I might have gotten a contract with Metro if I had gone to bed with him

Searching information online about actress Susan Fox, I found little to nothing. Apparently Fox was one of the many women considered for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (1939) and, according to IMDB, she co-starred with Orson Welles in the 20-minute Welles' comedy The Green Goddess (1939). But that's all I found, with no photo of Fox anywhere. She was obviously an aspiring actress whose Hollywood career never took off.

Robert Ritchie was a MGM publicist and talent scout, responsible for recruiting Hedy Lamarr, Luise Rainer and Greer Garson. He is probably best known for his relationship with Jeanette MacDonald in the early 1930s. Ida Koverman (a friend of MacDonald's and secretary to MGM boss Louis B. Mayer) had once described Ritchie as "a schnorrer or parasite". 

In the letter below —postmarked 3 January 1940 and addressed to Howard Hughes— Susan Fox complains about Ritchie hindering her career after she had refused to sleep with him. It's ironic that Fox should be complaining to Hughes about Ritchie, considering Hughes also abused his power to obtain sexual favours from women. Reportedly Hughes was a friend of Fox, as was Katharine Hepburn who is also mentioned in the letter. In the end, as said, Fox's film career never happened; perhaps it was her experience with Ritchie that made her pursue a different career.

(l) Robert Ritchie pictured with Jeannette McDonald circa 1931 and (r) Howard Hughes

Source: Heritage Auctions

Transcript:

Wednesday

Dear Howard -

Just a note to tell you how nice it was speaking to you over the phone last night - it made me feel much better - I felt pretty low after I spoke to Katherine [sic] - even if she does think I'm a good actress - Gosh, why couldn't I be a raving beauty? You know it's funny I always thought I was pretty attractive - and had been told so many times - but I'm beginning to get an inferiority complex about it now - not so good -

And now for Mr. Ritchie - and I'm going to be very frank - He's a bastard - I know that's not a very nice word for me to use - but it's the only appropriate one - Katherine [sic] said the same and I was very pleased when she used the same word - I know he's a friend of yours - but then you're a male - and Bob's behavior is quite different towards males - as you can well imagine - I might have gotten a contract with Metro if I had gone to bed with him - but no job in all this world is worth that - not to me anyway - so now he won't even speak to me - much less do anything for me as far as Metro is concerned - but I'll be damned if I'll throw all conventions and pride to the winds for one by the name of Robert Ritchie - I may be wrong - others have done it before - but I just couldn't and can't - I'm getting mad now just thinking about it - I wanted to tell you all of this last night over the phone - but I decided to write it to you instead - I'll let you know what George does about Fox -

Thanks for not being in the shower last night when I called - it was very considerate of you -

Love to you Howard - and I do - 

Suzy

P.S. Did you get the magnificent hat?

Send this minor masterpiece whizzing through the film exchanges of America

In December 1948, production wrapped on Irving Cummings' It's Only Money, a RKO comedy starring Jane Russell, Groucho Marx and Frank Sinatra. The film was not released right away, despite positive preview screenings and a fair amount of publicity in the film magazines. RKO boss Howard Hughes decided to put the film on the shelf, where it subsequently sat for three years. (Why Hughes chose not to release it remains unclear; it has been said that his intense dislike of Frank Sinatra —the men had a shared interest in Ava Gardner— may have been a motive.)

Someone who didn't like the picture being shelved was Groucho Marx. After performing with his brothers for decades, Groucho was working on his solo career and therefore eager to have It's Only Money released. In January 1951, two years after filming had ended, Groucho wrote to Howard Hughes and asked him to finally get "this minor masterpiece" off the shelf and into film theatres. It's not clear if Groucho's letter had anything to do with it but eleven months later the film was released. Hughes had given the picture a different title, though, i.e. Double Dynamite, apparently a reference to Russell's breasts. Due to Hughes' resentment towards Sinatra, Sinatra received third billing and his face didn't even appear on the film poster.

Double Dynamite was released in December 1951, receiving negative reviews and bad box-office results. Years later, Groucho said that with the film "[his] acting career almost went down the drain" while co-star Jane Russell dryly commented: "He [Sinatra] was playing a dumb little guy and I was playing a dumber little girl and it was a stupid picture, but we sang in it." (To watch and listen to the songs, click here for It's Only Money, sung by Sinatra and Groucho, and here for Kisses and Tears by Sinatra and Russell.)

In January 1951, Groucho wrote the following letter to Howard Hughes, perhaps later wishing he had never sent it.

