The hottest tip I've got is a damn cold one

When filming on location, weather conditions are not always favourable. Anthony Mann's El Cid (1961) -- an epic film about the Spanish hero Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, aka El Cid, who freed Spain from the Moors in the 11th Century -- was almost entirely filmed on location in Spain. Charlton Heston, who played the titular role, found the weather in the Spanish mountains unbearably cold and complained about it in a letter to Mike Connolly, journalist for the Hollywood Reporter (seen below). Heston said he was not the only one suffering from the cold; his leading lady Sophia Loren suffered as well as did the horses and two extras even passed out due to the cold. Fortunately for Heston and the others, their next shooting location would be the Comunidad Valenciana where the weather was considerably warmer.

Incidentally, the mountain scenes were shot in the Guadarrama Mountains in the autonomous region of Castilla y León, which borders Extremadura where the ice cold weather supposedly came from. Several other locations in Castilla y León were also used, as well as locations in other regions such as Comunidad Valenciana, Castilla-La Mancha and Madrid. Studio scenes were filmed in the city of Madrid and Rome.

Above and below: Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren and director Anthony Mann on the set of El Cid.

Source: Icollector

Transcript:

January 9, 1961

Mr. Mike Connolly

Hollywood Reporter

6715 Sunset Blvd.

Hollywood 28, Calif.

Dear Mike:

It was  nice to hear from you, and don't worry about a correction. It's just that we all get paid more than we deserve in this end of the acting profession anyway; I hate to see it even further exaggerated. Probably my guilt-ridden conscience at work.

As for a scoop: the hottest tip I've got is a damn cold one: the weather. I now realize the rains in Spain stay mainly in that plain because they'd be solid ice in the mountains, where we've been shooting. The last time Sophia worked on location (she has very little to do there, fortunately) was one of the coldest days I've ever seen, and I come from Michigan! Especially at seven in the morning, when we lined up the dawn shot that started the day's work. A wind sharper than a Toledo blade knifed across the snow fields from Extremadura and really liked to kill us all; it's the first time I've ever seen horses buck in protest against working in the cold. My white stud, Babieca, was in a terrible temper, and Sophia was honestly unable to finish the day. Two extras, not quite so well-blanketed between takes as my horse and my leading lady, actually passed out from exposure, toppling off their horses with a tinkle of icy chain mail. The province where that weather came from was well named.. "Extremely tough" is right! No wonder all the conquistadores came from there; they just wanted to get away from home!! After Extremadura, the Peruvian Andes, the Panamanian jungle, and the Arizona desert must have seemed like so many summer resorts.

Otherwise, we progress. At the end of the month we go to the east coast south (ahhh, south!) of Barcelona, to finish off Sophia and then beseige [sic] Valencia. Wanna come kill a Moor or two? I can get you at least a  esquire's commission.

Is there any truth to the announcement that Hal [Wallis] is starring Elvis Presley in an all-colour, all-talkie remake of BROADWAY MELODY OF 1936??

As ever,

Signed "Chuck"

Charlton Heston

Darling Merle

Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon couldn't stand each other while making William Wyler's Wuthering Heights (1939). Although they had gotten along during production of the comedy The Divorce of Lady X (1938), their working relationship on Wuthering Heights was far from pleasant. Olivier had lobbied to get his then-lover and wife-to-be Vivien Leigh cast in the role of Cathy but producer Samuel Goldwyn wanted Oberon. (The supporting role of Isabella was offered to Leigh but she refused.) Olivier was unimpressed with Oberon's acting abilities and is said to have called her "an amateur", feeling that Leigh would have made a much better Cathy. Oberon, in turn, wasn't happy with Olivier either. During a kissing scene she accused him of spitting on her. When Olivier retorted "What's a little spit for Chrissake between actors? You bloody little idiot, how dare you speak to me...", Oberon fled the set crying and director Wyler made Olivier apologise to her.

Above: Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon as Heathcliff and Cathy in Wuthering Heights. Below: Vivien Leigh visits Olivier and Oberon on the set of Wuthering Heights.

