The Rosenberg Library Collection - King Vidor on Galveston Hurricane of 1900

Duration: 10:43

Year Published: 1976

Format: 16mm

Sound: sound

Description: In this unedited interview, filmmaker King Vidor recounts his childhood experience of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. Vidor was six years old when the hurricane hit Galveston Island on September 8, 1900. He describes watching the storm surge in the Gulf of Mexico and being trapped for several days in a flooded house near the beach. Killing over 6,000 people and decimating the city, the hurricane remains the deadliest natural disaster in United States history. A native of Galveston, Vidor was a critically acclaimed Hollywood director, earning five Academy Award nominations for Best Director and receiving an Honorary Award in 1979.This film was made by Houstonian Philip Chumlea in 1976. He conducted this interview when he was fresh out of film school and living in Los Angeles. He says he thought that this interview would his way of breaking into the business. Chumlea found King Vidor’s agent’s number in the phone book, called him up, and asked for an interview. Surprisingly, Mr. Vidor agreed, and Chumlea and his friend Tom Glazner went to Mr. Vidor’s home in the Hollywood Hills and filmed on the grounds. King Vidor wanted to be filmed sitting in his Jaguar, but he settled for being filmed in his garden instead. Mr. Chumlea ended up going into energy back home in Houston, but this film is an important contribution to Texas history and film history. See photos from the shoot in the Photos tab.