Francis My Love

In her 1990 autobiography Ava: My Story, Ava Gardner said that Frank Sinatra was the love of her life. The two had met in 1943 at a Hollywood nightclub and, after seeing each other only occasionally over the years, met again at a party in 1949. They started an affair, with Sinatra still married to his first wife Nancy Barbato (with whom he had three children). On 7 November 1951, ten days after Sinatra's divorce had come through, Ava and Frank tied the knot, entering into a very tumultuous and highly publicised marriage. The two were both —in Ava's own words— "high-strung people, possessive and jealous and liable to explode fast", their temperaments often leading to heated fights, sometimes even in public. During their marriage, Ava got pregnant with Sinatra's child twice but in both cases had an abortion. On 29 October 1953, after two years of marriage, the couple formally announced their separation, with the divorce eventually being finalised in 1957. Ava and Frank remained good friends until Ava's death in 1990, at age 67. 

Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra, who was Ava's third and final husband (Artie Shaw and Mickey Rooney being husband number one and two).

In April 1952, five months into their marriage, Ava wrote Sinatra the following note. At the time Ava was filming The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) at the 20th Century Fox Studios in Los Angeles while Sinatra was in New York. 

Source: Lot-tissimo

Transcript:

Francis my love —

I finally tricked Bappie [Ava's older sister] + Ben into buying some stationery for me so now I have to use it, cause it's new + cause I love you — That's all I have to say so goodnight baby— I can't wait till next Tuesday— Love, love, love, yours 

Ava

Ava Gardner's letter from the set of "Mogambo"

Ava Gardner once said that John Ford's Mogambo (1953) was as close to a pinnacle as anything she had ever done. The film, for which she received her only Oscar nomination, was not an easy shoot, though. During production in Africa, cast and crew had to deal with the Mau Mau uprising, the excruciating heat and heavy rainfall, and wild animals that formed a constant threat of danger. And besides all that, Ava also had to face the most personal crisis of her life.

A year earlier, Ava had married Frank Sinatra who had accompanied her to the shoot in Africa. The couple was having marital problems and on the set they were constantly fighting. After Sinatra went back to Hollywood to do a screentest for From Here to Eternity (1953), Ava discovered she was pregnant. With Sinatra in Hollywood, she decided to have an abortion in London, keeping her husband out of the loop and telling the press she was receiving medical treatment for a tropical infection. Ava said in her autobiography Ava: My Story (1990) that she wasn't ready to have a child, unable to offer it a stable home life. Mogambo cinematographer Robert Surtees claimed, however, that she had the abortion because she couldn't stand the thought of having Sinatra's baby. It was Surtees' wife who had gone to London with Ava and to whom Ava had said: "I hated Frankie so much. I wanted that baby to go unborn." (After Mogambo had wrapped, Ava said in her book that she got pregnant a second time and had a second abortion, this time with Sinatra being in the know.) 

On 29 October 1953, after a very tumultuous marriage, Ava and Frank formally announced their separation. While Ava filed for divorce in June 1954, the divorce wouldn't be finalised until 1957. The two would remain good friends until Ava's death in 1990, at age 67.

Above: November 1952, Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra at London Airport on the first leg of their journey to Nairobi, Kenya. Below: (left to right) Donald Sinden, Grace Kelly, Clark Gable, Denis O'Dea, Ava Gardner and Eric Pohlmann on the set of Mogambo. While circumstances during production were difficult, Ava said that everyone in the cast got along famously. She and Grace Kelly even became lifelong friends.

In January 1953, from the set of Mogambo, Ava wrote the following letter to her sister Myra. Ava came from a North Carolina family, the youngest of seven children, and was very close to her siblings. In the letter, she talks about having been "sick" in London; about Africa getting "more unbearable every day"; about Sinatra leaving her again for months (he got the Maggio part in From Here to Eternity and had gone back to Hollywood); and about the presents he gave her, for their first anniversary, her birthday (on 24 December she had turned 30) and Christmas. 

Incidentally, Sinatra was broke at the time so he had to borrow money to pay for Ava's presents. For the diamond anniversary ring Ava had to advance the money herself (to Robert Surtees she had said: "You know what that son of a bitch did? I got the bill for the ring!"). Still, Sinatra did make sure everybody on the set had a wonderful Christmas. He secretly went to Nairobi to get a tree and decorations and also arranged for an African choir to sing French Christmas carols.

