940 --> 00:14:06,308
George Stevens, Jr.: He said Ed Murrow is staying at my father's
317
,348 --> 00:14:08,965
George Stevens, Jr.: house and he wonders if you could come by
318
,005 --> 00:14:10,209
George Stevens, Jr.: and meet with him on Sunday.
319
,061 --> 00:14:14,669
George Stevens, Jr.: And I went by to see Ed Murrow and we had a
320
,729 --> 00:14:17,623
George Stevens, Jr.: wonderful talk and he asked me to come take
321
,643 --> 00:14:20,508
George Stevens, Jr.: this job running the motion picture
322
,949 --> 00:14:23,393
George Stevens, Jr.: operation, making 300 documentaries a year.
323
,060 --> 00:14:26,910
Marc Preston: Holy cow, that's 300 documentaries a year.
324
,940 --> 00:14:30,026
George Stevens, Jr.: I mean you must have had a nice staff of
325
,366 --> 00:14:33,753
George Stevens, Jr.: collaborators or people helping you, to put
326
,773 --> 00:14:37,885
George Stevens, Jr.: this together Well and I enlisted unlike
327
,925 --> 00:14:39,869
George Stevens, Jr.: World War II, when Frank Capra and my
328
,929 --> 00:14:44,662
George Stevens, Jr.: father and William Weiler, john Houston,
329
,762 --> 00:14:48,089
George Stevens, Jr.: all left their studios to go work for the
330
,149 --> 00:14:48,410
George Stevens, Jr.: war.
331
,420 --> 00:14:52,666
George Stevens, Jr.: I couldn't call on them, but we found
332
,208 --> 00:14:56,342
George Stevens, Jr.: wonderful young filmmakers and we were very
333
,402 --> 00:15:00,849
George Stevens, Jr.: successful and made Academy Award-winning
334
,889 --> 00:15:03,534
George Stevens, Jr.: films and films that really served the
335
,574 --> 00:15:04,455
George Stevens, Jr.: country abroad.
336
,021 --> 00:15:05,922
Marc Preston: Now, for the most part.
337
,103 --> 00:15:07,365
Marc Preston: What was your focus?
338
,467 --> 00:15:10,590
Marc Preston: The subject matter or genre whatever have
339
,631 --> 00:15:12,534
Marc Preston: you of the documentaries that you were
340
,554 --> 00:15:12,955
Marc Preston: producing?
341
,160 --> 00:15:21,909
George Stevens, Jr.: Well, one area was putting an honest and
342
,949 --> 00:15:26,654
George Stevens, Jr.: more informed face of the civil rights
343
,575 --> 00:15:29,337
George Stevens, Jr.: movement in the United States.
344
,786 --> 00:15:36,330
George Stevens, Jr.: The images seen abroad were police dogs
345
,731 --> 00:15:39,475
George Stevens, Jr.: attacking African Americans.
346
,301 --> 00:15:41,262
George Stevens, Jr.: And we made films.
347
,703 --> 00:15:43,987
George Stevens, Jr.: One was called Nine from Little Rock, which
348
,007 --> 00:15:46,952
George Stevens, Jr.: is the story of the nine students who went
349
,012 --> 00:15:50,143
George Stevens, Jr.: into Little Rock High School and had the
350
,845 --> 00:15:52,609
George Stevens, Jr.: National Guard there to get them through
351
,371 --> 00:15:55,723
George Stevens, Jr.: the door, and that was directed by Charles
352
,743 --> 00:15:59,249
George Stevens, Jr.: Guggenheim and told the story of these nine
353
,289 --> 00:16:02,053
George Stevens, Jr.: children and where they went after Little
354
,093 --> 00:16:05,708
George Stevens, Jr.: Rock High and that did win the Academy
355
,768 --> 00:16:06,109
George Stevens, Jr.: Award.
356
,900 --> 00:16:08,604
George Stevens, Jr.: And we made another one on the March on
357
,644 --> 00:16:11,631
George Stevens, Jr.: Washington in 1963, who was directed by
358
,691 --> 00:16:14,624
George Stevens, Jr.: James Blue, and that told the story of that
359
,265 --> 00:16:18,130
George Stevens, Jr.: wonderful day when black and white
360
,170 --> 00:16:20,734
George Stevens, Jr.: Americans, hundreds of thousands of them,
361
,180 --> 00:16:25,611
George Stevens, Jr.: came together to call out for jobs and
362
,651 --> 00:16:25,952
George Stevens, Jr.: freedom.
363
,520 --> 00:16:28,205
Marc Preston: Now, of course you kind of carried that
364
,266 --> 00:16:31,203
Marc Preston: theme forward, the film about Thurgood
365
,243 --> 00:16:34,049
Marc Preston: Marshall, the separate but equal with
366
,109 --> 00:16:34,771
Marc Preston: Sidney Poitier.
367
,840 --> 00:16:37,264
Marc Preston: And that kind of brings me to another point
368
,725 --> 00:16:38,568
Marc Preston: or another question.
369
,628 --> 00:16:42,464
Marc Preston: Rather, when you were kind of coming into
370
,504 --> 00:16:44,628
Marc Preston: your own and directing these films with
371
,789 --> 00:16:47,233
Marc Preston: these stars who would become Hollywood
372
,313 --> 00:16:50,885
Marc Preston: icons, what was it like collaborating early
373
,145 --> 00:16:55,633
Marc Preston: on and creating films with these really
374
,994 --> 00:16:58,451
Marc Preston: talented actors, and did you know at the
375
,492 --> 00:17:01,446
Marc Preston: time that they were going to become who
376
,707 --> 00:17:02,189
Marc Preston: they were?
377
,661 --> 00:17:04,146
Marc Preston: I mean, Sidney Poitier is a wonderful
378
,186 --> 00:17:04,849
Marc Preston: example of that.
379
,642 --> 00:17:10,148
George Stevens, Jr.: I'm so glad you asked, Marc, but Sidney is
380
,268 --> 00:17:15,035
George Stevens, Jr.: one of the great figures of our time and a
381
,781 --> 00:17:20,744
George Stevens, Jr.: wonderful person, and he was really the
382
,904 --> 00:17:25,991
George Stevens, Jr.: only actor who could have the weight to
383
,913 --> 00:17:31,181
George Stevens, Jr.: enable us to do a mini-series about
384
,123 --> 00:17:34,668
George Stevens, Jr.: separate but equal, which was the story of
385
,688 --> 00:17:36,912
George Stevens, Jr.: the desegregation of schools and the
386
,953 --> 00:17:39,304
George Stevens, Jr.: Supreme Court decision that outlawed it,
387
,425 --> 00:17:41,109
George Stevens, Jr.: all engineered by Thurgood Marshall.
388
,980 --> 00:17:44,662
George Stevens, Jr.: And Sidney played Thurgood and I guess from
389
,742 --> 00:17:47,308
George Stevens, Jr.: my standpoint I'd been around my father and
390
,348 --> 00:17:50,403
George Stevens, Jr.: around my father with actors and I kind of
391
,503 --> 00:17:53,050
George Stevens, Jr.: absorbed, I think, a lot of his technique,
392
,792 --> 00:17:57,342
George Stevens, Jr.: which was really to be very straightforward
393
,382 --> 00:17:59,547
George Stevens, Jr.: with the actors, to speak very softly with
394
,587 --> 00:18:03,002
George Stevens, Jr.: them, not talk about them, not talk to them
395
,082 --> 00:18:05,949
George Stevens, Jr.: or correct them in front of other actors,
396
,969 --> 00:18:07,191
George Stevens, Jr.: to always take them aside.
397
,020 --> 00:18:12,831
George Stevens, Jr.: And Sidney was just such a talent.
398
,160 --> 00:18:16,364
George Stevens, Jr.: And also in that film was Burt Lancaster,
399
,086 --> 00:18:23,123
George Stevens, Jr.: another kind of film icon, and Burt was a
400
,163 --> 00:18:27,704
George Stevens, Jr.: little more temperamental than Sidney, but
401
,765 --> 00:18:32,246
George Stevens, Jr.: we all got along great and we won the Emmy
402
,286 --> 00:18:34,251
George Stevens, Jr.: for the best mini-series for separate but
403
,311 --> 00:18:34,532
George Stevens, Jr.: equal.
404
,021 --> 00:18:36,805
Marc Preston: Well, if I'm not mistaken, didn't you also
405
,885 --> 00:18:38,969
Marc Preston: turn that into a stage play as well?
406
,851 --> 00:18:43,508
George Stevens, Jr.: It's interesting, several years later I was
407
,548 --> 00:18:45,122
George Stevens, Jr.: having dinner my wife and I were having
408
,163 --> 00:18:47,589
George Stevens, Jr.: dinner with Sidney and Joanna, his wife,
409
,800 --> 00:18:50,845
George Stevens, Jr.: and we sat down at the restaurant and I
410
,886 --> 00:18:52,871
George Stevens, Jr.: said well, you know what's going on.
411
,660 --> 00:18:56,108
George Stevens, Jr.: And Sidney had kind of a princely way of
412
,168 --> 00:18:58,305
George Stevens, Jr.: talking and he looked at me and he said
413
,207 --> 00:19:02,376
George Stevens, Jr.: it's been 40 years since Raisin and the Sun,
414
,238 --> 00:19:05,286
George Stevens, Jr.: the Broadway play that made him.
415
,080 --> 00:19:09,480
George Stevens, Jr.: He said I want to go back to Broadway and I
416
,500 --> 00:19:10,623
George Stevens, Jr.: don't know where it came from.
417
,843 --> 00:19:13,810
George Stevens, Jr.: But I said how about I write a play about
418
,850 --> 00:19:14,592
George Stevens, Jr.: Thurgood Marshall?
419
,521 --> 00:19:16,926
George Stevens, Jr.: And Sidney looked at me and he said that
420
,946 --> 00:19:17,648
George Stevens, Jr.: would be wonderful.
421
,322 --> 00:19:22,487
George Stevens, Jr.: And so I wrote the play and Sidney and I
422
,808 --> 00:19:25,693
George Stevens, Jr.: rehearsed it in my apartment in Los Angeles
423
,753 --> 00:19:26,694
George Stevens, Jr.: on several occasions.
