Andy Warhol's 1970s/80s Journal Entries about Movies and Celebrities

Before the pandemic hit, I attended an exhibit of Andy Warhol's paintings at Chicago's art museum and it was really impressive; his paintings are often very simple but there was usually some deep meaning behind them. I followed up my trip by reading some of his books and one was a collection of his journal entries from the late 1970s and 1980s. I really dig collections like this because they are essentially autobiographies, and usually more personal and candid than a traditional autobiography which can be more formal and structured. 

The entries by Warhol gave me sense of his mind like I never knew.  He would write about going to church every Sunday. Or seeing mundane things like "saw a squirrel eating a nut" (8/20/79). Or who or what he saw at a party or a restaurant in New York. Or reminisces and brushes with movie star friends like Paulette Goddard. In some of the 1985 entries he wrote about his experience on the "Love Boat" tv show. And he even talked about meeting with Donald Trump and his wife who wanted him to do some art to be on display in one of his buildings. 

My favorite parts of the collection were any time he would reference or comment on a recent movie he had seen. 

I've included a few excepts/quotes as well as some of my own thoughts. It's funny - Andy Warhold would write in his diary in a very similar way that I blog....basically commenting on a few random things that stood out to him about a film or something. And I love how he philosophizes as well, such as "Life really does repeat itself. The old songs come back in a new way and the kids think they're new and the old people remember and it's a way of keeping people together I guess, a way of living". (8/2/78) I think he would have really used Twitter alot if were around back then. 

The following excepts come from the book The Andy Warhol Diaries, which is a printed collection of the artist's journal entries. The book is edited by Pat Hackett. 

Note: anything in red is written by me and not a quote from the book.

Jan 29, 1978 - There was a dinner for the New York Film Critics and celebrities were there. "Maximilian Schell was there and he'd gotten a supporting role award for Julia. I had  never met him before and I was disappointed that he was fat, but he was really sweet. He said that I did great things for him in Germany, that he'd seen Flesh and hated it and then gone back to see it again and again and loved it, and that he though, 'if this is a movie, then I can make a movie too.'

April 4, 1978 - a screening of Louis Malle's movie "Pretty Baby". "Interesting...strange....It was a cute idea for a movie, but nothing comes of it - like they had pickets picketing against the sin in New Orleans but nothing happened because of it."

May 30, 1978 - "I began watching The Valachi Papers on TV with Charles Bronson, and then I fell asleep, and then I woke up and ran to the window when I heard a voice say "Open Up, it's the narcotics squad" and then I realized it was on the TV".  

July 27, 1978 - Watched 20/20 and instead of saying, "In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes" it was so funny to hear Hugh Downs say "As Andy Warhol once said, in fifteen minutes everyody will be famous". People on TV always get some part wrong. Like "In the future fifteen people will be famous"

Oct 12, 1978 - "I watched TV.... All Fall Down. When Brandon DeWilde kicks the picture of Warren Beatty and Angela Lansbury grabs it and holds it close - it's so good, you know? Who wrote the movie? Was it the one who committed suicide who was like Tennessee Williams? The one who wrote Picnic? Inge.

Nov 19, 1978 - "Went to the Coronet to a screening - The Deer Hunter was the new kind of movie - three hours of watching torture. It took place in Clairton, Pennsylvania, where all my cousins afe from, and in the movie they said was Russian-Polish, but that was just to make it more something, because it was really Czechoslovakian. It had John Savage, and lots of good looking kids".

"It starts off, it's three buddies drinking. For a whole hour it's the Polish Wedding, and they could have cut it, but it was fun. So real and so beautiful. It shows a new kind of people in the movies that haven't been shown before, so it's really good. Then they go shooting some deer, so you know that from there it's going to cut to Vietnam. In the end Chris Walken puts a gun to his head and shoots himself dead and Bobby DeNiro says "Oh Darling, I love you I love you" holding his bleeding head, something like that.  

Aug 2, 1979 - I started watching Brief Encounter and at first I thought it was really good but then I started thinking what a stupid story about a lady who would give herself a problem when she had a happy marriage, and it was just dumb and I hated it". 

Aug 17, 1979 - Went to Gulf  & Western building for a meeting with Paramount Pictures to do the poster artwork for their new movie Serial. I didn't realize it was such a big meeting. I was 15 minutes late and there were 20 people there.....the guy - his name was Cohen with a "K" - Kohen, he pointed out the window, he kept saying, "You've got to do a good job so I can keep the office". He saying, "I'll know it when I see it." He was so old fashioned.

Note: Warhol did not do the poster art for the movie.

Sept 16, 1979 - went to a party for the opening of Yanks movie. Met Richard Gere "(He) said ten years ago he came in on a bus from new Jersey and went to see our movie Bike Boy at the Village and he said from then on, he's been trying to be an actor". 

Jan 7, 1980 - went to see American Gigolo - "at the end of the movie there's a scene where a pimp is being thrown out off a balcony by Richard Gere and you see my three posters in the background - the Torsos. The scene is played against them"

May 26, 1980 - wrote about seeing The Empire Strikes Back. 

Aug 12, 1980 - wrote about meeting Sean Young..."she's in some James Ivory movie that's about to come out" (Jane Austen in Manhattan starring Anne Baxter in her last film). 

Oct 16, 1980 - he wrote that it was in the news that Mary Tyler Moore's son committed suicide. I didn't know that, that's sad. Andy mentioned the suicide in "Ordinary People" and wrote "everyone's going to hate her now because they will think that that's really her".