Transcript:

Jan. 1953

Myra dear -

I just got your very first letter today- It was sent to me in London (from Africa) while I was sick + just got back to Africa today. But anyway I got your others + incidentally I sure do enjoy them 'cause this place gets more unbearable every day + any word from home is like a breath of fresh air. Frank just left a few days ago + now I'm really lonesome- This time he is going to be gone for four months or more -

Looks like we'll never be together long enough to really find out if we can live together or not-

Honey, if I didn't tell you in my last letter- I got all your cards at Xmas + birthday time + tell Jean [Myra's daughter] I got hers too + I do hope she's a little happier- She deserves it- to sacrifice so much- I never did receive the [illegible] but maybe they will catch up with me like the letter did- Mail is not too reliable in this part of the world- thank you anyway honey-

We're hoping to get out of here in another week or ten days- I'm going back by the jet plane as far as Rome where I'll spent a couple of days having fun + eating some good food- then back to London

My address in London will be

4 Abbey Lodge

Honour Gate

Regents Park

London N.W.

I never did tell you about my anniversary present. It was a beautiful diamond ring- I can't draw very well but it looked something like this [sketch] - That's a side view - It is dome shaped + is filled with little round diamonds- And for my birthday he brought me another diamond ring like this [sketch] - A marquis diamond with three baguettes on each side + for Xmas a beautiful mink stole - We really had a wonderful Xmas- as you can imagine even tho' it was in the middle of Africa-

Sweetie, I must stop + get ready to leave on the plane - we're going to our last location and I sure am glad it's the last- it's another safari where we live in tents right out in the open with all the lions + hippos + everything-

We were in one safari for 8 weeks - that's where we spent the holidays - Take care of yourself + give my love to Beatrice + the kids

love + kisses

Ava 

Source: Leading Lights Autographs

Ava Gardner with her sisters Myra and Inez (above) and Beatrice "Bappy" (below)

Grace Kelly's letter from the set of "Mogambo"

In November 1952, location shooting started on John Ford's Mogambo (1953). Cast and crew members flew to Africa, where in the ensuing months scenes were filmed in Tanganyika, Uganda, Belgian Congo and Kenya. The shoot was not without problems, though. With the Mau Mau Uprising taking place in Kenya, MGM had hired armed guards to protect the cast and crew in case of an attack. For extra security everyone was given a weapon, so they could also defend themselves. Apart from the tense situation with the Mau Mau, production was plagued by rain and mud and bad quality roads. As a result, three of the crew members were killed in road accidents, among them assistant director John Hancock.

There were also things happening on a more personal level. Leading lady Ava Gardner had learned that she was pregnant —at the time her marriage to Frank Sinatra was on shaky ground— and took a break from filming to return to London, reportedly to receive medical treatment for a tropical illness but in reality she had an abortion. The film's male lead Clark Gable got sick some time later, having developed a gum infection and briefly left Africa to see his own dentist in Los Angeles. And there was also a romance going on behind the scenes between Grace Kelly (Mogambo's second female lead) and Gable, which ended shortly after production had moved from Africa to the MGM studios in London. 

So it was a turbulent production, yet ultimately with positive results. Mogambo became a huge commercial hit and received generally good reviews. Both Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly were nominated for Oscars (resp. for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress), and Grace also won a Golden Globe.

Above: Grace Kelly knitting on the set of Mogambo while co-star Clark Gable looks on. After the shooting had moved from Africa to London, Grace's mother flew to London and started chaperoning the couple; the affair ended not long thereafter. Below: Grace Kelly and Ava Gardner on the set in Africa; the women became good friends and remained friends until Grace's untimely death in 1982.

Grace Kelly and her friend Prudy Wise

While in Africa on location, Grace Kelly wrote several letters to Prudence Wise, her close friend and personal secretary. Here is one of those letters, written just before Christmas in December 1952. 