424
,741 --> 00:19:31,189
George Stevens, Jr.: And then one day he said to me he said you
425
,209 --> 00:19:34,062
George Stevens, Jr.: know, I'm 75 years old, I've been trying to
426
,142 --> 00:19:36,088
George Stevens, Jr.: learn this play and I can't learn it.
427
,800 --> 00:19:38,065
George Stevens, Jr.: You know, we can do it as a movie.
428
,141 --> 00:19:40,726
George Stevens, Jr.: And I said we've really done the movie.
429
,580 --> 00:19:45,367
George Stevens, Jr.: So we moved on and I next did it with James
430
,467 --> 00:19:49,013
George Stevens, Jr.: Earl Jones at the Newport Playhouse in
431
,053 --> 00:19:51,124
George Stevens, Jr.: Connecticut on our way to Broadway.
432
,220 --> 00:19:55,027
George Stevens, Jr.: But James Earl in that case also had
433
,147 --> 00:19:56,731
George Stevens, Jr.: trouble learning the play.
434
,811 --> 00:19:58,564
George Stevens, Jr.: Although he was able to do plays with
435
,685 --> 00:20:01,006
George Stevens, Jr.: actors, the idea of a solo play was
436
,066 --> 00:20:03,823
George Stevens, Jr.: difficult and we eventually did it with
437
,863 --> 00:20:06,189
George Stevens, Jr.: Lawrence Fishburne, who turned out to be a
438
,269 --> 00:20:09,464
George Stevens, Jr.: perfect Thurgood, and we went to Broadway
439
,484 --> 00:20:11,189
George Stevens, Jr.: with Thurgood and had a wonderful success,
440
,260 --> 00:20:13,564
George Stevens, Jr.: and it's still being played around the
441
,624 --> 00:20:15,049
George Stevens, Jr.: country by different playhouses.
442
,560 --> 00:20:17,786
Marc Preston: Well, naturally, lawrence Fishburne is
443
,347 --> 00:20:20,941
Marc Preston: exceptionally, exceptionally talented, but
444
,221 --> 00:20:23,747
Marc Preston: night after night to be able to hear James
445
,807 --> 00:20:25,631
Marc Preston: Earl Jones with that commanding voice
446
,500 --> 00:20:27,985
Marc Preston: delivering those lines must have been a
447
,046 --> 00:20:28,266
Marc Preston: treat.
448
,060 --> 00:20:30,963
Marc Preston: It's interesting in that light.
449
,223 --> 00:20:37,313
George Stevens, Jr.: Marc Cindy and James Earl brought enormous
450
,413 --> 00:20:38,475
George Stevens, Jr.: gifts and reputation.
451
,041 --> 00:20:41,289
George Stevens, Jr.: But it turned out that Lawrence, who was in
452
,329 --> 00:20:44,440
George Stevens, Jr.: his 40s, was able to come out playing the
453
,681 --> 00:20:47,225
George Stevens, Jr.: older Thurgood and without any change of
454
,265 --> 00:20:49,153
George Stevens, Jr.: makeup, just taking his glasses and his
455
,234 --> 00:20:51,703
George Stevens, Jr.: attitude, then play the younger Thurgood
456
,104 --> 00:20:53,789
George Stevens, Jr.: through to becoming the Supreme Court
457
,829 --> 00:20:54,271
George Stevens, Jr.: Justice.
458
,380 --> 00:20:57,690
George Stevens, Jr.: So he brought a special quality to it.
459
,380 --> 00:20:59,944
Marc Preston: We've talked about all the different hats
460
,004 --> 00:21:01,868
Marc Preston: you've worn writing and directing,
461
,309 --> 00:21:02,810
Marc Preston: producing.
462
,060 --> 00:21:05,404
Marc Preston: When you're working on a project, do you
463
,444 --> 00:21:07,930
Marc Preston: have a preference on what you would like to
464
,991 --> 00:21:10,445
Marc Preston: do, or do you like to wear as many hats as
465
,525 --> 00:21:12,830
Marc Preston: possible on each project you work on?
466
,780 --> 00:21:15,186
George Stevens, Jr.: It varies case by case.
467
,960 --> 00:21:19,329
George Stevens, Jr.: I wrote and directed separate but equal.
468
,580 --> 00:21:23,948
George Stevens, Jr.: But in other projects I write or co-write
469
,549 --> 00:21:25,091
George Stevens, Jr.: and produce.
470
,100 --> 00:21:29,527
George Stevens, Jr.: It varies from case to case, but always one
471
,607 --> 00:21:31,552
George Stevens, Jr.: is interested in the construction of the
472
,592 --> 00:21:35,526
George Stevens, Jr.: story, because that's the heart of any of
473
,586 --> 00:21:37,350
George Stevens, Jr.: these visual mediums.
474
,488 --> 00:21:45,310
Marc Preston: Now going forward.
475
,630 --> 00:21:47,513
Marc Preston: We're talking about the other things you've
476
,533 --> 00:21:49,341
Marc Preston: done in addition to writing, producing,
477
,562 --> 00:21:52,586
Marc Preston: directing the AFI, or American Film
478
,646 --> 00:21:53,128
Marc Preston: Institute.
479
,570 --> 00:21:55,518
Marc Preston: For those that are not as acquainted with
480
,579 --> 00:21:57,800
Marc Preston: it, could you kind of touch on it what
481
,840 --> 00:22:02,369
Marc Preston: exactly its job is or the functions of the
482
,429 --> 00:22:05,194
Marc Preston: AFI, as well as how you got involved in
483
,460 --> 00:22:06,365
Marc Preston: helping to create it?
484
,760 --> 00:22:10,469
George Stevens, Jr.: The AFI was established to advance the art
485
,509 --> 00:22:11,752
George Stevens, Jr.: of film in the United States.
486
,020 --> 00:22:16,352
George Stevens, Jr.: What that meant in those days was film
487
,392 --> 00:22:18,577
George Stevens, Jr.: preservation and film restoration, because
488
,179 --> 00:22:21,524
George Stevens, Jr.: half of the films that had been made were
489
,865 --> 00:22:25,492
George Stevens, Jr.: on nitrate, all were on nitrate stock and a
490
,672 --> 00:22:27,464
George Stevens, Jr.: great proportion of them were lost or
491
,524 --> 00:22:27,825
George Stevens, Jr.: missing.
492
,640 --> 00:22:31,608
George Stevens, Jr.: So, working with other archives, we did a
493
,688 --> 00:22:32,831
George Stevens, Jr.: restoration project.
494
,000 --> 00:22:37,768
George Stevens, Jr.: There are now 45,000 films in the AFI
495
,828 --> 00:22:39,611
George Stevens, Jr.: collection in the Library of Congress.
496
,740 --> 00:22:43,765
George Stevens, Jr.: Also, the advancement of filmmakers,
497
,825 --> 00:22:46,531
George Stevens, Jr.: helping filmmakers be trained and make
498
,551 --> 00:22:46,952
George Stevens, Jr.: their way.
499
,180 --> 00:22:51,109
George Stevens, Jr.: We started the AFI Center for Advanced Film
500
,149 --> 00:22:55,138
George Stevens, Jr.: Studies in Beverly Hills in 1969 at the
501
,619 --> 00:22:56,662
George Stevens, Jr.: Greystone Mansion.
502
,702 --> 00:22:59,648
George Stevens, Jr.: There it's now called the AFI Conservatory,
503
,281 --> 00:23:02,925
George Stevens, Jr.: but in that first class at AFI were
504
,346 --> 00:23:07,333
George Stevens, Jr.: Terrence Malick, Paul Schrader, Caleb
505
,373 --> 00:23:09,965
George Stevens, Jr.: Deschanel, the great cinematographer and
506
,985 --> 00:23:11,349
George Stevens, Jr.: the next year David Lynch.
507
,180 --> 00:23:16,328
George Stevens, Jr.: So for 50 years the AFI Conservatory has
508
,388 --> 00:23:21,698
George Stevens, Jr.: been a training ground for new filmmakers,
509
,139 --> 00:23:24,347
George Stevens, Jr.: writers, directors, cinematographers,
510
,427 --> 00:23:24,889
George Stevens, Jr.: cameramen.
511
,940 --> 00:23:27,423
Marc Preston: Now, of course, beyond the AFI, you also
512
,540 --> 00:23:29,487
Marc Preston: were very instrumental in getting the
513
,605 --> 00:23:31,287
Marc Preston: Kennedy Center honors off the ground.
514
,780 --> 00:23:33,885
Marc Preston: Can you discuss a little bit about the
515
,925 --> 00:23:35,569
Marc Preston: genesis of that project?
516
,920 --> 00:23:37,642
George Stevens, Jr.: The AFI.
517
,703 --> 00:23:40,773
George Stevens, Jr.: When I was running it had its Eastern
518
,873 --> 00:23:42,860
George Stevens, Jr.: office in the John F Kennedy Center for the
519
,960 --> 00:23:45,487
George Stevens, Jr.: Performing Arts, which was Kennedy's
520
,808 --> 00:23:49,304
George Stevens, Jr.: memorial, and I had done an event for AFI's
521
,344 --> 00:23:52,250
George Stevens, Jr.: 10th anniversary for CBS television.
522
,290 --> 00:23:54,802
George Stevens, Jr.: That was very successful and I went down
523
,103 --> 00:23:57,571
George Stevens, Jr.: the next day and said to the head of the
524
,631 --> 00:24:00,642
George Stevens, Jr.: Kennedy Center you ought to have your own
525
,682 --> 00:24:00,903
George Stevens, Jr.: show.
526
,681 --> 00:24:04,288
George Stevens, Jr.: And he said do you have any ideas?
527
,440 --> 00:24:07,648
George Stevens, Jr.: And I said the idea is carved in marble on
528
,668 --> 00:24:09,653
George Stevens, Jr.: the wall of this building in the words of
529
,840 --> 00:24:10,623
George Stevens, Jr.: President Kennedy.
530
,881 --> 00:24:15,231
George Stevens, Jr.: And President Kennedy had said I look
531
,271 --> 00:24:17,278
George Stevens, Jr.: forward to an America that won't be afraid
532
,659 --> 00:24:20,168
George Stevens, Jr.: of grace and beauty, that will reward
533
,208 --> 00:24:22,777
George Stevens, Jr.: achievement in the arts the way we reward
534
,837 --> 00:24:25,105
George Stevens, Jr.: achievement in business and statecraft.