January 23, 1951

Dear Mr. Hughes:

Between retooling for the war effort and dueling with Wald and Krasna, I presume you are a fairly busy man. However, I wonder if you could spare a few moments to release a picture that was made some years ago involving Jane Russell, Frank Sinatra and your correspondent. The name of the picture, if memory serves, is "It's Only Money". I never did see it but I have been told that at its various previews it was received with considerable enthusiasm.

I am not a young man any more, Mr. Hughes, and before I shuffle off this mortal coil if you could see your way clear to pry open your strong box and send this minor masterpiece whizzing through the film exchanges of America, you would not only have earned my undying gratitude but that of the United Nations, the popcorn dealers of America and three RKO stockholders who at the moment are trying to escape from the Mellon bank of Pittsburgh.

Sincerely,

Groucho Marx 

Source: The Groucho Letters: Letters from and to Groucho Marx (1967) 

Howard, Howard, Howard - could it be I love you a little?

Apart from competing for film roles and the attention of their mother, sisters Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine also competed for men. Olivia was the first to date actor Brian Aherne but it was Joan who eventually married him (the couple was married from 1939 until 1945). Besides Aherne, both sisters were involved with eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, which complicated their relationship even more.

Olivia was also the first to date Hughes. But while she was dating him, Hughes proposed to her sister. At a surprise party given in Joan's honour shortly before her wedding to Aherne, Hughes proposed to Joan on the dance floor, telling her it was a mistake to marry Aherne. In her autobiography No Bed of Roses (1978), Joan recalled:

I was shocked. Olivia had been seeing him steadily. I knew her feelings for him were intense, that the relative tranquility at Nella Vista now rested upon the frequency of his telephone calls. No one two-timed my sister, whatever our domestic quarrels might be. Not if I could help it. I had heard rumors that Howard saw girls in shifts (no pun intended). Olivia was on the early shift, while actresses such as [Katharine] Hepburn and [Ginger] Rogers were rumored to have later dates with him. Howard evidently needed very little sleep.

As I was leaving the nightclub with Olivia, Hughes slipped me his private telephone number, whispering that I was to call him as soon as possible. The next day I phoned him and arranged to meet him that afternoon. I had to find out whether he was serious or indulging in some ghoulish jest. [...] He seemed in deadly earnest and had not changed his mind from the previous evening. I, seething inside at his disloyalty to Olivia, said nothing.

Upon returning to Nella Vista, I showed Olivia the slip of paper with Howard's private number written in his own handwriting and told her about my afternoon's encounter. I gently tried to explain that her heart belonged to a heel. In addition to the rumors in newspaper columns, the warnings from her friends, now she had real proof. Sparks flew. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned ... especially in favor of her sister. This, plus my engagement to Brian, was very hard for her to take. 

 Joan, Olivia and Joan's husband Brian Aherne are having tea in the early 1940s.

While the relationship between Olivia and Howard Hughes ended, Hughes would ask Joan to marry him two more times, i.e. first after her divorce from Aherne and next when Hughes became her boss at RKO as she was divorcing producer William Dozier. On both occasions Joan again rejected him. In her autobiography Joan said she was never in love with Hughes and never had an affair with him. She felt he had "no humor, no gaiety, no sense of joy" and everything with him "seemed to be a "deal", a business arrangement." Still, judging by some of the letters Joan had written Hughes in 1949, she seemed to have been under his spell more than she would let on in her memoir. 

Seen below are three of Joan's letters, two in full and the third letter in part. The first two letters were written in Italy where in the summer of 1949 exteriors for the film September Affair (1950) were shot. After her film duties in Italy and seeing the sights there, Joan took a trip to Cyprus from where she wrote the third letter. In particular the last two letters show Joan's obvious adoration for Hughes. Ultimately, however, she realised there was no future for them unless she was willing to share him with his "6900 gals". (At the time of writing these letters, Joan was in the middle of her divorce from Dozier, a divorce which would not be finalised until 1951.) 

Transcript:

Saturday.

Hello:

I hated our telephone conversation in every way. You were so right to warn me how lousy connections were and all we seemed to do was say "hello, hello, can you hear me?" Wedged into that went something about whether I'd been on a binge or was someone in my room! Really, you are the most hopelessly suspicious guy. Why are you like that? 

You want to trust someone, then you defy her to be anything but honest with you. I simply couldn't live like that and I see only real, terrifying unhappiness for you. Hell! What a dog's life you lead without your trying to make it worse. 

I've just begun to live, I realize. The Italians have a superb philosophy which we might well adopt. They're all so happy— no psychiatrists in the country for the Italians are better intergrated [sic] than any people I've yet seen. Sure —  they have little ambition and their children run in ragged, filthy clothes about the streets — but they are enjoying life as few of us Americans know how.