(I haven't seen that movie in long time so I'll need to check that out again.). A few months later, he met Mary for lunch and wrote about that too.

Oct 26, 1980. Andy wrote "I watched Sabrina on TV and William Holden and Audrey Hepburn looked so old. It seemed so old-fashioned talking about Long Island and the North Shore.....I watched Hooper on TV and my God, it was great. Just Burt Reynolds and his usual lines. He played a stunt man."

Nov 16 1980 - "watched Saturday Night Fever on TV and it was great"

January 13, 1981 - "watched Giant on TV from 1 - 5:30. It's so long. I even went to church in between and when I came back it was still on. James Dean's acting when he gets old is the worst thing. But they did a good thing - when he's drunk and talking into the microphone it's like a rock star...he's right on top of the microphone and it's just noises coming out and so it's abstract"...

Feb 22, 1981 - "Jerry Hall called...said that poor Mick (Jagger) has been down in Peru with the Herzog movie and it rains all day and he has to sleep on a wet mattress and Jason Robards was taken away with pneumonia to a hospital in NY" 

- Note: the movie they were talking about was Fitzcarraldo which came out in 1982 ....I haven't seen it. Both Jagger and Robards were re-cast.  

Later that day, Andy Warhol wrote that he went to a black-tie birthday affair (for lawyer Roy Cohn) with about 200 people. "Lots of heavies" he wrote, and noted that Donald Trump was there. That was interesting. Others he saw there were Gloria Swanson, Rupert Murdoch (TV mogul), Mark Goodson (TV mogul), and others.  Interesting how Trump has had TV connections going back 40 years; I think people forget all the media ties he has.  (in later journal entries, Andy writes about his meetings with Trump, but there was nothing too remarkable or unsurprising).

March 13, 1981 - Andy saw Jack Nicholson at a party...wrote..."I told Jack how great he was in Postman and that everybody thinks Jessica Lange is great".

April 14, 1981 - Worked until 5:30. Jon Gould invited me to a screening of Atlantic City that he was giving for his crowd. 

June 12, 1981 - "I watched Urban Cowboy and John Travolta just dances so beautifully. It was a really good movie

July 12, 1981 - "Saw a wonderful movie on TV - Coal Miner's Daughter, and I wish I taped it. Oh I wish I was married to a husband like that."

Aug 28, 1981 - "Paramount was having a screening of Mommie Dearest (cab $6).....it was absolutely great. Faye was really good. Really. Oh this movie affected me so much. Movies are really affecting me lately. What's happening to me?"

In January 1982, Andy wrote about meeting with Robert Towne, the screenwriter of Chinatown who was working on a new movie Personal Best, about to be released. Andy also wrote about going to see the play in NY Torch Song Trilogy (later would be a movie) and meeting with Harvey Firestein who created the play (and also acted in one of Warhol's plays years earlier).  

Jan 15, 1982 - he went to see the "new" Coppolla movie "One from the Heart" starring Frederic Forrest (who was in Apocalypse Now). I never saw One from the Heart. Andy wrote "was boring...stinkerroo..and Forrest is one of my favorite actors and he'd gained about 20 pounds for the role. It was pretty but looks aren't enough, it's not going to make it"

June 5, 1982 - "went to see My Dinner with Andre....I feel asleep....it was so boring. Hippie talk. I guess the kids are thinking this is intellectual because it tells about feelings". 

June 16, 1982 - He wrote about seeing "Grease 2" for the third time. He really liked that movie!

June 17, 1982. He wrote about seeing Blade Runner and wasn't sure what to make of it..."It's like Dick Powell playing Philip Marlowe. And if I ever saw this as a script, I wouldn't know what to think. And they say these lines seriously, it's all done like it's real problems". 

Sep 1982 - watched "Looking for Mr Goodbar....(Richard Gere) was so good in it....couldn't watch the ending because it was too crazy"

March 25, 1983 - "Decided to see The Outsiders which was just opening, and I loved it. It was like watching Lonesome Cowboys. You can't believe it - young boys with dyed hair reading poetry in the sunset. The Sal Mineo type. And then they're in this old church hiding and the boy says, "All I really want you to do is read Gone with the Wind out loud to me". And all the boys are so cute. And this schmaltzy music playing as if the boys are going to kiss. Things were all cut up so they didn't make sense. It was like seeing Bruce Weber photographs. Every boy was a raving beauty". 

May 15, 1983 - Went over to the Criterion to see Beathless (tickets $10). It's strange to see Richard Gere doing this. It\f it'd been somebody like Matt Dillon it would have been like a James Dean movie. It's that Satre way, the nothingness thing. You would think existentialism would be still modern, but it isn't. ....it's strange to see someone that age doing that, but maybe that'll bring back that kind of person...."

April 1, 1984 - "Decided to see The Ten Commandments (playing in a local theater)...And let me go on record: Cecil B DeMille is the worst director ever. We'd missed an hour but was still three hours to go and a half hour intermission. And all those actors were terrible. I mean Edward G Robinson, forget it. And forget Yvonne DeCarlo and Anne Baxter, too. Charlton Heston was okay, he was good-looking. The orgy scene was (laughs) people dropping grapes on each other - it sounds like an old Andy Warhol movie, right? And then they would lift their skirt two inches off the floor. That was it. That was the orgy. Edward G Robinson - you couldn't believe it."

