[dropcap]T[/dropcap]wenty-eight year old King Vidor released his fourteenth motion picture on Jun. 3, 1923. Talent, hard work and a little luck turned the star-struck Texan into one of Hollywood’s finest film makers.
The Galveston native, who survived the 1900 hurricane as a boy of six, was mesmerized by the newfangled medium called “the movies.” Landing a part-time job at a local theater, he spent countless hours watching the screen spring to life with thrilling tales of faraway places.
To the young Texan picture shows were pure magic, and soon he had his heart set on becoming a behind-the-scenes sorcerer. Although Vidor’s first attempts at homemade cinema, an amateurish recreation of the Great Storm and live footage of troops on maneuver, were nothing special, his simple story of a seaside car race showed real promise.