Source: icollector.com

Transcript:

Dear Prudy, 

Ava just arrived in camp and with her came your letter- I’m sorry I haven’t written very much - but mother told me she was sending you that letter so I didn’t want to send more of the same news- The other letter I wrote - I sent to Florida - I hope your mother will forward it - Oh God! I just this very minute thought - How dumb can I be? I sent the other letter to Mallory St. - Anyway all I said in it was to tell John when you want to come back to the apt. after Christmas - 

This is the first day off we’ve had in a long time. It’s about 4 o'clock and Gable and I are sitting in front of my tent sipping warm beer - It’s a disgrace how fat I’m getting - The food is so starchy and I am always so hungry - Haven’t heard from Phillippe - but then of course I haven’t written -

Excuse the horrible writing but am leaning on my knees and the wind is blowing - 

Ava just came into my tent and she + Clark are running a scene they are going shoot tomorrow - so it’s hard to concentrate. There really isn’t too much news we’ve been working hard- It’s hot as can be during the day - I miss New York so much this time of year - I imagine the stores are so beautiful - Please give my love to everybody and apologize to them all for my not writing - My baby giraffe - the one named after me - arrives in camp tomorrow she is so sweet - I’ll send pictures as soon as I get them - 

Clark + I went shooting the other day - shot game for the natives and a guinea hen - we ate for dinner - It was simply delicious - 

Later - 

It is now 7:30 am waiting for Gable to have his bath and pick me up for dinner - he got rather high cocktailing with old Ava next door - about 6 o'clock we all went out in the wagon with Bunny Allen - a divine looking guy - who is the white-hunter in charge of the camp - We went to see the lion down the road - a lioness + her two grown sons - they were just beautiful - we were able to get quite close to them - They put out game every few days for them to feed - in order to tame them a bit - I took pictures with the movie camera - so I hope they turn out - but it was rather dark - 

Got a letter from Sherman today as well as old John Foreman - Was in the sun a lot today and my poor nose is like a red light - 

Am sitting by a kerosene lamp as I write this being eaten by mosquitos. The hippos are starting their series of evening grunts + Gable should be along any minute so I will sign off - 

with love - 

Gracie

Above: Frank Sinatra had accompanied his wife Ava Gardner to the set of Mogambo in Africa, the two photographed here at Nairobi airport with Grace Kelly. Sinatra was in between acting jobs and during production flew back to Hollywood to do a screen test for the role of Maggio in From Here To Eternity (1953), eventually landing the role and winning the Oscar. Below: The Christmas holidays took place during the Mogambo shoot and thanks to Sinatra the cast and crew could still enjoy Christmas. In the photo Ava Gardner is seen with some of the Christmas decorations Sinatra had brought back from Nairobi. (Watch Grace Kelly in this lovely clip tell the story of how Sinatra had saved their Christmas.)

You are a very good friend

Just a sweet little note from a friend to a friend. Ava Gardner and George Cukor were good friends -- Cukor seemed to have been friends with a lot of people in Hollywood -- and this note was written by Ava to Cukor in September 1973. The two worked together only once, on Bhowani Junction (1956) in which Ava co-starred with Stewart Granger. For years after that Cukor tried to find another project for them to do together, but no suitable project was ever found. Ava once said that it was Cukor who gave her the nicest compliment anyone had ever given her: "'Ava', he told an interviewer, 'is a gentleman'. A gentleman. I like that."

Source: icollector.com

Transcript:

Sept./73

George dear - you are a very good friend - I remember once you said - in fun - maybe not so much fun — I care for first – my dogs – then my Irene & my cook – & then my relatives — I think after that dear Mrs. Goldyn — I came somewhere near —

I love you
Ava

STAY SAFE EVERYONE!!!

I want to do it more than any script I have ever read

Elizabeth Taylor was fed up with the roles MGM kept giving her and wanted better roles, especially after being cast against her will in the period drama Beau Brummell (1954). In 1953, while in Rome with husband actor Michael Wilding, Elizabeth met director Joseph L. Mankiewicz who had started the preparations for his next film The Barefoot Contessa (1954). Elizabeth desparately wanted to play the Maria Vargas part and asked Mankiewicz if she could read the script. Back in London, she wired MGM-executive Benny Thau, letting him know that she had met Mankiewicz in Rome and that she wanted to do The Barefoot Contessa "more than any script [she had] ever read". Much to Elizabeth's dismay, Thau wired back that the role had already been given to Ava Gardner.

Elizabeth's telegram to Thau and her subsequent telegram to Mankiewicz (sent in November 1953) are seen below. Having been denied the role in The Barefoot Contessa, Elizabeth next starred in The Last Time I saw Paris (1954), a film she liked and of which she later said: "[It] convinced me I wanted to be an actress instead of yawning my way through parts."