Nov 12, 1984 - went to see Stranger Than Paradise...it's good"

Feb 1, 1985 - Andy went to see a film with his friend Tab Hunter - Lust in the Dust, a b-movie. "The movie was awful but I had to lie to Tab and say I loved it. He was literally trying to act. He tried to be Clint Eastwood when all he should have done was be Tab Hunter"

March 19, 1985 - he went to see Desperately Seeking Susan. "It's like those sixties movies but the opposite - the sixties movies had too much sixties and not enough story - and this has too much story and not enough eighties. It's boring"

July 22, 1985 - Went up to see Kiss of the Spider Woman...I liked the movie. And I guess people are wanting artsy movies now, or something. It's the right time. 

Aug 13, 1986 - went to see Stand By Me at the Coronet. These four little kids and there's the fat kid, and the brilliant kid, and the crazy kid."

Sep 29 1986 - saw Blue Velvet - "what a good movie, so weird and creepy. Alot of couples walked out. And Dennis Hopper was finally good."

Oct 8, 1986 - saw Color of Money "I slept through most of it. I just wasn't interested in pool, and nothing was explained". 

 

 

Tatum O'Neal interview (video clip from CBS Sunday Morning)

It was good to see that her daughter appeared with her on this clip and that they are close; it sounds like she has three great and supportive children. I'm sorry to hear about her illness that she is struggling with. I think she would be a good supporting player if she ever made a comeback in acting. Paper Moon is one of my favorite movies and after seeing these clips I want to watch it again.

Nashville (1975) and Jeff Goldblum as the Tricycle Man

In today's post, the spotlight is on Jeff Goldblum and his role in Nashville (1975), an American satire blending music, politics, and more. The film was directed by Robert Altman, known for his ensemble casts and interwoven storylines. Nashville features 24 characters, not counting cameos and an unseen Presidential candidate.

Jeff's role is smaller compared to some of the others. It's also one of the rare times when his character does not speak in a film. Hard to imagine Jeff not saying anything. But his presence is essential in my opinion.

This was only his 3rd film credit, and his largest role at the time.

Jeff''s involvement in the film is covered in the superb book The Nashville Chronicles by Jan Stewart (published in 2000; Goodreads link here). It's a really great book if you are fan of this film and want to learn more behind-the-scenes stories, and want to read more interviews with the cast and crew.

As recounted in the book, Robert Altman saw Jeff perform in a play in New York. The play, which opened in 1973, was a musical cabaret/burlesque called El Grande de Coca-Cola. Jeff 's role required him dance, perform magic acts, perform various physical stunts, and play the piano. New York Times theater critic Clive Barnes raved about the show in his 1973 review here. Some photos from the show could be found here from the New York Public Library digital archives, and some newspaper advertisements here from the blog It's All The Streets You Crossed. 

Altman was really impressed with Jeff's talents, and eventually cast him in a small role in his latest film project, California Split (1974). The part required Jeff to fly to California to film his scene, even though it was very brief.  

Altman also wanted Jeff in his next project (Nashville), and told him that his part would involve riding a motorcycle. The script (written by Altman and Joan Tewkesbury) was still in development. In the meantime, Jeff eagerly enrolled in some riding courses in New York to begin practicing for his part, but eventually failed his motorcycle license test.

Nashville began filming on location in the summer of 1974. 

When Jeff arrived on set to start filming, he learned that he now had to ride a longer three-wheeled motor bike. He recalls in The Nashville Chronicles, "I wanted to get as much practice as I could, so I drove it to and from the set. Till I sort of mismanaged my fuel tank one day and it ran out of gas on the highway going to the location." Someone from the local teamsters eventually picked him up.

Surely inspired by the quirkiness of the character in El Grande del Coca Cola, Altman also wanted Jeff to include some magic tricks in the film, but wasn't sure when and where they'd be used.  Jeff practiced a number of new tricks and showed them to Altman, who liked them and asked that he bring the the props on set every day and be ready to perform them when the time came. And he did, silly and wonderfully. 

Because he doesn't speak in the film, he's like a mime; he's either on his bike, enjoying a show, or just hanging out.  I think of his character as being comedic relief when we need him, because a number of storylines delve into some serious subject matter (infidelity, exploitation, racism, etc). 

Just seeing The Tricycle Man do one of his silly tricks every so often brings a smile.  

The film never explains what the character is doing in the city of Nashville. Is he a local? Is he on vacation? I don't think we don't need to know. He's just traveling through. And I'm glad he's there. 

At the end of the book The Nashville Chronicles, the author writes about Jeff: 

Who could have predicted that the strange tall guy on the long bike with the funny glasses would endure as Nashville's most recognizable veteran? But the funny glasses and mute posturing of the Tricycle Man concealed an actor with a slouching sexiness and oddball insouciance that came to the fore time and again in The Big Chill, The Fly, Silverado, Jurassic Park, and Independence Day.

---

This blog post is part of the Jeff Goldblum Blogathon hosted by emmakwall (explains it all) and Realweegiemidget Reviews

Whatever happened to director Michael Cimino

I've always wondered what happened to Michael Cimino, the Oscar winning director of The Deer Hunter (1978).

Just this week, news from the Hollywood Reporter came out that he has given a rare interview, his first interview in years.

 The story can be found here from The Hollywood Reporter website.

He shares his thoughts about American Sniper, and how it compares with Deer Hunter. He says,

"Every first-rate film about war is an anti-war movie. You think of All Quiet on the Western Front directed by Lewis Milestone. There's nothing good that comes out of war. It's simply hell on earth, and people survive and people don't."

