Bright Leaf (novel)
In 1949 professional dancer Foster Fitzsimmons's first novel Bright Leaf was a financial and critical success.[1][2] The novel is named after a strain of Tobacco called "Bright Leaf". Two rival families that grow this strain of Tobacco are engaged in an intense rivalry.[3] The scion of one family defeats the other family when he industrializes the manufacture of cigarettes, replacing hand rolled cigarettes with cheaper cigarettes rolled by machine.
Popular director Michael Curtiz made a feature film, based on the novel, in 1950, also name "Bright Leaf", starring Patricia Neal, Lauren Bacall, and Gary Cooper.[4]
In 2003 director Ross McElwee released a personal documentary entitled Bright Leaves, in which he traces the family tradition that the book and film were inspired by a rivalry between his Great-grandfather and the leader of the wealthy Duke family of Tobacco planters, best known today for founding Duke University.[5][6]
References
- ↑ Jack Pendarvis. The Cigarette Lighter, Bloomsbury Publishing, p. 15, 51-52, 111. Retrieved on 2022-08-30.
- ↑ William T. Polk. REVIEW OF NORTH CAROLINA BOOKS OF THE YEAR, The North Carolina Historical Review, April, 1950, p. 200-204 (5 pages). Retrieved on 2022-08-30.
- ↑ Lawrence Lee. Tobacco Is King!; BRIGHT LEAF. By Foster Fitz-Simans. 631 pp. New York: Rinehart & Co. 63.50., New York Times, 1948-10-03, p. Book 25. Retrieved on 2022-08-30.
- ↑ Bosley Crowther. THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; 'Bright Leaf,' With Gary Cooper as Tobacco Magnate, New Bill at Strand Theatre, New York Times, 1950-06-17, p. L7. Retrieved on 2022-08-30.
- ↑ Stephen Holden. FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW; Tapestry of a Family and Its Home State, New York Times, 2003-10-11, p. B16. Retrieved on 2022-08-30. “McElwee family lore has it that the movie, directed by Michael Curtiz and adapted from a novel by Foster Fitz-Simons, is the story of his great-grandfather. And it prompts Mr. McElwee to embark on an eccentric quest to document the connection. He obsessively reruns the movie and interviews a film scholar, Vlada Petric, along with Ms. Neal and the original novelist's widow.”
- ↑ FILM REVIEW; Romance of Tobacco Brought to Life, New York Times, 2004-08-25, p. E4. Retrieved on 2022-08-30. “His great-grandfather was a tobacco king who created the Bull Durham brand, then lost his fortune to a rival clan, the Dukes, who became North Carolina royalty. Through a cousin who collects vintage films and movie memorabilia, he becomes fixated on a 1950 black-and-white melodrama, Bright Leaf, about the tobacco wars of the late 19th century, starring Gary Cooper, Lauren Bacall and Patricia Neal.”
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