DEAREST, DARLING BENNY: SAW JOE MANKIEWICZ IN ROME AND ASKED HIM TO LET ME READ BAREFOOT CONTESSA. I WANT TO DO IT MORE THAN ANY SCRIPT I HAVE EVER READ. I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN AVA AND SCHENCK* BUT IF METRO HAS NOTHING IMPORTANT FOR ME, PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS BECAUSE AS YOU KNOW IT WOULD DO ME MORE GOOD PERHAPS THAN ANYTHING I HAVE EVER DONE. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE BENNY AND LET ME KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE DORCHESTER. FONDEST LOVE, ELIZABETH 

[*Ava Gardner had an affair with movie mogul Joseph Schenck.] 

source: Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star 

JOE MANKIEWICZ

GRAND HOTEL ROME

DEAR JOE  RECEIVED A SOMEWHAT EMBARRASING [sic] ANSWER FROM BENNY SAYING I WAS MENTIONED BY NOBODY INCLUDING EVIDENTLY BERT OR YOU FOR THE PART AND INFORMING ME THAT AVA WAS ALREADY SET STOP DO WISH THAT YOU COULD HAVE LET ME KNOW STOP BUT THE BEST OF LUCK TO YOU AND THE FILM  I AM SURE IT WILL BE WONDERFUL  LOVE ELIZABETH

source: Bonhams

Above: Joseph Mankiewicz and Elizabeth Taylor during production of Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). While Mankiewicz didn't think Elizabeth was right for The Barefoot Contessa, he would direct her in two films, Suddenly, Last Summer and Cleopatra (1963) // Below: Ava Gardner was chosen to play Maria Vargas in The Barefoot Contessa; here she is in a scene from the film with leading man Humphrey Bogart.

An Errol Flynn-Ava Gardner project that never was

With filming on Henry King's The Sun Also Rises (1957) hardly wrapped, Errol Flynn and Ava Gardner, two of the film's principal actors, were already talking about doing another film together. According to a letter from Errol Flynn to Benny Thau dated 10 July 1957 (as seen below), the film Errol and Ava were planning to make was The White Witch of the Indies with a screenplay by James Edward Grant. Searching for more information about the project, the only thing I found was a newspaper clipping from The Daily Gleaner from April 1957 (see image) which talks about an Errol Flynn project called The White Witch of Jamaica. I can only assume that it's the same project but Errol decided to change the setting/title from Jamaica to 'The Indies'. Well, whatever the title, the film was ultimately never made and The Sun Also Rises remained Errol and Ava's only film together.

Benny Thau (often spelled Thaw) was studio head of MGM between 1956 and 1958. As said, Errol Flynn wrote to him in July 1957 regarding the film he and Ava wanted to make. Ava had a long-running contract with MGM and had told Errol that her contract would end in 1958. Errol wanted to make sure that Ava would indeed be free from MGM to make said picture with him, hence his letter to Thau. 

Source: ebay

Transcript:

Yacht Zaca
Club Nautico
Palma de Mallorca.
SPAIN

July 10th 1957

Mr. Benny Thaw
Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios,
Culver City, Calif.,

Dear Mr. Thaw:

James Edward Grant has been over here, writing a script for me, THE WHITE WITCH OF THE INDIES, (presume you know Grant-  Johnny Egar, many of John Wayne pictures, etc., etc.,)

We are nearly half-way through our shooting script. In my opinion is [sic] is going to be first class.

I went with Grant to Madrid a few days ago to see Ava Gardner, who told me that her contract with M.G.M. would finish in a little over a year, and Ava appeared extremely interested in this property, and doing it with me, with a Grant script. As a personal favour, I would like to ask you personally, without, of course, any kind of reflection on Ava, if it is true that she will be free to make any deals outside of Metro in one year's time? THE WHITE WITCH is perfect for her as a vehicle- so you can tell me if Metro is of her opinion, i:e: that she will be free to contract for her services in about a year and two months from now?

I shall certainly appreciate a personal word from you, Benny.

I hope Life is as pleasant for you as it is for me here. Why don't you come take a look? Great Spot!

Sincerely,

E.F (signed)
Errol Flynn.

