jbgotmar

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CHAPTER FOUR
The Real Root of Evil
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ayn and frank arrived in Hollywood as celebrities. The
Fountainhead was the hot property of the moment, and the
town buzzed with speculation about who would be chosen for
the choicest roles. Stars began to court Rand in the belief that she could
infl uence the studio’s choices. Joan Crawford threw a dinner for the
O’Connors and came dressed as Dominique, in a long white gown and
aquamarines. Warner Brothers set her up in an enormous offi ce with
a secretary out front and a $750 weekly salary. The contrast between
Rand’s arrival as a penniless immigrant in 1926 and her latest debut was
sharp.
The Golden State’s charms were lost on Rand, who complained about
“the disgusting California sunshine.” 1 Her heart was still in New York,
and she hoped their time in California would be brief. She immediately
set to work on The Fountainhead script, turning out a polished
version in a few weeks. There would be no quick return east, however,
for production of the fi lm was suspended indefi nitely due to wartime
shortages. Rand resigned herself to a lengthy stay in California. When
her work for Warner Brothers was done, she signed a fi ve-year parttime
screenwriting contract with the independent producer Hal Wallis,
successfully negotiating six months off a year to pursue her own writing.
She and Frank bought a house that perfectly suited them both, an
architecturally distinguished modernist building that could easily have
graced the pages of The Fountainhead. Designed by Richard Neutra and
situated in rural Chatsworth, almost an hour’s drive from Hollywood,
the glass-and-steel house was surrounded by a moat and thirteen acres.
In the end, they would live there for seven years.
Rand underwent two profound intellectual shifts during her time in
California. The fi rst was a reorientation of her thought toward a concept
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