In 1959, twenty years after Wuthering Heights, Merle Oberon contacted Olivier with regards to Shakespeare's Macbeth. As actor-director Olivier had done three successful Shakespeare film adaptations, Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948) and Richard III (1955), and he desperately wanted to film Macbeth as well. However, his attempts to picturise the play had failed, mainly due to financial problems, and the project was shelved in 1958. When Olivier received Oberon's letter asking if he was interested in re-embarking on Macbeth, he was "touched and grateful" that she had thought of him, as he told her in his reply on 22 August 1959. Olivier didn't have time to do Macbeth, however, and wouldn't resume the project at a later date either. (While Olivier never made a film version of Macbeth, in 1955 he had starred in a much-praised stage production with himself in the title role and Vivien Leigh as Lady Macbeth.)

In his letter Olivier is quite affectionate towards Oberon. The hatchet between them had apparently been buried. 

Source: Bonhams

Transcript:

Stratford-on-Avon.

August 22nd. 1959.

Darling Merle,

Thank you so very much for your so sweet letter. I am deeply, deeply touched by your thinking of me and wishing to help in this way- and enormously grateful.

The trouble now is that I have got myself heavily booked up with other things. If the picture changes and it seems that I might be free for long enough to re-embark on "Macbeth", I will let you know, but right now it would not make sense to enter into discussions about it. So could we leave it like that for the time being?

Do please forgive this being in type, but things are hectic as always.

(added handwritten) I am so deeply touched and grateful for your infinite kindness, darling.

Ever your loving

L.

Miss Merle Oberon.

I must face the fact that you are married to Clark ...

Clark Gable was no fan of David Selznick -- to put it mildly. Ever since they had worked together on Night Flight (1933), Gable did not like nor trusted Selznick and hated the producer's relentless perfectionism. (Due to Selznick's constant changes, production of Night Flight had run weeks over schedule causing Gable to miss one of his beloved fishing trips.) Although Gable wasn't eager to work with Selznick again after Night Flight, they made three more films together, i.e. Dancing Lady (1933), Manhattan Melodrama (1934) and of course the epic Gone With the Wind (1939).

While Gable disliked Selznick, Selznick found Gable "a very nice fellow", but at the same time "a very suspicious one", a man who "very quickly and not infrequently [got] the notion in his head that people [were] taking advantage of him" (said Selznick in a 1939 memo). Selznick did his best to please Gable, especially during production of Gone With the Wind. For instance, when Gable complained about his ill-fitting costumes, Selznick commissioned Gable's favourite tailor Eddie Schmidt to provide Gable with a whole new wardrobe. Also, after George Cukor had been fired as director of GWTW, Gable's preferred director Victor Fleming (his longtime buddy) was hired to replace Cukor. But despite Selznick's actions to keep his star happy, Gable's hostility towards Selznick remained.

It was because of Gable that Selznick was reluctant to work again with Carole Lombard, Gable's wife from 1939 until her death in 1942. Lombard had a contract with Selznick for one more film following their collaboration on Nothing Sacred (1937) and Made for Each Other (1939). Seeing how Gable felt about him, however, Selznick wondered if another film with Gable's wife would be such a good idea. In a letter dated 22 January 1940, Selznick expressed his doubts to Lombard and, understanding the awkward position she was in, relieved her of the obligation to do another picture for him. While he mentioned a possible collaboration in the future, Selznick never worked with Lombard again. (Two years later Lombard was tragically killed in a plane crash.)

Above: Carole Lombard, Clark Gable and David Selznick-- also pictured below with Victor Fleming and Vivien Leigh.

January 22, 1940  

PERSONAL 

Dear Carole:   

I have received your messages through Myron [Selznick], and am anxious to get together on the [writer Norma] Krasna idea as soon as possible....  

Before we proceed, there is something I would like to discuss with you very frankly. Are you sure, Carole, that we should make another picture together? I know from countless sources how highly you think of me, both as a person and as a producer, and this is a source of great gratification to me. And I shall always look back on our past associations as among the most pleasant of my career. Certainly I have always held you up as the shining example of what a joy it can be to work with a star when that star appreciates a producer's problems and cooperates in their solution. But I must face the fact that you are married to Clark, and that Clark obviously feels quite differently about me.