Why are we all so ambitious, so intent on emphasising all our assets, talent, social position —all— and we ruin our health and never enjoy our life for one moment.

I am resolved to live a different life upon my return, by golly. I've roped myself down so many years during which I have had few moments of real happiness or real pleasure. I intend to be very selfish from now on and think of pleasing Joan for a change. Maybe I can teach you a little sense in the process.

Be a nice boy — stop quarrelling with me — it's such a waste of valuable time.

Will cable you next week when I know definitely what my plans will be.

Joan

Transcript:

Saturday Sept 2nd

Howard dear:

You've got me scared again! This time I loved our telephone conversation and every word was very clear - especially the "come home" part of it! 

That's all very well, you spoiled boy - but what happens to Joan? I see it quite clearly - I come home - empty house, divided friends, no "occupational theopathy" until "September" [the film September Affair] starts about Nov. 1st. I can't be seen with you, let's face it. You've got a lousy reputation - mebbe good for you but not the girls. No one would believe I wasn't one of your 6900 gals and there's no way to prove I'm not. (Bill does not believe I'm not one of them either, by the way.) 

So, then what happens? I stay home waiting all hours for you to telephone to say you got tied up and can't come over this evening? And this I do night after night like Olivia until you get bored with me or I go to the looney-bin? No, no, no - you've got the wrong girl, or rather - you just ain't got her at all. 

I do adore you - but I just can't see how it can work. Strangely enough, though I scarcely know you, I miss you- or perhaps I just can't bear being alone and I have to have someone to love. At any rate, I'm going to try to enjoy the remainder of this so-called holiday and leave tomorrow for, at this moment, an unknown destination.

Venice was so beautiful I could hardly bear it. The festival is the most ridiculous farce imaginable due to the fact they can't get enough good films to show + therefore must give awards to those they have. Selznick + Litvak brought theirs so they were a cinch to win - though Joe's performance in "Jenny" [sic] hardly warrants anything. The city was crawling with people we know so it was rather like an inundated Hollywood and Vine. The city itself is the most fabulous I've ever seen, however, fairly beyond the realm of possibility!

Do hope your 4 days' vacation did all the right things for you. Rupert Burns c/o Shell Oil, Nicosia, Cyprus will be my next address. Should reach there between Aug. 8th + 12th.

Just the same.

Joan

This is the last part of one of Joan's other letters, written on 11 September 1949 from Cyprus.

Transcript:

Darling Howard - either you should be with me or out of my life entirely - I DREAM of you every night - almost. I see you many times a day in other people - something about their walk or expression - something sometimes, when someone glowers at me - it's exactly like you!! 

I DREAD returning to California and probably would remain in Sicily for the rest of my life- but I miss you - I'm not just a little intrigued by you - and I desperately need a little bit of comfort and a soft shoulder to lean on. Have I at least one shoulder of yours?

Bill now writes me short cryptic notes when he forwards my mail - why can't people be nicer about these things? 

And look you - isn't this letter-writing a bit one-sided? Don't you think you could take the time to pen me just one postcard? Funny fellow- wish you were here or I were there right this very minute.

Hope you're so damned busy you haven't time to see all those gals every night - but not too busy so that you don't think of me just occasionally. 

Howard, Howard, Howard - could it be I love you a little?

Joan

Note

The Venice Film Festival, mentioned in the second letter, held its 10th annual edition from 11 August until 1 September 1949. Joan mentions David Selznick, producer of Portrait of Jennie (1948), and Jennie's leading man Joseph Cotten who received the Best Actor Award for his performance (a performance apparently not to Joan's liking). Joan also mentions director Anatole Litvak, whose film The Snake Pit (1948) won the International Award. Interestingly, she doesn't say anything about her sister Olivia who was awarded the prize for Best Actress for The Snake Pit. (Incidentally, the date on the letter is "Saturday September 2nd", but Joan had mistaken either the day or the date as 2 September 1949 was on a Friday. Also, Joan said she would reach Cyprus "between Aug. 8th + 12th", but that of course should be September.)

Source of the letters: icollector.com

The Peculiar Marriage of Jean Peters & Howard Hughes

Eccentric billionaire, business tycoon, aviator and film producer Howard Hughes dated a lot of famous Hollywood actresses (including Katharine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Bette Davis, Ginger Rogers and Gene Tierney) but married only one — Jean Peters. The two had met at a party in 1946 and had an on-and-off romance for several years. In 1954, Peters married Texas oilman Stuart Cramer but the marriage was shortlived and afterwards she resumed her relationship with Hughes. Peters and Hughes, then resp. thirty and fifty-one years old, eventually tied the knot in a secret ceremony in Tonopah (Nevada) in May 1957. During her marriage to Hughes, Peters abandoned her film career and hardly ever appeared in public. She refused to give interviews about her life with Hughes, even after their divorce in 1971. (As a divorce settlement Peters was given a relatively modest $70,000 per year. She never made any claims on Hughes' estate.)