Notes
- After having been under contract to MGM for seventeen years, Ava would indeed make her last film for the studio in 1958 (The Naked Maja). But instead of doing a film with Errol next, she subsequently did On the Beach (1959) for United Artists, co-starring with Gregory Peck and Fred Astaire.

- Flynn wrote his letter to Thau from his yacht Zaca in Palma de Mallorca (Spain) having just visited Ava Gardner in Madrid. Both Errol and Ava loved Spain. Errol fell in love with Mallorca after he and his third wife Patricia Wymore had spent their honeymoon there in 1950; his yacht was moored at Club Nautico in Mallorca from 1955 until 1959 (the year he died). Ava had moved to Madrid in 1955, where she lived until she permanently moved to London in 1968.

Ava Gardner and Errol Flynn with The Sun Also Rises co-stars Eddie Albert and Tyrone Power. Ava once said about Errol: "Of all the actors who worked with me on that film, I got along best with Errol Flynn. I adored him, but although I dated him a couple of times when I first arrived in Hollywood, we were never physically involved. Errol was probably the most beautiful man I ever saw, his perfect body equally at home in a swimsuit or astride a horse. And he was fun, gallant, and well mannered with a great sense of humor. When he walked into a room, it was as if a light had been turned on. As he grew older, he drank too much and was chased around by scandal and gossip. But Errol Flynn always had style, honey. Real style."

You could even beat the atomic bomb

Ava Gardner starred in only one musical, George Sidney's lavish remake of the tearjerker Show Boat (1951). She was cast as the mulatto Julie LaVerne after MGM had ruled out Judy Garland, Dinah Shore and Ava's good friend Lena Horne. Ava had agreed to play the part but only if she could do her own singing. For several weeks she was coached by a vocal teacher, after which she recorded her two songs Can't help lovin' dat man and Bill. In her autobiography Ava: My Story (1990), Ava remembered giving her test record to producer Arthur Freed: "I don't think the son of a bitch ever even listened to it. He just put it on a shelf and delivered the usual studio ultimatum: "Now, listen, Ava, you can't sing and you're among professional singers." So Freed had professional singer Annette Warren record the songs as well and chose her vocals over Ava's. Ava was quite upset with MGM, and I think rightfully so since she did a wonderful job singing those songs (I actually prefer her renditions over Annette Warren's).

Ava Gardner with co-star Kathryn Grayson on the set of "Show Boat" (above) and with Howard Keel and Marge Champion (below). Ava said in her autobiography that she got on "extremely well" with Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel: "After each day's shooting we would meet in one of the dressing rooms and, ignoring one of Metro's cardinal rules, smuggle in enough tequila to send us back home in the best of humor".

But despite being upset with MGM, Ava liked playing the role of Julie LaVerne-- in fact, it was one of the few roles she liked. Her performance was well received, not just by critics but also by people in the industry. Jerry Wald, producer of such classics as Mildred Pierce (1945) and Key Largo (1948), saw Ava in Show Boat two months before the film opened and was very impressed. He wanted to let her know how much he liked her performance, so he wrote her the following letter on 18 July 1951 (at the time Ava was married to Frank Sinatra, hence Wald's opening line).

Source: heritage auctions/ reproduced with permission

Transcript:

July 18, 1951

Dear Ava:

Saw SHOWBOAT last night. I hate Sinatra.

Nothing could have pleased me more than the warm, brilliant performance you turned in. I think the last fan letter I wrote you was on "One Touch of Venus". Please add this to that one. There is nothing to stop you from becoming one of the top dramatic actresses in our Industry- nothing except the atomic bomb. And, if it came to a tie, you could even beat the atomic bomb.

These few lines are merely to express my deep admiration for the superb job you did in SHOWBOAT. 

Warmest personal regards.

Sincerely,

Jerry (signed)

Miss Ava Gardner
15000 Altata
Pacific Palisades, Calif.

The heartbreaking finale of "Show Boat": Ava Gardner looks on while the show boat is leaving and William Warfield is giving his goose-bump rendition of "Ol' Man River".

Writer/producer Jerry Wald and Ava Gardner in the scene where she sings "Bill".

My dear Ava

After her roles in Mogambo (1953) and The Barefoot Contessa (1954), Ava Gardner --often seen as one of Hollywood's most beautiful leading ladies-- was beginning to be taken seriously as an actress. Her next film Bhowani Junction (1956), in which she played an Anglo-Indian woman, earned her critical praise, as did several of her later films like On the Beach (1959) and The Night of the Iguana (1964).