I had hoped that my dealings with Clark on Gone With the Wind would once and for all disabuse him of any notions he had about me. I cannot think of any particular in which I could have gone further to make him happy in anything ranging from such details as his costumes to such important factors as the script and direction. I even cost myself a very substantial amount of money through keeping him idle, and paying his salary, in order to accommodate him on the schedule as he desired. All through the picture he was frank in expressing his suspicions that I intended to do him in, and I kept pleading with him to wait until the picture was finished and then tell me his opinion. I was under the impression that he was delighted with the final result, but he apparently disassociates me from this final result, if I am to judge from what has been reported back to me, and from items in the press. I regret all this more than I can say, because there has been nothing whatsoever on my side against Clark; and because, as I have repeatedly told him, he contributed in my opinion a really great performance to the effort that meant so much to me.

But if I couldn't and didn't satisfy Clark about myself, as person or producer, on Gone With the Wind, it is not likely that anything I could ever do with him or with his wife would change his opinion. On the contrary, it is much more likely that anything we did together would be regarded with suspicion by him; that you would forever have to be in the position of defending me and my moves to him; that if everything turned out all right, it would still not obviate any embarrassment you may be under through working with me, any more than Gone With the Wind did; and that, if, as can happen to everyone, things turned badly, he would have confirmation of his opinions and suspicions to point to.... Neither of us is used to such strained and peculiar situations as that on the night of the local opening of Gone With the Wind, when I like to believe we should have been in each other's arms. I certainly recognize the awkward position you are in, and cannot expect to come out on the right side when your loyalties are divided. And perhaps some day in the future, attitudes may change, as they do in this business, and it will again be possible for you to do a picture for me with the wholehearted pleasure that we once both knew in our endeavors.

The decision, however, is entirely yours. You would suffer much more from the repercussions in your personal life than would I; and I can stand it if you can. My principal thought in writing this letter is to tell you that freely, and with my blessings and steadfast affection, I will relieve you of your obligation to do a picture for me, provided only that I know in sufficient time to avoid making any commitments for it... And believe me, whichever way you decide, Carole Lombard can have no more earnest fan, personally or as an actress, than

Yours, affectionately and sincerely,

Source: Memo from David O. Selznick (1972); selected and edited by Rudy Behlmer.

Carole Lombard, director John Cromwell and David Selznick on the set of Made for Each Other (1939).

From the WWII battlefield to Donna Reed

During World War II, while being miles away from home, many American soldiers sent letters to their favourite actresses, asking them for pin-up photos and telling them about life on the war front. (It was during WWII that the term "pin-up" was coined, with soldiers literally pinning up photos on lockers and walls of barracks.) For the soldiers the pin-up actresses were a symbol of home, a reminder of what they were fighting for. For the actresses who posed for pin-up photos or wrote letters to lonely soldiers, it was a way to contribute to the war effort. The pin-ups were a huge morale booster for the troops, so it's no surprise that the creation and distribution of photos, magazines and calendars was encouraged by the US Army.

Probably the most famous pin-up actress during WWII was Betty Grable. Her now iconic photo (see left) was distributed to the troops in large numbers, five million copies having been provided by Grable's studio 20th Century-Fox. Other famous, sexy pin-up girls included Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr and Jane Russell. For a lot of soldiers, however, their favourite pin-up was not the sexy, sultry type but the type they'd most like to come home to. A farm girl from Iowa, Donna Reed belonged to the latter type. She was the girl next door who, according to biographer Jay Fultz, "probably came closer than any other actress to being the archetypal sweetheart, wife and mother".

Donna Reed's wholesome, ordinary girl image prompted many a soldier to write to her and confide in her, as if they were writing to a girl back home. After Reed's death in 1986, it came to light that she had kept about 350 letters from soldiers, secretly hidden in a shoebox. Reed's daughter Mary Owen, who made the letters public, said that her mother had never mentioned them. Still, they must have made an impact on young Donna, who was only 20 years old when America entered the war, about the same age as the majority of the soldiers.

One of the letters Donna Reed had kept in her shoebox was from Lieutenant Norman Klinker (as shown below). In April 1943, 24-year-old Klinker wrote to Reed after he had received a reply from her to an earlier letter. Stationed in North Africa, Klinker commented on his life on the front lines ("One thing I promise you - life on the battlefield is a wee bit different from the "movie" version"). The letter is especially poignant knowing that Klinker did not survive the war. He was killed in action in Italy on 6 January 1944.