535
,060 --> 00:24:28,685
George Stevens, Jr.: And therein was the idea for honoring
536
,286 --> 00:24:31,870
George Stevens, Jr.: America's finest performing artists.
537
,002 --> 00:24:39,326
George Stevens, Jr.: And we began that and I co-wrote and
538
,867 --> 00:24:42,840
George Stevens, Jr.: produced that for 37 years Now.
539
,880 --> 00:24:44,785
Marc Preston: speaking of President Kennedy, you had
540
Cinema's Future and Presidential Filmmaking
,845 --> 00:24:48,393
Marc Preston: mentioned that you were part of a project
541
,440 --> 00:24:51,702
Marc Preston: to shoot a documentary or some film of
542
,062 --> 00:24:54,903
Marc Preston: Jacqueline Kennedy's trip to India.
543
,540 --> 00:24:58,328
Marc Preston: Did you go along with the first lady on
544
,349 --> 00:24:58,710
Marc Preston: that trip?
545
,407 --> 00:25:01,593
George Stevens, Jr.: I didn't go on the trip, but we sent a film
546
,613 --> 00:25:03,891
George Stevens, Jr.: crew on the trip and made the film.
547
,205 --> 00:25:05,610
Marc Preston: Now I'm curious did you have any
548
,092 --> 00:25:07,627
Marc Preston: relationship with, or did you interact
549
,108 --> 00:25:10,234
Marc Preston: regularly with, the Kennedy family?
550
,495 --> 00:25:10,836
Marc Preston: I did.
551
,245 --> 00:25:12,509
George Stevens, Jr.: Making films for Ed Murrow.
552
,610 --> 00:25:14,808
George Stevens, Jr.: President Kennedy took an interest in the
553
,849 --> 00:25:18,090
George Stevens, Jr.: films we were making and I would receive an
554
,150 --> 00:25:21,228
George Stevens, Jr.: occasional phone call from him, reacting to
555
,308 --> 00:25:24,490
George Stevens, Jr.: one of the films we made and asking where
556
,530 --> 00:25:27,971
George Stevens, Jr.: it was being shown and how many countries,
557
,071 --> 00:25:28,853
George Stevens, Jr.: what languages.
558
,846 --> 00:25:32,534
George Stevens, Jr.: And on another occasion he called about a
559
,574 --> 00:25:34,986
George Stevens, Jr.: film called the Five Cities of June, which
560
,189 --> 00:25:39,527
George Stevens, Jr.: included his trip to Berlin where he made
561
,587 --> 00:25:43,286
George Stevens, Jr.: his famous Ich bin Einbrenner speech beside
562
,326 --> 00:25:46,656
George Stevens, Jr.: the Berlin Wall in 1963.
563
,872 --> 00:25:53,247
George Stevens, Jr.: And he called me to say I think you ought
564
,267 --> 00:25:55,494
George Stevens, Jr.: to enter that film in the Academy Awards,
565
,265 --> 00:25:58,472
George Stevens, Jr.: which showed kind of that President Kennedy
566
,532 --> 00:26:01,332
George Stevens, Jr.: had all sorts of interests and appetites,
567
,725 --> 00:26:01,886
George Stevens, Jr.: you know.
568
,946 --> 00:26:03,506
Marc Preston: I'm thinking back to what you said about
569
,546 --> 00:26:06,534
Marc Preston: how your father believed that films should
570
,594 --> 00:26:07,076
Marc Preston: endure.
571
,385 --> 00:26:09,914
Marc Preston: You know, and you've had the opportunity to
572
,054 --> 00:26:13,292
Marc Preston: interact with a wide range of folks and
573
,914 --> 00:26:15,518
Marc Preston: actors like Sidney Poitier.
574
,886 --> 00:26:19,493
Marc Preston: You know the films he's in definitely
575
,553 --> 00:26:22,472
Marc Preston: endure and even for myself I look back at
576
,492 --> 00:26:24,490
Marc Preston: films I enjoy with, let's say, like Cary
577
,510 --> 00:26:26,772
Marc Preston: Grant, you know, watching things he was in.
578
,466 --> 00:26:29,307
Marc Preston: I still very much enjoy them and I think
579
,447 --> 00:26:32,506
Marc Preston: they were, you know, great commentaries on
580
,526 --> 00:26:34,787
Marc Preston: the time and just, I think, wonderful works
581
,289 --> 00:26:36,213
Marc Preston: of art most certainly.
582
,405 --> 00:26:40,896
George Stevens, Jr.: Can I tell you a story that relates to this?
583
Time, White House Relationships
,325 --> 00:26:46,195
George Stevens, Jr.: In 1951 I went to the Academy Awards with
584
,256 --> 00:26:52,720
George Stevens, Jr.: my father and I sat next to him and Joseph
585
,800 --> 00:26:57,273
George Stevens, Jr.: L Manckowitz, a writer, producer, director,
586
,314 --> 00:26:59,226
George Stevens, Jr.: had won last year's award and he was
587
,286 --> 00:27:02,266
George Stevens, Jr.: presenting it and he read the nominees John
588
,346 --> 00:27:04,193
George Stevens, Jr.: Houston, the asphalt jungle.
589
,825 --> 00:27:07,611
George Stevens, Jr.: William Weiler, detective story.
590
,385 --> 00:27:11,093
George Stevens, Jr.: Vincent Minnelli, an American in Paris.
591
,945 --> 00:27:15,695
George Stevens, Jr.: Elia Kazan, a streetcar named Desire.
592
,265 --> 00:27:18,373
George Stevens, Jr.: And George Stevens, a place in the sun
593
,705 --> 00:27:21,752
George Stevens, Jr.: quite an array in one year.
594
,665 --> 00:27:27,056
George Stevens, Jr.: And driving home the car, the Oscar was on
595
,096 --> 00:27:29,746
George Stevens, Jr.: the seat between us in the car and I
596
,947 --> 00:27:32,233
George Stevens, Jr.: remember my father looking over at me and
597
,293 --> 00:27:35,411
George Stevens, Jr.: saying we'll have a better idea what kind
598
,431 --> 00:27:37,650
George Stevens, Jr.: of a film this is in about 25 years.
599
,425 --> 00:27:41,673
George Stevens, Jr.: And he was talking about the test of time.
600
,245 --> 00:27:44,693
George Stevens, Jr.: You know he, having come from the theater,
601
,405 --> 00:27:50,369
George Stevens, Jr.: knew the importance of art lasting, and now
602
,409 --> 00:27:54,028
George Stevens, Jr.: he I'm certain he did not know that on that
603
,108 --> 00:27:57,469
George Stevens, Jr.: night in 1951 he was talking to the future
604
,550 --> 00:27:59,388
George Stevens, Jr.: founding director of the American Film
605
,449 --> 00:28:02,551
George Stevens, Jr.: Institute, but he was giving me an idea
606
,053 --> 00:28:05,449
George Stevens, Jr.: that was at the core of everything AFI did
607
,871 --> 00:28:08,732
George Stevens, Jr.: the test of time when it comes to movies.
608
,385 --> 00:28:13,013
Marc Preston: You know that's wonderful, you know that's
609
,054 --> 00:28:13,495
Marc Preston: so true.
610
,625 --> 00:28:15,813
Marc Preston: I mean, there are so many movies that maybe
611
,925 --> 00:28:19,275
Marc Preston: didn't even win an award that not only
612
,335 --> 00:28:21,912
Marc Preston: stand the test of time but become even more
613
,932 --> 00:28:23,690
Marc Preston: appreciated as the years go on.
614
,426 --> 00:28:27,392
Marc Preston: And you know you had mentioned the
615
,433 --> 00:28:28,989
Marc Preston: relationship you had to the Kennedy White
616
,030 --> 00:28:31,531
Marc Preston: House and you, from what I understand, you
617
,153 --> 00:28:34,831
Marc Preston: had relationships with other White House
618
,851 --> 00:28:35,513
Marc Preston: administrations.
619
,965 --> 00:28:37,627
Marc Preston: Now you did have a relationship with the
620
,747 --> 00:28:39,554
Marc Preston: Obama administration as well, correct?
621
,765 --> 00:28:40,086
George Stevens, Jr.: I did.
622
,246 --> 00:28:43,936
Marc Preston: I was a very early supporter of President
623
,996 --> 00:28:49,132
Marc Preston: Obama and we did eight years of Kennedy
624
,153 --> 00:28:51,831
Marc Preston: Center honors together and eight years of
625
,871 --> 00:28:53,550
Marc Preston: another show that I did called Christmas in
626
,590 --> 00:28:58,817
Marc Preston: Washington, so I had the pleasure of being
627
,837 --> 00:29:01,728
Marc Preston: associated with him Now that's such a
628
,809 --> 00:29:04,568
Marc Preston: wonderful opportunity, I mean for someone
629
,588 --> 00:29:07,067
Marc Preston: who makes movies and creates to be able to
630
,552 --> 00:29:10,545
Marc Preston: put some notches along the timeline, to
631
,606 --> 00:29:14,816
Marc Preston: document American film and to be a part of
632
,177 --> 00:29:17,893
Marc Preston: you know, to some degree being a part of
633
,973 --> 00:29:22,627
Marc Preston: writing the creative history of the US Now
634
,708 --> 00:29:23,109
Marc Preston: coming up.
635
,270 --> 00:29:24,173
Marc Preston: What were you watching?
636
,546 --> 00:29:27,874
Marc Preston: What movies or entertainment really
637
,914 --> 00:29:28,696
Marc Preston: captivated you?
638
,485 --> 00:29:29,686
Marc Preston: That?
639
,268 --> 00:29:31,854
Marc Preston: you know I don't know if they necessarily
640
,925 --> 00:29:33,571
Marc Preston: inspired you, but what did you like?
641
,591 --> 00:29:35,408
Marc Preston: To grab some popcorn, sit down and watch
642
,809 --> 00:29:36,491
Marc Preston: when you were coming up.
