READ THE BOOK! SEE THE MOVIE!

During the Golden Age of Hollywood, 20th Century-Fox was the studio where screenwriters were most often given the opportunity to excel. Fox studio mogul Darryl F. Zanuck had been a writer himself so he knew the importance of a good script. When the talented writers at Fox were given the task of adapting a best selling novel for the screen, the result was often a classic motion picture.

The unprecedented success of David O. Selznick’s production of Gone With the Wind caused Hollywood to focus on popular novels more than ever before. And there were so many outstanding books to chose from! During the Forties and early Fifties, romantic historical fiction was an immensely popular subject and many authors excelled at writing in this genre.

The movies discussed in Read the Book! See the Movie! were all based on novels which had made it onto the best seller lists and were optioned for filming by 20th Century-Fox. The transition from page to screen is covered in detail, including casting choices, behind the scenes drama, and the eventual reception given the finished product by critics and audiences of the time.

Perhaps, most of all, the book is a tribute to Darryl F. Zanuck, who played such a major role in getting every one of these motion pictures on the screen.