Source: The New York Times

Transcript:

MISS DONNA REED
2304 S. BEVERLY GLEN
LOS ANGELES
CALIFORNIA

LT. N.P. KLINKER
91ST ARMO. F.A. BN.
APO 251, c/o PM, NYC
April 12th, I think

Dear Donna,

Have just received your letter from the eight of December. And believe me or no, it was the first piece of mail I have received in the past two months. By the sound of your tale, life in the old U.S. is not quite as fine as it used to be. But I honestly feel that it is better than eating the same 3 meals out of the same 3 C-Ration cans for a month or three.

We have been in action for some time here in North Africa, you see. Quite an interesting and a heartless life at one and the same time. One thing I promise you - life on the battlefield is a wee bit different from the "movie" version. Tough and bloody and dirty as it is at times. There is none of that grim and worried feeling so rampant in war pictures. It's a matter-of-fact life we live and talk here. And here for the first time no one has the "jitters." 

I hear you have done your part and done got married. Congratulations and good luck! See you in your next "pic."

Sincerely,

Norman Klinker

P.S. Can hardly wait for four years tho - no "pics" here.

This post is my contribution to THE WORLD WAR II BLOGATHON, hosted by MADDY LOVES HER CLASSIC FILMS and CINEMA ESSENTIALS. Click HERE and HERE to read all the entries!

The Politics of Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe's political flavour was decidedly left wing. Having grown up in poverty during the Great Depression, Marilyn always identified with the working class, feeling they were her kind of people. She was passionate about civil rights and a staunch defender of black equality. But while her views had always been left wing, Marilyn's political awareness only fully blossomed after she married playwright Arthur Miller in 1956. (Miller was a leftist too and particularly during their marriage, which ended in 1961, Marilyn often mixed with people who talked politics a lot.)

1960 was an election year, the year when John F. Kennedy was elected president of the USA. That same year, Marilyn became one of the founding members of the Hollywood branch of the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, and she was also appointed alternate delegate to Connecticut's state Democratic convention. Marilyn was clearly into politics that year, often engaging in political discussions with Lester Markel, a friend of hers and Sunday editor of The New York Times.

On 29 March 1960, Marilyn wrote to Markel, her interesting and at times humorous letter seen below. For the upcoming elections she mentions several potential presidential candidates, feeling that William O. Douglas (Justice of the Supreme Court) would make the best president. Since Marilyn realises that his being divorced poses a problem, she suggests Irish-Catholic John F. Kennedy as vice-president so Douglas could still get the Catholic vote. A supporter of the Communist struggle against capitalism and of Cuba's Fidel Castro, Marilyn goes on to criticise the US for not helping Cuba build a democracy after the revolution. After a few personal remarks, she concludes her letter with some fun slogans for the campaigns of the presidential candidates. Interesting to note is that Marilyn's slogan for Kennedy clearly shows that she had little faith in his becoming the Democratic nominee (Kennedy had announced his candidacy earlier that year).

Marilyn with Lester Markel (middle) during a visit to The New York Times in 1959.

Source: Julien's Live

Transcript:

March 29, 1960

Lester dear,

Here I am still in bed. I've been lying here thinking-- even of you. I bet you don't know how fond I am of you-  you're one of those ones that one could say anything one meant or wanted to to.

I loved the way the Sunday piece on [Irish playwright] O'Casey was handled and I think it was wonderful of you to tell people about his very human quality. We need to know about the few like him.

About our political conversation the other day: I take it back that there isn't anybody. What about Rockefeller? First of all he is a Republican like the New York Times, and secondly, and most interesting, he's more liberal than many of the Democrats. Maybe he could be developed? At this time, however, Humphrey might be the only one. But who knows since it's rather hard to find anything about him. (I have no particular paper in mind!) Of course, Stevenson might have made it, if he had been able to talk to people instead of professors. Of course, there hasn't been anyone like Nixon before because the rest of them at least had souls! Ideally, Justice William Douglas would be the best President, but he has been divorced so he couldn't make it -- but I've got an  idea -- how about Douglas for President and Kennedy for Vice-President, then the Catholics  who wouldn't have voted for Douglas would vote because of Kennedy so it wouldn't matter if he is so divorced! Then Stevenson could be Secretary of State!

