Book register for:

Heart of the Blue Ridge
(1915)
by
Waldron Baily

Special Collections

[Cover], Baily, Waldron. Heart of the Blue Ridge,
D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, UNC Asheville

 If Selznick sounds familiar, it is because Lewis was the father of David O. Selznick who directed Gone With the  Wind, one of the greatest of  "Southern" films. Unfortunately, Lewis, his father,  expanded his film empire too quickly and by 1923 his company, World Film and Lewis Selznick Production, Inc., now located in California, was no longer viable. In 1915 the company incorporated and  with funding from Arthur Spiegel, of "Spiegel's Catalog, and Spiegel as a partner, the company had reported a net profit of $329,000. After a move to California in 1922, Selznick joined forces with two other film entrepreneurs, Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky.  This partnership was not fruitful and Zukor soon broke with Selznick and the fracture resulted in considerable losses to the company. Apparently Heart of the Blue Ridge, and many of his other early films have been lost to time.  Whether Selznick shot the film in North Carolina, is not known, but it would not be surprising to find his company in the western part of the state, as there were several early silent films shot in the region, namely the Serpent (1912) and  the Strength of Men (1913). Interestingly, Selznick's first real break into the film industry came as a result of his "getting the girl." He had convinced Clara Kimball Young, the star of Heart of the Blue Ridge to leave Vitagraph and to come with his company. Her popularity, he believed would  assure him success with his ventures. It did for a while, until he apparently exploited the relationship and Young sued him to annul her five year contract [NYT May 24, 1917] . Young starred in four films while under contract to Selznick with earnings reported at $800,000. The films, "The Common Law", "The Foolish Virgin,", "The Price She Paid," and "The Easiest Way," were filmed between October 15, 1916 and December 31, 1916.  It is Clara Kimball Young that we see in the stills in this book.

Lewis J. Selznick, the director and producer of the film version of the novel, was a Russian Jew, was born in Kiev in 1870. He was a major figure in the film-making industry in this country. He once said, "There's no business in the world in which a man needs so little brains as in the movies." The book nor the movie show great intellectual prowess, but they do show enormous public appeal. Some things never change.

An autobiography of Waldron Baily, "The Autobiography of Waldron Baily," was published in 1958. See Autobiography; The Life Of The Novelist And Politician From North Carolina. / Foreword By Frances Baily Morris, New York, Exposition Press [1958]. PS3505.A535 Z5 
   

[Addison Irving Bacheller (September 26, 1859 – February 24, 1950) was an American journalist and writer who founded the first modern newspaper syndicate in the United States.]