Delmer Daves was born in San Francisco, California. Raised in Los Angeles, he graduated from Polytechnic High School, studied engineering at Stanford University, and took a law degree at Stanford in 1927. Daves first drew attention to his writing at age eleven, marking up hymnals in a Los Angeles church by reproducing the Gothic print he found there. He put his fascination with calligraphy and his talent for reproduction to more positive use while a university student. He paid his tuition and expenses--some ten thousand dollars in all--by teaching lettering and drawing, working as a draftsman for the city of Palo Alto, and designing bookplates and children's greeting cards. In addition to supporting himself and pursuing his studies, Daves found time to participate in dramatic shows on campus. He was not unfamiliar with theatrical productions, having made his movie debut as an extra at age ten. He worked occasionally...