643
,645 --> 00:29:39,552
George Stevens, Jr.: I had become acquainted with my father's
644
,613 --> 00:29:43,495
George Stevens, Jr.: work and was admiring of the work of his
645
,575 --> 00:29:48,857
George Stevens, Jr.: colleagues and on the waterfront and from
646
,897 --> 00:29:50,808
George Stevens, Jr.: here to eternity, and pictures like that
647
,451 --> 00:29:55,093
George Stevens, Jr.: were, you know, I favored the ones that
648
,133 --> 00:29:56,586
George Stevens, Jr.: were going to be classics, although I
649
,626 --> 00:29:58,252
George Stevens, Jr.: didn't know they were going to be classics.
650
,885 --> 00:30:02,035
George Stevens, Jr.: But my first kind of we're looking back,
651
,105 --> 00:30:04,272
George Stevens, Jr.: where I realized I had my first instincts
652
,332 --> 00:30:04,893
George Stevens, Jr.: about film.
653
,845 --> 00:30:07,812
George Stevens, Jr.: We lived in Toluca Lake in North Hollywood
654
,328 --> 00:30:12,265
George Stevens, Jr.: and dad had a 16 millimeter projector and
655
,305 --> 00:30:14,091
George Stevens, Jr.: he taught me to thread it when I was 12
656
,132 --> 00:30:17,272
George Stevens, Jr.: years old and set up the screen on tripods
657
,125 --> 00:30:20,734
George Stevens, Jr.: and he had prints of the movies that he'd
658
,794 --> 00:30:21,035
George Stevens, Jr.: made.
659
,145 --> 00:30:23,452
George Stevens, Jr.: And I'd looked at some of the Wheeler and
660
,472 --> 00:30:24,475
George Stevens, Jr.: Woolsey comedies.
661
,625 --> 00:30:30,287
George Stevens, Jr.: And along came in 1939, gunga Dean, a film
662
,327 --> 00:30:33,145
George Stevens, Jr.: with Victor McLaughlin and Carrie Grant and
663
,506 --> 00:30:37,456
George Stevens, Jr.: Douglas Fairbanks Jr, a classic adventure
664
,977 --> 00:30:39,549
George Stevens, Jr.: comedy that took place in India.
665
,605 --> 00:30:45,051
George Stevens, Jr.: And I would thread that movie up and I
666
,271 --> 00:30:48,831
George Stevens, Jr.: sensed a dimension in it and at the center
667
,851 --> 00:30:51,229
George Stevens, Jr.: of it was Gunga Dean, the water bearer, the
668
,309 --> 00:30:53,829
George Stevens, Jr.: regimental beastie, and he wanted to be a
669
,889 --> 00:30:57,052
George Stevens, Jr.: soldier and, you know, toward the end of
670
,072 --> 00:31:00,354
George Stevens, Jr.: the movie he saves the regiment and then
671
,394 --> 00:31:02,970
George Stevens, Jr.: his funeral with wonderful Alfred Newman
672
,492 --> 00:31:04,375
George Stevens, Jr.: music playing.
673
,905 --> 00:31:07,092
George Stevens, Jr.: They have his burial and the British
674
,152 --> 00:31:09,649
George Stevens, Jr.: commander says you're a better man than I
675
,790 --> 00:31:14,114
George Stevens, Jr.: am, Gunga Dean, and it was touching to a 12
676
,154 --> 00:31:16,912
George Stevens, Jr.: year old and I think I started to develop a
677
,393 --> 00:31:20,493
George Stevens, Jr.: sensibility for films at that time.
678
,905 --> 00:31:23,452
Marc Preston: Now, as we kind of bring it forward a
679
,492 --> 00:31:26,009
Marc Preston: little bit, going from the things you
680
,049 --> 00:31:29,446
Marc Preston: enjoyed, things that inspired you and when
681
,467 --> 00:31:31,488
Marc Preston: you developed your sensibility for what
682
,528 --> 00:31:32,291
Marc Preston: good film was.
683
,765 --> 00:31:35,106
Marc Preston: If we were to look at, let's say, the last
684
,246 --> 00:31:38,767
Marc Preston: five to 10 years in theaters, what have you
685
,808 --> 00:31:41,651
Marc Preston: liked to go see, what kind of movies, or
686
,691 --> 00:31:44,249
Marc Preston: the performers, directors, who do you like
687
,289 --> 00:31:44,630
Marc Preston: to watch?
688
,725 --> 00:31:45,830
Marc Preston: What kind of films do you enjoy?
689
,786 --> 00:31:49,633
George Stevens, Jr.: I certainly like the Christopher Nolan
690
,595 --> 00:31:50,976
George Stevens, Jr.: films.
691
,130 --> 00:31:57,373
George Stevens, Jr.: I loved Jane Campion's picture this year
692
,286 --> 00:32:02,496
George Stevens, Jr.: and also I was very attracted to Will
693
,536 --> 00:32:07,335
George Stevens, Jr.: Smith's performance and the story in the
694
,355 --> 00:32:10,493
George Stevens, Jr.: picture about the Venus Williams and her
695
,513 --> 00:32:10,834
George Stevens, Jr.: sister.
696
,547 --> 00:32:14,172
George Stevens, Jr.: So there's an awful lot of fine work being
697
,212 --> 00:32:14,373
George Stevens, Jr.: done.
698
,245 --> 00:32:17,493
George Stevens, Jr.: I think too much of the investment in film
699
,145 --> 00:32:23,667
George Stevens, Jr.: is being devoted to the tent poles and the
700
,788 --> 00:32:26,768
George Stevens, Jr.: Marvel comics pictures, and so the
701
,009 --> 00:32:30,385
George Stevens, Jr.: filmmakers who are making more original and
702
,546 --> 00:32:33,406
George Stevens, Jr.: individual works sometimes are working with
703
,446 --> 00:32:36,809
George Stevens, Jr.: lesser budgets in fact, always are working
704
,850 --> 00:32:39,267
George Stevens, Jr.: with lesser budgets than my father and
705
,308 --> 00:32:42,275
George Stevens, Jr.: David Lean and Alfred Hitchcock were.
706
,105 --> 00:32:46,686
Marc Preston: Now I think it was Steven Spielberg, some
707
,726 --> 00:32:49,133
Marc Preston: time ago, had said, or had alluded to
708
,285 --> 00:32:52,654
Marc Preston: movies that will be coming out in theaters,
709
,785 --> 00:32:54,886
Marc Preston: that there will probably be less, and the
710
,027 --> 00:32:56,507
Marc Preston: ones that are going to show up are gonna be
711
,567 --> 00:32:58,207
Marc Preston: the really big movies that will be in
712
,247 --> 00:33:01,313
Marc Preston: theaters, have a little bit longer run time,
713
,226 --> 00:33:04,972
Marc Preston: and that means less movies and theaters,
714
,585 --> 00:33:08,495
Marc Preston: more movies being released and streaming
715
,207 --> 00:33:11,534
Marc Preston: and for people to be able to watch at home.
716
,446 --> 00:33:16,436
Marc Preston: Do you have an opinion as far as where
717
,456 --> 00:33:17,999
Marc Preston: movies are released?
718
,045 --> 00:33:20,113
Marc Preston: Do you think that there's something special
719
,225 --> 00:33:23,186
Marc Preston: about keeping more films in the theater, or
720
,367 --> 00:33:24,592
Marc Preston: does it even make a difference?
721
,905 --> 00:33:27,773
George Stevens, Jr.: Well, I'm torn because I love the big
722
,834 --> 00:33:28,195
George Stevens, Jr.: screen.
723
,885 --> 00:33:30,251
George Stevens, Jr.: That's what I was raised on.
724
,885 --> 00:33:35,506
George Stevens, Jr.: We just did a restoration premiere that
725
,586 --> 00:33:37,773
George Stevens, Jr.: Steven Spielberg and I presented together
726
,645 --> 00:33:42,568
George Stevens, Jr.: at Grommins Chinese of Giant and we were
727
,608 --> 00:33:46,704
George Stevens, Jr.: showing a film that premiered 65 years
728
,744 --> 00:33:49,663
George Stevens, Jr.: earlier in the same theater, now with a new
729
,683 --> 00:33:52,424
George Stevens, Jr.: audience, and Steven and I to watch this
730
,444 --> 00:33:56,364
George Stevens, Jr.: audience respond on an IMAX screen to this
731
,384 --> 00:33:59,802
George Stevens, Jr.: film was really kind of a proof of that
732
,822 --> 00:34:00,485
George Stevens, Jr.: test of time.
733
,769 --> 00:34:04,176
George Stevens, Jr.: So I like the big screen, but I also see
734
,939 --> 00:34:07,115
George Stevens, Jr.: what streaming is doing and providing
735
,175 --> 00:34:10,235
George Stevens, Jr.: different opportunities for independent
736
,255 --> 00:34:12,285
George Stevens, Jr.: filmmakers and a diversity of filmmakers,
737
,518 --> 00:34:14,245
George Stevens, Jr.: and I think that's very valuable.
738
,430 --> 00:34:18,141
George Stevens, Jr.: So I hope that the big screen will restore
739
,843 --> 00:34:22,518
George Stevens, Jr.: its place in our lives and that we can
740
,558 --> 00:34:26,755
George Stevens, Jr.: continue to have the films made for
741
,795 --> 00:34:30,493
George Stevens, Jr.: streaming and more modest budgets that give
742
,553 --> 00:34:32,945
George Stevens, Jr.: opportunity to new filmmakers.
743
,292 --> 00:34:36,040
Marc Preston: You know, I think there is something about
744
,161 --> 00:34:38,055
Marc Preston: the convenience of being able to watch
745
,173 --> 00:34:41,538
Marc Preston: something at home, the ability to see more
746
,559 --> 00:34:47,548
Marc Preston: films, to expose more people to a film, but
747
,568 --> 00:34:48,972
Marc Preston: there is something about that communal
748
,033 --> 00:34:51,911
Marc Preston: experience about being in a theater, and
749
,292 --> 00:34:55,050
Marc Preston: some movies I think are designed to be seen
750
,672 --> 00:34:57,608
Marc Preston: and appreciated even more on a big screen,
751
,668 --> 00:35:00,010
Marc Preston: like Top Gun I know it's kind of a popcorn
752
,051 --> 00:35:02,212
Marc Preston: film, but anything James Cameron does.
