Hollywood Rivalries: Kelly vs. Reynolds

 

Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds? Rivals?!? On the set of Singing in the Rain?!? Yes, unfortunately. Gene Kelly was a perfectionist and didn't want to work with the green Reynolds who was just seventeen years old at the time. 

Rehearsals went on for hours, as did each take. Debbie was forced to dance until her feet bled, berated by Gene when she did something he considered to be wrong. Debbie found herself in tears between takes and had to be carried away at the end of the night. Gene ended up using one of the early takes anyway, angering Reynolds immensely.

This story, however, has a happier ending. Gene later admitted that he was a tyrant and possibly wasn't on his best behavior during the shoot. Even Debbie softened her anger as time went on. She later acknowledged that some of Gene's behavior taught her how to be more professional and she learned to appreciate the lessons he taught her. Gene was surprised at how Debbie was willing to speak with him afterwards and they eventually had a cordial, warm friendship. This rivalry ended with a happy, Hollywood ending.

Hollywood Rivalries: Chaplin vs. Mayer

 

Charlie Chaplin and Louis B. Mayer couldn't be more different. Charlie was a free spirit creative type who had quickly become one of the biggest actors in the world. Louis B. Mayer was more businessman than showman. He had turned the art of making pictures into an assembly line, shrewdly putting together talent with projects. He was afraid of no one in Hollywood; if one of his stars got into trouble, he could get them out of it; provided the star was willing to stay in his good graces.

To Mayer, Chaplin was a renegade; he made his own films, owned his own studio. When Chaplin married a 16 year old girl, Mayer saw an opportunity, quietly whispering to others in Hollywood that Chaplin was a pervert. When Chaplin and his wife divorced, Mayer quickly signed her to a deal, suggesting to others that he planned to bill her as "Mrs. Charlie Chaplin". Charlie flew into a rage, hunting down Louis. Charlie lunged at him, but Mayer quickly decked him, sending him into a flower bed. Needless to say, Chaplin never worked for MGM.

Hollywood Rivalries: Davis vs. Crawford

 

When most people think about Hollywood rivalries from the golden era, they most likely picture Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. The hatred these two actresses had for one another was legendary; but was it real? It sure was.

At first, Bette and Joan seemed to get along with each other. At least, they weren't at each other's throats. That changed somewhat after Crawford 'stole' Bette's boyfriend Franchot Tone, who Joan later married. While turning their relationship icy, they still weren't too upset with each other.

That changed in 1952 with The Star. The film was written by Katherine Albert, who had been Joan's close friend. After a huge falling out, Ms. Albert wrote The Star, which was a thinly veiled stab at Joan, depicting her as a downtrodden hasbeen. Bette eagerly took the starring role, angering Joan immensely. 

However, it would be their first and only co-starring vehicle that would ruin any semblance of friendship the two had- Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? By this time, Joan's fortunes both professionally and economically were in decline. She had discovered that her husband, who had been the chairman of PepsiCo, had left a large amount of debt behind when he passed away. She needed a role fast and found one in Baby Jane- provided she could convince her rival to play opposite her. Joan swallowed her pride and personally convinced Bette Davis to take the role.

In an effort to eliminate any possible hostility between the two women, the studio paid them very little upfront, but gave them substantial stakes in the film itself. It was hoped that the women would behave themselves if they knew that delays and squabbling would lower their earnings. Other than an errant kick from Bette Davis that resulted in a cut on Joan, the shoot went off with nary a hitch. As a result, the film came in well under budget. 

Audiences clamored for the final film; rumors abounded that these ladies hated each other and the crowds wanted to see if that hatred spilled over to the big screen. The film became hugely profitable and both ladies were handsomely paid for their work; much more than they could have earned from a straight salary. Things were great- until the Oscars were announced.

Bette Davis, playing the childish Baby Jane, chewed her way to a nomination. Joan Crawford, playing the crippled, reserved Blanche, received none. Thus began Joan's campaign against Bette, which culminated in Joan accepting the award on behalf of the eventual winner- Anne Bancroft- while Bette silently stewed in her seat. As Bette later noted, Joan's antics cost them both further profits; winning an Oscar would have generated more revenue for the both of them.

