Eric G. Stacey
Encyclopedia
Eric G. Stacey was a British Assistant director
and Production manager. He was nominated three times for an Academy Award for Best Assistant Director
for his work on the Darryl F. Zanuck
production of Les Miserables
(1935) and the David O. Selznick
productions of The Garden of Allah (1936) and A Star Is Born
(1937), the last year the Award was given to Assistant director
s.
, London, England, Stacey was one of two sons of Robert and Rosa Stacey. His father was a hotelier and caterer, notably operating The Beach Hotel in Ramsgate, England, a seaside resort. Stacey attended Sutton Valence, Kent and St. Lawrence College. From 1922 to 1924, he worked as a clerk and assistant director with Artistic Films, Ltd. in London and had a short experience as a theater manager at the Regent Theater, Brighton during 1925. In 1925, Stacey immigrated to the United States where he became an usher at the Publix Theaters. Shortly after that, he started his career in the cinema industry as an Assistant director first and Production manager later on. In 1941, Stacey married Frances Stinette, who had worked at the Hayes Office as a film censor enforcing the Motion Picture Production Code. The marriage endured until Stacey's death in 1969 in Los Angeles
, California. They had two children, Eric Stacey, Jr., and Frances Eugenia Stacey.
By 1935, Stacey had become a respected Assistant Director. In 1936, Stacey began a relationship with David O. Selznick in which he would serve as First Assistant Director on all the feature films of Selznick International Pictures, including Little Lord Fauntleroy, (1936) The Garden of Allah, (1936), A Star is Born, (1937), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, (1937), Made for Each Other, (1938), The Young In Heart, (1938) Gone With The Wind, (1938-1939), and Rebecca (1939). At a pre-production meeting for Gone With The Wind, "Assistant director Eric Stacey made the suggestion: why not assemble all the sets in a replica of 1864 Atlanta and send the whole thing up in flames?" Ridgeway Callow, second assistant director [GWTW], recalls that the day before shooting, "Flemming came onto the set and said to my boss Eric Stacey and myself, 'They tell me that you're supposed to be the best team in the picture business. But I'm going to put both of you in the hospital before this picture is over.'"
In 1940, Stacey became a Production Manager and was one of the founding members of the Screen Directors' Guild which would later become the Directors Guild of America
. In 1940 Stacey worked on C.B. DeMille's Northwest Mounted Police, (1940) and later moved to Warner Brothers Studio. Some of the more notable Warner Brothers films Stacey worked on as a Production Manager were A Passage to Marseilles, (1943), Arsenic and Old Lace, (1944), The Big Sleep, (1945), Life With Father, (1946), Romance On The High Seas, (1947), The Fountainhead, (1948). From 1949 to 1954, Stacey served as Assistant to T.C. Wright, and from 1955 to 1956 became General Studio Manager, overseeing the productions of A Streetcar Named Desire, Rebel Without A Cause, East of Eden, and Giant.
On July 5, 1947, Stacey wrote to Studio Manager, T.C. Wright re. progress on the production of Romance In High C: "Mike's [Curtiz] progress on this show is phenomenal, due to great measure to the wonderful cameraman he has, [staff director of photography] Woody Bredell, who takes very little longer in Technicolor than most people do in Black and White. Which proves the point I have so long been telling you, that the Black and White and Technicolor cameramen routine we have been stuck with around here so long is a lot of nonsense; it makes everything take twice as long... Of course, Mike himself plans his work so well an knows exactly what he is going to do several days ahead of time, which most directors on this lot do not do. ... Picture 3 days ahead of schedule."
In late 1956, Stacey returned to the ranks of Unit Production Managers, working on Rogers & Hammerstein's South Pacific, (1957), Rowland V. Lee's The Big Fisherman, (1959), Blake Edward's Breakfast At Tiffany's, (1960), George Stevens' The Greatest Story Ever Told, (1965), and Fantastic Voyage, (1966). Stacey died in 1969 while on location filming Noel Black's Run Shadow Run (later released as Cover Me Babe).