Actors Who Fought on D-Day

Today, Comet Over Hollywood commemorates D-Day with a post honoring the popular film & TV actors who served in WWII on June 6, 1944.

Read the post here:

http://cometoverhollywood.com/2014/06/06/the-longest-day-actors-who-fought-in-d-day/

To learn more about D-Day, visit

 http://www.army.mil/d-day/

http://www.dday.org/

Norman Corwin dies at 101; radio's 'poet laureate'

From the Los Angeles Times: Norman Corwin dies at 101; radio's 'poet laureate'


See also: http://motionpicturegems.blogspot.com/2010/05/happy-100th-birthday-norman-corwin.html

I never met Mr. Corwin, but a few years ago I was present during a live telephone interview session back in 2007 at a local bookstore in Chicago (The Book Cellar). Chicago radio personality Steve Darnell was doing a special presentation on the history of old time radio and was promoting Those Were the Days.  He was able to get Mr. Corwin on the speaker phone (he was at his home in California) for a few minutes, and it was cool to hear him talk about his career.

What a long life and distinguished career he has had.

Read Leonard Maltin's Tribute here

Ernest Borgnine interview in WWII magazine

A new special edition of the magazine America In WWII features stories about celebrities who went to war, including a new interview with Ernest Borgnine about his experiences. The 96-page special edition also features many war-era photos.

The magazine may be ordered online from the America In WWII website if not available at your local newsstand or bookstore.

(Video from http://www.youtube.com/user/1947Desoto)

Radio interview with Julie Adams

Last night, legendary actress Julie Adams, 83, talked with radio host/nostalgia guru Sonny Starr on the West Coast-based Star Talk radio show (Sundays, 9-10 PM PST). She sounded great and was happy to talk about her film career.

It was a fun interview: among the movies they talked about: Bend of the River, Bright Victory, Tickle Me, The Private War of Major Benson, and of course, the film that she will always be remembered for, Creature of the Black Lagoon. She said she always enjoys talking about that film whenever she is interviewed or attends conventions, and takes delight in knowing this is her signature film.

She remembered Bend of the River director Anthony Mann as a great pleasure to work with, and she has fond memories of filming on location in Oregon, around Mount Hood. (The film premiered in Portland, Oregon). She and Rock Hudson were good friends, and had a similar sense of humor. They made a string of films together.

She remembered Bright Victory as one of her favorite films that she made. Arthur Kennedy was nominated for an Oscar playing a blinded veteran's return to his hometown. She also talked about working with Elvis in Tickle Me, and said that he was always polite and was a gentlemen, never was full of himself on the set.

Radio interview featuring silent film star Baby Peggy

A few weeks ago, silent film star "Baby Peggy" (age 91) was interviewed on the radio by Sunny Starr. (read the original post) She had some wonderful stories to tell about her time in Hollywood.

She sounded so good, sharp as a tack. Below is a compilation of the notes that I took while listening to the one-hour interview.

A native Californian, she was born October 26, 1918 as Peggy-Jean Montgomery. She had one sister. (she later changed her name to Diana Serra Cary when she became an author)

Her father Jack, a real cowboy, struggled to find work after WW1. The only place for a cowboy to find work was in Hollywood as a stunt double. He became a stunt double to Tom Mix, who was sort of the John Wayne of that era. Tom Mix introduced the whole idea of being a cowboy superstar.

Her mother didn't care much for the movies or the whole movie business, and rarely left the apartment where they lived.

One day she took a trip to Century Studios with her two kids to see Jack work, never expecting any of her children to become superstars.

Peggy-Jean was 19 months old. She remembers what her mother told her about that day; she was just sitting on the set well behaved when someone at the Studio noticed her, and felt she had the right look for movies. It was a "You Ought to be in Pictures" moment.

Universal Studios head Julius Stern wanted to break her into showbusiness early, and wanted to see her in more shorts and features. Many photos and stills were made of her at the time.

She was put in her first film "Playmates" with Brownie the Wonder Dog. Brownie was a famous dog who had his own series. The short became very popular. The actual film was just rediscovered within the last 4-5 years, and she saw it for the first time, over 80 years later.

When she turned 2 years old, she made 150 dollars a week. Her salary later doubled. As she got more famous, her father was affectionally called, "Mr. Baby Peggy".

At 3 year sold, she was old enough to walk and talk...By 1922 (4 years old) she was working all day every day. She made 150 shorts eventually.

She was the top box office star at Universal Studios in the early 1920s.

She has memories of that time. She recalls that in "Playmates", there was a scene where she was under water in a tub filled with soap suds. The filmakers used whip cream, and she remembers swallowing a whole bunch of it. She hated whip cream until she was 20 years old.

In 1924, she made the 64-minute long "Captain January" (released July 6, 1924) and she made 5 films in over a year.



Her films were classified by the studio as "The Universal Jewels", the top studio productions. They put in alot of care into the production of the films and treated the stars well. "Captain January" was one of her best films, she said. She remembers wearing all the costumes and working with good people on the set and, co-workers such as Hobart Bosworth who treated her like an adult.

In the film, there was a house on fire....she had to escape, and she rememers that. The crew set fire to all three windows. They put kerosine and sawdust on it. She touched the doorknob and it was red hot. She had to climb out over the sink out the window...there was camera right there. She remembers a stunt person was killled.



In another film, she fell out of a pick up truck. In one of the 2-reel comedies she was in, she was filmed from the waist up to make it look like she was riding a goat.

