Gene D. Philips Archives

PAGE 47: Letter from Fred Zinnemann to Rev. Gene Phillips, May 23, 1988.
Zinnemann thanks Phillips for the program note and recording of music for The Wave (Redes, 1936). Zinnemann says he was not “particularly upset” by the description identifying The Wave as “Paul Strand’s film,” though he clarifies that he found Strand to be a “great photographer… also a great egomaniac.” He also asks for Phillips’ thoughts on the ending of Five Days One Summer (1982), which he states was based on the short story “Maiden Maiden” by Kay Boyle. 

PAGE 54: Letter from Fred Zinnemann to Rev. Gene Phillips, Aug. 18, 1995.
Zinnemann comments on an imaginary review of Man’s Fate (1969, abandoned film adaptation of André Malraux’s novel of the same name with Zinnemann set to direct). Regarding The Member of the. Wedding (misprinted as A Member of the Wedding) (1952), he states that he was unaware of 20 minutes being cut from the film but admits he may not remember well if anything of importance was omitted. He also mentions Brandon de Wilde, how he died young. He also corrects a point made by a biographer of Montgomery Clift, stating that Zinnemann’s first film was Redes (1936) and Clift’s was Red River (1948), released after The Search (1948). He also remarks on Hitchcock’s “The Crystal Trench” (Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 5, episode 2, 1959) and compares jokingly to Five Days One Summer (1982).