Howard Hughes with (from left to right) Ginger Rogers, Bette Davis and Ava Gardner — three of the many famous Hollywood actresses he dated.

The Peters-Hughes marriage was, to say the least, unconventional. After the couple got married, they lived in separate bungalows at the Beverly Hills hotel for several years. When they finally moved in together —at Peters' insistence— they still had their own living quarters, seeing each other only occasionally. It was during his marriage with Peters that Hughes became more and more mentally unstable. He got obsessed with germ contamination and also developed bizarre rituals (e.g. storing his own urine in jars). Hughes' behaviour grew increasingly weird and at some point Peters couldn't see her husband anymore unless she made an appointment through one of his aides. With Hughes turning into a recluse, Peters continued to live her own life while pursuing her own interests, like studying sociology at UCLA in 1969. In the end, the couple had spent more time apart than together during a marriage that lasted fourteen years. 

Jean Peters and Howard Hughes — not a single picture of them together can be found on the internet (and I looked hard!).

Several Hughes biographers have speculated about why Hughes married Peters when he did, having been a bachelor for thirty years.* They believe that Hughes (already mentally unstable by the time he married Peters) was afraid the CEO of his company Noah Dietrich was going to declare him mentally incompetent and have him committed. Being married would protect him from this, since in California a husband could not be committed without the consent of his wife. 

While Hughes may have had an ulterior motive for marrying Peters, he seemed to have loved her (and she him), judging from the following messages they wrote to each other. (It is even said that Peters was the only woman Hughes had ever loved.) Living in separate quarters, the couple was known to communicate through handwritten notes, i.e. messages often written on the same piece of paper which were (I imagine) carried back and forth between them by one of Hughes' aides. The notes below are undated, but were written at a time in their marriage when Peters and Hughes would see each other briefly around 11 PM before returning to their separate bedrooms.

*Note
Hughes was married once before to Ella Botts Rice from 1925 until 1929. Actress Terry Moore said she had also been Hughes' wife, having married him in 1949 aboard a ship with the ceremony performed by the ship captain. Moore claimed that Hughes had destroyed the ship log, so there was no official record of their marriage. 

Source: Heritage Auctions

Transcript:

My Very Dearest,

I love you so much. I will be expecting you tonight and I will try to have something you will like to watch. Please love me back and please don't give me up as a lost cause yet.

I hope not to have any stomach-aches tonight, and I am having the Dr. come now, so we won't be troubled with him. If something upsets you tonight, please write me a note and tell me about it.

I love you again and again and then some more.

Howard


Dearest love,

I will be looking forward to seeing you at 10:30 or 11:00. I love you very much.

J

(Hughes) 
It's only 1/2 finished + it's good. She's the old D W Griffith type. Vera is his daughter. He has absolute no scruples. I can't imagine where our hero is going to wind up after he takes out that policy. The boy plans to murder the old fox but I think Carradine will beat him to it.

That last close-up was overdone. C'est tous!  Why did you indicate disbelief?
It sounds terrific. Will it be the 1st Symphony in the new theater?

I think the conductor is very famous.
If you want to, ok - but that won't help my situation.
I just want to burp.

Source: Heritage Auctions

Transcript:

Dearest Love,

I adore you. I was thinking about your mother. I do so little for her - would you mind if I send a wire suggesting that we send a driver to any place along the way (where she may have had enough of billboards + good old U.S scenery) who would pick up her automobile and put her + Red on one of those beautiful brand new jets with the movies just like the president's.

Think about it, and tell me when we are together.

I love you some more,
Howard

Dearest-

You support her - that's enough —
I love you —
Hope you will be ready to say good-night about 11:00. I have the C — 
So I am feeling mean and I want to get some sleep —
Tomorrow is my birthday - which you will probably forget - like the color sample book - which was not on the table as you promised.
I do not expect a present - but please send me some flowers - so I won't be embarassed if Shirl +  kids come by.

Love
J.

Me [drawing] grrrr (added by Hughes: Excellent artistry) 

(Hughes)

You were very unfair to assume I forgot the samples. I went thru the pile of material to my left, as you can see from the placement of newsweek there. I gave samples to Geo. with clear and emphatic instructions to put on your table in hall the next time he passed thru hall. This to avoid any possible unnecessary walking in hall (footsteps, "scratching around door" etc.)