In 1924, she was a mascot of the Democractic convention. A famous photo of her was taken with her near President Roosevelt.

She also talked a bit about other silent stars (not "celebrities"; no one used that term back then, she said) - Joan Crawford, John Gilbert and Charlie Chaplin, and Lilian Gish.

Early silent stars knew how to physically act. They knew expressions and close ups...you didn't have to talk. They could talk with their eyes. She said Joan Crawford brought that over to talkies, and you can see those physical acting abilitiies. Al Jolson was very nervous making talkie films. He did't like microphones.

She remembered how alot of silent films actors were thrown by the wayside during the talkie period. Talkies were primitive, but this was the rage.

She also became a top vaudeville act in the mid-20s. She said she never lived in a big "family house" as a kid. She said that because she traveled so much - especially when she got to vaudeville - that she "lived on the stage".



She said that in vaudeville, there were usually 6 acts. There was one headliner like Al Jolson or Babby Peggy (top vaudeville stars in that period) There was always a newsreel, comedy short, and a film. And 6 acts of live comedy. All for 85 cents. In 1926 -she did vaudeville work the Palace Theater several times. (The Palace in New York was known as the top vaudeville theater in the country) It was illegal to work as a kid at the Palace, but she managed to do it anyway. She talked about being affiliated with something called the Gerig Society that worked to get kids off the streets.

She didn't stay a part of showbusiness past the age of 13. She went to school, had a family and pretty much wanted to put her Baby Peggy persona behind. As she got older, she realized her fans would not let her forget, so she "made peace with Baby Peggy".

In the years since she left performing, she became a writer specializing on Hollywood history, and put out several books, including "Hollywood's Children" (a book about child stars including Shirley Temple and Dickie Moore) She had many connections to the old silent stars still, and interviewed many of them for her books.

She met many silent stars, including Greta Garbo and Mary Pickford. She talked about going to Mary Pickford's house one day; she had a very ordinary looking house, she said.

Her interviews with these legends could be found in her books.

She talked about the discovery of a few of her films, a reminder that most silent films have been lost, about 80 percent of all silent films are lost.

She made many films for Century Studios, but when the stuio burned down, so many films were lost forever.

One of her feature films, "Darling of New York" (1923), has never been found in its entirety. She said it contains the first scene ever filmed where you see firetrucks putting out a fire.

Just a few years ago, the last reel of "Darling of New York" was discovered. A high school kid overseas was collecting animated cartoons. In the package of old films, the kid found a missing reel of "Darling of New York".

There are not many Baby Peggy short comedies around today. But in last 25 years, they found 12 or 13 of the studio comedies. They are genuine slapstick films.

She said that the silent era was wonderful in those days. It was a favorite pastime of immigrants, as they could learn to read
the titles and learn English that way.

She then went on to speak a little about current Hollywood, and said how "it doesn't resemble the period I was a part of". "It was a great period. I never thought I would live to see the end of Hollywood."

She talked a little about how she enjoyed seeing Lilian act in the 1987 movie "The Whales of August", when she was in her late 80s. (She said Lilian always had a sense of history, and that when she made it, she was aware of it being historical.)

There's a new book out that she wrote "Whatever Happened to Baby Peggy?". She enjoys talking about this book. All of her books are available on Amazon.

She will be appearing live in person July 7 in Los Angeles, California at the Silent Film Theater for a special screening of 1924's Captain January. See the calender page on their website for more information.

---

For more on Baby Peggy, read these recent blog posts:

Baby Peggy (Louise Brooks Society)

The Bookseller Who Became an Author and Who Once Had Been the Biggest Little film Star in the World (Huffington Post)

The Return of Baby Peggy (examiner.com)

Olivia de Havilland and Jimmy Stewart

The following excerpt is from the biography of Jimmy Stewart, Pieces of Time: The Life of James Stewart, by James Fishgall.

My notes are in blue.

The setting: New York, December 19, 1939. The NY premiere of Gone With The Wind at the Astor Theater. Olivia was scheduled to attend.

Jimmy, eight years older than Olivia, was on the east coast for the holidays; his hometown was the small town of Indiana, Pennsylvania (his father owned a hardware store in town). Jimmy was visiting his sisters in New York around the time of the GWTW premiere.
While Stewart was in Manhattan, Lelan Hayward (Stewart's agent) asked if he would escort Olivia de Havilland to the New York premiere of her latest film, Gone With the Wind. The fix-up had been the brainstorm of Irene Mayer Selznick, wife of the film's producer, David O. Selznick. Stewart didn't know the actress, but he had read in a gossip column that she wanted to meet him, so he eagerly complied with his agent's request.



"Jimmy met me at La Guardia airport," de Havilland recalled, "even had the limousine drive out to the airfield - we were both quite shy and ventured one word at a time in our conversation." Still, a definite spark passed between them. Over the next few days, Stewart took her to the theater several times and to the "21" Club. She recalled that one of the plays they saw as Mornings at Seven, directed by Jim's old friend Josh Logan, whom she met for the first time backstage.

Jim and Olivia continued to see each other after they returned to Los Angeles. On one occasion, Stewart arrived at her Spanish-colonial house in the Hollywood hills driving his brand-new La Salle convertible. She was impressed until the automobile began making a weird groaning sound and they started rolling down the hill. The brakes had failed! Jim took off in pursuit, but the La Salle picked up speed down the incline, denting other cars and ruining curbside shrubbery along the way. Finally, it crashed into a telephone pole. Naturally, Stewart, who had been trying to impress his date, was terribly embarrassed, but she laughed and thanked him for the entertainment. They then continued their evening as planned - in her car.

