Brass Diva: The Life and Legends of Ethel Merman (100 page)

24. Unidentified clipping, MCNY, box 4.

25. Brooks Atkinson "Catching Up on Song: Ethel Merman, Cole Porter and a
Couple of Tunes from Anything Goes!" 1VYT, 15 September 1935, MCNY, box 5.

z6. Untitled review, MCNY.

27. Bige, Variety, 27 November 1934, MCNY, box 13.

z8. CP, interview with PM, transcript, 8, USC, HMC: Pete Martin Collection.

29. Az, 74-

30. "Questions to Ask Merman," PM transcripts, z, USC, HMC: Pete Martin
Collection.

31. CP, interview with PM, transcript, 4, USC.

32. Ibid., transcript, 5.

33. Cole and Linda Porter, thank-you note to EM, MCNY, SC 13. My thanks to
Al E Koenig Jr. for verifying the words on his collection of Merman's acetate
recordings.

34• CP, interview with PM, transcript, 2, USC.

35. Ibid., transcript, 14.

36. Al F. Koenig Jr., "The Last Scrapbook," unpublished essay (in author's collection).

37. NYM, [i8] December 1934. The Mirror misreports this as Porter's first song.

38. The earnings were reported by Vinton Freedley, interview with PM, transcript, 23, USC, HMC: Pete Martin Collection.

39. Unidentified source, 9 December 1934, MCNY, box 4.

40. Unidentified source, 1934, MCNY, box 4.

41. "From the Pit," The Princetonian (NJ), 22 February 1935, MCNY, box 4.

42. Harriet Von Horne, "Merman Unveils Own Air Show," NYWT, i August
1949, MCNY, SC 13-

43. Winston Burdett, "Ethel Merman's More Than Unaffected-She's Untamed," Brooklyn Eagle, zo February 1935, loose clipping, MCNY.

44. New Yorker, 16 February 1935, MCNY, box 4.

45. New York Evening journal, undated, MCNY, box 4.

46. Beebe, "Ethel Merman: Her Day Is Occupied."

47. Paul Harrison, "What's in a Name? Nothing So Far as Play Titles Go," Laredo
Texas Times, 5 December 1934, MCNY, box 4.

48. "Questions to Ask Merman," PM transcripts, USC.

49. Atkinson, "Catching Up on Song: Ethel Merman, Cole Porter, and a Couple
of Tunes from Anything Goes."

50. Variety, 15 January 1935, MCNY, box 4. Other sources claimed that movie
rights exceeded $125,000.

51. Unidentified newspaper article, August 1935, MCNY, box 5.

52. Burdett, "Ethel Merman's More Than Unaffected-She's Untamed."

53. "Hollywood Is Crazy; Broadway More Fun, Declares Blue Star," CornellDaily
Sun, 7 December 1934, MCNY, box 4.

54. Letter signed K. L., 29 July 1936, AMPAS: MPAA Production Code Administration Files, Anything Goes.

55• Letter from Vincent Hart to Joseph Breen, to January 1935, AMPAS: MPAA
Production Code Administration Files, Anything Goes.

56. Daily Variety, 4 January 1936, AMPAS.

57. Paramount press sheets, Anything Goes, i August 1935-31 July 1936, AMPAS.

58. "Sidney Skolsky's Hollywood," NYDN, 7 September 1935, MCNY, box 5.

59. Eileen Percy, "In Hollywood," Newark Star Eagle (NJ) (syndicated),1 October 1935, MCNY, box 5.

6o. Unidentified source, April 1934, MCNY, box 12.

61. The advertisement goes on to promote high-end cars in which "Safety Glass is
supplied in windshields and windows at no extra charge." Advertisement for Libbey
Owens Ford Glass Co. (Toledo, OH), in Apollo Theatre Program, 15 May 1933, MCNY,
box 3.

6z. Correspondence for all events in MCNY, box z.

63. Louella Parsons, "Eddie Cantor's `Kid Millions' Musical Opens," Playfilms,
1 January 1935, unpaginated.

64. "Star, Cast, Writers, Production, Swell," review of Kid Millions, Hollywood
Reporter, 27 October 1934, unpaginated.