He evidently forgot, as I see the samples where he temporarily placed on marble table.

would have disclosed location + the man on duty could have brought out.

You'll see

Definitely

I told you the other night

50 times I would have

I'm sorry. I sent John as soon as Dr. left

Source: Heritage Auctions

Transcript:

My Dearest Love,

This is just to let you know I am thinking about you.

Please, tonight, remember that every single minute I am loving you and please for this one night, tell your mind to stay on happy thoughts. I promise that you will feel it was justified.

I love you some more. Teahouse with Brando is on. Maybe you would like to try a few feet of it. I will send a smoke signal about eleven. I still love you more.

Howard

Dearest Love -

I will remember you are loving me. I love you too - I'm watching Secret Agent - I await your call-

Love, J.

(Hughes)
If I am boatless I may kill myself.

Ferrer's alibi is that he was in hospital unable — actually he anesthetizes himself thru hypnosis so he can stand the pain.

you can imagine what a ball Ferrer can have with a scene like that.

I love you!

No, I have not done an about face in my type of movie. I just wanted to see a few minutes of this to see how you like the beard.

He made a trademark of it.

Prisoner of Zenda
Dean Jagger

Of course we both know this one just as
well but at least it's not quite as daffy.

And it has José the great.

That is a hideous airplane.
In the cigarette ad.

Piper.

It's terrible - he rapes her

One of those early Ida Lupino quickies.

Then she cracks up completely

I love you little sweetheart.

The Conqueror: I am positive this can be a very important, powerful picture

The Conqueror (1956) was John Wayne's final picture for RKO as part of a three-picture deal Wayne had signed with the studio. Directed by Dick Powell, it tells the story of Mongol leader Temujin (later known as Genghis Khan) who falls for Tartar princess Bortai and abducts her, causing a war between the Mongols and the Tartars. The film is generally regarded as one of the worst films of all time and also contains one of the worst miscastings in film history.

John Wayne stars as Genghis Khan, which is as bad and ridiculous as it sounds. Apart from looking utterly silly with his black wig and Fu Manchu moustache, Wayne plays the Asian warlord with his characteristic drawl as if Khan were an American cowboy. The stilted dialogue written by Oscar Millard doesn't help Wayne's performance (or anyone else's in the cast) either. Wayne delivers lines like "I feel this Tartar woman is for me. My blood says take her" and "I shall keep you, Bortai. I shall keep you unresponding to my passion. Your hatred will kindle into love... ", while Susan Hayward, who is also wasted in her role as the Tartar princess, says things like: "Before that day dawns, Mongol, the vultures will feast on your heart!" It's all very laughable and makes you wonder why Wayne and Hayward, both at the height of their careers, had agreed to do the film at all.

John Wayne as Temujin "Genghis Khan" (below pictured with Susan Hayward) -- what was he thinking?!

I'm not sure about Hayward but Wayne, believe it or not, had really wanted to make The Conqueror. Having waited a long time for a suitable project to complete his three-picture contract with RKO, Wayne was immediately enthusiastic about The Conqueror after Dick Powell had asked him to read the script. In a letter to Howard Hughes written in April 1954 -- at the time Hughes was head of RKO -- Wayne shows his excitement about the script while being less enthused about other projects suggested to him, like The Silver Horde (meant as a sequel to The Spoilers (1942)) and The Long Wire which was also to be directed by Powell (both projects were abandoned).

Seen below is a small excerpt from Wayne's 4-page letter to Hughes, i.e. the part that deals with The Conqueror, in which Wayne says he has a good feeling about the project, comparing it to other films he did such as Stagecoach (1939) and The Quiet Man (1952). Wayne would later admit the film was a big mistake and regretted playing Genghis Khan for the rest of his life. He reportedly said that the moral of the film was "not to make an ass of yourself trying to play parts you're not suited for."

Now I come to the pleasant part. Last week Dick Powell asked me to read a script called "The Conqueror". As I read it I kept telephoning Dick of my honest enthusiasm. If my quarter of a century of experience in this business means anything, I am positive this can be a very important, powerful picture. This is the first script (and it is only a first draft) I have read from your studio that really excites me. I have the honest feelings for this that I had when I approached pictures like "Stagecoach", "Red River", "The Quiet Man" and "Hondo".   

Howard Hughes

Last Thursday I telephoned Dick in the presence of my agent and urged him to contact you right away in order to convey my thoughts about "The Conqueror", and to ask you to give him the green light on it. At best we're another three months from the completion of this assignment. I'm quite sure I can convince Dick - and you, if you wish - that the cost of this picture would be no more than "The Long Wire", and the possible profits and showmanship are four to one in favor of "The Conqueror". 