Two years later, 20th Century Fox sought to capitalize on the success of the film by green lighting Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte a film that was much like Baby Jane, except this time the roles would be reversed. It was not to be, however. The rift between the two would be too great and Joan kept leaving the set due to an undisclosed illness. The director fired her, replacing her with Olivia de Havilland. Joan blamed Bette for the dismissal and the two never spoke again. Joan retired from pictures while Bette continued to make films, mostly as a villainess for Disney.

Hollywood Rivalries Week: Welles vs. Hearst

 

Our first rivalry is also one of the saddest ones. It pitted a young and talented filmmaker against an insanely rich media titan who abused the tools at his disposal to try to ruin the filmmaker's career. We're talking, of course, about Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst.

Hearst had inherited his father's fortune and turned it into a media empire. In his spare time, he had a lavish castle built in San Simeon, California, stocking it with expensive artwork and lavish amenities. His wife was not a fan of the castle, so he ended up installing his mistress there, entertaining a who's who of Hollywood luminaries and political leaders. The outside world could only wonder about went on inside Mr. Hearst's castle. When screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz was invited up to the castle, he couldn't resist telling everyone about it, including Orson Welles.

Orson decided to make a picture loosely based on Hearst. Using what little information was known about the reclusive yet very public figure, Welles and Mankiewicz made up the rest. Citizen Kane would prove to be something quite special and is often listed as the best film ever made. By all accounts both Welles and the studio- RKO- should have been happy about a sure fire hit that would certainly clean up at the Oscars. But that was before Hearst entered the picture.

Hearst had always seen himself as an icon, someone who the masses should look up to. He also thought of his mistress Marion Davies as a legendary actress, one who should be a super star. He had even built a theater within his San Simeon estate where he and his guests could view Marion's films. When word reached him that Citizen Kane not only dared to fictionalize his life, but also to smear Marion as a lousy actress who only succeeded because of her wealthy benefactor, he flew into a rage. The film had to be stopped.

Mr. Hearst first threatened RKO, who quickly shot him down. While the film might be construed by audiences as being about Hearst, it wasn't close enough to his life to create legal problems for the studio. Hearst then decided to use his newspapers to push back against the film. His editors were advised to accept no ads from RKO and also to refuse advertisements for theaters who dared show the film. He also used his show business connections to get celebrities to publicly denounce the film. RKO and Welles were under siege.

In the end, the film disappointed at the box office and despite its excellence, it was largely shunned at the Oscars. Hearst also arranged for stars to openly boo whenever the film was mentioned during the ceremonies. While Hearst wasn't able to totally kill Welles' career, he did severely injure it. The biggest thing that triggered Hearst's ire- the mocking of Marion Davies- was not even intended by Orson Welles. He later said he liked her and felt bad that she was equated with Kane's girlfriend.

The biggest tragedy to come from this situation was that the film damaged Orson's career at the height of his creative powers. We can only dream of the amazing films that might have been had he not been bullied by Hearst- and that's the biggest shame.

Old Hollywood: Hedda Hopper

One of the most feared women in Hollywood was also a failed actress- Hedda Hopper. Ms. Hopper was one of the pre-eminent gossip columnists who often found the ire of big name Hollywood legends who she frequently angered with her often exaggerated stories. Get on her bad side? She'd most likely include you in her next article, accusing you of being a communist, gay or worse. (At least in her mind.)

 

In one famed encounter, Spencer Tracy confronted her at Ciro's when she exposed his relationship with Katharine Hepburn. Mr. Tracy allegedly kicked her in the rear. Joseph Cotten once pulled a chair out from under her at a banquet. She once admitted that she did these things due to "sheer bitchery" and referred to her palatial Beverly Hills mansion as "the house that fear built." She reveled in her power and often used it to destroy careers. Sadly, she was successful most of the time. Her relentless attacks on Charlie Chaplin resulted in him exiling himself back to England. He only returned to Hollywood once after she had passed away. Though largely forgotten these days, Ms. Hopper's name was enough to send a chill down the spine of many a Hollywood legend back in the day.

A Rose By Any Other Name...

In the early days of film, the major studios never put an actor's name in the credits. They didn't want to give attention to them to keep their salaries low. Despite this, one face stood out to moviegoers- a young lady known only as The Girl With The Curls.

Despite not knowing her name, audiences loved her and began demanding to know who she was. Sensing an opening, the young lady demanded that she receive credit on her films. Rather than her real name of Gladys Louise Smith, she used a name that would endear her to millions- Mary Pickford. 

