Anthem The dramatic turnaround in Rand’s life and career came with the publication of The Fountainhead, her first bestselling novel. Despite initially slow sales, the novel reached Rand’s “kind of readers”—those whom she viewed as “the right minds.” Five months after publication, Warner Brothers purchased the novel’s film rights for $50,000 (nearly a million dollars in today’s money), and Rand was contracted to write the screenplay herself. To be closer to Hollywood, she moved from her New York City apartment to a thirteen-and-a-half-acre estate in the San Fernando Valley.

The following year, Rand signed a contract to write screenplays for producer Hal Wallis. Their deal included an arrangement whereby Rand received six months off every year to work on her own projects. Their collaboration yielded multiple scripts, including two produced films, You Came Along and Love Letters, the latter being nominated for four Academy Awards.

By mutual agreement, Rand and Wallis terminated their deal due to the Hollywood depression of the late 1940s and the increased strain in their working relationship. This allowed Rand to devote all her energy to the project that would become her magnum opus: Atlas Shrugged.

To learn more about Rand’s Hollywood career, readers are invited to consult this article by Jeff Britting (as well as this article about the potential film adaptations of Anthem), this video and this lecture by Shoshana Milgram, and this article by Brandon Lisi.