753
,252 --> 00:35:05,193
Marc Preston: You know the Avatar movies, you know seeing
754
,233 --> 00:35:07,068
Marc Preston: them in a theater is.
755
,229 --> 00:35:09,665
Marc Preston: I think it's a very cool experience and
756
,685 --> 00:35:13,696
Marc Preston: hopefully one that holds on for some time.
757
,785 --> 00:35:16,814
Marc Preston: Now, going forward, I'm curious about your
758
,854 --> 00:35:20,074
Marc Preston: opinion about current trends, things that
759
,154 --> 00:35:22,713
Marc Preston: you like or things that maybe you would
760
,753 --> 00:35:26,869
Marc Preston: like to see change, or something that maybe
761
,889 --> 00:35:29,007
Marc Preston: you're not a big fan of when it comes to
762
,111 --> 00:35:32,430
Marc Preston: making films, and things you think maybe
763
,470 --> 00:35:33,133
Marc Preston: need an update.
764
,626 --> 00:35:35,052
George Stevens, Jr.: I'll tell you one, Marc.
765
,946 --> 00:35:39,573
George Stevens, Jr.: I was just saying how many benefits
766
,545 --> 00:35:45,698
George Stevens, Jr.: streaming Netflix and Disney Plus or
767
,738 --> 00:35:50,266
George Stevens, Jr.: whatever they call it it brings, but now
768
,828 --> 00:35:53,214
George Stevens, Jr.: they're talking about putting advertising
769
,165 --> 00:35:56,653
George Stevens, Jr.: into Netflix and Disney Plus.
770
,625 --> 00:36:00,493
George Stevens, Jr.: What I had to struggle against throughout
771
,553 --> 00:36:04,072
George Stevens, Jr.: my career was advertising, the mentality of
772
,192 --> 00:36:07,552
George Stevens, Jr.: advertising that governed the thinking of
773
,632 --> 00:36:10,329
George Stevens, Jr.: commercial television, which was the best
774
,389 --> 00:36:14,686
George Stevens, Jr.: place for me to do certain of my work, and
775
,107 --> 00:36:18,087
George Stevens, Jr.: one of the blessings of streaming is that
776
,648 --> 00:36:21,195
George Stevens, Jr.: filmmakers have been doing wonderful work
777
,865 --> 00:36:25,374
George Stevens, Jr.: without interruption long, sometimes
778
,815 --> 00:36:29,731
George Stevens, Jr.: 10-part dramas, and I think it's really a
779
,791 --> 00:36:32,871
George Stevens, Jr.: danger if we're now gonna start letting the
780
,972 --> 00:36:36,149
George Stevens, Jr.: advertising world control and influence
781
,493 --> 00:36:38,696
George Stevens, Jr.: that form of filmmaking.
782
,025 --> 00:36:40,750
Marc Preston: It does seem to be a more symbiotic or a
783
,811 --> 00:36:44,011
Marc Preston: better relationship to just pay a
784
,051 --> 00:36:46,450
Marc Preston: subscription fee than receive your
785
,490 --> 00:36:48,806
Marc Preston: entertainment, your content, commercial
786
,867 --> 00:36:49,248
Marc Preston: free.
787
,268 --> 00:36:50,372
Marc Preston: That does make a lot of sense.
788
,705 --> 00:36:52,746
George Stevens, Jr.: It took us a long way to get there and I
789
,248 --> 00:36:54,593
George Stevens, Jr.: don't wanna see us turn back.
790
,005 --> 00:36:55,608
Marc Preston: Absolutely.
791
,425 --> 00:36:59,507
Marc Preston: Now talking about your new book, a Place in
792
,527 --> 00:37:03,551
Marc Preston: the Sun, the Memoir, I'm curious what got
793
,571 --> 00:37:04,654
Marc Preston: you to sit down and decide?
794
,725 --> 00:37:06,412
Marc Preston: You know, I wanna write my own book.
795
,685 --> 00:37:08,932
Marc Preston: I wanna put this together and kind of
796
,012 --> 00:37:12,932
Marc Preston: recount stories and kind of put it all out
797
,992 --> 00:37:14,717
Marc Preston: there for people to read.
798
,865 --> 00:37:17,426
Marc Preston: What was the impetus for you deciding to
799
,567 --> 00:37:18,771
Marc Preston: write A Place in the Sun?
800
,185 --> 00:37:23,516
George Stevens, Jr.: I was aware that I lived an exceptional
801
,597 --> 00:37:25,931
George Stevens, Jr.: life in many respects, and with me it was
802
,893 --> 00:37:29,450
George Stevens, Jr.: mainly a question of whether I could be
803
,511 --> 00:37:33,976
George Stevens, Jr.: successful in making it a compelling book
804
,466 --> 00:37:37,675
George Stevens, Jr.: and with stories that interested people.
805
,405 --> 00:37:39,308
George Stevens, Jr.: And so it was.
806
,430 --> 00:37:45,492
George Stevens, Jr.: And writing it, I became aware that I have
807
,098 --> 00:37:50,071
George Stevens, Jr.: lived this blessed life where I've been
808
,111 --> 00:37:53,206
George Stevens, Jr.: involved with so many interesting and
809
,246 --> 00:37:55,966
George Stevens, Jr.: accomplished friends and colleagues, and
810
,528 --> 00:37:57,431
George Stevens, Jr.: the fact that they're from the
811
,471 --> 00:38:00,330
George Stevens, Jr.: entertainment world, from government, from
812
,390 --> 00:38:02,176
George Stevens, Jr.: politics, from sports.
813
,526 --> 00:38:08,923
George Stevens, Jr.: There's a richness that made me wanna tell
814
,963 --> 00:38:11,109
George Stevens, Jr.: these stories, and many of them are
815
,571 --> 00:38:13,717
George Stevens, Jr.: revealing, about very interesting people.
816
,186 --> 00:38:17,273
George Stevens, Jr.: So it's nice to have it between two covers
817
,126 --> 00:38:18,246
George Stevens, Jr.: Now.
818
,326 --> 00:38:20,032
Marc Preston: earlier you had mentioned something about
819
,473 --> 00:38:23,230
Marc Preston: sports writing and being intrigued by
820
,553 --> 00:38:27,747
Marc Preston: following sports and baseball, and
821
,887 --> 00:38:30,268
Marc Preston: naturally I've gotta ask you who is your
822
,288 --> 00:38:31,071
Marc Preston: team growing up?
823
,306 --> 00:38:33,754
Marc Preston: I'm assuming you're a Nationals fan right
824
,794 --> 00:38:33,954
Marc Preston: now.
825
,426 --> 00:38:38,783
George Stevens, Jr.: Well, I grew up on the Hollywood stars in
826
,823 --> 00:38:40,850
George Stevens, Jr.: Los Angeles that became the Brooklyn
827
,890 --> 00:38:44,680
George Stevens, Jr.: Dodgers and, living in Washington, I've had
828
,861 --> 00:38:46,729
George Stevens, Jr.: some very good years with the Nationals.
829
,809 --> 00:38:51,454
George Stevens, Jr.: That seem to have ended, but we won that
830
,514 --> 00:38:54,089
George Stevens, Jr.: Nationals the World Series and that was a
831
,149 --> 00:38:57,551
George Stevens, Jr.: great experience for people who have been
832
,591 --> 00:38:59,605
George Stevens, Jr.: mostly baseball starved in Washington.
833
,828 --> 00:39:01,968
Marc Preston: Well, I'm a Texas Rangers fan, so I'm
834
,008 --> 00:39:03,774
Marc Preston: pretty used to being disappointed.
835
,889 --> 00:39:09,578
Marc Preston: You know, I was curious about what your
836
Advice for Filmmakers and Actors
,638 --> 00:39:12,893
Marc Preston: advice would be To somebody who is looking
837
,234 --> 00:39:16,268
Marc Preston: to become a filmmaker actor or, let's say
838
,308 --> 00:39:19,851
Marc Preston: they already are the piece of advice or
839
,931 --> 00:39:21,395
Marc Preston: guidance that you would offer up.
840
,825 --> 00:39:24,572
Marc Preston: I'm going back to what you mentioned about
841
,592 --> 00:39:26,505
Marc Preston: your father and watching him on a set and
842
,526 --> 00:39:29,345
Marc Preston: the way he interacted with the actors and
843
,365 --> 00:39:32,508
Marc Preston: the way he treated them, and that informed
844
,548 --> 00:39:35,649
Marc Preston: the way you approached interacting with
845
,769 --> 00:39:36,091
Marc Preston: actors.
846
,805 --> 00:39:38,932
Marc Preston: What piece of advice or what pieces of
847
,993 --> 00:39:43,254
Marc Preston: advice would you think are of value to a
848
,314 --> 00:39:47,452
Marc Preston: modern day filmmaker or an actor and how
849
,492 --> 00:39:49,097
Marc Preston: they can best approach their career?
850
,405 --> 00:39:53,556
George Stevens, Jr.: I would say someone who wants to make films,
851
,425 --> 00:39:57,935
George Stevens, Jr.: to look at the great films, the classic
852
,975 --> 00:40:00,750
George Stevens, Jr.: films and also the new films that are
853
,334 --> 00:40:05,050
George Stevens, Jr.: carving new ground, because all of the
854
,130 --> 00:40:07,748
George Stevens, Jr.: lessons for filmmaking, about filmmaking,
855
,849 --> 00:40:14,117
George Stevens, Jr.: are in those films and for both actors and
856
,157 --> 00:40:14,659
George Stevens, Jr.: directors.
857
,205 --> 00:40:17,445
George Stevens, Jr.: You just have to believe in yourself and
858
,485 --> 00:40:20,068
George Stevens, Jr.: keep knocking on doors, because the
859
,128 --> 00:40:23,165
George Stevens, Jr.: resistance to getting in a position to
860
,246 --> 00:40:26,785
George Stevens, Jr.: making films you mentioned in passing that
861
,430 --> 00:40:32,048
George Stevens, Jr.: I had a well-known father and it was much
862
,128 --> 00:40:34,535
George Stevens, Jr.: easier for me to get in to see Jack Webb,
863
,965 --> 00:40:37,647
George Stevens, Jr.: who gave me my opportunity because I was
864
,708 --> 00:40:38,450
George Stevens, Jr.: George Stevens Jr.
