Arts & Culture

William Faulkner’s Hollywood Odyssey

In 1932, a rising writer from Mississippi found himself amid the bright lights and dry heat of Tinseltown
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A vintage postcard of William Faulkner’s Hollywood apartment building.

Faulkner (center) with Howard Hawks (left) and writer Steve Fisher.

Photo: Courtesy of Robert Hamblin, Center for Faulkner Studies, Southeast Missouri State University

Faulkner and Meta Carpenter at her apartment building.

Photo: Meta Carpenter Wilde Collection, The University of Mississippi

A portrait Carpenter had made for Faulkner.

Photo: Meta Carpenter Wilde Collection, The University of Mississippi

A letter from President Reagan to scholar Daniel Brodsky after he received a copy of Battle Cry.

Photo: Courtesy Robert Hamblin, Center for Faulkner Studies, Southeast Missouri State University

A draft of Faulkner’s unproduced script, now housed in the Warner Bros. Archives.

Photo: Amy Dickerson

Outside the building where Faulkner’s office was located on the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank.

Photo: Amy Dickerson

Hotel Highland Towers, where Faulkner lived in the penthouse during his years in Hollywood.

Photo: Amy Dickerson

Inside Musso & Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard.

Photo: Amy Dickerson

Faulkner’s name tops the list of acclaimed Warner Bros. writers on a plaque outside the company’s Writers Building.

Photo: Amy Dickerson

William-Faulkner-Hollywood-Odyssey-Battle-Cry-box-11

Files from the never-produced film Battle Cry, Faulkner’s script intended to star Ronald Reagan.

Amy Dickerson