The Silver Screen Oasis

egolden wrote:Miss Hayworth, John Gilbert was never happy with any of his films, except for The Big Parade. He did not think he was a good actor--called himself a ham--and complained endlessly about the writing, direction, casting and even sets and costumes of his films.

Queen Christina was a horrible experience for him, though he was very grateful to Garbo for giving him the work. But being back at MGM, with a vengeful Louis B. Mayer and an uncaring crew around him, nearly killed him. It was not much of a role, either; all he had to do was gaze longingly at Garbo. he found everyone but her to be impatient and no one would give him any input at all. Honestly, I don't know what he was thinking--he didn't need the money, and he had to have known that MGM was not going to welcome him back with open arms!

Thanks for your comments ... it is interesting to know that it is an horrible experience - I did not know that at all. Anyway, thanks for clearing that up for me and I for one find it fascinating to hear what you have to say about Queen Christina.

Erik ... I'm a guy egolden ... I just wanted to clear that up!

Dear Ms. Golden, we appreciate your visit here and have anticipated it with much relish!

Thank you for your lovely responses today.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow, and I was wondering as a biographer, did you have experiences writing about John Gilbert that were reminiscent of your research and your creation of Harlow's biography? What compelled you to write about both of these fascinating individuals? Did you find that Gilbert's creative process was an offshoot of his psychological difficulties or was it part of his intrinsic nature?

Again, welcome to The Silver Screen Oasis!

Sincerely,
Christy

Jack, he had so many friends, male and female--he was a charmer, and he genuinely liked people and was interested in them. Particularly writers. He basked at the Algonquin Round Table, and good-naturedly took their ribbing.

I think what surprised me--happily--was how self-aware he was. He knew he was a born trouble-maker and perfectionist and that he could not resist saying the worst thing to the worst person. He was an imp of the perverse, but he owned up to it and was "on to himself," which I love.

Best performances? Gee, he rarely gave a bad one, though he was miscast in a few films. I think Downstairs is his best showcase: so funny and evil. He brought a nice wicked craziness to The Phantom of Paris and was heart-breaking in The Captain Hates the Sea--that scene all alone in his cabin, listening to his girlfriend's recording? Brilliant.

As an armchair psychologist, I am guessing he was bipolar, and his drinking was a form of self-medication. Of course, I might be completely wrong and maybe he was just a big old drama queen, I don't think he really knew, himself!

MoMA had prints of His Hour and Cameo Kirby, and the Library of Congress had Golden Rule Kate, Happiness, The Hater of Men and His Glorious Night. And all the folks at both institutions could not have been friendlier or more helpful! Of his lost films, the ones I'd most love to see are Princess of the Dark and The Snob--two character parts he was proud of.

I agree that Redemption and Gentleman's Fate are tidy, enjoyable films. There were few real stinkers--His Glorious Night is agonizing, but it's not his fault, it was in the writing and direction.

Oops, sorry, Mr. Hayworth!

Christy, I'm glad you liked my Harlow book, too! I agree that Jack's personality made him a good actor--he felt very deeply and over-thought everything. Which made for great performances, but boy was it exhausting to be John Gilbert.

Choosing a subject is agonizing: it has to be someone I can "live with" for a few years; I have to admire their work, if not love everything about the person. There can't already be a definitive book on them, no other author can have dibs (professional courtesy), there has to be enough documentary material on them to make a book, the family can't throw any roadblocks--and I need a publisher to say, "yes, this is marketable." As you can imagine, for every book I do, there are three that fell through!

Thanks, Eve! We appreciate your visit.

Enjoying my visit! I will excuse myself from time to time to work on two book proposals, and if any celebrity dies this weekend, I have to get an obit off to my photo archive's media clients. I have offsite access, so Death takes no Holiday.

And it is the weekend: naps must be attended to.

Eve, I love that scene that you mentioned when Gilbert listens to his character's girlfriend (Tala Birrell) on a record in the cabin in The Captain Hates the Sea. He broke my heart and impressed me all over again with his quietly eloquent reactions to her voice. So many rumors about this movie seem to indicate that quite a bit of drinking occurred during this troubled production at sea. Did his advancing alcoholism mean that he probably drank while working then?

Eve, I realize you are reluctant to play armchair shrink too much, but could you please assess John Gilbert's relationship with women?

The lasting affection of his exes for him seems to indicate a man who longed for intimacy but whose profligate nature made stability impossible. Was it because he was born and raised in such emotional chaos that he formed four doomed marriages out of desperation or do you think it was hope over experience?

The elusive quality that Gilbert seemed to have was described so movingly by his daughter Leatrice Gilbert Fountain in "Dark Star" and in your book. Did you have much contact with his surviving daughter Leatrice while preparing your book?

