The Screen Directors Guild Meeting

Chapter 3 looks at the SDG meeting in detail, using sources such as the meeting transcript to provide a thorough account. DeMille capitulated from the beginning and accepted that Mankiewicz was victorious. Early in the meeting, he seconded motions for the recall ballots to be destroyed. No debate existed between DeMille’s supporters and others, as DeMille simply had no support. The meeting was essentially a sustained attack on DeMille for his actions in recalling Mankiewicz. George Stevens’s attack on DeMille created a demand that DeMille be removed from office. With demands for DeMille’s resignation at their height, John Ford defended DeMille, and his speech stopped the drive to have DeMille resign. Even with Ford’s intervention, the meeting continued to demand the board’s removal. Ford initially defended the board then reluctantly admitted that events had spun out of control and it had to go.