Not long after Ava had finished making Bhowani Junction, her friend and manager Jess Morgan wrote her this very entertaining (undated) letter, presumably written while Ava was in her home state North Carolina. Being away from the Hollywood hubbub, Morgan kept Ava in the loop on all the news. In the letter, he first talks about his plane catching fire and then tells her --in a fascinating paragraph that gives us a peek inside MGM's executive room-- that she probably will be getting her well-deserved car. Next, he updates Ava on the latest Hollywood gossip before urging her, in the final paragraph, to do a couple of photo shoots to promote Bhowani Junction ("Know how you hate it"). 

Source: heritage auctions/ image reproduced with permission

Transcript: 

Wednesday

My dear Ava:

Wanted to write a few lines to you earlier but goddamn it there really hasn't been time. I really jumped into a hotbox here. Lotsa production, lotsa problems and headaches, lotsa work. Believe me, I didn't know when I was well off. At least in London-- or [redacted] anywhere else for that matter, you're away from all this hulabaloo. Can I come to Spain with you?

First off-- suppose you've heard by now that your dolls and your painting and your x-ray were all delivered. For a time there I didn't think they'd make it. [redacted] The damn plane caught fire in Iceland-- fortunately just before we took off-- and we all had to climb out in [redacted] whatever we were wearing (nylon shorts for me) and look on from a distance. It seemed the plane might explode any minute and of course it's a miracle that it didn't. [redacted] Somehow as I stood there on that icy volcanic island --it was in the middle of the night-- and watched the flames licking about the fuselage I thought of all my clothes going up (a little sadly) and then I thought of the x-ray of your kidney -- and somehow I saw the humor of it. Anyway -- they finally put the flames out and later were able to climb [redacted] aboard and rescue everything -- although we had to sit on the darned island 24 hours and wait for another plane to come from Paris.

I had the M-G-M office in New York mail the dolls and painting to N. Carolina. Hoped they arrived safely.

[redacted] The first day I was in New York I was in Howard Dietz's office and was showing him photographs of you (the ones made in the rain cabin) and raving about your performance -- and the picture as well.  I also told him about your message to Benny Thau. And told him I thought you deserved the car. Well-- a couple of hours later it was lunchtime and Dietz took me up to the executive dining room to give Nick Schenk, Arthur Loew and others a run down on the picture and your performance -- also showing them the stills. It happened Benny [redacted] Thau was sitting at the table. Dietz then said-- "You have a message for Benny, don't you, Morgan?" I asked Thau if he wanted me to give it to him just as you had told it to me. He said "yes"-- So I said "Ava says you can go fuck yourself and she says she'll know what she means". Thau laughed weakly -- and Schenck wanted to know what the message meant. Then Thau told about Allenberg's visit to your office and the request for the car. He said that for tax reasons or something (I never did get it [redacted] straight) it hadn't seemed a good idea either for you or the company. But Thau then launched into a long discussion about what a great job you're doing in the picture --how cooperative you've been-- how hard you've been working, etc. Schenck nodded approval and said he could see by the photographs what a superb job you're doing. Thau said he thinks you should have the car-- or indicated he thought you should have it. Soon after that I left the dining room so I don't know final disposition. But I certainly would be surprised if you don't get the car (handwritten comment: Think you should have Allenberg follow through again).

Here at the studio things seem more hectic than ever. I'll write a few lines of gossip: 

Eddie Fisher and Debbie seem washed up, although he flew out to see her [redacted] over last weekend... Sinatra was on the lot yesterday to test wardrobe for "The Tender Trap" which he is doing with Debbie and David Wayne... it's [redacted] an amusing script and a good part for him ... Chuck Walters is directing... Understand Frank resented Brando on "Guys and Dolls" .. he wasn't very cooperative on the picture from all accounts..... but that's his business of course.... Lana and Lex have been tiffing but are still happy on the surface.... Lex was made [sic] about her trip to Mexico.... Lana is telling everyone she won't be happy unless she can you to do "My Most Intimate [redacted] Friend" with her.. she thinks it's a good script...Understand "The Female" is off for a while... I talked to Grace Kelly in New York... she is due out here end of this month.. will do "The [redacted] Swan" with Charles Vidor directing .... Dave Boulton is here... what a surprise...Bob Taylor's baby due any minute.. Ursula went to [redacted] hospital two days ago but it was false alarm... Gable probably will be married before end of the month-- to Spreckles.... everyone is raving about "Bhowani", what they've seen of it. 