I was startled by one story you told about Ina Claire on the set of Ninotchka (1939) that was relayed by decorator Billy Baldwin. According to this account, it was Claire who chided Garbo to quit making snide remarks about her dead ex-husband and Garbo's former lover. I had never expected Garbo to be that cavalier about Gilbert!

Ina Claire comes across as one of the wives you seemed to relish writing about and you portray the accomplished actress with more fairness than I have come across in the past. The same is true of Marlene Dietrich, whose own daughter seemed to denigrate her mother's role in Gilbert's life. Why do you think that these two women have so often been negatively portrayed in the past?

Thank you for your response, Ms. Golden.

I am a fan of Queen Christina, and even though you have related all the difficulties on the film, there are those moments in the film when I sense Gilbert was evincing some deep emotion for Garbo while he expiated those emotions in front of the camera. The deepest sense of a desire to reconnect or make some emotional impact on Garbo while the movie was in production sort of pervades me every time I revisit this film.

And I am hoping if I am off-track, that you will steer me back on the true course of his emotional journey at this time.

I can't wait to read your latest!

Moira, I think by 1934 Jack was drinking pretty much continuously--his alcoholism had really gotten out of hand by then, and he was in terrible health for more than a year before he died.

As for him and women . . . he could fall in love--and did--at the drop of a hat. When people ask who is great love was, I think, "the last woman he met." As for his childhood, it's hard to blame that on his later life: everyone reacts differently to the same problems. Look at, say, Lillian and Dorothy Gish: same childhoods, very different women. Certainly Jack--like Marilyn Monroe--had difficulty trusting people, and a bad self-image. Both of them were self-educated, loved reading, loved hanging around with smart people.

Leatrice Fountain is in shaky health--she is 90-ish--but she was very supportive, and is happy with the end product. I am having drinks at the Algonquin next week with two of her sons!

You can tell, I guess, I am a fan of Ina Claire and Marlene Dietrich--both witty, sharp, sophisticated women. Ina and Jack were a mismatch from the start: but she respected his work ethic and his desire to be the best he could. And Marlene was great for him--she really enjoyed mothering everyone except her daughter (that was a bitter relationship, and some of what Maria Riva said was just demonstrably untrue--she did not seem to know that Jack had a doctor and a nurse of his own!).

Christy, I think by 1933 the Garbo/Gilbert relationship had calmed down to a brother/sister friendship. It was nice of Garbo to get him the part, and despite her occasional nasty cracks about him, I think she recalled what a good acting coach he had been (it wasn't till their work on Love, I think, that she gave her first really good performance, and he essentially directed her in that).

Remember, Garbo hated and was embarrassed by any indication that she was ever in love with or reliant on anyone.

Thanks for those insights, Eve. One question about John Gilbert's voice, which was certainly deep enough. In his early sound films, not only were the scripts sometimes overly flowery, but occasionally his speaking voice seems a tad affected and theatrical. Was this possibly due to nerves, the (unfortunate) influence of Lionel Barrymore (especially when he was directing too), or was it the way that he was originally taught to speak in the theater?

I do think he sounded much more modern and natural in his later, non-period films.

Thanks for your insight about Jack Gilbert, and I also appreciate the Marlene "tidbits." I also felt that Maria Rivas' bio of her mother smacked a little of jealousy and contempt, but she also had a fascinating tale of her own to tell.

We are so happy you have visited us. Thank you, again.

Moira, Jack did not have a great voice. It was passable--as good as Gable's, Cagney's, Haines's. But he was no Ronald Colman. His voice would not have proven a problem if he had not burned so many bridges, and had loyal friends at MGM willing to go to bat for him.

He was nervous, and in his earliest talkies he could go all affected and his voice sounded a bit tinny and strained. His Glorious Night was a failure of a terrible script and clunky, ham-handed direction; Jack's voice was the least of the problems. Remember, everyone was feeling their way in 1928-30, and you see most stars struggling. Also, everyone at MGM was handed some real stinkers: Crawford, Garbo, Novarro, Haines, even Mrs. Thalberg!

You're right, by the time of Downstairs and Queen Christina, Jack had found his "mike voice." it was not deep and booming, but it was easy and charming and natural.

Christy, I think "Mawia Wiva" has "I Want to be Mommy Syndrome," also suffered by wannabe actresses Liane Carrera (Anna Held's daughter), Christina Crawford, B.D. Hyman. You'll note that movie-star daughters who had no acting ambition tend to write fair, unbiased books about their mothers. It's the ones who want to be stars and fail who pen those vituperative books.