One of the most rewarding locations

source

The last of five westerns director Anthony Mann and James Stewart did together was a film for Columbia Pictures, The Man from Laramie (1955). It was shot on location in New Mexico and was one of the first westerns to use CinemaScope. In a letter to Columbia boss Harry Cohn, James Stewart called the film's location "one of the toughest, and yet one of the most rewarding locations" of his career. Stewart's letter —written on 6 December 1954 during the film's shooting— is shown below and accompanied a still photo made on location (shown right) which Stewart had promised to send to Cohn.

Bill Goetz, whom Stewart mentions as the guy who picked out the photo, was the film's producer. And The Man from Laramie was based on a serial of the same name by Thomas T. Flynn, which was published in The Saturday Evening Post in early 1954— hence Stewart's reference to it.

Transcript: 

December 6, 1954

Dear Harry Cohn:

The still pictures made on location in New Mexico, where we filmed almost all of our picture, are beginning to come through the lab, and this was among the first batch.

I promised to send you a sample, so Bill Goetz picked this one out himself, insisting that this particular shot had the combined elements of tension, excitement and dramatic power of the Saturday Evening Post serial, as well as the rugged background of the Pueblo Indian country. And who am I to argue with the boss?

Fact is, we’re all quite excited — cast, crew and front office — with the results of one of the toughest, and yet one of the most rewarding, locations in my experience.

Hope the picture gives you some idea why we feel this way.

My best,

Jimmy (signed)

James Stewart
The MAN From Laramie

Source letter: Sony Pictures Entertainment Museum

James Stewart in "The Man from Laramie" and Columbia chief Harry Cohn

George Bush is no Gene Kelly!

On 16 March 2008, Maureen Dowd, journalist for The New York Times, wrote a column about then-president George Bush in which she compared him to Gene Kelly: "The dollar's crumpling, the recession's thundering, the Dow's bungee-jumping and the world's disapproving, yet George Bush has turned into Gene Kelly, tap-dancing and singing in a one-man review called "The Most Happy Fella"."

While reading the column, Patricia Ward Kelly --Gene Kelly's third wife and married to Kelly from 1990 until his death in 1996-- was shocked by the comparison made by Dowd and immediately wrote a letter to the editor.

To the Editor:

Re "Soft Shoe in Hard Times" (column, March 16):

Surely it must have been a slip for Maureen Dowd to align the artistry of my late husband, Gene Kelly, with the president's clumsy performances. To suggest that ''George Bush has turned into Gene Kelly'' represents not only an implausible transformation but a considerable slight. If Gene were in a grave, he would have turned over in it.

When Gene was compared to the grace and agility of Jack Dempsey, Wayne Gretzky and Willie Mays, he was delighted. But to be linked with a clunker -- particularly one he would consider inept and demoralizing -- would have sent him reeling. 

Graduated with a degree in economics from Pitt, Gene was not only a gifted dancer, director and choreographer, he was also a most civilized man. He spoke multiple languages; wrote poetry; studied history; understood the projections of Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes. He did the Sunday Times crossword in ink. Exceedingly articulate, Gene often conveyed more through movement than others manage with words.

Sadly, President Bush fails to communicate meaningfully with either. For George Bush to become Gene Kelly would require impossible leaps in creativity, erudition and humility. 

Patricia Ward Kelly

Los Angeles, March 16, 2008 

Source: The New York Times

What's in a title?

Before any film could be submitted to the Production Code Administration (PCA) for approval, the title of that film first had to be approved and registered with the MPPDA's Title Registration Bureau. Titles that were considered to be in violation of the Production Code were rejected and had to be changed. But prior to 1934 --the year in which the PCA was established and the Code began to be enforced-- many Pre-Code films could still get away with titles which were forbidden under the Code. 