65. Nunnally Johnson, interview with Tom Stempel, 1969, transcript, 59-60,
UCLA: Special Collections.

66. The quote is from the Ridewood Times (NY), 16 November 1934, MCNY, box 13.

67. "Hollywood Is Crazy," Cornell Daily Sun, 7 December 1934.

68. These last two songs were released in a later collection titled Merman in the
Movies: 1930-1938.

69. This quotation and all those that follow from Marilyn Cantor Baker are
taken from her interview with the author, June 2004.

70. Unidentified clipping, December 1936, MCNY, box 15.

71. Deposited at the MCNY as "Scrap book created by Merman fan Esther
Hader," MCNY, box 7.

72. Burton Rascoe, "Why Gentlemen Prefer Brunette La Merman," NYWT, 21
January 1943, MCNY, SC 10.

73. Undated clipping (ca. 1938), NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Special
Collections folder: C. and L. Brown Collection.

74. "Why Men Adore Ethel Merman," Romantic Stories, November 1935,
MCNY, box 5.

75. Joyce Anderson, "Beauty a la Ethel Merman," Radio Mirror, NYPL, Billy
Rose Theatre Collection: Special Collections folder.

76. Arthur Pollock, "Jimmy Durante and Ethel Merman Appear in Red, Hot, and
Blue at the Alvin Theatre," Brooklyn Eagle, zo October 1936, MCNY.

77. Cole Porter, "Notes on the Morning after an Opening Nite," NYT, 8 November 1936, MCNY, box 6.

78. Brooks Atkinson, " Red, Hot and Blue'with Ethel Merman, Jimmy Durante,
Bob Hope and a Musical Show," New York Times, 30 October 1936, MCNY.

79. Jimmy Durante, NYHT, 22 November 1936, MCNY, box 6.

8o. Koenig Jr., "The Last Scrapbook."

CHAPTER 4: TO HOLLYWOOD AND BACK AGAIN

I. Unidentified newspaper article, 18 January 1938, MCNY, box 7.

2. The studio's language about options for the third picture was noncommittalstandard procedure.

3. Contract, 7 August 1936, UCLA: zoth Century-Fox Legal Records, box 371.

4. UCLA: loth Century-Fox Legal Records, box 107, Fan Mail.

5. Ibid.

6. Other titles included Bread, Butter, and Rhythm and, briefly, Hot and Happy,
after a song in the film. Hot and Happy was a curiously suggestive title for a family
picture, all the stranger for one that took place in snowy weather.

7. Darryl Zanuck, internal memo to Jerry Hoffman, 15 April 1937, USC: Fox
Scripts "Happy Landing," file 1865.

8. Bread, Butter, and Rhythm conference with Darryl Zanuck, 24 July 1937, USC:
Fox Scripts, file 1765.2.

9. Ibid.

1o. Unidentified review, 1938, MCNY, SC 5-

11. 24 July 1937 treatment to script, 9-io, USC: Fox Scripts "Happy Landing,"
file 1765.1.

12. Chicago Times, 31 January 1938, MCNY, SC 5-

13. Herb Sterne, "The Movies" (source illegible), 29 January 1938, MCNY, SC 5.

14. Ed Sullivan, "Hollywood," NYDN, 3 March 1938, MCNY, SC 5-

15. Darryl Zanuck, letter to Ray Griffith and Richard Sherjan, z8 December 1936,
UCLA: zoth Century-Fox Legal Records, box 937.

16. Ibid.

17. Irving Berlin to Darryl Zanuck, "Origin of Alexander's Ragtime Band Picture," 23 October 1941, UCLA: loth Century-Fox Legal Records, box 937.

18. Hollywood Reporter, 25 May 1938, 3.

19. Az, 91.

20. EM, interview with PM, transcript, USC, HMC: Pete Martin Collection.

21. Fox preserved the outtakes, and they have aired from time to time on television specials.

22. Ai, 123-

23. Joseph Breen, letter to Jason Joy, 18 February 1938, AMPAS: MPAA Production Code Administration Files, file number 283.

