Case History of a Movie

&quote;Case History of a Movie&quote; documents the behind-the-scenes record of a low-budget studio film from 1950. The movie was &quote;The Next Voice You Hear&quote;, which was directed by William Wellman and starring James Whitmore and Nancy Davis (Reagan).&quote;I have always wanted to do a book which would state realistically and in detail how a motion picture is made. I had reserved this plan for some time in the future, when other men will be doing the work I am now doing, and when I would be able to look back and reflect on the enjoyable effort of most of my lifetime.However, the making of the film, The Next Voice You Hear, was so stimulating that it propelled me into attempting this job long before I actually had the full time to do it. Help came along in the form of one Charles Palmer, an experienced, capable writer who tackles his assignments with the wide-eyed enthusiasm of an apprentice who has just sold his first by-line to the local gazette. &quote;Cap&quote; (for his initials) shares my enthusiasm for films, knows his way around the studios, and has skill and experience with the printed word. He was willing to take on this collaborative and &quote;as told to&quote; assignment, and I am delighted he did, because even though I have not been able to write all of this book, it is exactly the way I would have wanted to write it. Cap did most of the putting together of the words from notes taken at sessions we had during free hours in the morning, or at night, or on Sundays; from some articles I had worked on; some speeches I had made; from my own dictated comments and handwritten scrawls-and finally, from his own keen eye and his own talent.&quote;-Foreword