In 1938, Universal wanted to re-issue Laughter in Hell, a crime film which was originally released in 1933. Studios that wanted to re-issue films had to obtain approval from the PCA. But before Universal could get PCA approval, the film's title had to be dealt with first. On 6 June 1938, Francis Harmon (in charge of the Eastern Division of the PCA) wrote to Geoffrey Shurlock (assistant to PCA chief Joseph Breen) after attending a Board meeting: "[...] I doubt whether we should approve a reissue unless and until the title has been changed. [...] There seems to be unanimity that the word "hell" in a title should not be approved unless used in connection with a geographical location." Shurlock wrote back on 10 June: "Are you referring only to possible future re-issues in which the title contains the word "hell", or is it your thought that all titles of future re-issued pictures should be cleared before we issue the certificate?" [source]

The ruling was that indeed áll titles of re-issues should be cleared through the Title Registration Bureau before PCA approval could be given, much to the dismay of Joseph Breen. On 2 August 1938, Breen wrote the following letter to Francis Harmon, clearly annoyed with the new procedure. Seeing that these changes would only add to his already heavy workload and increase PCA's "tremendous amount of red tape", Breen announced to take up the matter with their boss Will Hays and see what could be done about it.

Incidentally, I could find no information whether Laughter in Hell had indeed been re-issued under a different title.

Source: MPPDA Digital Archive

Transcript:

August 2, 1938

Mr. Francis S. Harmon
28 West 44th Street,
New York City

Dear Francis:

I have your telegraphic reply to my wire of last night, in which you tell me we are authorized to approve only those pictures whose titles have been cleared through the Title Bureau and that this regulation applies to the titles of all re-issues.

Joseph I. Breen

We shall, of course, be guided by this regulation, but I must say we are beginning to feel that the extraneous matters, incident to our job of the P.C.A. are beginning to become exceedingly heavy and irksome. You understand, I am sure, that we shall have an immense amount of trouble with our companies over this ruling that titles on re-issues have to be approved in New York. This will mean that the companies will have to go all through the same formula, as they did in the initial effort, and I am sure that they will find it difficult to understand why it is that they will have to have titles approved, on which they already have approval, and, of course, a legal copyright.

However, we shall do as you have suggested until such time as it will be necessary for us to augment our staff here to take care of all these increasing incidentals, which, strictly speaking, have no part in our general responsibility.

Incidentally, I am making it a matter of discussion with Mr. Hays to see if some way can be found to minimize and lessen the tremendous amount of red tape, which seem to be creeping into the P.C.A. work. For my part, I am all against it.

However, once again thanks for all your kindness--

Cordially yours,
(signed)
Joseph I. Breen 

Edward G. Robinson: Art Lover & Collector

While Edward G. Robinson is mostly known for playing gangsters and tough guys on the big screen, in real life he was a man of refined taste. He loved art and was Hollywood's first major art collector, owning quite an impressive collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. Robinson didn't think of himself as a collector, though. He once stated: "I am not a collector. I am just an innocent bystander who has been taken over by a collection. [...] I am just a lover of paintings. I do what I do for the sheer joy of it."*

In 1956, Robinson was forced to sell his art collection in order to pay for his divorce from his first wife Gladys Lloyd. He sold the collection for more than $3 million to Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos. After marrying Jane Adler in 1958, Robinson started to collect art once again. This second collection, which was even bigger than the first, was sold for more than $5 million to an American industrialist a few months after Robinson's death in 1973.

The Praying Jew

There were a few major exhibitions featuring Robinson's art collection. One of them was an exhibition in 1953 called Forty Paintings from the Edward G. Robinson Collection, which included works by Vincent van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Pablo Picasso. The exhibition was first shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from 4 March to 12 April, and later travelled to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC where it was displayed from 10 May to 24 June. It was at the exhibit in Washington where a Mr. Goldberg saw Marc Chagall's painting The Praying Jew and immediately fell in love with it. Wishing to own a reproduction of the painting, Goldberg wrote a letter to both its owner Robinson and its maker Chagall, asking for permission to have a copy made. Both men wrote Goldberg back --their letters are shown below-- with Robinson granting the permission Goldberg had asked for.

Transcript:

June 9, 1953

Mr. William Goldberg

726 Somerser Place, N.W.,

Washington 11, D.C.

Dear Mr. Goldberg:

Thank you for your letter of May 30th, 1953. I am very happy that you enjoyed my pictures displayed at the National Art Gallery, in your city. It is quite a coincidence that as you say, "you fell in love" with "Old Jew with Torah" by Chagall, as that picture is one of my favorites also. 

