The Silver Screen Oasis Welcomes Monika Henreid!

Past chats with our guests.
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moira finnie
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Re: The Silver Screen Oasis Welcomes Monika Henreid!

Post by moira finnie »

I am looking forward to seeing Joan of Paris (1942) once again with the accomplished Michele Morgan and Paul Henreid both taking a chance on film stardom in Hollywood (a young unknown named Alan Ladd is quite effective in a small role too). To whet our appetite for this film and see how the studios and the press worked hand in glove together here are two articles from Photoplay reflecting the buildup of Paul Henreid's position. Perhaps Monika will comment on the veracity of these pieces?

Please click on each thumbnail below to see the full page article:

Photoplay March 1942 "Strangers in Arms" by Marian Rhea, which sort of explains who Morgan and Henreid were to the average reader who might be tempted to the theater for RKO's Joan of Paris. [Please note: if you have problems seeing these individual pages, the original article can be seen at this address via the Media History Digital Project at http://archive.org/stream/photoplay120phot]:
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Photoplay January, 1943 "Enter Paul Henreid" by Howard Sharpe, published after his breakthrough role in Now, Voyager (1942) and just as Casablanca (1942) hit theaters in wide release. [The original article can be seen here as well: http://archive.org/stream/photoplay122phot]:
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Sue Sue Applegate
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Re: The Silver Screen Oasis Welcomes Monika Henreid!

Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

Thanks for these informative, timely links, Moira. I can't wait to see Joan of Paris tonight as I've never seen it before. Currently, I am enjoying the Siren of Bagdad with Patricia Medina. More tomorrow...
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Re: The Silver Screen Oasis Welcomes Monika Henreid!

Post by Monika Henreid »

Rita Hayworth wrote:
Masha wrote:I will be watching: Siren of Bagdad (1953) and Thief of Damascus (1952). They are pure entertainment which asks nothing of the viewer but to sit back and enjoy the ride. :)
Same here ... I just love these two films! ... I'm very happy that you are a Thief of Damascus fan! :D

Well, as the fates would have it, Erik, the TV fritzed out last night so I did not get to see THIEF OF DAMASCUS. A friend did make a copy for me so I WILL see it soon. In the meanwhile, please accept this little story as a token of my appreciation of your patience.

... "When I was a little girl I lived in a magical kingdom. My 'palace gardens' were surrounded by other lovely, manicured palace gardens where beautiful queens and princesses walked. My Nanny and I would often go beyond our gates to visit them. Just by walking two blocks, I could visit my playmate Rebecca Welles whose parents were Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. He was not there very often but the Queen of Beauty was always there. Quiet and graceful, she floated through her comfortably designed palace and after a morning of frollicking and laughter, treated us to sandwiches and ice cream by the pool. And then as magically as she had appeared, she would again vanish into the recesses of her private world behind closed doors.
Years later, as my family was vacationing in the splendor of the south of France, we popped in to her new palace for a visit. Her new king was Aly Khan. Much was to be learned if one paid attention. I watched his strength and her beauty, his power and her grace. And discovered they -the attributes- were all interchangeable.
The last time I saw her was at a party given in her honor. All came to pay homage with undying love. Surrounded by old friends, courtesans and court jesters. She still held court with dignity but it was difficult for us as she was starting to forget ..."
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Re: The Silver Screen Oasis Welcomes Monika Henreid!

Post by Monika Henreid »

moirafinnie wrote:Hi Monika--
Please accept my belated thanks for being our guest this month and for stopping by each Wednesday. I have been embroiled in moving for the last few weeks, but have caught up with this thread and always enjoy your father's appearances in films. I hope that you will keep us informed of the publication of your book since we would like to post any news about that project here. I hope that you won't mind, but in anticipation of your return here next week, I would like to ask a few (dozen :shock: ) questions:

"My first reaction after reading your 'list', Moira ... HOLY SHILOLY ! Wow !#@$% ... you need to buy the book and the documentary when they are finished !
Then, once the dust settled ... well, I'll do what I can to answer your questions without giving away the farm. : )"

1.) I have always been fascinated by the distinguished émigré community that contributed enormously to Hollywood films during the studio era. Your father appears to have been among the most successfully assimilated individuals among this talented group, some of whose members struggled to find their way in this country. Did his mastery of English come easily to him, enabling him to adapt to the British stage and screen and later, to the atmosphere of the studio system in America? How did he regard those individuals, including his distinguished and influential mentor, Max Reinhardt, who found it much more difficult to get their footing in the New World after their forced flight from Nazi-dominated Europe?