Around the same time, actress Maureen O'Hara remembered having dinner one night at de Havilland's house. A fish that Stewart had caught was the main course. It was fine, but they decided to play a prank on him by telling him it had made them sick. "But he didn't pay the slightest bit of attention," O'Hara recalled, laughing. "He knew."

The 12th Academy Awards, honoring films in 1939, was held on February 29, 1940 at a banquet in the Coconut Grove at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Olivia and Jimmy were both nominated for Oscars. Jimmy was up for Best Actor for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (He lost to Robert Donat in Goodbye Mr. Chips) and Olivia was up for GWTW.

Below: footage from the Oscar ceremony that night. As you can see, they arrived separately that night at the dinner (I can't tell who their dates are).




The author goes on to describe Joan Fontaine's memories of Olivia and Jimmy, and quotes her autobiography, No Bed of Roses.

[Joan] remembered inviting her sister and Stewart to dinner to mark de Havilland's birthday. "Two hours after the time they were asked for," Fontaine wrote, "Olivia and Jimmy rang our bell. When I remonstrated that the dinner as hardly palatable any longer, Olivia answered, 'It's my birthday. I can arrive whenever I like!'" Ha! Ha!

De Havilland was in all probability the first woman that Stewart ever seriously considered marrying. After all, she was well-bred, college educated, and refined-all qualities that he desired in a wife. He did, in fact, propose, although de Havilland would later say, "I think his offer of marriage was just a frivolous thing on his part. Jimmy wasn't ready for a wife. I guess he still had a few more wild oats to sow." The exact nature of their relationship never became public, but the Hollywood press used plenty of ink speculating on what was transpiring between the two stars, including the possibility that they might elope in the spring of 1940. Columnist Gloria Hall also reported that Warner Bros., which ad de Havilland under contract, wanted to team the actress and her new boyfriend in a picture, but the stars refused. (The only films in which they both appeared in were 1977's Airport '77 and the TV Miniseries North and South, Book II in 1986) According to the reporter, they gave as their reason that "they would be embarrassed to make love - in public." Thus, de Havilland spent the spring of 1940 making My Love Came Back and Stewart did The Mortal Storm and No Time for Comedy.

Of course in 1940 Jimmy was also busy filming a third movie - The Philadelphia Story, which finished shooting in August of 1940. Once the film wrapped, Stewart helped to organize a benefit in Houston Texas to support Great Britain, then standing alone against the forces of Nazi Germany.

Jimmy was still seeing Olivia at this time.

The benefit took place in August 1940 at the Houston Coliseum. It featured Tyrone Power, Mischa Auer, and Henry Fonda, a longtime friend of Jimmy's. In the show, Fonda and Stewart did a magic trick act together. Stewart also played accordion and Fonda the cornet. Olivia also participated in the show.

Not long before that, Olivia returned to her Hollywood home after location filming on Santa Fe Trail. Away from home, she had been bored and lonely, and missed spending time with Jimmy. The excerpt continues:

According to biographer Charles Higham, "Her only consolation (during filming) was the chance of returning to Stewart on an occasional weekend for flying lessons and romance." (Jimmy was a pilot and loved taking her on trips over southern California and over the sea) Nevertheless, the relationship between the stars had cooled. De Havilland increasingly felt Stewart's marriage proposal was pro forma, that he didn't really want to settle down. Still they continued to date for nearly another year. Then Livvy fell in love with John Huston, the director of her then current film, In This Our Life, and the relationship with Stewart came to an end. By that point, Jim was in the service. (Stewart enlisted in the Army in March 1941)

---

This post has also been published on Olivia & Joan: Sisters of the Silver Screen.

Norman Corwin turns 100 years old today

Today, May 3, American writer, journalist, screenwriter, producer, and essayist Norman Corwin celebrates a milestone birthday: 100 years young!

He began his radio career as a local commentator. He moved to New York City in 1938 and produced Norman Corwin’s Words Without Music for CBS. Two of Corwin’s masterworks, “The Plot to Overthrow Christmas” and “They Fly Through the Air with the Greatest of Ease,” debuted on this series.

In 1941, CBS’ Columbia Workshop gave Corwin a 26-week radio series; he responded with stories ranging from the whimsical to the darkly serious to the inspirational. A similar approach was taken on 1944’s Columbia Presents Corwin.

In December of 1941, Corwin wrote and produced We Hold These Truths, an all-star celebration of the Bill of Rights’ 150th anniversary. This landmark program aired over all four networks simultaneously.

Corwin created the special V-E Day broadcast On a Note of Triumph, which Carl Sandburg called “one of the all-time great American poems.”

Listen to "On A Note of Triumph" - the entire broadcast - from NPR (1 hour long) (opens in a new window; Flash player needed)

It's absolutely fascinating!

Three months later, he wrote 14 August, a V-J Day documentary narrated by Orson Welles.

