I felt he was a prissy little prat who hadn't matured one jot since he made the darn movie and I am not surprised if I learn one day that Gene wanted to really let him drown.
Well, there's a calm, nuanced statement that puts Darryl Hickman's remarks about Gene Tierney and LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN in proper perspective.
Seriously, I sat down with Darryl and talked to him for nearly two hours
before doing a Q&A with him at a screening of THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS. He related the LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN experience in detail and I questioned him about Tierney, John Stahl, etc.
My take on all of this:
1. Gene Tierney was struggling in an extremely challenging role, had her own problems that later got much worse and probably didn't treat Darryl very well. Darryl admitted that it took him awhile to realize that she stayed in character, had issues opaque to him and doesn't blame her for much of this now. Although he didn't understand this for some time, I got the impression that he probably regretted going overboard in his LHTH commentary.; he carried this around for a long time.
2. John Stahl was an insensitive old man who was a bad director. and not much fun to work with.
3. It was the worst professional experience of Hickman's entire acting career which encompasses over 130 movies and television shows not to mention a plethora of stage work. Remember, this is coming from a six decade veteran of the business, not a spoiled brat.
4. Darryl has matured a great deal since 1945 and has written a very interesting book on acting titled "The Unconscious Actor: Out of Control and in Full Command". Yes, Hickman is an actor and has an artist's ego and sensitivity. As far as it goes, I found him and his recollections to be straightforward, declarative and honest[/i]