865
,385 --> 00:40:44,351
George Stevens, Jr.: But whoever you are, and once I'd had that
866
,411 --> 00:40:47,531
George Stevens, Jr.: opportunity, I was knocking on doors to try
867
,571 --> 00:40:49,587
George Stevens, Jr.: and get the things made that I wanted to
868
,628 --> 00:40:50,050
George Stevens, Jr.: get made.
869
,685 --> 00:40:53,372
George Stevens, Jr.: So believe in yourself and just keep
870
,733 --> 00:40:57,872
George Stevens, Jr.: pushing your ideas and hoping that someday
871
,313 --> 00:41:01,149
George Stevens, Jr.: someone will open their eyes and say, yes,
872
,229 --> 00:41:03,389
George Stevens, Jr.: we want to do that, we're going to get the
873
,409 --> 00:41:09,725
George Stevens, Jr.: things made we're going to be in the film.
874
,765 --> 00:41:13,494
Marc Preston: I'm curious who right now you're enjoying
875
,356 --> 00:41:17,489
Marc Preston: watching actors New actors, established,
876
,132 --> 00:41:22,072
Marc Preston: either one who you'd like to watch on the
877
,092 --> 00:41:22,574
Marc Preston: big screen?
878
,327 --> 00:41:27,126
George Stevens, Jr.: There's so many, but I don't think there's
879
,186 --> 00:41:31,968
George Stevens, Jr.: that handful of stars, and it's interesting
880
,988 --> 00:41:33,752
George Stevens, Jr.: because with so many independent films
881
,293 --> 00:41:35,175
George Stevens, Jr.: there are new people.
882
,685 --> 00:41:40,633
George Stevens, Jr.: There used to be what nine major movie
883
,653 --> 00:41:42,437
George Stevens, Jr.: stars or the ten top movie stars.
884
,025 --> 00:41:46,371
George Stevens, Jr.: Now it's all across the board and lesser
885
,412 --> 00:41:50,319
George Stevens, Jr.: known people are doing great work.
886
,926 --> 00:41:52,270
Marc Preston: Yeah, it's kind of like what you mentioned
887
,290 --> 00:41:53,754
Marc Preston: before with streaming.
888
,985 --> 00:41:56,309
Marc Preston: There are just simply more opportunities
889
,469 --> 00:42:01,164
Marc Preston: for people to get projects out and it's
890
,505 --> 00:42:03,190
Marc Preston: pretty much impossible to see everything
891
,230 --> 00:42:04,594
Marc Preston: that's coming out now.
892
,005 --> 00:42:08,735
Marc Preston: So there are so many great projects and I
893
,815 --> 00:42:12,765
Marc Preston: think that it's not like the days gone by
894
,086 --> 00:42:15,553
Marc Preston: when there were bigger barriers to getting
895
,594 --> 00:42:16,055
Marc Preston: into film.
896
,405 --> 00:42:18,151
Marc Preston: Now there are simply so many venues that
897
,211 --> 00:42:21,823
Marc Preston: it's a little easier for, I think, people
898
,843 --> 00:42:24,851
Marc Preston: to percolate up and show up on screen that
899
,892 --> 00:42:25,714
Marc Preston: really have the talent.
900
,945 --> 00:42:29,692
Marc Preston: Now, as far as your book goes, it's
901
,732 --> 00:42:30,354
Marc Preston: available now.
902
,635 --> 00:42:32,510
Marc Preston: I'm assuming it's already been released.
903
,345 --> 00:42:35,893
Marc Preston: My place in the sun is available right now,
904
,953 --> 00:42:36,274
Marc Preston: correct?
905
,845 --> 00:42:36,925
Marc Preston: In?
906
,965 --> 00:42:39,871
George Stevens, Jr.: bookstores and you can find it on the
907
,911 --> 00:42:42,977
George Stevens, Jr.: internet and we've been having a wonderful
908
,037 --> 00:42:43,518
George Stevens, Jr.: response.
909
,786 --> 00:42:49,314
George Stevens, Jr.: I did an event at Politics and Pros last
910
,335 --> 00:42:51,238
George Stevens, Jr.: Tuesday with Michael Beschloss, the great
911
,278 --> 00:42:51,839
George Stevens, Jr.: historian.
912
,566 --> 00:42:55,192
George Stevens, Jr.: I'm moderating it and Thomas Friedman
913
,212 --> 00:42:55,693
George Stevens, Jr.: interviewed it.
914
,354 --> 00:42:59,266
George Stevens, Jr.: And I'm going to be doing the 92nd Street Y
915
,667 --> 00:43:02,312
George Stevens, Jr.: in New York with Tom Brokaw on June 5th,
916
,713 --> 00:43:04,997
George Stevens, Jr.: which will be both in-person and virtual.
917
,685 --> 00:43:08,593
George Stevens, Jr.: So I'm having a very good time kind of
918
,633 --> 00:43:12,063
George Stevens, Jr.: telling these stories and getting the
919
,103 --> 00:43:14,690
George Stevens, Jr.: reaction from people to this book that I
920
,111 --> 00:43:16,776
George Stevens, Jr.: spent a good deal of time putting together.
921
,186 --> 00:43:17,727
Marc Preston: You know something.
922
,189 --> 00:43:21,760
Marc Preston: I so appreciate you taking time out to chat
923
,821 --> 00:43:23,726
Marc Preston: with me and sharing your stories.
924
,149 --> 00:43:28,756
Marc Preston: And as we wrap up, I always love asking my
925
,796 --> 00:43:30,907
Marc Preston: seven questions, just kind of a little
926
,987 --> 00:43:33,866
Marc Preston: extra get to know you and the first
927
,926 --> 00:43:36,452
Marc Preston: question I always like to ask is what is
928
,472 --> 00:43:37,855
Marc Preston: your favorite comfort food?
929
,485 --> 00:43:41,870
Marc Preston: That thing that you just really enjoy just
930
,030 --> 00:43:42,992
Marc Preston: doesn't have to be good for you.
931
,594 --> 00:43:45,598
Marc Preston: You know what do you like to eat.
932
,885 --> 00:43:47,612
Marc Preston: What is that kind of go-to comfort food for
933
,652 --> 00:43:47,732
Marc Preston: you?
934
,045 --> 00:43:51,033
George Stevens, Jr.: Yes, well, I'm trying to avoid all of that
935
,113 --> 00:43:51,374
George Stevens, Jr.: stuff.
936
,825 --> 00:43:58,272
George Stevens, Jr.: I guess I like a little popcorn with my
937
,732 --> 00:43:59,233
George Stevens, Jr.: streaming.
938
,436 --> 00:44:03,220
Marc Preston: Well, absolutely, that's still pretty
939
,260 --> 00:44:03,661
Marc Preston: healthy.
940
,822 --> 00:44:06,488
Marc Preston: I know that anytime I have any and I'm
941
,528 --> 00:44:08,920
Marc Preston: watching a movie, my golden retriever finds
942
,000 --> 00:44:11,987
Marc Preston: a way next to me because he always gets at
943
,027 --> 00:44:12,837
Marc Preston: least a few kernels.
944
,082 --> 00:44:15,850
Marc Preston: Now the next question I have for you if
945
,870 --> 00:44:17,437
Marc Preston: you're going to sit down and have a cup of
946
,477 --> 00:44:19,125
Marc Preston: coffee, let's say you've got three people
947
,185 --> 00:44:21,295
Marc Preston: who are going to be sitting down having
948
,395 --> 00:44:23,980
Marc Preston: coffee with you and it can be anybody.
949
,621 --> 00:44:27,848
Marc Preston: Who would you like to sit down and share a
950
,928 --> 00:44:29,498
Marc Preston: conversation with for a few hours?
951
,020 --> 00:44:31,084
Marc Preston: Who are those three people?
952
,456 --> 00:44:33,623
George Stevens, Jr.: Sidney Poitier, Robert Kennedy and Martin
953
,663 --> 00:44:33,924
George Stevens, Jr.: Luther.
954
,964 --> 00:44:34,265
Marc Preston: King.
955
,656 --> 00:44:35,918
Marc Preston: Very good, that sounds like actually a
956
,999 --> 00:44:38,164
Marc Preston: wonderful, wonderful conversation.
957
,705 --> 00:44:40,737
Marc Preston: Now I'm curious with your time in
958
,798 --> 00:44:43,889
Marc Preston: Washington and with John F Kennedy, did you
959
,929 --> 00:44:46,277
Marc Preston: have an opportunity to spend time with or
960
,498 --> 00:44:47,803
Marc Preston: converse with Robert Kennedy?
961
,055 --> 00:44:50,619
George Stevens, Jr.: Yes, I've read a great deal in the book
962
,679 --> 00:44:55,206
George Stevens, Jr.: about Robert Kennedy, who I was close to
963
,307 --> 00:45:01,561
George Stevens, Jr.: and I admired greatly, and I would say that,
964
,201 --> 00:45:05,506
George Stevens, Jr.: having endured the tragedy of President
965
,546 --> 00:45:10,017
George Stevens, Jr.: Kennedy's murder, I think that Bobby's
966
,137 --> 00:45:13,303
George Stevens, Jr.: death was of even more consequence because
967
,383 --> 00:45:19,019
George Stevens, Jr.: we had survived John Kennedy assassination
968
,481 --> 00:45:21,911
George Stevens, Jr.: and I really think Bobby was the person who
969
,951 --> 00:45:23,376
George Stevens, Jr.: could have brought this country together
970
,436 --> 00:45:29,024
George Stevens, Jr.: his comfort with working people, with
971
,345 --> 00:45:33,296
George Stevens, Jr.: minorities, with young people, and he was
972
,336 --> 00:45:37,729
George Stevens, Jr.: just such an accomplished and had great
973
,411 --> 00:45:39,114
George Stevens, Jr.: ideals.