I genuinely regret that I have no copy or reprint of the picture; otherwise I would be very happy to send it to you. 

If you wish to have said picture photographed while it is hanging in the gallery, you have my permission to do so and may use this letter for that purpose.

Yours sincerely,

(signed)

Edward G. Robinson

Transcript:

25 septembre 1953

Monsieur W. GOLDBERG
726 Somerset Place N.W.
WASHINGTON D C

Cher Monsieur,

J'ai bien reçu votre amaible letter. Malheureusement, je ne peux pas vous donner le renseignement que vous me demandez. Il faut, pour cela, vous addresser au collectioneur Robenson [sic] qui pourra vous indiquer si des reproductions de ce tableau ont été faites. 
Veuillez recevoir, cher Monsieur, l'assurance de mes sentiments distingués.

Chagall
(signed)

Translation:

Dear Sir,

I have received your kind letter. Unfortunately, I cannot give you the information you ask for. For this you need to contact the collector Robenson who could tell you if reproductions of the painting were made.
Please accept, dear Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.

Chagall

Images of both letters via ebay.

*Click here for Robinson's statement accompanying the exhibition at the MOMA in New York in 1953 (beginning with the words "I am not a collector..."), and for a list of the 40 paintings Robinson had loaned to the museum.

A fitting tribute to your judgement and courage

With a little more than a week to go until Oscar night, here is a short letter from an Oscar winner to a fellow winner. On 26 February 1942, John Ford and Darryl F. Zanuck both won the coveted statuette for their work on How Green Was My Valley, respectively for Best Director and Best Picture. In the following (undated) letter to Zanuck, Ford congratulates the producer on his well-deserved prize, knowing what problems Zanuck had in getting the film made (see note below). Ford was serving as a commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve at the time, thus signing his letter with "Cmdr. John Ford USNR".

Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

Transcript:

Dear Darryl,

Congratulations on the Award for "How green was my valley". It was a well deserved choice. Even you+ I will admit that. It was a fitting tribute to your judgement + courage. I know what a scrap you had with the company about its production-- well you won!
Please grant me a favor. Would you have a miniature Oscar made up for me as a memento? You know quarter size- "best production" etc? Would appreciate it and it looks like a long time before I compete again.

Hoping you are in the best of health + with kindest regards
I am
yr old servant
Jack

Cmdr John Ford USNR
Kaneohe Naval Air Station
Oahu T.H.

John Ford (left) with young Roddy McDowall (who played the role of Huw) and screenwriter Philip Dunne on the set of "How Green Was My Valley".

Darryl F. Zanuck

Note
When How Green Was My Valley was well into pre-production, Zanuck's bosses at 20th Century Fox decided to pull the plug on the film. Unhappy with the script that focused too much on labour issues, and also dissatisfied with the first director William Wyler who they feared would not stay within budget, Fox executives in New York refused to put up the money for the project. Zanuck was furious and fought hard for his film, even threatening to take it to another studio. Eventually Fox gave in, and John Ford was brought in to replace Wyler. (Wyler, who had been borrowed from Samuel Goldwyn and whose contract with Fox had expired anyway, went back to Goldwyn to direct The Little Foxes.)

Let's bring the art of letter-writing back into vogue!

I know that Olivia de Havilland will be celebrating her 100th birthday this year, but I hadn't realised there's another Hollywood legend who will also turn 100. To be honest, I didn't think Kirk Douglas was still alive, but he is and will have lived exactly a century on 9 December of this year. And like Miss De Havilland who is currently working on her autobiography, Douglas announced his plans last year to start a new book too. A book after my own heart, I might add, as it involves his personal correspondence. 

The letter for this post is about letter-writing, and in particular Kirk Douglas' view on it. It's an open letter to readers of The Huffington Post written in April of last year, in which Douglas expresses his longing for the days when people didn't correspond through e-mail, whatsapp or twitter. And so, he urges readers to write physical letters again, preferably by hand. Having saved decades' worth of his own correspondence, Douglas also tells of his plans to publish his letters in a new book (despite his statement a year earlier that his poetry collection Life Could Be Verse: Reflections on Love, Loss, and What Really Matters (2014) was his last book). Of course, I can't wait for this book to come out...