Corwin wrote and produced over 100 programs during the golden age of radio. Notable programs include:

The Plot to Overthrow Christmas - December 25, 1938
They Fly through the Air with the Greatest of Ease - February 19, 1939
Spoon River Anthology - March, 1939
Descent of the Gods - August 3, 1940
Mary and the Fairy - August 31, 1940
Psalm for a Dark Year - November 9, 1940
We Hold These Truths - December 15, 1941
America at War (series) - February 14, 1942
The Lonesome Train - March 21, 1944
Untitled - May 30, 1944
Home For the 4th - July 4, 1944
El Capitan and the Corporal - July 25, 1944


On a Note of Triumph - May 8, 1945
The Undecided Molecule - July 17, 1945
14 August - August 14, 1945
God and Uranium - August 19, 1945
Hollywood Fights Back - October 26, 1947
Could Be - September 8, 1949
Document A/777 - March 26, 1950

---

He also wrote screenplays for motion pictures, and was nominated for an Oscar in 1956 for the words he gave to Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn in "Lust for Life" about the life of Vincent Van Gough.



Filmography:

1967 "Sametka" (story)
1962 "Madison Avenue (writer)
1960 "The Story of Ruth" (writer)
1958 "The Naked Maja" (writer)
1956 "Lust for Life" (screenplay - Nominated for Oscar)
1956 "No Place to Hide" (screenplay)
1953 "Scandal at Scourie" (writer)
1951 "The Blue Veil" (wrter)

---

In the early 1970s Corwin produced and hosted the television show Norman Corwin Presents.

In 1979 he hosted Academy Leaders, a weekly showcase for short animated films, such as those produced by the National Film Board of Canada.

Corwin wrote several books, which include Trivializing America; plus many essays, letters, articles and plays.

---

In recent years, National Public Radio has aired several new Corwin plays under the title More By Corwin. These included:

Our Lady Of The Freedoms, And Some Of Her Friends - A play about the Statue of Liberty.

No Love Lost - A lively debate about the nature of democracy in America, in the form of an imaginary dialogue between Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr; the work is based on their writings. This play featured Lloyd Bridges, Jack Lemmon, Martin Landau and Corwin's friend William Shatner. Shatner appeared in a number of Corwin productions.

The Writer With The Lame Left Hand - Based on the life story of Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote. This production featured Ed Asner, Charles Durning, Samantha Eggar and William Shatner.

The Curse Of 589 is a comedy about a physicist (William Shatner) who comes across an honest-to-goodness real life fairy, with a working magic wand.

The Secretariat - A play on the meaning of prayer. This production featured Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, Phil Proctor, and William Shatner.

50 Years after 14 August - A reflection on the end of World War II. Co-produced with Dan Gediman.

---

A 40 minute long documentary was produced about him in 2005. Partipants in the documentary included Robert Altman and Walter Cronkite. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. (It lost)

These days he keeps busy as a writer in residence at the Journalism School at USC. He writes articles for various publications, and is active in various organizations in and around the Los Angeles area.

Last year someone wrote on Huffington Post that Norman should have a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to Radio. Read the Post Here. I wholeheartedly support that idea, as his work is legendary.

We wish Norman all the best on his 100th birthday today!

Sources:
Biography from the Radio Hall of Fame
Norman Corwin Official Website (http://normancorwin.com)
Wikipedia entry: Norman Corwin

The Patricia Neal Story (1981, Made-for-TV)

My favorite film starring Patricia Neal (b. 1926) is The Subject Was Roses (1968). In my opinion, she delivers one of the finest film performances of the decade.

Roses was her "comeback film" role.

In between Hud (1963, for which she won the Best Actress Oscar) and Roses, Ms. Neal suffered three life threatening aneurysms, all in 1965.

She was pregnant at the time, and was even filming a movie, John Ford's 7 Women. (Anne Bancroft stepped in to fill her role in the picture).

In this fine biographical TV-film (first televised in the United States in December 1981), the actress' rehabilitation process is portrayed. Pat had to learn how to walk and speak -- and to live -- again after her coma. If you watch the film, be prepared to be moved by Glenda Jackson's (b. 1936) remarkable, Emmy-nominated performance.

Dirk Bogarde (1921-1999) also gives an intense performance as her supportive and loving husband, British writer Roald Dahl, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his moving portrayal. And if the name Roald Dahl sounds familiar, it is because he wrote the original "The Fantastic Mr. Fox", which was just adapted into a stop-motion animated film last year and is up for an Oscar this weekend.

Television actress and model ("All My Children") Sydney Penny, only 10 years old at the time, plays one of their daughters.

Veteran character actress Mildred "Millie" Dunnock (1901-1991), a friend of Ms. Neal's in real life, portrays herself in the film, in a very candid performance which required her to play herself as she felt at the time: scared, and at times, hopeless.

It's an emotional film. In one scene, after Pat is released from the hospital, she's back at home recovering and is watching the Oscars, longing to be there in person to present.

The film, though inspiring, is also somewhat bittersweet in hindsight: Neal and Dahl divorced in 1983 (after thirty years) due to his infidelity.

Ms. Neal, now age 84, continues to act and make public appearances.

Me and Orson Welles (2009)

Normally I do not post reviews of films made after 1985. This blog is all about the oldies.

But I am making a rare exception for this film because it's about Orson Welles and know this film is of interest to other classic film buffs and Welles fans like myself.

Personally, I have been wantng to see this movie for months; just the thought of a film about the Mercury players excites me, as it must have excited director Richard Linklater, a Welles fan who wanted to adapt the novel of the same name.

When picking the actor to portray Welles, he chose McKay, the perfect choice. McKay had been performing the role of Welles for years in a one-man show. Read more about Christian McKay as Welles. Apparently, Welles' daughter was not happy with the portrayal of her father in the film. Read that story here.



So last night I went to check it out. From the first moments, I was transported back in time. The music of the day, the period costumes, the sets - they got it all right! It is awesome how they did it.



And I must say, I was more than impressed with McKay. He actually becomes the young Welles in this.