Now, Lester, on Castro. You see, Lester, I was brought up to believe in democracy, and when the Cubans finally threw out Battista [sic] with so much bloodshed, the United States doesn't stand behind them and give them help or support even to develop democracy.  I can understand a "John Daly" on an American national broadcast making fun of Castro for having appeared at one of his country's national functions in a tuxedo. (I use the above as an example.) But the New York Times' responsibility to keep its readers informed - means in an unbiased way. I don't know, somehow I have always counted on The Times, and not entirely because you're there.

How are you, Lester? Did your amarillys bloom this year? Mine didn't - it's a little like me. But maybe there's still hope. How late do they bloom?

I hope Mrs. Markel is well. I take for granted she is happy since she sits at the foot of your table.

I am enclosing an unfinished letter to you that I didn't tear up. (Started in California).

About Arthur [Miller] and your Sunday piece. What do you want me to do- persuade him? Undue influence on my part wouldn't be quite hocky [sic] would it?

It's true I am in your building quite frequently mostly to see my wonderful doctor as your spies have already reported. I didn't want you to get a glimpse of me though until I was wearing my Somali leopard. I want you to think of me as a predatory animal.

Love and kisses,

P.S. Sloans for late '60:

"Nix on Nixon"

"Over the hump with Humphrey (?)"

"Stymied with Symington"

"Back to Boston by Xmas- Kennedy"

Don't worry, everything will be Jake

John Barrymore fell instantly in love with Dolores Costello after she had been cast as his co-star in The Sea Beast (1926). Still married to his second wife Blanche Oelrichs, Barrymore started an affair with Costello which eventually led to their marriage in November 1928. Barrymore and Costello had two children, daughter Dolores in 1930 and son John Drew in 1932. (With Oelrichs Barrymore also had a daughter, Diana, born in 1921.)

By 1934, the marriage was in serious trouble, mainly because of Barrymore's excessive drinking. Barrymore, addicted to alcohol since the age of fourteen, had been drinking continuously for two years (according to Costello) and began to experience several alcohol-related health issues, both physical and mental. Afraid that his wife was going to declare him mentally incompetent, Barrymore left Los Angeles in the fall of 1934, travelling to England to work and afterwards spending time in India. He came back to the US at the end of January 1935, not returning to Costello in LA but settling in New York instead. There, a month later, Barrymore fell ill and was admitted to a hospital where he was visited by a 19-year-old fan, Elaine Jacobs. The two became friends and started a much-publicised relationship. Jacobs (later Barrie) eventually became Barrymore's fourth and last wife.

Dolores Costello filed for divorce on grounds of "cruelty and habitual intemperance" in May 1935, demanding custody of the children and financial support. Later that year, in October, Costello filed a new suit, dropping the original charge of cruelty while accusing Barrymore only of desertion. The divorce was a bitter financial fight, nevertheless Costello said in a later interview: "Whenever I think of John, it is with great compassion". 

While Costello is said to have initiated the divorce proceedings, a letter from John Barrymore (as seen below) indicates that he had asked her for a divorce several months before she officially filed for it. The letter, written on 8 February 1935, is quite respectful and courteous, with Barrymore asking Costello for a quick settlement of the legal matters "in as friendly a fashion as possible". The divorce between Barrymore and Costello was ultimately finalised in October 1936.

Above: Lionel and John photographed at the Hollywood opening of Don Juan in 1926. Below: John, Ethel and Lionel in 1904.

The day after he had written to his wife, John Barrymore also wrote a letter to his four-year-older brother Lionel, this letter obviously quite different in tone. From what I've read online, John adored and was very much in awe of his big brother. (Later Lionel would dismiss this as nonsense: "He was awed by only one person in the world, the same person who awed me: Ethel.") It seems only natural that John would discuss his impending divorce with Lionel, although he didn't really say much about it in the letter, feeling his brother could supply most of it himself. In any case Lionel was not to worry, said John, assuring him that everything would be fine.