Hope to hell you'll be able to do that special art and the glamor pictures, Ava. There's nothing more important as far as exploitation on the picture goes. Even if Dave isn't there-- try to do a few glamor covers for magazines. They have nothing left in New York and of course it'll be a hell of a long time before you're in a gallery again. You've done such a wonderful job --in every way-- on the picture that you might as well go all the way and do your part for us, too. Try to do what you can. Know how you hate it. But, believe me, it is important. We want to put a really big selling campaign behind the picture and you know that Ava Gardner is what we're selling the mostest.

Love to you-- let me know if anything I can do for you-- miss you and hope it won't be too long before we see you.

(handwritten)

Love -

Morgan 

Ava Gardner in a publicity photo for "Bhowani Junction", and Ava with Stewart Granger having fun on the set.

Ava Gardner with good friend Lana Turner. Jess Morgan says in his letter that Lana wanted to do the film "My Most Intimate Friend" with Ava; the film, however, was never made.

Gregory's proposal to Ava

Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner starred together in three films: The Great Sinner (1949), The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) and On the Beach (1959).  On 13 April 1956, after having done two pictures together, Gregory wrote a letter to Ava with a proposal for a new film. Earlier that year, Gregory had founded Melville Productions with screenwriter/producer Sy Bartlett, and he wanted Ava (who was a good friend of his) to be part of their first project. 

Ava Gardner fell in love with Spain during filming of The Barefoot Contessa (1954). A year after the film's completion she moved to La Moraleja, the Spanish version of Beverly Hills in northern Madrid. In the letter Ava is wooed by Gregory in suggesting the film will be shot in her beloved Madrid and not Paris. In the end, however, the film was never made. The 1959 On the Beach would be Gregory and Ava's next and final film together.

Via: quirky travel guy

Transcript:

1426 Summitridge Drive 

Beverly Hills, California

Dear Ava:

Enclosed you will find a script called "The Blind Mirror" by Liam O'Brien. Sy Bartlett and I are about to purchase it for our Independent company, Melville Productions, which will be producing one picture a year for a United Artists release starting next year.

I know that you get a lot of scripts along with a lot of promises and a lot of something else which I hear the French call merde thrown your way. So I will keep it simple and hope that this script will interest you without any sales talk from me.

There are just a couple of things that should be said. One is that we are going to make the picture in Madrid. The main reason being that we feel the Paris background has been used a great deal lately and does not provide the right kind of atmosphere and character for this particular story. As you will see, it is a melodrama and a love story. The obvious comparisons would be "Casa Blanca" and "The Maltese Falcon". We hope to make as good a picture as either one of those and feel strongly that for our purposes modern Madrid will provide a fresher, tougher and more intriguing background than Paris. One samll [sic] example of this would be the use of an authentic Madrid night spot, perhaps a Flamenco place instead of the Paris night club described in the script. We will use Spanish players in a number of the roles and focus a great deal of interest throughout on the faces and character of modern Madrid. The painting which is stolen will be one of the great Spanish masterpieces, a Goya or a Velasquez instead of a Van Gogh.

I won't say more about this as I feel sure that if the script interests you at all you will share our feeling that this story can be told to much greater advantage in Madrid.

Now comes the part where I say the the [sic] script needs more work. It does indeed, but that is always the case with any good story at this stage of its development. It has too much plot now and the chase is too frantic. We are going to settle it down and concentrate more on Ginette and Dagan and get them so that they are exactly right. We are going to go through the whole script so that it is to our liking and yours, if you are as taken by its possibilities as we are.

I won't toss any directors names around as we have not yet come to that point, but we will try for the best and he would, of course, have to be acceptable to you. 

We would like to make it next winter, say in December, or if that is not possible, then the following Spring. I really think it is a good thing or I would not be promoting you in this way.

Would you drop me a line or send a telegram when you have given it a read. Meanwhile, be a good little girl......

Miss Ava Gardner

La Moraleja

Al Cobendos

Madrid, Spain