(Source: Heritage Auctions)

While The Conqueror did relatively well at the box-office, it failed to earn back its $6 million investment. The film was a critical flop and, as said, is now considered one of the worst films ever made. It is listed in The Official Razzie Movie Guide as being one of 'The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made', mainly thanks to the bizarre casting of John Wayne and the unintentionally funny dialogue. To this I must add that the film is not all bad, it still has a few redeeming features, i.e. the music score by Victor Young as well as the cinematography by Joseph LaShelle, Leo Tover, Harry J. Wild and William Snyder.

A concluding note: The Conqueror is now probably best remembered for the many cancer cases among its cast and crew members, often attributed to nuclear tests that had been executed at 137 miles (220 km) from the film location (the Utah desert) in 1953. During the production of the film, the cast and crew were exposed to radioactive fallout, even though the site had been deemed safe. By 1980, 91 of the 220 cast and crew members had some form of cancer and 46 had already died of it, including John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead and Dick Powell. While it was never proven that the nuclear fallout had indeed caused the cancer cases, Howard Hughes reportedly felt so guilty about the whole affair that he spent $12 million buying every existing copy of the film. The film was taken out of circulation and wasn't even shown on television until Universal purchased the film rights in 1979.

This post is my contribution to THE SECOND SO BAD IT'S GOOD BLOGATHON, hosted by TAKING UP ROOM. Click here, here and here for all the other entries!

Above and below: Dick Powell with his two stars. The Conqueror was the second film Powell directed following the 1953 film noir Split Second.

I have been stupidly loyal

In the early 1950s, John Wayne made the worst decision of his film career. He decided to play the role of the Mongol warlord Genghis Khan in Howard Hughes' production The Conqueror (1956), a decision he would sorely regret. Wayne's casting as Khan is generally considered one of the worst miscastings ever --Wayne later agreed that he had been terribly miscast-- and the film itself also ranks as one of the worst films of all time.

Nevertheless, The Conqueror was a film Wayne had wanted to make and producer Howard Hughes had been willing to give him whatever he wanted. (At the time, Wayne was at the peak of his career and still had to make one more film as part of a three-picture deal with Hughes' studio RKO.) In mid-May 1954, filming on The Conqueror began and ended in early August. Production was not without problems and eventually cost RKO 6 million dollars, making The Conqueror the studio's most expensive production. Despite the huge investment, the film eventually became both a commercial and critical flop.

On 29 April 1954, a disgruntled John Wayne wrote the following letter to Howard Hughes. Apparently Wayne had been waiting for two and half years to do his last film for RKO and he complains about the money he lost for holding himself available and how he had turned down "four very top pictures". Wayne also mentions his friendship with Hughes, feeling that he had been taken advantage of ("I have been stupidly loyal"). Production on The Conqueror finally began a few weeks after Wayne had written his letter to Hughes. As said, the film turned out to be a big disaster and Wayne would regret playing Genghis Khan for the rest of his life. (Wayne reportedly said that the moral of the film was "not to make an ass of yourself trying to play parts you're not suited for.")

source

Transcript:

1022 Palm Avenue

Hollywood 46, Calif.

April 29, 1954

Mr. Howard Hughes

Hughes Tool Company

7000 Romaine

Hollywood 38, Calif.

Dear Howard:

There seems to be no way of getting to you in time of stress except by letter. Knowingly, carelessly, or unintentionally --let's call it the latter-- you have caused me a huge financial loss and a great loss of prestige at a point in my life and in my career when I can afford neither.

"The Conqueror", if you will remember, was to start on April 1st, and a final plug was pulled when I now learn that it is not going to start until May 17th. Do you realize that this assignment has been hanging over my head since January 1952 -two and a half years?  I have kept my word to the very letter and held myself free and available for RKO to do one picture, pursuant to the studio' s request and your personal request, in the following manner:

In 1952, from January until May; in 1953 from July until the time of my divorce, which was October 19th; and this year from January 4th until the finish of the picture, which cannot possibly be completed before July 21st, and it is not probable that it will be finished then, due to the history of your production procedure at RKO.  The time lost on "Jet Pilot" is not being referred to in this letter.

Taking into consideration my average earnings over the last four years, you have cost me $250,000 in 1952, $250,000 in 1953, and $500,000 in 1954. This adds up to $1,000,000 in cash lost to me, without figuring the equities in percentages of the gross from four very top pictures I was obliged to reject while I was keeping my faith with you. And without figuring what it means to a star in my position to lose four top pictures; plus the fact that being off the screen at this time hurts my career and popularity and future earnings. I don't suppose an honest man can put any real premium on his word, but the fact remains this is a terribly severe loss to me at this crucial time of my life.