Well known directors Stacey worked with during his forty year production career included: John Cromwell
, Ryszard Bolesławski, Norman Taurog
, Victor Fleming
, Sam Wood
, Alfred Hitchcock
, Michael Curtiz
, Frank Capra
, Howard Hawks
, Jean Negulesco
, Raoul Walsh
, Elia Kazan
, George Cukor
, Gordon Douglas
, Nicholas Ray
, George Stevens
, Joshua Logan
, Blake Edwards
, Daniel Mann
and Joseph L. Mankiewicz
.
Assistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
and Production manager. He was nominated three times for an Academy Award for Best Assistant Director
Academy Award for Best Assistant Director
In the first year of this award it referred to no specific film.*1933 winners** Charles Barton ** Rick James ** Charles Dorian ** Fred Fox ** Gordon Hollingshead ** Dewey Starkey...
for his work on the Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
production of Les Miserables
Les Misérables (1935 film)
Les Misérables is a 1935 American drama film based upon the famous Victor Hugo novel of the same name. It was adapted by W. P. Lipscomb and directed by Richard Boleslawski...
(1935) and the David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
productions of The Garden of Allah (1936) and A Star Is Born
A Star Is Born (1937 film)
A Star Is Born is a 1937 Technicolor romantic drama film produced by David O. Selznick and directed by William A. Wellman, with a script by Wellman, Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell. It stars Janet Gaynor as an aspiring Hollywood actress, and Fredric March as an aging movie star who...
(1937), the last year the Award was given to Assistant director
Assistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
s.
Biography
Born in the Hotel St. Cloud, BayswaterBayswater
Bayswater is an area of west London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to the west . It is a built-up district located 3 miles west-north-west of Charing Cross, bordering the north of Hyde Park over Kensington Gardens and having a population density of...
, London, England, Stacey was one of two sons of Robert and Rosa Stacey. His father was a hotelier and caterer, notably operating The Beach Hotel in Ramsgate, England, a seaside resort. Stacey attended Sutton Valence, Kent and St. Lawrence College. From 1922 to 1924, he worked as a clerk and assistant director with Artistic Films, Ltd. in London and had a short experience as a theater manager at the Regent Theater, Brighton during 1925. In 1925, Stacey immigrated to the United States where he became an usher at the Publix Theaters. Shortly after that, he started his career in the cinema industry as an Assistant director first and Production manager later on. In 1941, Stacey married Frances Stinette, who had worked at the Hayes Office as a film censor enforcing the Motion Picture Production Code. The marriage endured until Stacey's death in 1969 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California. They had two children, Eric Stacey, Jr., and Frances Eugenia Stacey.
Career
In 1926, Stacey found work with Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation in their Production Department. Moving to Hollywood in 1927, Stacey first worked as an extra but soon became a Property Master, working at Warner Brothers on the first talking picture, The Jazz Singer with Al Jolson.By 1935, Stacey had become a respected Assistant Director. In 1936, Stacey began a relationship with David O. Selznick in which he would serve as First Assistant Director on all the feature films of Selznick International Pictures, including Little Lord Fauntleroy, (1936) The Garden of Allah, (1936), A Star is Born, (1937), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, (1937), Made for Each Other, (1938), The Young In Heart, (1938) Gone With The Wind, (1938-1939), and Rebecca (1939). At a pre-production meeting for Gone With The Wind, "Assistant director Eric Stacey made the suggestion: why not assemble all the sets in a replica of 1864 Atlanta and send the whole thing up in flames?" Ridgeway Callow, second assistant director [GWTW], recalls that the day before shooting, "Flemming came onto the set and said to my boss Eric Stacey and myself, 'They tell me that you're supposed to be the best team in the picture business. But I'm going to put both of you in the hospital before this picture is over.'"