"My father was very musical. (That even proves itself out by the number of musicians he portrayed... SONG OF LOVE, DECEPTION, ) He had what is called a musical ear. I have that, my son and daughters have it. It doesn't mean we all sing well (but we do) or play musical instruments, it just means we have the ability to hear the musicality, tone and timbre of other languages. English was difficult at first for him but he learned his first stage role by rote...learning the lines without indepth understanding of the words. That was his biggest challenge I think. As a perfectionist, it was important for him to be 'true' to his character and without full understanding of the lines -word for word- he worried that his performance would suffer. He didn't have to worry too long because he was quickly successful and admired and got another job in England, in English. And practice makes perfect.
He maintained long and loyal friendships with many other European ex-pats. I imagine he wished them all well and helped when he could. Our home was a regular weekend 'hangout' and many languages were spoken...least of which was English : )"

2.) Did your father ever comment about his earlier film experiences at UFA and have you ever had a chance to see his earlier, German language films? I know that he made one film in France and another in Germany in the early '50s, but wondered if there was ever a time after the war when he wished he could return to Europe permanently to pursue his career in his native tongue? Were his eventual return visits to Europe bittersweet?

"There were no film experiences at UFA. After signing a lucrative and stardom enhancing contract, he was handed another contract. He asked what it was and was told it was, naturally, his oath of alliegence, commitment and dedication to the National Socialist Party. He couldn't believe it. He refused to sign it and left. Upon hearing this, Goebbels had him blacklisted and prevented him from working in all German speaking countries...even had his name removed from films in which he had already appeared.
I have seen one of his early films. It is quite surreal to see him walking and talking as a 20+ year old which was many, many years before my birth. But he is the same guy ... talk, elegant, stoic, heroic.
I think there were mixed emotions about going back to Europe. There were discussions but ultimately he and my mother decided to stay in the States as they had a comfortable life and many wonderful friends here. Again, as a child, I was protected from such adult decisions. Summer vacations were great...visits with family, enjoying the customs and food of Austria, France and Switzerland were especially wonderful. "

3.) Your father was particularly good at portraying individuals marked psychologically by the war, which was particularly evident in his vulnerable characterizations in Between Two Worlds, Deception, and his excellent, unsung work in 1962's The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse (his grittier scenes in Vincente Minnelli's often too glossy re-telling of the Vicente Blasco Ibáñez tale remind a viewer of the subject matter's painful reality). Did he ever express any reluctance to explore the darkness that such characters demanded of him?

"HE WAS marked psychologically by 'the war' and by the first World War and by the effects they had on his family and friends.
He had many dark and deep places in himself to explore. He didn't have to go far to bring them up. Those characters were just under the surface of this beautiful, haunted man's skin."

4.) One of the distinctions of your father's film work during the studio era was his ability to hold his own in films when he was cast opposite some notorious scene-stealers, which was particularly noticeable in Now, Voyager (1944), and Deception (1946), and Song of Love (1947). How do you think he approached making his characters vivid enough to contrast with Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis and especially Claude Rains in the delightfully baroque--or more accurately--rococo Deception?

"Again, he was always looking for his character's 'truth'. He wasn't looking to steal a scene or have a scene stolen. The actors you list were all professionals also looking for the truth of their characters. They brought out the best in each other. The more they sparred the more interesting the scene would play out. If one backed down we wouldn't have the performances we have."

5.) Aside from his discontentment with some of the heavily dramatic roles that he was assigned at Warner Brothers and his sometimes strained relationship with Jack Warner, were there aspects of the studio's bustling atmosphere and the people he worked with there that he recalled with fondness or admiration? How did your father find the character actors he worked with in his films?