Incidentally, John and Ethel called Lionel "Mike" and John was usually called "Jack" or "Jake".

Source: icollector.com

Transcript:

Hotel New Yorker
New York
Feb. 7. 1935

Dear Dolores:

This is rather a difficult letter to write to you but believe me I do it after having considered everything very deeply. We might as well face the fact like two civilized people that it is quite evident for your own happiness as well as mine that our life together has come to an end. In fact as you know our proper relationship as husband and wife really terminated about a year ago. Therefore let us get together to make the necessary legal arrangements in as friendly a fashion as possible for our own sakes as well as for the children. I think the sooner this is started the better, and as certain picture negotations require me to remain in New York for the present I have asked Senator McAdoo's partner in Los Angeles, Col. W. H. Neblett, to act as my legal representative to hand you this letter and to meet you to discuss some plan by which we can get our affairs in order.

I hope that in a few weeks I can settle the business matters that keep me here now, and come to California to see you and the children before going again to England. But meanwhile I hope that rapid progress can be made in settlement of our problems, as the English picture may start sooner than is now planned.

Jack

Source: icollector.com

Transcript:

Febr. 8. 1935

Dear Mike -

You know I can't put in a god damned letter, which are foul things anyway, one tenth of what I want to say to you, but I don't think that's so damned necessary as you can supply most of it yourself. The whole thing is cold, and worse than that, and from something I vaugely [sic] remember before I was even married to the shrimp. When we were together at the Ambassador you won't be unduly surprised!! Nobody knows better than you how difficult in a way these kind of letters are to write, but I know I don't have to write you anything as your bean and your soul don't need it.

Everything is all right and I feel fine. Ever so much love to you Mike. Give my best love and thanks to Irene*-  and don't worry
Everything will be Jake.
Much love
Jack


*Note
Irene Fenwick was Lionel's wife from 1923 until her early death in 1936. Before she became involved with Lionel, Irene had dated John. Lionel's marriage to Irene caused a rift between the brothers who didn't speak to each other for a few years. When Irene died of anorexia at age 49, John was a big support to Lionel taking over his role of Scrooge on the radio.

(l-r) Lionel Barrymore, Irene Fenwick, Dolores Costello and John Barrymore in Palm Springs in February 1933.


THIS POST IS MY CONTRIBUTION TO "THE FIFTH ANNUAL BARRYMORE TRILOGY BLOGATHON", CO-HOSTED BY IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS OF CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD AND PALE WRITER. CLICK ON EITHER LINK TO READ THE OTHER ENTRIES!

This script would make a very good trailer

During her impressive career, Ginger Rogers had turned down many a role. Some of the parts she had refused were terrific parts, for example the female leads in His Girl Friday (1940), Ball Of Fire (1942), To Each His Own (1946) and The Snake Pit (1948). Ginger later admitted that she should have accepted these roles, but at the time she was waiting for something better to come along (the ultimate part that never came).

Ginger also rejected Bachelor Mother (1939). She hated the script and refused to do it, after which RKO production chief Pandro Berman suspended her without pay. Ginger eventually agreed to do the film, reluctantly. When the film was finished, she still didn't like it. Audiences, however, loved it and the film became a big hit, one of the biggest of Ginger's career.

Above: Ginger Rogers with Bachelor Mother's director Garson Kanin (middle) and Pandro Berman who suspended Ginger after she had refused to make the film. Below: Ginger and co-star David Niven in my favourite scene from Bachelor Mother.

Over the years Ginger grew to like Bachelor Mother, as is evident from the following memo sent to RKO's "Charlie" in May 1945. Ginger wrote the memo to reject another script that was offered to her, Make Way for the Bride. (Searching online, I found no film under that title, so I guess it was never made; and if it was, it must have been made under a different title without Ginger.) Having made very clear what she thought of the script, Ginger went on to mention several scripts she did like including Bachelor Mother (unlike Ginger, I have always loved that film). She concludes the memo by mentioning two other films she made deserving of a "rousing raspberry", i.e. Having Wonderful Time (1938), co-starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Lucky Partners (1940), co-starring Ronald Colman.

