Selznick also wrote the screenplay for director John Cromwell""s epic, three-hour work, based upon Margaret Buell Wilder""s 1943 novel: "Since You Went Away: Letters to a Soldier from His Wife" - composed of a collection of letters from homefront wife Wilder to her overseas husband while he was away at war.A crescendo of bells, trumpets, waving flags and galloping horses marked the arrival of the important entourage in Moscow, with its architectural, onion-shaped domes.After Karen received a pair of wooden feet and crutches, she was still haunted by the red shoes, and finally repented of her sinful ways and asked for God""s mercy.You""re smart.You""re a professional.We want you to mature the kid.We want you to room with him on the road.Stay on his case all year.He can go all the way.""Crash": "Yeah? Where can I go?"Skip: "You can keep goin"" to the ballpark and keep gettin"" paid to do it.In the film""s calm but startling opening voice-over, a depressed, cynical, middle-aged, 42 year-old suburban father Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) briefly introduced himself, while foreshadowing his own death - he would be dead in less than a year:(voice-over) My name is Lester Burnham.