I am closing in on 100. When I reflect on the many satisfactory experiences of my long life, I must include my correspondence with some of the world's most fascinating people. There is a special sensory enjoyment involved in writing a letter, stamping the envelope and sending it on its way. Whether you are getting something off your chest (some letters are indeed written in anger) or writing a love letter (my own favorite), it remains the most personal way to communicate, especially when written by hand.

After my stroke, I had fans who wanted me to tell them about my road to recovery. Answering their letters became part of my therapy, and signing them in my own handwriting part of my pleasure. 

In a world where "everything old is new again," I am amazed to hear that young people are now buying vinyl records. Does this bode well for the return of letter-writing? I hope so.

Despite the convenience of the new technologies, this ancient form of communication remains impactful and should be used more often.

Imagine a child writing to Santa Claus in a letter parents can treasure; a Dear John or Dear Jane letter the recipient can stain with tears and reread when the heart has mended; a New Testament without the Epistles.

While no one doubts the ego-satisfying thrill of the 140-character tweet sent to a multitude of followers or the convenience of emails complete with acronyms that substitute for words and cute little emoticons substituting for feelings, I urge readers to rediscover the pleasure of communicating by what is known today by the derogatory term "snail mail." 

My wife Anne has kept a trove of letters and poems I've written to her over our 60 year marriage. She can even quote from some of them. She can also see in them the man I was and the man I became. Anne has also meticulously archived decades of letters between me and people like my friends Henry Kissinger, Francis Albert Sinatra, Brigitte Bardot and others, as well as colleagues such as Lord Laurence Olivier and Dalton Trumbo. They all attest to a state of mind; they all reflect what was happening in their lives or mine; they all offer insight into the private thoughts and dreams of that moment in time.

I have written 11 books, and I was sure the one published on my 98th birthday would be my last. However, I have been reading through a lot of that saved correspondence and have decided on another book, much more ambitious than a man my age usually contemplates. I have already begun work on my book of "Letters."

Now, here's my challenge to all of you reading this open letter:

Write a letter today to someone you love that can be kept, savored, and passed along to family members when the time is right. Send a handwritten invitation by mail instead of an evite. Receive a gift and handwrite a thank-you note. Express your feelings to a member of government on an issue you care about and put it in a mailbox. Remember, when you sign a letter in your own hand, you are attesting that you and you alone are responsible for its content. I don't think that's possible with an email.

Let me hear from you, preferably not as a comment, but as a real letter between you and me. At first, rediscovering this form of communication may seem strange -- but I promise you, it gets easier the more you use it -- and ultimately more rewarding. 

I hope you will join my crusade to bring the art of letter-writing back into vogue.

Sincerely,

Kirk Douglas

 Source: The Huffington Post

Bogie, Chess & Casablanca

Humphrey Bogart learned how to play chess from his father and eventually became an avid and also expert player. In the early Depression years, he played chess for money in New York City parks, Times Square and Coney Island. Playing for 50 cents a game, he won more games than he lost. More than an average chess enthusiast, Bogart became director of the United States Chess Federation and was active in the California State Chess Association in the 1940s. In 1955, he drew against Grandmaster Samuel Reshevsky in a 70-board simultaneous exhibition. Chess was one of the main interests in Bogart's life. He played almost daily, and during movie breaks he was often seen bent over a chess board playing fellow actors or crew members (his wife Lauren Bacall was a chess enthusiast as well).

It was Bogart who wanted Rick Blaine, his character in Michael Curtiz' famous classic Casablanca (1942), to be a chess player. And so, in the opening scene when Rick is introduced to the viewer, he is shown playing a solitary game of chess. Rick is later joined by Ugarte (Peter Lorre), and we see him making chess moves while he listens to Ugarte talk about the German couriers and the transit letters. The game set up on the board was a real game that Bogart was playing by mail against Irving Kovner, brother of a Warner Bros.' employee. The two men had started the chess game in January 1942, corresponding by postcards and letters to indicate their moves. Bogart eventually sent Kovner a total of 17 postcards and two letters — three of his cards are shown below. 