In 1940, Stacey became a Production Manager and was one of the founding members of the Screen Directors' Guild which would later become the Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
. In 1940 Stacey worked on C.B. DeMille's Northwest Mounted Police, (1940) and later moved to Warner Brothers Studio. Some of the more notable Warner Brothers films Stacey worked on as a Production Manager were A Passage to Marseilles, (1943), Arsenic and Old Lace, (1944), The Big Sleep, (1945), Life With Father, (1946), Romance On The High Seas, (1947), The Fountainhead, (1948). From 1949 to 1954, Stacey served as Assistant to T.C. Wright, and from 1955 to 1956 became General Studio Manager, overseeing the productions of A Streetcar Named Desire, Rebel Without A Cause, East of Eden, and Giant.
On July 5, 1947, Stacey wrote to Studio Manager, T.C. Wright re. progress on the production of Romance In High C: "Mike's [Curtiz] progress on this show is phenomenal, due to great measure to the wonderful cameraman he has, [staff director of photography] Woody Bredell, who takes very little longer in Technicolor than most people do in Black and White. Which proves the point I have so long been telling you, that the Black and White and Technicolor cameramen routine we have been stuck with around here so long is a lot of nonsense; it makes everything take twice as long... Of course, Mike himself plans his work so well an knows exactly what he is going to do several days ahead of time, which most directors on this lot do not do. ... Picture 3 days ahead of schedule."
In late 1956, Stacey returned to the ranks of Unit Production Managers, working on Rogers & Hammerstein's South Pacific, (1957), Rowland V. Lee's The Big Fisherman, (1959), Blake Edward's Breakfast At Tiffany's, (1960), George Stevens' The Greatest Story Ever Told, (1965), and Fantastic Voyage, (1966). Stacey died in 1969 while on location filming Noel Black's Run Shadow Run (later released as Cover Me Babe).
Well known directors Stacey worked with during his forty year production career included: John Cromwell
John Cromwell (director)
Elwood Dager Cromwell , known as John Cromwell, was an American film actor, director and producer.-Biography:...
, Ryszard Bolesławski, Norman Taurog
Norman Taurog
Norman Rae Taurog was an American film director, and screenwriter.Between 1920 and 1968, Taurog directed over 140 films, and directed Elvis Presley in more movies than any other director...
, Victor Fleming
Victor Fleming
Victor Lonzo Fleming was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were The Wizard of Oz , and Gone with the Wind , for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director.-Life and career:Fleming was born in La Canada, California, the son of Elizabeth Evaleen ...
, Sam Wood
Sam Wood
Samuel Grosvenor "Sam" Wood was an American film director, and producer, who was best known for directing such Hollywood hits as A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and The Pride of the Yankees...
, Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész...
, Frank Capra
Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...
, Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era...
, Jean Negulesco
Jean Negulesco
Jean Negulesco was a Romanian-born American film director and screenwriter....
, Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh...
, Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...
, George Cukor
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
, Gordon Douglas
Gordon Douglas (director)
Gordon Douglas was an American film director, who directed many different genres of films over the course of a five-decade career in motion pictures. He was a native of New York City.-Hal Roach and Our Gang:...
, Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause....
, George Stevens
George Stevens
George Stevens was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer.Among his most notable films were Diary of Anne Frank , nominated for Best Director, Giant , winner of Oscar for Best Director, Shane , Oscar nominated, and A Place in the Sun , winner of Oscar for Best...
, Joshua Logan
Joshua Logan
Joshua Lockwood Logan III was an American stage and film director and writer.-Early years:Logan was born in Texarkana, Texas, the son of Susan and Joshua Lockwood Logan. When he was three years old his father committed suicide...
, Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
, Daniel Mann
Daniel Mann
Daniel Mann, also known as Daniel Chugerman , was an American film and television director.Daniel Mann was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was a stage actor since childhood, and attended Erasmus Hall High School, New York's Professional Children's School and the Neighborhood Playhouse...
and Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph Leo Mankiewicz was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career and is best known as the writer-director of All About Eve , which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won six. He was brother to screenwriter and drama critic Herman J...
.
External links
- A Hollywood Scrapbook at Landfall Productions