“Forgotten Hollywood”- Looking for Documentary Investors!

Posted on May 19, 2014 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…

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Triumph over Disability — Lionel Barrymore’s Pioneering Story

13 lionel barrymore drawingWe present the seldom-shared story of Lionel Barrymore, and his desire to carry on with his career, despite being diagnosed in 1937 with advanced degenerative arthritis. His decision influenced the strategy in our government’s pioneering fight to eradicate polio through the March of Dimes Campaign. Barrymore also inspired President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Helen Keller to continue their personal and professional battles against disability and disease. Their paths shaped our national agenda of how we accept folks with crippling handicaps; and it positively altered Hollywood’s uniform perception of the disabled.

 

 A compelling tale from the award-winning Forgotten Hollywood Book Series

 Before Daniel Day Lewis starred in My Left Foot and Cliff Robertson in Charly; prior to Helen Keller’s chronicled life in The Miracle Worker, and Jane Wyman’s performance in Johnny Belinda; and a decade before double amputee Harold Russell was memorably cast as a disabled World War II serviceman returning home in The Best Years of Our Lives… there was Lionel Barrymore. A member of Hollywood royalty, Mr. Barrymore spent his final seventeen years at MGM on crutches, or in a wheelchair. His affliction was rarely referenced in screenplays, and the public accepted each fine performance. What emerged is a dignified litany of celluloid roles in You Can’t Take it with You, A Guy Named Joe, Duel in the Sun, Test Pilot, Key Largo, It’s a Wonderful Life, and the Dr. Kildare series of films.

At the same moment in time, President Roosevelt was hiding his own handicap from the electorate due to polio (infantile paralysis) for fear of losing confidence of the nation. Society eventually addressed the subject of disability; beginning with the FDR’s implementation of the March of Dimes campaign. His inspired decision of reaching out to Hollywood has roots in the cinematic resolve of Lionel Barrymore.

48. Margaret O'BrienOn-screen interviews include Oscar-winning child star Margaret O’Brien —->  who appeared in Meet Me in St. Louis and Little Women; and Scott Essman, a Universal Studios publicist of classic monster films, and an author and educator in the field of cinematic history, mass media, and filmmaking.

 

 If you would like to invest in the FORGOTTEN HOLLYWOOD DOCUMENTARY PILOT: contact executive producer Manny Pacheco at raideoman1@earthlink.net

Until next time>                               “never forget”

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