Filming of Casablanca started on 25 May 1942 and officially wrapped a few months later, on 3 August. The first postcard from Bogart that is shown was written during production and is postmarked 8 June 1942. The chess moves that Bogart executes in the scene with Lorre are mentioned in this card. Bogart's two other cards are from a much later date when filming had already wrapped, postmarked resp. 17 November and 7 December 1942. Apparently the game went on and on... 

(Click here to watch the chess scene from Casablanca.)

Source: bonhams 

Transcript:

Dear Irving Kovner 

You're too hot-headed-- calm down! 

My 6 move a bad one- think should have been BxB. 

Now I'm in a jam.

However

8 knt- knt 5-- Castle Kings side 9?

H. Bogart

Via: iCollector.com (here and here)

Transcript:

Dear Irving

14-------Kt (Kt)-B3

15 Kt - K2- P- Q5

16?

Regards

H Bogart

Transcript:

Dear Irving

14- - - - - P- Q5

15 Knt- B4- - - P- Q6

16?

If I see [??]

you bet I will

Regards 

H Bogart

Bogie and Paul Henreid playing chess on the set of "Casablanca" with Claude Rains looking on. Henreid was reportedly the better player.

 Joan Bennett and Bogie taking a break during the shooting of "We're no Angels" (1955). 

Bogie visits Lauren Bacall on the set of "Confidential Agent" (1945) where he plays her co-star Charles Boyer. The man sitting next to Bacall is chessmaster Herman Steiner who also taught Bogie. Steiner formed a chess club in the 1940s, later known as the Hollywood Chess Group.

Bogie plays chess with his fourth wife Lauren Bacall who was also an excellent player. There's a famous chess game between the two from 1951 that you can follow in an online chart here. 

Dear Club Members

In early 1951, after the completion of An American in Paris, Gene Kelly spent a well-deserved and much-needed vacation in Europe. In the following letter addressed to members of his fan club, Kelly tells them that it was the first real vacation he had in two years and talks about how much he enjoyed Paris, London and skiing in Switzerland (where he was joined by his wife, actress Betsy Blair). Kelly furthermore talks about the preparations for his next project Singin' in the Rain (1952) and how he hoped the film would be well received. (Little did he know then...)

Gene Kelly and his first wife Betsy Blair to whom he was married from 1941 to 1957.

Source: gene kelly fans

Transcript:

March 22, 1951

Dear Club Members:

I'm sorry if this letter has delayed the printing of this current issue of the Journal but I can't say it wasn't worth it. 

My trip to Europe was very successful because I had a nice rest and a change of environment which I sorely needed after working so hard on AMERICAN IN PARIS. It was my first real vacation in two years, all my other trips having been business or semi-business with just a few days off in between. I went to Paris for several days and saw some old friends, and then jumped over to London to see the theatre there. There were many fine plays and it was an extremely worthwhile part of my trip. By this time Betsy had finished her play, RICHARD II, playing the Queen opposite Maurice Evans, and her movie, KING LADY, with Ethel Barrymore and she was ready to join me for the "vacation" part of my trip. Hopping a plane, she met me in Switzerland in a little village called Klosters, and for a month we did nothing but ski around the Alps and got our fill of snow, which is a rarity in Beverly Hills. We met many interesting people and found to our surprise that the Swiss are even bigger movie fans than the French and English. Their favorite picture seems to be THE THREE MUSKETEERS, although as in England, ON THE TOWN went over wonderfully well.

Well, here I am home again and back at work preparing SINGING IN THE RAIN which I am going to co-direct with Stanley Donen as we did on ON THE TOWN. We both hope it will be as well received. We have some great old songs in it and a very funny idea for a premise- but I'm not going to tell you too much about it or maybe you won't even go to see it. Little Debbie Reynolds will be my leading lady and I'm sure you're all going to love her. She's so sweet and nice, a real breath of fresh air on that old movie screen.

And so, until the next Journal I shall be digging away at new dance routines, new jokes, new recordings, and I hope, a new hit.

I want to thank and congratulate all you hard workers and contributors to the last Journal. It was excellent. Dolores Witt did a wonderful cover!