Transcript:

Memo from Ginger Rogers

5-19-45

Dear Charlie...

I hereby return the script you sent me, "Make Way for the Bride", which I am tactfully renaming, "Make Way for the Broom". Unfortunately, I think the latter title is more appropriate. Get it? If you do, you may stay for the $64 question.

Personally, I think this script would make a very good trailer. In my opinion the writer made a mistake by not throwing away the original idea and starting fresh.

Here's to more scrips like "Kitty Foyle", "Tom, Dick and Harry", "Bachelor Mother" and "Vivacious Lady". And here's a rousing raspberry for scripts like "Lucky Partners", "Having A Wonderful Time"and last and really least, "Make Way for the Bride." Hope to see you soon.

Fondly,
(signed)

[The image above doesn't show the P.S. Ginger had added to her memo: "P.S.: Guess what? Morally and legally I do NOT like it".]

Source: Hollywood The Golden Years: The RKO Story

Ginger in three films she did like: (l to r): with James Stewart in Vivacious Lady (1938), James Craig in Kitty Foyle (1940) and Burgess Meredith in Tom, Dick and Harry (1941).

Praising "The Killers"

For his first independent production, Mark Hellinger paid $36,750 for the movie rights to The Killers, a short story written by Ernest Hemingway in 1927. The story is about two hit men who visit a local diner one night, searching for an ex-boxer aka "the Swede" whom they've been hired to kill. Nick Adams (generally regarded as Hemingway's alter ego) is in the diner and goes to the Swede to warn him, but the latter waits passively for the hit men to come and kill him. The whole plot of Hemingway's short story takes place in the opening sequence of the film — the first 15 minutes being a fairly faithful adaptation of the Hemingway story — while the rest of the film is original, explaining in flashbacks why the Swede was killed. Hellinger hired Anthony Veiller, John Huston and Richard Brooks to write the screenplay, the latter two giving uncredited contributions. (For the full plot, go here.) 

(Left to right) Robert Siodmak, Burt Lancaster and Mark Hellinger are discussing the script of The Killers while office secretary Lois Regan is making notes on her typewriter.

To direct The Killers (1946), Mark Hellinger chose Robert Siodmak who had just scored a big hit with The Spiral Staircase (1946). Unable to get Wayne Morris for the part of the Swede (Warner Bros. refused to loan him out) Hellinger cast newcomer Burt Lancaster, while Ava Gardner was given the role of the femme fatale Kitty Collins. Other important roles went to Edmond O'Brien (insurance investigator Jim Reardon), Sam Levene (Lt. Sam Lubinsky), Albert Dekker (Big Jim Colfax) and William Conrad and Charles McGraw as the Killers. Director Siodmak got great performances from his actors, in particular from Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner, the latter delivering some of her best work in that final scene. (Ava herself later said: "Siodmak helped me with my toughest scene, the one at the end.... [He] made me play that scene so many times that I truly became hysterical and gave a more convincing performance than I thought I had in me".)

The first-rate musical score of The Killers was composed by Miklós Rózsa while Elwood "Woody" Bredell was responsible for the cinematography. Bredell deserves a special mention here as his black-and-white photography is simply stunning (see images below).

Reception of The Killers was overwhelmingly positive. The film was a huge box-office hit, at its opening in New York in August 1946 even breaking previous records. Reviews in general were raving and Hemingway himself also liked the adaptation of his story. Quite unusual for a film noir, The Killers received four Oscar nominations (i.e. for Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Screenplay and Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture), losing in each category to that year's big winner The Best Years Of Our Lives. 

Seen below are two letters written to producer Mark Hellinger, praising him for The Killers. The first letter comes from Bette Davis who saw the film in a small movie theatre several months after its release. Next is a letter from Ronald Colman who was lent a print of the film for viewing, after which he wrote to Hellinger to thank and compliment him. 

Note: Mark Hellinger would make a few more films (including Brute Force (1947)) before he died of a heart attack in December 1947, only 44 years old. His last production The Naked City (1948) was released after his death.

Mark Hellinger with Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner who both became overnight stars after their roles in The Killers. 