24. Joseph Breen, letter to Jason Joy, 23 March 1938, AMPAS: MPAA Production
Code Administration Files, file number 283.

25. EM, interview with PM, transcript, USC.

z6. 3 March 1937 treatment to script, 1o and 12, UCLA: loth Century-Fox
Scripts Collection, box PRS-4o5.

27. C. William Duncan, "Swing Music Is on Way Out Says Young Song Writer,"
Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, I April 1939, MCNY, SC 6.

z8. NYHT, 14 May 1938, MCNY, box 9. Alongside this article is a piece about
armed vigilantes chasing WPA strikers out of Camden, New Jersey, but it's crossedout to make sure our focus goes to the right place.

29. Laurence Rex D'Orsay, letter to Fox, zo May 1944, UCLA: zoth Century-Fox
Legal Records, box 937.

30. Louella Parsons, Los Angeles Examiner, 25 May [1938], MCNY, box 9.

31. Ruth Arell, "From Rhythm to Riches: Ethel Merman's Effervescence Paved
the Way to Swing-Song Success!" Modern Magazine, August 1938.

32. Zit's Theatrical Newsjia~ier, 3o April 1932, MCNY, box 4.

33. Conference notes, 27 April 1938, 2, USC: Fox Scripts "Straight Place and
Show," folder i.

34• Notes of First Draft Continuity, 8 April 1938, USC: Fox Scripts "Straight
Place and Show," folder i.

35. Main unit filmed on the Santa Anita racetrack with two hundred extras and
bit players; second units shot at the Wrestling Arena in LA.

36. Chicago American, 8 October 1938, MCNY, SC 4-

37. On 25 July 1938, Fox Associate legal counsel Emilio C. de Lavigne wrote
Merman, "The term of your employment thereunder shall be deemed to have expired on June 25, 1938, the date of completion of your services in the production
Straight Place and Show." In a private memo of the same day, de Lavigne notes that
her option would have been for three more pictures in a year, "payment $32,500 per
picture, six weeks employment guaranteed.... It is our understanding that this option will not be exercised." Both files in UCLA: zoth Century-Fox Legal Records,
box 1374.

3 8. Az, 92.

39. "Hollywood Is Crazy; Broadway More Fun, Declares Blue Star," Cornell
Daily Sun (NY), 7 December 1934, MCNY, box 4.

40. David J. Hanna, "Hollywood Editorial: Musical Talent" (unidentified magazine), 1o September 1938, MCNY, SC 4-

41. "Broadway a Snap to Movies," Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, 8 September
1938, MCNY, SC 4-

42. Alexander Kahn, "Ethel Merman Has Decided to Make Her Home in Hollywood," Dallas Dispatch, 1o September 1938, MCNY, SC 4-

43. "Merman Loyal to New York," Washington D. C. Herald, 6 February 1938,
MCNY, SC 5-

44. Richard Watts, "Review of Stars in Your Eyes," NYHT, ii January 1939,
MCNY, box 7.

45. "Review: Boisterous Energy of Jimmy Durante and Ethel Merman," NYT,
5 March 1939, MCNY, box 7.

46. Jack Stinnet, "What's Doing on Broadway," El Paso Times, 4 October 1938,
MCNY, SC 4. George Jean Nathan was making similar observations.

47. Life, [29] February 1939, MCNY, SC 6.

48. John Mason Brown, "Ethel Merman and Jimmy Durante in Superb Form,"
io March 1939, NYP, MCNY, box 7.

49. Unidentified review of Girl Crazy, 1930, MCNY, box 2.

50. Elinor Hughes, "In Praise of Ethel Merman and of Musical Comedy Today,"
Boston Traveler, 4 January 1943, MCNY, SC Lo.

51. "Hollywood Is Crazy," Cornell Daily Sun, 7 December 1934•

52. John Anderson, "Lahr, Merman Musical Opens," NYJA, 7 December 1939,
MCNY, SC 7.

53• See Stanley Green's impeccably researched Ring Bells! Sing Songs! Broadway
Musicals of the z93o's (New York: Galahad Books, 1971), 188.