974
,257 --> 00:45:41,982
Marc Preston: You know, that's so wonderful that you have
975
,022 --> 00:45:44,168
Marc Preston: had the opportunity to speak with and
976
,208 --> 00:45:49,726
Marc Preston: interact with a number of just really key
977
,087 --> 00:45:53,173
Marc Preston: cultural political figures in history, and
978
,394 --> 00:45:55,761
Marc Preston: I'm very much looking forward to reading
979
,781 --> 00:45:59,454
Marc Preston: your book, because hearing more of these or
980
,474 --> 00:46:01,460
Marc Preston: reading more about these stories has got to
981
,480 --> 00:46:02,102
Marc Preston: be a real treat.
982
,975 --> 00:46:05,647
Marc Preston: Now the next question I have for you and
983
,667 --> 00:46:07,494
Marc Preston: this is, of course, interesting because
984
,514 --> 00:46:09,300
Marc Preston: you've had the opportunity to work with
985
,380 --> 00:46:12,108
Marc Preston: such a constellation of people and meet
986
,148 --> 00:46:16,722
Marc Preston: them Coming up who was your celebrity crush?
987
,235 --> 00:46:23,386
George Stevens, Jr.: I was asked this on another discussion and
988
,887 --> 00:46:28,055
George Stevens, Jr.: having seen my first time on a sound stage
989
,235 --> 00:46:33,163
George Stevens, Jr.: was at RKO when I was 12 years old, seeing
990
,604 --> 00:46:36,549
George Stevens, Jr.: Irene Dunn and Carrie Grant getting on a
991
,609 --> 00:46:38,637
George Stevens, Jr.: train in Penny's Aranaid.
992
,278 --> 00:46:42,944
George Stevens, Jr.: So seeing movie stars never kind of gave
993
,004 --> 00:46:47,257
George Stevens, Jr.: that rush to me, even though you know Jimmy
994
,297 --> 00:46:49,886
George Stevens, Jr.: Dean, elizabeth Taylor and all these people
995
,947 --> 00:46:50,689
George Stevens, Jr.: became friends.
996
,371 --> 00:46:54,678
George Stevens, Jr.: And I was asked, you know, and I said I
997
,929 --> 00:46:58,043
George Stevens, Jr.: didn't have a good answer for what movie
998
,294 --> 00:47:00,547
George Stevens, Jr.: star affected me with that tickle on my
999
,647 --> 00:47:00,848
George Stevens, Jr.: neck.
Speaker:1000
,728 --> 00:47:03,691
George Stevens, Jr.: And then I came back three minutes later
Speaker:1001
,331 --> 00:47:07,741
George Stevens, Jr.: and I said I will tell you who my person
Speaker:1002
,761 --> 00:47:10,586
George Stevens, Jr.: for that was and it was John Fitzgerald
Speaker:1003
,627 --> 00:47:10,987
George Stevens, Jr.: Kennedy.
Speaker:1004
,648 --> 00:47:14,721
George Stevens, Jr.: The first time I saw him in a room up close,
Speaker:1005
,362 --> 00:47:17,006
George Stevens, Jr.: it was the era of black and white
Speaker:1006
,347 --> 00:47:20,040
George Stevens, Jr.: television and to see him come through the
Speaker:1007
,080 --> 00:47:25,393
George Stevens, Jr.: door in black tie on a wintry night and he
Speaker:1008
,574 --> 00:47:28,299
George Stevens, Jr.: just walked within three feet of me but we
Speaker:1009
,339 --> 00:47:29,000
George Stevens, Jr.: didn't talk.
Speaker:1010
,801 --> 00:47:34,930
George Stevens, Jr.: But that was as charismatic a figure as I
Speaker:1011
,295 --> 00:47:40,547
George Stevens, Jr.: have met and Muhammad Ali is somewhere in
Speaker:1012
,587 --> 00:47:41,148
George Stevens, Jr.: that class.
Speaker:1013
,355 --> 00:47:43,359
Marc Preston: You know, that's such a very interesting
Speaker:1014
,459 --> 00:47:43,840
Marc Preston: point.
Speaker:1015
,862 --> 00:47:47,487
Marc Preston: In an era where everything on film, on
Speaker:1016
,527 --> 00:47:49,797
Marc Preston: television, it's going to be black and
Speaker:1017
,877 --> 00:47:53,185
Marc Preston: white, everybody you meet through there,
Speaker:1018
,285 --> 00:47:55,076
Marc Preston: not only in person, but in full living
Speaker:1019
,157 --> 00:47:59,225
Marc Preston: color, that it's like seeing them really
Speaker:1020
,265 --> 00:48:00,428
Marc Preston: for the first time in a way.
Speaker:1021
,628 --> 00:48:03,260
Marc Preston: You know, growing up in an era of color
Speaker:1022
,320 --> 00:48:07,047
Marc Preston: television and film, you know, didn't it
Speaker:1023
,087 --> 00:48:09,338
Marc Preston: probably is not as poignant of an
Speaker:1024
,378 --> 00:48:11,623
Marc Preston: experience as you probably had a number of
Speaker:1025
,683 --> 00:48:13,046
Marc Preston: times Now.
Speaker:1026
,066 --> 00:48:14,817
Marc Preston: The next question is now if you're going to
Speaker:1027
,857 --> 00:48:16,742
Marc Preston: go, let's say, for a full year, to a
Speaker:1028
,782 --> 00:48:19,536
Marc Preston: beautiful exotic island but you don't have
Speaker:1029
,576 --> 00:48:23,123
Marc Preston: internet, no streaming, and you do have a
Speaker:1030
,163 --> 00:48:25,997
Marc Preston: DVD player and a CD player and you can
Speaker:1031
,037 --> 00:48:28,385
Marc Preston: bring one album with you and you can bring
Speaker:1032
,566 --> 00:48:31,437
Marc Preston: one movie on DVD with you, what would that
Speaker:1033
,597 --> 00:48:33,824
Marc Preston: album be and what would that movie be for
Speaker:1034
,864 --> 00:48:33,965
Marc Preston: you?
Speaker:1035
,636 --> 00:48:36,282
George Stevens, Jr.: Well, I'm going to be alone on the island.
Speaker:1036
,342 --> 00:48:39,353
George Stevens, Jr.: I think I'll bring the the, the the
Speaker:1037
,453 --> 00:48:42,739
George Stevens, Jr.: Lientine Prices collection of arias,
Speaker:1038
,440 --> 00:48:46,324
George Stevens, Jr.: because I think it will be very soothing
Speaker:1039
,384 --> 00:48:47,005
George Stevens, Jr.: and moving.
Speaker:1040
,449 --> 00:48:53,686
George Stevens, Jr.: And boy, you put one on the spot with a DVD,
Speaker:1041
,766 --> 00:48:55,774
George Stevens, Jr.: because it is something I want to see over
Speaker:1042
,814 --> 00:48:56,576
George Stevens, Jr.: and over again.
Speaker:1043
,480 --> 00:49:01,387
George Stevens, Jr.: I'm afraid that that would have to be my
Speaker:1044
,467 --> 00:49:02,930
George Stevens, Jr.: father's film Shane.
Speaker:1045
,334 --> 00:49:06,839
George Stevens, Jr.: I can watch it from beginning to end and
Speaker:1046
,360 --> 00:49:10,466
George Stevens, Jr.: never, never, not want to go back and see
Speaker:1047
,507 --> 00:49:10,847
George Stevens, Jr.: it again.
Speaker:1048
,438 --> 00:49:14,204
Marc Preston: Speaking of those older movies, especially
Speaker:1049
,244 --> 00:49:16,452
Marc Preston: when they made the transition to color,
Speaker:1050
,075 --> 00:49:17,898
Marc Preston: there was something about the
Speaker:1051
,918 --> 00:49:21,692
Marc Preston: cinematography that was unique to the era.
Speaker:1052
,853 --> 00:49:24,099
Marc Preston: You know, thinking of films kind of like
Speaker:1053
,121 --> 00:49:26,705
Marc Preston: Lawrence of Arabia, for instance.
Speaker:1054
,126 --> 00:49:28,856
George Stevens, Jr.: Just there was something kind of grand and
Speaker:1055
,997 --> 00:49:32,824
George Stevens, Jr.: unique and Lawrence of Arabia would would
Speaker:1056
,864 --> 00:49:34,488
George Stevens, Jr.: be on my list for that island.
Speaker:1057
,297 --> 00:49:37,580
Marc Preston: Oh, that would definitely be a good one.
Speaker:1058
,241 --> 00:49:41,828
Marc Preston: Now the next question I have for you is if,
Speaker:1059
,409 --> 00:49:45,768
Marc Preston: from the moment you wake up until you put
Speaker:1060
,808 --> 00:49:47,374
Marc Preston: your head down on the pillow at night, if
Speaker:1061
,394 --> 00:49:49,559
Marc Preston: you were to define what a perfect day would
Speaker:1062
,599 --> 00:49:52,846
Marc Preston: be for you, you know what are the component
Speaker:1063
,907 --> 00:49:54,957
Marc Preston: parts of that perfect day.
Speaker:1064
,238 --> 00:49:58,742
George Stevens, Jr.: To get up to have something challenging to
Speaker:1065
,782 --> 00:50:06,237
George Stevens, Jr.: do that I'm working on to give my best
Speaker:1066
,358 --> 00:50:09,727
George Stevens, Jr.: effort to that through the day and at four
Speaker:1067
,767 --> 00:50:13,517
George Stevens, Jr.: o'clock go play nine holes of golf,
Speaker:1068
,980 --> 00:50:18,727
George Stevens, Jr.: preferably at the national golf links in
Speaker:1069
,788 --> 00:50:22,495
George Stevens, Jr.: Southampton, and have dinner with my wife
Speaker:1070
,715 --> 00:50:24,499
George Stevens, Jr.: of 57 years.
Speaker:1071
,340 --> 00:50:29,689
George Stevens, Jr.: The last line in my book is that I have
Speaker:1072
,090 --> 00:50:33,636
George Stevens, Jr.: lived a glorious life in the company of a
Speaker:1073
,696 --> 00:50:36,221
George Stevens, Jr.: woman who, in the Stevens vernacular,
Speaker:1074
,963 --> 00:50:39,187
George Stevens, Jr.: stands the test of time with grace and
Speaker:1075
,227 --> 00:50:42,221
George Stevens, Jr.: beauty, and having dinner with Liz is my
Speaker:1076
,342 --> 00:50:43,405
George Stevens, Jr.: enduring prize.