Source: Heritage Auctions

Transcript:

Dear Mark,

In a tiny theatre in Whitefield New Hampshire last evening I saw "The Killers" —

It is wonderful- wonderful enough to sit down today and have to tell you —

your cast- your director —

your cameraman- the whole presentation-

really enthralling and exciting-

and the kind of use the motion picture should be put to oftener —

Many congratulations!!!

Bette Davis

January 27, 1947

Ronald Colman and Bette Davis (the letter writers for this post) photographed together in the 1940s.

Source: Heritage Auctions

Transcript:

1003, Summit Drive,

Beverly Hills, Calif.

September 27th, 1946.

Dear Mark Hellinger:

It was very kind of you to allow us run your picture THE KILLERS the other night.

This, however, is not only to thank you, but to say it is one of the finest pictures I have seen in a very long time — superbly produced and directed. The few friends who saw it with us were equally and superlatively enthusiastic.

Many thanks again, and best wishes,

(handwritten)

yours

Ronald Colman 


THIS POST IS MY CONTRIBUTION TO THE NOIRATHON HOSTED BY MADDY LOVES HER CLASSIC FILMS. TO READ ALL THE OTHER ENTRIES, GO HERE.

Deep feelings have never had adequate speech

I love letters that concern old Hollywood friendships. Here is a heartfelt letter from Douglas Fairbanks Jr. to Clifton Webb, written in September 1931. Webb had just visited Fairbanks and his wife Joan Crawford and Fairbanks eloquently thanks him, calling Webb's stay "a welcome rain after a long drought". Joan was a close friend of Webb's too and I've also included a letter from her to him written around the same year. 

Incidentally, Clifton Webb was very loved in Hollywood. He and his mother Mabelle regularly hosted parties visited by Hollywood's finest. Webb maintained close friendships with a number of Hollywood stars including Humphrey Bogart, a letter concerning theír friendship can be read here.

Source: international autograph auctions

Transcript:

Cliffie:

I have done many difficult things in my life but as I sit down to write this I am only to [sic] cognizant that this letter is presenting unprecedented hurdles. Because of this do be tolerant of my writing by typewriter rather than by hand. You couldn't even read it, I am sure, the other way.

Deep feelings have never had adequate speech and this is no exception. We have thousands of words at our disposal and a comfortable assortment of adjectives but when we have something of deep import such as telling a friend how grateful one is to him for his friendship and thanking him for many things that must go throughout infinity unrepaid, they all become as useless and futile as Christ's death or a Nun's twitch to a eunuch. 

Your visit here has done much for me. Never have I had such a good time. I am indefinitely obligated to you for everything. Your stay was like a welcome rain after a long draught [sic]. Only on leaving you have left with us a memory too wonderful and too profound to be so inadequately described as that.

If brevity is the soul of wit then silence must of necessity be the soul of emotion and by that same token I am without further words.

Nominating myself as a committee of one representing the Lady and your most humble, residing at Webbfair (if you remember) I extend to you the deepest and most sincere compliment within our restricted powers in the form of two words: Come again!

We simply adore you-

Doug.

  

Above: At Lilyan Tashman’s beach house in 1931, photo by Edward Steichen. Clockwise from bottom left: Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Lilyan Tashman, Clifton Webb, Kenneth McKenna, Edmund Lowe (Tashman’s husband), Kay Francis (McKenna’s wife), Ivor Novello and Joan Crawford. Below: Doug and Joan at their home in 1931.

Source: schulson autographs

Transcript:

Dear Poopsie: ---

So very sorry to hear you had to postpone your trip, it must have been a great disappointment to you.

You must think, and justly so, that I am an awful bitch, I'll admit I've neglected you dreadfully, but Clifton dearest, I was working on "Grand Hotel" and I've never been so miserable in all my life, then before I completed that I started on my last film*, which I have just finished.

So you see dear I have been awfully busy, do forgive me for not writing sooner. 

You lucky dog what a vacation you will have this summer at Grace Moore's in Cannes. Do keep us posted in case we are able to join you. 

No other news darling except we miss you, oh I do hope we can see you soon. Write anyway. 

Love from 

your 

Puss


* the film referenced here is Letty Lynton (1932)

Clifton Webb flanked by Joan Crawford and Gene Tierney in the late 1940s.