54. John Mason Brown, "Two on the Aisle: Review of DuBarry Was a Lady,"
NYP7 7 December 1939, MCNY, SC 7.

55• During the run of the show, the two appeared together on a radio program
and led into "Friendship" with the following:

LAHR:. You can't compare me with Mickey Rooney-I played in The Wizard of Oz.

MERMAN: Yeah, what did you do?

LAHR: Oh, I just made an Oz of myself.

MERMAN: Cheer up, Bert, you're still the man in DuBarry Was a Lady.

LAHR: Aw, Ethel, you're wonderful. You're the best performer I ever worked with.

Courtesy of Al F. Koenig Jr. from Merman's acetate collection. Show undated.

56. Time, 18 December 1939, 45, MCNY, SC 7.

57. New York Cue, 16 December 1939, MCNY, SC 7.

58. Libbey, unidentified Boston newspaper, 8 October [1939], MCNY, SC i.

59. Edwin Schloss, "Review of DuBarry Was a Lady," Philadelphia Record
(unidentified date), MCNY, SC 7.

6o. Robert Rice, New York Telegraph, 8 December 1939, MCNY, SC 7.

61. "Review of DuBarry Was a Lady,"Boston Globe, 19 November 1939, MCNY,
SC 7.

6z. Alicia Hart, "Ethel Merman Avoids Any Glamour Tricks," Salt Lake City Telegram, 29 February 1940, MCNY, SC 7.

63. Richard Lockridge, "Review of DuBarry Was a Lady," New York Sun, 7 December [1939], MCNY, SC 7.

64. Peggy Doyle, "Review of DuBarry Was a Lady, "' 14 November 1939, unidentified New Haven (CT) newspaper, MCNY, SC 7.

CHAPTER 5: BROADWAY'S BRIGHTEST

i. William F. McDermott, "Girl Shows in General Are Doing Better Than the
Heirs of Shakespeare," Cleveland Plain Dealer, 23 February 1941, MCNY, SC 9.

2. DF, interview with PM, transcript, 25, USC, HMC: Pete Martin Collection.

3. RLS, interview with PM, transcript, 23, USC, HMC: Pete Martin Collection.

4. DF, interview with PM, transcript, 7, USC.

5. TC, interview with author, it September 2004-

6. RLS, interview with PM, transcript, it, USC.

7. "Inside Stuff-Legit," New York Variety, i9 June 1940, MCNY, SC 7.

8. Barclay Hudson, "So This Is Broadway," NYWT, 23 July 1940, MCNY, SC 8.

9. Gerald Bordman, American Musical Theater: A Chronicle (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1978), 518-

1o. "Musical Comedy Is Written to Feature Shirley Temple," Buffalo News, 25 July
1940, MCNY, SC 8.

11. Unidentified clipping, MCNY, SC 8.

12. Variety (date unidentified), MCNY, SC 8.

13. Elliot Norton, "Two More: Ethel Merman Merely Mows 'Em Down," Boston
Post, 13 October 1940, MCNY, SC 8.

14. All in MCNY, SC 9.

15. Brooks Atkinson, NYT, it November 1940, MCNY, SC 8.

16. Arthur Pollock, "Panama Hattie Provides Ethel Merman with a Hit," Brooklyn Eagle (date unidentified), MCNY, SC 8.

17. John Mason Brown, "Ethel Merman Excellent in Panama Hattie," NYP, 31
October 1940, MCNY, SC 8.

18. Columbia released a recording of the song by Eddy Duchin, the beloved New
York pianist. Later in the year, Ethel recorded it with other Hattie songs.

19. Louis Kronenberger, "Down in Panama with Ethel Merman" (unidentified
source), 31 October 1940, MCNY, SC 8.

20. Ira Wolfert, "Song Hits-and Misses," NYTM, 19 January 1941, MCNY,
SC 9.

21. Burns Mantle, "Review of Panama Hattie," New York News, 31 October 1940,
MCNY, SC 8.