Ended a short visit to Disney Studios.

That night, Colin, dressed in formal attire, was led by Howard Hughes to Hollywood near the coast of San Pedro Bay and participated in a party.

Upon entering the venue, you were first attracted by the cheerful music.

The gorgeous crystal chandelier in the hall exuded a soft light, illuminating the entire party. Following the music reputation, Colin saw the band playing on the stage, as well as the gorgeously dressed guests in the hall, most of whom

They are all celebrities in Hollywood.

Among them, women mainly wear evening gowns and long skirts, which have a simple and smooth shape, a slender silhouette, shoulder pads to widen the shoulders, and a slim waist. After wearing it, women can highlight their graceful temperament. At the same time, there are many hairstyles

Curly hair is the most popular style nowadays, paired with curled eyelashes and pretty red lips, it fully displays the charming features of women.

Compared with women's clothing, men's clothing is much simpler, and suits have become their mainstream clothing.

"Hughes, I haven't seen you for a while..."

Stepping into the lobby, someone familiar came up to say hello to Howard Hughes.

"I thought you stopped making movies?"

"I did have this plan originally, and in fact I put it into action."

Howard Hughes's construction of an aircraft repair shed in Hollywood was not a secret. He expressed it bluntly. Then, Hughes changed the subject and directed the topic to Colin who was standing aside:

"However, in the end I was impressed by the new script and decided to make a decision after filming the movie."

Following Hughes' explanation, the man's eyes immediately fell on Colin beside him.

At the same time, Howard Hughes also made a timely introduction: "William, this is Colin Looper, the screenwriter of my new movie, and he is also the boss of New York's "The Daily Courier."

"Colin, this is William Wyler, a well-known Hollywood director."

"I dare not admit this title. There are many directors who are more famous than me."

After shaking his head and rejecting Hughes' introduction, William Wheeler reached out and shook Colin's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Colin Looper."

"Me too, William Wheeler."

As William Wyler said, he was not a very famous director at the party. He had not been involved in film production for a long time. He studied violin at the music school in Paris, France in his early days and did not arrive until after the First World War.

Working in New York, I initially worked in the New York office. It was not until later that I went to a studio and served as an assistant in some film production processes, and was gradually promoted to assistant director.

It was not until 1925, that is, a few years ago, that he officially became a film director. Most of them were mainly western films. The most famous masterpiece he has shot so far is only the movie "Hell's Heroes" a few years ago.

The reason why he was able to attend the party and become acquainted with Howard Hughes was actually because of his other identity.

William Wyler's uncle, Carl Raenmuller, was the founder and chairman of Universal Studios, which was the main reason why he came to work in the studio.

Of course, this is just the trajectory of William Wheeler's life at this stage.

In fact, after the second time, William Wyler did become a well-known director in the true sense as introduced by Hughes.

He filmed a series of classic films including "Wuthering Heights", "Home of the Brave", "The Golden Age", "Roman Holiday", "Ben-Hur" and other classic films. Among them, "Roman Holiday" is regarded as a classic of Hollywood black and white films.

, but in fact, "Ben-Hur" is William Wyler's most famous masterpiece.

Because of this film, William Wyler received 12 nominations and eventually won 11 awards, including Best Picture, setting a record for the most Academy Awards wins.

Although Colin is not a loyal viewer of many movies, it is quite interesting to meet such a famous director in film history.

Moreover, throughout the party, there were many celebrities like William Wheeler.

"So, Hughes, what kind of movie are you planning to make this time?"

After greeting Colin, William Wyler brought the topic to Hughes' new movie. It's just that a script that can impress Howard Hughes is obviously not an ordinary existence.

"All I can say is, the movie will definitely shock you."

Without revealing too many details about the new movie, Hughes just raised his eyebrows and said.

Seeing that he could not get much useful information from Hughes, William Wheeler turned his attention to Colin.

The latter also shrugged and said innocently: "I am only the screenwriter of the script, and Hughes is actually responsible for the filming."

If it were anyone else, William Wyler would have thought that all this was just a ploy by the other party to create mystery. However, Howard Hughes, a maverick guy in Hollywood, would have no idea what kind of movie he could make with his character.

Even William Wheeler couldn't figure it out.

"Then, I'm looking forward to the release of your movie."

"let us wait and see."

After expressing his most cinematic expectations to Hughes, William Wyler turned around and left to talk to other guests at the party.

As for the other one, watching William Wheeler leave, Hughes also casually explained to Colin on the side: "Although William is a good guy, the financial situation of Universal behind him has been average in recent times, so

, for a long time to come, William should only be responsible for shooting some simple movies."

Colin was convinced of this.

As Hughes said, although William Wyler produced some films during the Great Depression, most of them were not well-known and were mostly low-cost western films.