"Warner Bros was really in it's prime when my father was there. He enjoyed working with the best that Hollywood had to offer. Spoiled in Life, spoiled in work : ). He was cast often as a European hero in some European country so the character players were also mostly Europeans. Lots in common...same type of theatrical background, same sort of training. His biggest annoyance and disappointment was when he had to work with 'actors' who didn't have training or some sense of discipline and respect for the work. He didn't always call them actors."

6.) Were there any film directors he worked with that he respected and learned from during his time in Hollywood? I know that he directed 29 episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" over the years and wondered if he ever commented on any interactions he might have had with Hitch, or his noted production team of Joan Harrison and Norman Lloyd?

"Though he didn't work with William and Billy, Wyler, Wilder and William Deiterle were respected and admired ... and from the old country. They come to mind first but there were others as well...like Vincent Minelli.
He loved working with Hitch and Joan. I don't know about the relationship with Norman. I think it was a little off center but, to this day, I haven't as yet been able to get Norman to talk about it."

7.) With the decay of the studio system, did he feel that the quality of writing and production in films diminished or did he relish the opportunity for exploring fresh topics in new ways in independent production like his friend Ida Lupino? Or was it sometimes, as you hinted earlier, a matter of professional survival and hoping for a distinguished project to come out of other work?

"For the most part, he was not happy to be under a studio contract. He felt it limited him and type-cast him by being forced to play the same old-same old, time and time again. A contract might mean a little financial stability but even more important to him at that time were his creative pursuits. He was a theatrically trained artist which meant stretch, explore and challenge yourself ... and your craft ... and your art.
In the mid-forties leaving ALL contract offers behind did actually hurt him. By not having studio support, his blacklisting was 'easier' for Hollywood executives."

8.) One of the reasons that I like your father's films is that he brought depth and feeling to those roles that were often negligible or clichéd in the hands of less skilled actors. The Scar aka Hollow Triumph (1948) is one example of a genre movie that he elevated above its usual limitations, but I recently had a chance to see one of the least known but most strangely poignant of his movies, Stolen Face (1952). Playing "a mad doctor" who seeks to reproduce the face of a woman he loved in one of his patients (Lizabeth Scott in a more animated mode than usual in a dual role), he manages to evoke his character's loneliness, arrogance and despair, even injecting some humor into the plight of a man whose life is (nearly) destroyed by his Cockney-spouting creation. This film, which has been described as the flip side of The Scar and anticipates some of the themes in the classic Eyes Without a Face was directed by a mainstay of Hammer films, Terence Fisher, early in his career. Do you know if this was "just a job" or did your father find that it was a challenging film for him? What was his impression of Lizabeth Scott? Did the Grand Guignol aspects of this story appeal to him?

"This was again part of the lean, blacklisted years. I don't remember much personally - the family was in Los Angeles and he was in London - but I know he, though taking a salary cut, did get a piece of the action and so it had its value. Sometimes that became more of the discussion point than the 'art', as he, as a young boy, had suffered from the fallout of drastic financial loses. As always, he would throw himself into the work."

9.) If you don't mind my asking, could you please discuss your mother Lisl's background, her personality and how that affected her life as the wife of a very driven actor-director during their fifty+ year marriage, and the dancing school for children that she established and ran for several years in Beverly Hills?

"And that's another book and documentary all together ! ... And I will do that too, Fates, Spirits and the Winds be willing. : ) I will say, she was beautiful, sensational, brilliant, creative, generous of time and spirit and had incredible tenacity. My father always said she was the 'gutsy' one."

Thank you in advance for any insights you might share here and please forgive my many questions. I am just so glad you are here!
" You're welcome : ) "
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Re: The Silver Screen Oasis Welcomes Monika Henreid!

Post by Sue Sue Applegate »

We would like to thank Monika Henreid for visiting The Silver Screen Oasis during Paul Henreid's Star of the Month Celebration in July on Turner Classic Movies. Her reminiscences of her father's personal and professional journey have been greatly appreciated by the members of the The Silver Screen Oasis.

Unfortunately, she will not be able to continue her visit at this time.

Thank you, Monika, for your time, consideration, and attention to detail!

We appreciate the time that you shared with us. :D
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