As you can see by these cold facts, I have never taken advantage of any friendship between us. As a matter of fact, I have been stupidly loyal. I hate to refer to this, but you made a statement to me that I was one of the few friends you had in the motion picture business. I feel that I have been tremendously imposed upon.

The above are facts that Mr. Tevlin can readily verify. If you had taken the trouble to read my letter of February 3rd, which resulted in a meeting about the middle of February, you would have a better understanding of my problems. In that meeting you cut through issues that were vital to me in a manner only you are capable of doing, and reached a surface conclusion without the slightest understanding of all the facts.

It's true, I admit, that you did one thing: you listened to me and changed the picture from "The Long Wire" to "The Conqueror". I don't want you to say that this was done merely for my good-- it was more for your good.

Therefore, realizing that your mind is obviously on more important matters than the production of motion pictures, I would like to suggest that, in order to avoid a lot of exploded tempers, you authorize Mr. Tevlin to sit down with Mr. Marin and myself, immediately and prior to the tests scheduled for Tuesday of next week, and discuss a re-adjustment of my financial return from this picture. $100,000 does not even start to make the necessary adjustment. 

Sincerely,

John Wayne

Images of the letter via icollector.


Notes
-Apart from being a cinematic and financial disaster, The Conqueror was also a disaster in a different, more horrific way. A year before production started, tests with nuclear weapons had been executed at 137 miles (220 km) from the film location (the Utah desert). During the whole production which lasted almost three months, the cast and film crew were exposed to radioactive fallout, even though the site had been deemed safe. By 1980, 91 of the 220 cast and crew members had some form of cancer and 46 had already died of it, including John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead and director Dick Powell. Although it was never conclusively proven that the nuclear tests were the cause of the cancer cases, an expert stated in 1980 that in a group of 220 you would expect only 30-some people to get cancer. Nevertheless, John Wayne always believed that his lung cancer had been caused by his smoking habit and not the nuclear fallout.

-Jet Pilot, another Howard Hughes' production mentioned in Wayne's letter, was filmed between December 1949 and February 1950. It wasn't released, however, until 1957. By that time, Hughes had already sold RKO, and the film was released by Universal-International. 

Leading lady Susan Hayward and John Wayne still having something to laugh about on the set of The Conqueror.

From Boss to Conkshell

During the 1930s, Katharine Hepburn and film- and business tycoon Howard Hughes had a relationship that lasted more than two years. They met in June 1935 during production of Sylvia Scarlett, when Hughes had been invited to lunch by his friend Cary Grant (Hepburn's co-star). While initially unimpressed with Hughes' bravado manner, Hepburn eventually fell for him and began an affair with him a year later. In her autobiography Me. Stories of My Life (1991), Hepburn talks about their relationship: "We were a colorful pair. It seemed logical for us to be together, but it seems to me now that we were too similar. He came from the right street, so to speak. And so did I. We'd been brought up in ease. [...] I look back at our relationship and I think that we were both cool customers. He could do anything he wanted. And when I decided to move East, I think he thought, Well, I don't want to move East. I'll find someone who will stay West. I always thought it was lucky that we never married- two people who are used to having their own way should stay separate." 

Howard Hughes and Katharine Hepburn (shown above in Hughes' airplane) were resp. 29 and 27 years old when they met. Apart from being Hepburn's boyfriend, Hughes would also prove instrumental to her career. After Hepburn had been labelled 'box-office poison' in 1938, Hughes bought her the film rights to "The Philadelphia Story"; the film would be Hepburn's ticket back into the Hollywood limelight.

During their relationship, Hepburn and Hughes often sent each other telegrams. And, being the centre of much media attention, they naturally tried to keep it a secret. For that purpose, most of the telegrams that were sent to Hepburn were addressed to Emily Perkins (Hepburn's assistant) and Hughes would sign them with Dan--short for 'Dynamite'. Apart from this nickname, there were a few others that were used by the couple, including 'Boss' and 'Conkshell'. Below you'll find several of the telegrams Hughes sent to Hepburn, and also shown are two handwritten drafts of telegrams from Hepburn to Hughes (these drafts are undated but presumably written early 1939).

The first telegram that is shown was -as opposed to the other telegrams- addressed directly to 'Miss Hepburn' and sent to the Ambassador Hotel in Chicago. At the time, Hepburn was staying in Chicago while on tour with the stage production of Jane Eyre.