This is also related to Universal's strategy. Due to the impact of the Great Recession, the film industry is generally not profitable, so low-cost films can avoid losses to the greatest extent and ensure box office value.

Looking away from the direction of William Wyler, Hughes glanced at a crowded place in the party and whispered: "In fact, not only Universal, but the current situation of major Hollywood studios is generally very bad.

This is one of the reasons why I have such a bad opinion of the film industry."

Hollywood thinks that Hughes' aircraft repair shed is completely ridiculous, but from another perspective, if Hollywood is still making money, why would he put so much energy into the production of aircraft?

In addition to directing and producing, he also owns the operating rights of hundreds of movie theaters in Los Angeles. He is more keen on the context of Hollywood movies than some people present. Movie ticket prices have been on a downward trend since the beginning of this year.

, the income of movie theaters has also plummeted rapidly. It is precisely because Hughes saw this clearly that he devoted more energy to the aviation industry.

"Of course, our Titanic will be an exception."

Although the environment was harsh, it did not affect Hughes' confidence in his film.

It can also be seen from this point that he is a very conceited existence.

Then, following Hughes' introduction, Colin saw Gloria Swanson at the party. This Hollywood queen of the silent film era seems to have shown signs of being eliminated by talkies.

Although there was still a smile on his face, there was a hint of sadness.

As an actress, Gloria Swanson is extremely talented and is very good at figuring out and catering to public psychology and values. Therefore, the clothes she wears, whether on the screen or in daily life, are often printed in fashion magazines.

Every move was widely reported.

However, the emergence of talkies brought an end to Gloria Swanson's glory. Although she appeared in several talkies, her transformation was not smooth and she had to retire from the film industry sadly.

.

Later, Gloria Swanson came back and played the line of a has-been actress in "Sunset Boulevard" that also well explained the impact of talkies on silent films: "We don't need dialogue.

We have expressions.”

However, Greta Garbo, an actress who also came from the silent film era, was relatively lucky.

Colin and Walt once watched Greta Garbo's major talkie "Grand Hotel", in which Greta Garbo gave her wonderful performance and also completed the transition from the queen of silent films to talkies.

At the party, Greta Garbo had a sweet smile on her face, which was in sharp contrast to the sadness in Gloria Swanson's eyes not far away.

Of course, in addition to these female stars from the silent film era, there were also many male stars at the party. However, Colin did not pay much attention to these stars. He could only roughly recognize a few famous ones, including those who had also appeared in "Grand Hotel" before.

"John Barrymore and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., who starred in "Snow White", are the sons of Douglas Fairbanks, the prototype of the prince in "Snow White" that Colin had seen before at the Disney studio, but according to Hugh

Si revealed that the relationship between father and son was not a good one, and they even maintained a state of hostility.

Apart from these dazzling Hollywood stars, the one Colin had the most contact with was the director at the party.

As William Wyler said, there were many directors more famous than him at the party.

During this period, Colin met John Ford, the only filmmaker in Hollywood history to win Best Director four times. He is famous for his western films. However, none of the four Oscars he won came from western films.

Movie.

It is worth mentioning that the background of "The Grapes of Wrath", which John Ford won the Academy Award for Director, was based on the economic crisis of the Great Depression.

However, during this period, the films shot by John Ford were still mainly Westerns. At the same time, the great director was also adapting to the change from the silent film era to sound films, and did not win the favor of the Oscar.

When Colin saw him, he was discussing the difficulties of western films in the era of sound films with Frank Capra. Frank Capra was a director contracted by Columbia Studios and had been producing sound films since 1928.

In just four years, ten talkies were filmed, almost all of which were comedies.

Also participating in the discussion was director George Fitzmaurice. Although he is not as famous as the other two, he has also participated in the production of many movies and once had a brief relationship with Alfred Hitchcock.

The mentor-disciple relationship.

The reason why Colin contacted the director so actively was because he had his own purpose.

During his visit to Disney Studios, Colin also asked Roy about Paramount's situation and learned that Paramount's internal business problems have become quite serious, with losses exceeding 20 million and entering the brink of bankruptcy. It is said that the Federal District of New York

The court has intervened in the investigation and declared Paramount bankrupt once it was confirmed that it was unable to operate.

Once Paramount is declared bankrupt by the court, what will follow will be a long restructuring process, and this is also Colin's opportunity.

Specifically, it is known that Paramount took up to two years to complete its bankruptcy reorganization.

During this period, there was enough time for Colin to prepare. At the same time, once he decided to accept the bankrupt Paramount, he would naturally need to have enough directors and actors to support the management of the film company, so the party in front of him became an opportunity for him to establish contacts.

important occasion.
To be continued...