 

The floodgates opened, soon every actor began getting credit on screen. This did result in the thing the studios feared most- salaries skyrocketed. This was a minor problem, however, since movie grosses also skyrocketed. Audiences would pay to see their favorites on the silver screen.

Despite the desire of audiences to really know their favorites, most actors adopted stage names, often to de-emphasize their ethnicity or to create a mystique. Ms. Pickford's stepdaughter by marriage would actually use a stage name that was less fanciful than her real one. Joan Crawford was born Lucille LeSeuer. Instead of seeing it as a name made for the screen, Louis B. Mayer thought it sounded like a fake name, created by a desperate starlet eager for attention. Ms. LeSeuer, therefore, became Joan Crawford.

 

The Films of Alfred Hitchcock

 

The Films of Alfred Hitchcock

 

The Films of Alfred Hitchcock

 

The Films of Alfred Hitchcock

 

The Films of Alfred Hitchcock

 

The Tragic Latin Lover

Ramon Novarro isn't a widely recognized name these days. The son of a wealthy Mexican family who fled the country during the Mexican Revolution, he was uprooted from Mexico City and soon found himself in Los Angeles, California.

 

He quickly decided that he wanted to join the city's then nascent industry- motion pictures. His handsome looks led to bit parts in silent pictures. He befriended two big name stars of the time- Rex Ingram and Alice Terry, who pushed him to the studios as another "Latin Lover" like Rudolph Valentino. Louis B. Mayer signed Mr. Novarro to MGM and he soon began "competing" with Valentino for roles. When Valentino tragically died at a young age, it seemed like nothing could stop Ramon. 

 

While he booked his biggest role up to that point- the lead in the 1925 version of Ben Hur, it was his secret life that seemingly held him back. Mr. Novarro was gay in a time period in which that particular sexual orientation was stigmatized. Still, Ramon was making a staggering (for the time period) $100,000 per picture. Louis B. Mayer, who feared that Ramon's box office pull would end if his fans discovered his secret, pleaded with Ramon to marry a woman to silence the murmurs among the Hollywood elite. Ramon refused and MGM chose not to renew his contract. Ramon only found work sporadically after that time. When rumors of him being a communist started to surface, his film career was over.

Luckily for Ramon, he was a great investor and he didn't really need to work any more. He chose to retire in style, living in an expensive mansion in Los Angeles' famed Laurel Canyon. Sadly, he was murdered by two hustlers in 1968. 

Hedy Lamarr, Inventor

Hedy Lamarr was born in 1914 in Vienna. After being discovered by a German filmmaker, she studied acting in Munich, performing mostly in live theater. Upon her return to Vienna, she started appearing in German films, but fled to Paris to escape her abusive husband. It was in Paris that she met MGM's Louis B. Mayer who admired her beauty and quickly signed her to a deal.

 

Hedy found her Hollywood roles to be far too superficial for her talents and became bored with acting. To keep her sanity, she began putting her aptitude for mathematics to work. Her first inventions were an improved stoplight for intersections and a tablet that would, when put into a glass of water, become a carbonated beverage. Neither set the world on fire, but her biggest invention would quite literally change the world.

Partnering with composer George Antheil, who was no traditional inventor himself, they sought to develop a guidance system for torpedoes that would be resistant to jamming. They developed a frequency hopping method that would make it impossible for an enemy to jam a signal and send a torpedo off course. The Pentagon, who didn't like using technology originating outside the military, balked at employing it during World War II, disappointing Ms. Lamarr. They would later embrace the technology, using it during the 1960's.

Ms. Lamarr passed away in 2000, living long enough to see her invention get wider use. If you're viewing this on a cellular phone, tablet or using Wi-Fi, you can thank Ms. Lamarr. Her method is still used in these technologies even today.

Hollywood's War Effort

 

The Man Without the Golden Seal

When Frank Sinatra first saw that he was being offered the lead role in Otto Preminger's The Man With the Golden Arm, he didn't think twice about accepting it. Even though he hadn't completely read the script, he figured that a prestige picture directed by the legendary Otto Preminger was sure to be a no-brainer. Instead, he ended up finding himself at the center of a media firestorm in 1955.