Good luck and

Sincerely,

(signed)

Gene Kelly

Gene Kelly and that "real breath of fresh air" Debbie Reynolds on the set of "Singin' in the Rain".

Make no cracks about my behind!

Here's a light-hearted, funny exchange of memos between producer David O. Selznick and director George Cukor. While their most-talked-about collaboration (the 1939 Gone with the Wind) had ended in Selznick firing Cukor, they had worked together successfully on several projects before. Their most successful pre-GWTW film was David Copperfield (1935), and the following memos were written while Selznick and Cukor were putting together the cast of that film. The two men had become friends years earlier, apparently in Rochester, N.Y, as Cukor mentions in his memo. (In the 1920s, Cukor worked there as a director of summer stock shows). After Cukor was fired from GWTW, the two remained friends although Cukor never really forgave Selznick .

Transcript:

INTER-OFFICE COMMUNICATION

To  Mr. Selznick

Subject

From  George Cukor

Date  Feb. 9, 1934

Dear Sir:

It was a consideration, and a very important one in my contract, that I was to have free access to your CAN on the first floor.

You have in direct violation of this- locked the door on your side. Unless this is rectified immediately, I will notify my agent, Myron Selznick, of Joyce, Ltd., who will then arrange for the abrogation of my contract.

This is not sent to you in any unfriendly spirit, but I am sure you will see my side of the question.

Transcript:

INTER-OFFICE COMMUNICATION

To  Mr. Cukor

Subject  DAVID COPPERFIELD

From  D.O.S. 

Date  2/14/34

Well, so what about Bob Montgomery and that test?

If you think you are just going to stall this along until we leave for the East, you're crazy.....I'll leave you behind!

D.O.S.

Transcript:

INTER-OFFICE COMMUNICATION

To  Mr. David Selznick
Subject  David Copperfield
From  George Cukor
Date  Feb.15, 1934

Dear Mr. Selznick:

Robert Montgomery

I'll thank you to make no cracks about my behind. I am dying to make the test of Mr. Montgomery. I think he will make an ideal David Copperfield.

I am also looking forward to renewing again the delightful friendship we started in Rochester. 

Incidentally, when the hell do we leave for New York?

Your ardent admirer,
George Cukor


Note
Robert Montgomery didn't get the role of the adult David Copperfield; it ultimately went to Frank Lawton.

Images of the memos courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

Casting Oklahoma!

On 21 September 1953, Oscar Hammerstein II wrote a letter to director Fred Zinnemann, expressing his concern over the slow casting process of Oklahoma!. Zinnemann had been hired to direct the film adaptation of Rogers and Hammerstein's successful Broadway show, and Hammerstein —he and Rogers were the film's (uncredited) executive producers— was eager to get the ball rolling. Interested to know how things stood with Paul Newman who was considered for the role of the male protagonist Curly, Hammerstein wrote: "I spoke to Dick Rogers on the 'phone yesterday and I was disappointed to hear that so little had been done since I left, he had no report on the young man in whom we were so interested (was his name Newman?) I hope you, Dick and Arthur will follow this up right away." [read the full letter here]. 

Shortly after receiving Hammerstein's letter, Zinnemann held two days of auditions with Paul Newman and several other actors. One of them was James Dean who, like Newman, was trying to land his first film role as cowboy Curly (admittedly, Dean had appeared in films before but these roles were uncredited). Also tested were Joanne Woodward for the female lead role of Laurey, Rod Steiger for the role of Jud, and a few others. On 30 September 1953, Zinnemann reported back to Hammerstein, informing him about the recently held screen tests. Zinnemann's letter is shown below and is especially noteworthy for his remarks on Newman and Dean. 

James Dean, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Rod Steiger all auditioned for roles in "Oklahoma!", but only the latter was eventually cast.

Oscar Hammerstein II (left) and Fred Zinnemann on the set of "Oklahoma!".

Images letter via: Playbill Vault

Original source: Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Transcript:

September
30th
1953

Dear Oscar:

We had two full days of tests- Monday and Tuesday. I think that this is as good a time as any to report on my impressions. Arthur and I will not see the rushes until tomorrow, but I feel confident that seeing the rushes will not influence my present reactions. Also, tomorrow will be a very mixed-up day because I will be leaving for the coast and I am afraid that it would be impossible for me to write at that time.