Transcript: 

1937 JAN 19 PM 10 34

MISS HEPBURN= RM 746
AMBASSADOR HOTEL=

DARLING CANNOT CALL YOU THIS EVENING BECAUSE SHALL BE ON A TRAIN BOUND FOR THAT GREAT MIDWESTERN METROPOLIS CONSIDERED BY SOME THE SEAT OF CULTURE AND LEARNING SUPPOSED TO ARRIVE SIX SOMETHING IN THE AFTERNOON PROBABLY NOT IN TIME TO SEE YOU BEFORE THE THEATRE SO WILL TRY TO CONTAIN MYSELF UNTIL ELEVEN THIRTY LOVE=
DAN.

Transcript: 

1937 FEB 3

MISS PERKINS=

ROOM 747 AMBASSADOR EAST HOTEL=

AM WIRING YOU ON BEHALF OF AN IMPUDENT AND APPARENTLY SLIGHTLY DEMENTED YOUNG FOOL NAMED DANIEL WHO SAUNTERED OUT ACROSS THE BRINEY DEEP THIS MORNING IN WHAT APPEARED TO BE A NINETEEN SEVENTEEN FORD ANYWAY HE SAID TO TELL YOU IT LOOKS LIKE HE MEANS AS THOUGH YOU MAY EXPECT HIM HOME THIS EVENING BY ELEVEN THIRTY=

UNSIGNED.

Transcript: 

1937 FEB 16 PM 10 49

MISS EMILY PERKINS=

MUEHLEBACH HOTEL KSC=

WOULD YOU CARE TO KNOW WHAT TAKES PLACE IN MY MIND AS THE RATTLER RATTLES ON A SAMPLE THEN HOW DREADFUL I LIKE YOUR EVERYDAY USE OF CURSE WORDS NORMALLY CONSIDERED SO VIOLENTLY EXPRESSIVE AND YOUR SAVING FOR SPECIAL OCCASION I HOPE MY LITTLE GEE WHIZ=

DAN.

LITTLE GEE WHIZ.

Transcript:

1937 MAR 12 PM 11 37

EMILY PERKINS=

WADEPARK MANOR HOTEL CLEVELAND OHIO=

PLEASE CONSIDER THIS ONE LARGE LUSCIOUS HAND PICKED PERSONALLY SELECTED MAGNOLIA WITH EXTRA SPECIAL SMELL THROWN IN  FORGIVE THIS TELEVISION AGAINST LAW SHIP OUT FLOWERS AND COCOANUTS ALSO NO FLORIST ON ISLAND DARLING I DO HOPE EVERYTHING GOES WELL TOMORROW LOVE=

DAN.

The following telegram from March 1938 was sent to 211 South Muirfield Road in Los Angeles-- Hughes' home that Hepburn had moved into about a year earlier.

Transcript: 

1938 MAR 30 PM 7 28

EMILY PERKINS= 211 SOUTH MUIRFIELD DRIVE

[redacted] LOSA=

HERE I AM BOSS HOPE TO SEE YOU TOMORROW LOVE=

BOBB.

BOSS BOBB.

Transcript: 

1939 MAR 21 PM 9 0

EMILY PERKINS=

RITZCARLTON HOTEL BOSTONMASS=

CONKSHELL YOU ARE TERRIFIC BUT YOU MIGHT SAY SOMETHING NICE AMID CLEVERNESS AND REMINDERS WHICH MAKE ME LONESOME DONT WORRY ABOUT ANY ENGLISH DUTY LIGHT OR HEAVY LOVE=

BOSS.

Transcript:

H.R. Hughes

British Colonial

NASSAU BAHAMAS

REDECORATING CONKSHELL AND HAVE REMOVED WINTER COVER- WOULD SUGGEST REPLANTING RED FIR TREES ON FRONT BORDER- WILL YOU WANT AN ELEVATOR [redacted] EVERYTHING DUSTY BUT WELL PRESERVED. FOR RENT OR FOR SALE. MY CLIENT DESPERATE WILL TAKE EITHER-

(...)

Transcript: 

H.R. Hughes
British Colonial
NASSAU BAHAMAS

ARRIVED ONE ITEM
MISSING ONE BOSS LONELY ONE MOUSE- EMPTY ONE CONKSHELL

Transcript:

1939 MAR 23 PM 10 33

EMILY PERKINS
RITZCARLTON HOTEL BOSTONMASS=

HAVE DECIDED REMEDY EMPTY CONCHSHELL SITUATION ON ARRIVAL REGARDLESS AND IRREGARDLESS HOPE YOU DONT OBJECT TOO STRENUOUSLY MUCH LOVE=

BOSS.

Images of all telegrams courtesy of Heritage Auctions.