 

While the story about a drug addict was a bit edgy, it didn't glamorize drug addiction, so neither United Artists nor Otto Preminger suspected that the film would get rejected by the MPAA. In the pre-ratings era, movies were not given ratings; instead, they either were approved or rejected. Typically, a film that showed the bad side of addiction or crime would get an easy approval. Otto, United Artists and Frank Sinatra had no reason to suspect that the film would get rejected. Otto warned United Artists that he would take a hard line, wanting to release the film, regardless of whether it got the appropriate approvals. UA agreed to support the film and Otto forced the MPAA's hand; they announced that the film would not receive a seal. UA resigned from the MPAA and sent the film out without a seal. 

Despite this setback, the film was able to find theaters willing to show it. Frank Sinatra, who was becoming more conservative, was uncomfortable with the situation, as most films released this way were "stag" films. He soon forgot his reservations when the film became a huge success and he received a nomination for a Best Actor Oscar.  This film would eventually be one of the things that would break the stranglehold of the Hayes Office. It would finally receive full approval in 1961 and lead to the establishment of the current rating system.

Liz's Expensive Chili

 

Mae's Wheels

 

Gotham Skidoo!

 

Otto Preminger had been one of Hollywood's preeminent directors. That's why it was puzzling when he accepted a role on the 1960's campy version of Batman. The normally serious gentleman went crazy in a scene stealing romp as Mr. Freeze.

  

Many chalked this up to his discovery of a college aged son he never knew he had with famed strip tease dancer Gypsy Rose Lee. Others claimed it might have been the early signs of dementia, but regardless of the reason, it led to his next ambitious project- the psychedelic 'today' picture Skidoo.

 

Hollywood at the time was desperate for something that could register with the youth of the day and Mr. Preminger wanted to impress his new son, so he eagerly began putting together his 'today' picture featuring the stars of yesteryear who coincidentally had also done time on Batman.

  

Frank Gorshin, teen idol

  

Burgess Meredith, Hip with the youth of the day

  

Cesar Romero, Hippie Icon

With a cast more suited to the Sunset Rest Home than the Sunset Strip, this 'Today' picture had a 'Yesterday' vibe. And it tanked at the box office, helping 'Skidoo' Otto Preminger out of Hollywood.

Legends Take A Break

 

Joan Crawford Takes A Cruise

Before she became the cartoonishly derided villainess of Mommy Dearest, Joan Crawford was still (mostly) seen as a kind, successful woman outside of Hollywood. Lesser known were her ties to the Pepsi-Cola Corporation, where her fourth husband had held court as the chairman of the board, overseeing his vast fortune in carbonated sugar water. When he passed away, many on the Pepsi board had thought (and possibly hoped) that she would silently stand to the side, allowing them to run things while she collected her lucrative dividends. Of course, that wasn't how Ms. Crawford did business. (Or anything actually.) When she took her rightful seat on the board, the company didn't see it as a great thing. In fact, they openly stood in opposition to everything she tried to do.

 

Joan was puzzled at first; why would they resist her if she was bringing Hollywood glamour to the company? Who would hate getting free publicity and product tie-ins? She soon believed that they were standing in her way because they despised having to work with a successful, bold woman who was used to hearing herself described with words beginning with B and C. Rather than tone down her ambitions, she went on the warpath, which threatened the day to day operations of the company. That problem came to a head in 1963, when Pepsi had signed a deal with UNICEF to present an attraction at the New York World's Fair. The project was going nowhere; the board couldn't figure out what the attraction should be, when it should open or even who would build it. As the days wore on, the whole thing threatened to blow up in their faces. Imagine the bad publicity if word got out that Pepsi had stiffed the poor children of the world because it couldn't agree on a project. The board soon reluctantly realized that it needed Joan to use her Hollywood contacts to salvage this debacle. Joan gleefully offered to help them out by contacting the one person she was certain could get them out of this jam- Walt Disney. The result was one of the most popular attractions at the World's Fair- it's a small world.

 

Stung by the fact that Joan had proved she could do more than just cash dividend checks, the Pepsi board allowed her to bask in the glory, but shortsightedly tried to rein her in by not choosing to continue its sponsorship of the ride when Walt Disney relocated it to DISNEYLAND. While Joan was upset that they chose not to continue sponsoring the ride, she would get her posthumous revenge when Pepsi lost out to Coca-Cola for exclusivity rights in Disney's Theme Parks. Had they heeded Ms. Crawford's wishes and sponsored it's a small world in DISNEYLAND, they would have had the inside track to win the valuable exclusive contract.