Of the people tested, I was very much impressed with Eli Wallach, Rod Steiger, Joanne Woodward and James Dean (Curly). Wallach, I thought, was exceedingly original and yet he maintained the traditional feeling of "Oklahoma!". He was quite far away from any conventional acting and he got a great many laughs from the crew. I believe he could do extremely well as the Peddler, and I think it will be very difficult to improve on him.

Joanne has a lovely quality. It may be that she is a bit too wistful for the part, and perhaps she doesn't have quite the kind of radiance and vitality required for Laury. However, I was amazed at her ability to play the part believably- as though she were a very young and naive teenager.

Paul Newman is a handsome boy but quite stiff, to my disappointment. He lacks experience and would need a great deal of work. Still, in the long run he may be the right boy for us. He certainly has a most winning personality although I wish he had a little more cockiness and bravado. We were unable to shoot his love scene with Laury because we ran out of time and the kids had to get back to the show. They were not sufficiently up on it anyhow, and the scene would have been quite mediocre and would not have done them justice.

Rod Steiger, I feel, could make an excellent Jud. He has a real grasp of the character. He managed to make Jud an understandable human being. I believe he sets a standard of performance which will not be easy to improve upon.

Barbara Cook and Betty Garde both did quite well. Barbara Cook came off much better than I expected. Betty Garde is OK but does not have that extra quality of warmth and love which Marie Dressler could have given the part. Somehow I feel that we must find that kind of woman to play Aunt Eller. At any rate, we should test quite a few more Ado Annies, Aunt Ellers, Will Parkers and Laurys, not to mention Curlys.

We tested James Dean as Curly with Rufus Smith playing Jud. Dean seems to me to be an extraordinarily brilliant talent. I am not sure that he has the necessary romantic quality. Just the same I shot his scenes with great detail because I felt that with an actor of his calibre a standard of performance would be set up which would later on become very helpful as a reference and comparison. Also, in this scene I tried to work out a film approach to the characterizations of Jud and Curly. I would be very much interested to know what you think of the three characterizations as demonstrated by Wallach, Dean and Steiger after you have seen the rushes.

Before leaving I will see a number of actors Johnny has rounded up for Arthur and me. I understand that Johnny is not too sanguine about any of them, but on the other hand, he has not had a chance to work with them because of the tremendous demands on his time which Arthur and I have made.

I will be in California Friday night (October 2nd). I expect to return east around the 10th, on my way to the Caribbean. I will let you know the details just as soon as I know them.

Very best regards,

Ever,

Fred Zinnemann

FZ/bw

Mr. Oscar Hammerstein II
The Berkeley Hotel,
London, England



Notes

-The role of Curly finally went to Gordon MacRae in March 1954. Just before MacRae was chosen, Frank Sinatra was considered a serious contender. On 12 March, Zinneman wrote to producer Arthur Hornblow Jr.: "Oscar shares my feeling that Sinatra would be the ideal casting. He would like to bend every effort to see that we can get him". I'm not sure what happened with Sinatra, but by the end of the month it was MacRae who got the part. Zinnemann himself initially wasn't too happy with MacRae, as he wrote to casting director Barbara Wolferman on 24 March: "In regard to MacRae, you and I are in the minority and actually I am sure that he will do well and that the material will carry him along. It would have been wonderful to get an electric performance from somebody but I am afraid it is just not in the cards and at this late date we will just have to buckle down and do the best we can." [Zinnemann's full letter can be read here] 

-Despite Eli Wallach's impressive screen test, he did not get the part of Ali the Peddler; it was Eddie Albert who was eventually cast. The roles of Ado Annie and Aunt Eller, which Barbara Cook and Betty Garde auditioned for, respectively went to Gloria Grahame and Charlotte Greenwood. Rod Steiger did get the role of Jud, and it was 20-year-old Shirley Jones who was finally cast as Laurey.

I think that Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones were good choices for the roles of Curly and Laurey. And nobody could have sung those songs better!