Speaker:1077
,167 --> 00:50:44,970
Marc Preston: That is wonderful.
Speaker:1078
,211 --> 00:50:45,752
Marc Preston: We should all.
Speaker:1079
,773 --> 00:50:47,418
Marc Preston: We should all be so lucky.
Speaker:1080
,163 --> 00:50:51,029
Marc Preston: Now the next question you use somewhat
Speaker:1081
,049 --> 00:50:53,838
Marc Preston: alluded to it earlier, but if you were not
Speaker:1082
,919 --> 00:50:56,370
Marc Preston: doing what you're doing for a living and if
Speaker:1083
,430 --> 00:50:58,999
Marc Preston: you didn't have the career you had, what
Speaker:1084
,681 --> 00:51:03,211
Marc Preston: would be the alternate vocation for you?
Speaker:1085
,331 --> 00:51:04,815
Marc Preston: What would be the other thing that you
Speaker:1086
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Marc Preston: would have liked to have done or that you
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Marc Preston: would like to do for a living?
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George Stevens, Jr.: Well, I don't.
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George Stevens, Jr.: I am a person of high aspiration and I
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George Stevens, Jr.: don't know.
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George Stevens, Jr.: I certainly know I don't have the talent to
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George Stevens, Jr.: be a tour golfer or an opera singer.
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George Stevens, Jr.: So I think I would disappoint you by saying
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George Stevens, Jr.: I really think I found my path and I'm very
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George Stevens, Jr.: fortunate that I ended up on a road where I
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George Stevens, Jr.: had some capacity to achieve and excel.
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Marc Preston: I mean, that's the goal and aspiration I
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Marc Preston: think we all have is to end up doing that
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Marc Preston: thing, especially if we can do it for a
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Marc Preston: living that we love and that we have an
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Marc Preston: aptitude to do.
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Marc Preston: Now the last question I have for you, going
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Marc Preston: to make a back to the future reference.
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Marc Preston: Let's say you jumped into a DeLorean and
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Marc Preston: you have two minutes with 16 year old you.
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,527 --> 00:52:02,100
Marc Preston: You have an opportunity to convey some
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Marc Preston: advice, some wisdom, guidance to put you
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Marc Preston: younger, you want a better path or to make
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Marc Preston: life even a notch better.
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Marc Preston: What is that bit of advice you would want
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Marc Preston: to offer to your 16 year old self?
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George Stevens, Jr.: I would have liked to have been advised in
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George Stevens, Jr.: a persuasive way to concentrate more and
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George Stevens, Jr.: study more in school and have more
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George Stevens, Jr.: curiosity.
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George Stevens, Jr.: I developed it later, but that would have
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George Stevens, Jr.: advice would have been very helpful to me
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George Stevens, Jr.: when I was 14.
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Marc Preston: You know it's funny.
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Marc Preston: I think that applies to all of us that
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Marc Preston: entered into a creative field, or many of
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Marc Preston: us.
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Marc Preston: I think the thing that makes us thrive
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Marc Preston: creatively isn't the thing that necessarily
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Marc Preston: helps an algebra class.
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Marc Preston: But, george, thank you so much for taking
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,954 --> 00:53:02,161
Marc Preston: time to talk story and this has been a real
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Marc Preston: pleasure and treat.
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Marc Preston: Without a doubt, the new book again is my
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,959 --> 00:53:11,145
Marc Preston: Place in the Sun and I think everybody
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,165 --> 00:53:11,786
Marc Preston: should go pick it up.
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Marc Preston: I'm looking forward to being able to tap
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Marc Preston: into more of your history and the
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Marc Preston: experiences you've had and just generally
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Marc Preston: kind of walk in your shoes for a brief
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Marc Preston: moment.
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Marc Preston: I wish you nothing but the best and best of
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Marc Preston: luck with the release of your book.
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Marc Preston: Great Marc, my pleasure.
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Marc Preston: Well, there you go.
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,421 --> 00:53:37,750
Marc Preston: Hollywood legend George Stevens Jr.
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Marc Preston: What an interesting gentleman to speak with
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,738 --> 00:53:44,951
Marc Preston: and his new book, my Place in the Sun, well
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,991 --> 00:53:45,673
Marc Preston: worth picking up.
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,094 --> 00:53:47,437
Marc Preston: I mean, we had what is this about?
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,477 --> 00:53:50,584
Marc Preston: An hour chatting and we only, I feel,
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,845 --> 00:53:53,077
Marc Preston: scratched the surface on the stories he has
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Marc Preston: to tell Again, my Place in the Sun.
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Marc Preston: I'm going to be reading this because after
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Marc Preston: today I've got a real appetite for the
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Marc Preston: stories Mr Stevens has to tell Again.
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,908 --> 00:54:06,550
Marc Preston: Thank you, by the way for coming and
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,590 --> 00:54:09,152
Marc Preston: checking out Story and Craft, and I've been
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Marc Preston: getting some really wonderful messages.
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,880 --> 00:54:13,149
Marc Preston: I appreciate it If I have not had the
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,229 --> 00:54:16,034
Marc Preston: opportunity to reply and say thank you.
Speaker:1157
,219 --> 00:54:19,341
Marc Preston: In your email inbox your message is coming
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,526 --> 00:54:20,193
Marc Preston: Hang tight.
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,378 --> 00:54:22,173
Marc Preston: I've been getting a lot of wonderful
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,515 --> 00:54:24,441
Marc Preston: messages about the show, so thank you.
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,675 --> 00:54:26,980
Marc Preston: This week, another great show.
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,583 --> 00:54:29,651
Marc Preston: I'm planning plotting and stirring up
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,711 --> 00:54:32,642
Marc Preston: mischief All for you for what we do every
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,702 --> 00:54:35,050
Marc Preston: week right here on Story and Craft.
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,191 --> 00:54:36,295
Marc Preston: And, once again, the website
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Marc Preston: wwwstoryandcraftpod.com.
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Marc Preston: I'm saying www because it irritates my
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Marc Preston: youngest daughter, emma.
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Marc Preston: She thinks that's ridiculous.
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Marc Preston: I still say www.
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,684 --> 00:54:50,546
Marc Preston: So there you go, emma.
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Marc Preston: Okay, so storyandcraftpod.com.
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,347 --> 00:54:57,273
Marc Preston: It's where you find out all the great stuff
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,313 --> 00:54:59,360
Marc Preston: about the show, what we got going on.
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,682 --> 00:55:01,629
Marc Preston: You can sign up for the email newsletter
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,991 --> 00:55:03,616
Marc Preston: and shoot me a message if you like.
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,418 --> 00:55:06,543
Marc Preston: Also, social media pretty much everything
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,944 --> 00:55:08,616
Marc Preston: you want to know about the show is at
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Marc Preston: storyandcraftpod.com.
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,502 --> 00:55:12,985
Marc Preston: Alright, that's it for this episode.
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Marc Preston: I look forward to checking you out next
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Marc Preston: week.
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,139 --> 00:55:19,105
Marc Preston: Stop back by and we'll talk story right
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,145 --> 00:55:20,688
Marc Preston: here on Story and Craft.
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Announcer: That's it for this episode of Story and
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Announcer: Craft.
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Announcer: Join Marc next week for more conversation
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Announcer: right here on Story and Craft.
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,560 --> 00:55:30,986
Announcer: Story and Craft is a presentation of Marc
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,006 --> 00:55:32,676
Announcer: Preston Productions LLC.
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Announcer: Executive producer is Marc Preston.
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Announcer: Associate producer is Zachary Holden.
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Announcer: Please rate and review Story and Craft on
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Announcer: See you next time and remember, keep
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Announcer: telling your story.
George Stevens Jr
Producer | Writer | Director | Author
The son of a celebrated Hollywood director emerges from his father's shadow to claim his own place as a major force in American culture. George Stevens, Jr. tells an intimate and moving tale of his relationship with his Oscar-winning father and his own exciting career in Hollywood and Washington. Fascinating people, priceless stories and a behind-the-scenes view of some of America's major cultural and political events grace this riveting memoir.
George Stevens, Jr. grew up in Hollywood working on film classics with his father and writes vividly of his experience on the sets of A Place in the Sun (1951), Shane (1953), Giant (1956) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1958). He explores how the magnitude of his father's talent and achievements left him with questions about his own abilities and future. The younger Stevens began to forge his unique career when the legendary broadcaster Edward R. Murrow recruited him to work at the United States Information Agency in John F. Kennedy's Washington. He began his service in government by initiating what has been called the Golden Age of USIA filmmaking. In 1967 he became the founding director of the American Film Institute, placing him at the leading edge of culture and politics, shepherding the rescue of thousands of endangered motion pictures, and training a new generation of filmmakers. He created the Kennedy Center Honors and began making distinguished films and television programs that celebrated American culture and explored social justice. He earned an Oscar and other accolades, including fifteen Emmys, two Peabody Awards, and the Humanitas Prize.
Stevens provides a fascinating look at a pioneering American family that spans five generations in the performing arts, from the San Francisco stage in the 19th century to Academy Award-winning films, Emmy Award-winning television programs and a Broadway play. He shows us the private side of the dazzling array of people who cross his path, including Elizabeth Taylor, Sidney Poitier, Robert and Ethel Kennedy, Yo-Yo Ma, Cary Grant, James Dean, Bruce Springsteen, Barack and Michelle Obama, and many more.
In My Place in the Sun, George Stevens, Jr. shares his lifelong passion for film and commitment to the performing arts. He provides an insightful look at Hollywood's Golden Age and an insider's account of life in Washington as he collaborated with presidents, power brokers, media moguls and social activists. This magnificent and delightful memoir brings to life a sparkling era of American history and culture.
George Stevens, Jr. is a director, writer, producer, and playwright. He is the founder of the American Film Institute, creator of the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Kennedy Center Honors and has served as cochair of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities for President Obama. His awards and honors include fifteen Emmys, eight Writers Guild Awards, two Peabody Awards, the Humanitas Prize and the 2012 Honorary Academy Award. He is the author of Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age at The American Film Institute and the Broadway play Thurgood.