The story, based on a novel, takes place in 1937 one week before the Mercury Theater opens. The original players are all depicted, including Norman Lloyd (who is still living at age 95) and Joseph Cotten. The actor playing him looks just like him! Another character in the film is John Houseman, who co-founded the theater with Welles, and he's played by Eddie Marsan, who I loved in "Happy Go Lucky". Ben Chaplin plays another one of the original members, George Coulouris.



Zac Effron plays a high school kid who wants to be an actor in Welles' troupe. He's not all that bad; this is the first time I've ever seen him act in anything. Claire Danes isn't bad either, who plays one of the Mercury assistants. Early on, there are some wonderful scenes where Danes shows him the ropes, and some cleverly written banter. Unfortunately, these are the best scenes they have together. Toward the end, after they get a little too close, the writing seems to fall flat. All the great music, the fantastic scenery, and McKay's Oscar-worthy performance make up for some of the weak writing.

Shakespeare fans will enjoy the rehearsal scenes of "Julius Caesar", the first production the troupe performs in the Mercury Theater building. Critic Roger Ebert recently said this was one of the best films about the theater he ever saw. (!) Read that review here - he gave it 4 stars!

It's also an homage to the American pop culture of the time - there are references to Gershwin tunes, old-time radio stars that no-one but die-hard fans would know, and a reference to the great acting team of the stage, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne (Welles - in the film - calls them "dinosaurs")

So I highly recommend "Me and Orson Welles" for an enjoyable time at the movies where you will be transported back in time.

Richard had a great review of this movie from his blog, Riku Writes – Mostly About Films. Read the review

Leslie Howard to be Honored in Spain with WW2 Monument

April 18 2009 - the Associated Press reported that a Spanish historical association based in Madrid plans to erect a monument near where Leslie Howard's plane was shot down by Nazi fighter pilots duringn WW2. The Royal Green Jackets association and author Jose Rey Ximena will unveil the propeller-shaped sculpture in July 2009 near Cedeira bearing the names of Howard and the others who died aboard the commercial flight from Portugal to Britain in 1943. Association President Manuel Santiago Arenas Roca says the London-born Howard joined the Allies and campaigned hard against the Axis powers. Ximena said Saturday that Germany's government at the time apparently was worried about the negative impact the high-profile actor-director's anti-Nazi publicity was having on its cause.

One of Leslie Howard's greatest films was the Oscar-winning, pro-British, anti-Nazi film "The 49th Parallel" co-starring Lawrence Olivier and Glynis Johns.

Leslie Howard (1893-1943) is best known for playing Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the Wind. He was nominated for Best Actor for 1938's Pygmalion as Profession Higgins. He also starred in "The Petrified Forest" and "The Invaders/49th Parallel". For more about Leslie Howard, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Howard_(actor)

Actor Who Played Young George Bailey Dies (6-8-08)

Actor Who Played Young George Bailey Dies

By Newsbot on June 8th, 2008

Bob Anderson, actor who played young George BaileyRobert J. Anderson, a former child actor best known for playing the young George Bailey in the 1946 Christmas film classic “It’s a Wonderful Life,” has died. He was 75.

Known as Bobbie when he was young and Bob as an adult, Anderson died Friday of melanoma at his Palm Springs home, said Stephen Cox, a family friend and author of “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Memory Book.”

Anderson was 12 when director Frank Capra cast him as Jimmy Stewart’s youthful counterpart in the heartwarming tale set in Bedford Falls. As the adult George Bailey contemplates suicide, his life is told in flashback so his guardian angel Clarence can get to know him. Young George rescues his brother from drowning, dreams about being an explorer and saves the town pharmacist, Mr. Gower, from accidentally poisoning a customer.

In 1996, on the 50th anniversary of the movie’s release, Anderson recalled shooting scenes with H.B. Warner, who played Mr. Gower.

“He actually bloodied my ear,” Anderson told Cox for a Times story. “My ear was beat up, and my face was red and I was in tears. . . . I didn’t know what we were building for. H.B. was perfect. He reached the crescendo. At the end when it was all over, he was very lovable. He grabbed me and hugged me, and he meant it.”

The film, which initially flopped, became a holiday favorite in recent decades after it started airing repeatedly on TV when the copyright lapsed in the 1970s.

Anderson was born March 6, 1933, to a Hollywood family. His father, Gene Anderson, was involved in production at Columbia Pictures, and his uncle, William Beaudine, was a prolific director. Bobbie Anderson first appeared on screen as a toddler and went on to roles in the 1940 Shirley Temple movie “Young People,” “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” (1945) and “The Bishop’s Wife” (1947), among others. He also appeared on TV, including a supporting role to Disney’s “Spin and Marty” characters in the 1950s.

After serving in the Navy as a photographer, Anderson became an assistant director, production manager and producer for various studios.

“Most people don’t know what happened to him, mainly because he stayed behind the cameras,” Cox said Saturday. “Not that he didn’t like ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ He was very proud of his work in it.”

Anderson is survived by his wife, Victoria; three sons, John of Lake Arrowhead, Bob Jr. of Long Beach and Joe of San Bernardino; three daughters, Kathleen Inman of Nyack, N.Y., Deborah Gutierrez of Boise, Idaho, and Heidi Anderson-Robinson of Ventura; 11 grandchildren; a brother, Beau Anderson; and a sister, Virginia McAfee.

Services are pending. Instead of flowers, donations in Anderson’s memory may be made to the American Cancer Society.