Myrna Loy (69 page)

40. Gladys Rowley:
San Francisco Examiner
, April 20, 1942; “a gray tweed”:
San Francisco Examiner
, June 2, 1942.

14. REBOUND

1. “Myrna Loy Bride”:
New York Times
, June 7, 1942.

2. John Jr.: obituary,
Variety
, May 18, 1968; obituary,
New York Times
, May 13, 1968; see also Somer,
Ticonderoga
.

3. “I am one of those”: ML, undated
Screenland
article, “Why Hollywood Turned Down Myrna Loy,” MLP, Box 29, folder 1.

4. “Mrs. Hertz”: Unsourced clip dated June 15, 1942, ML clippings file, NYPL.

5. “technical suspension”:
New York Times
, May 21, 1944.

6. Betty Black considered: transcript of interview fragment by Kotsilibas-Davis, MLP, Box 30, folder 21, 2189.

7. “The Perfect Wife and”:
San Francisco News-Call
photo caption, Sept. 29, 1942, San Francisco History Room, San Francisco Public Library.

8. business affairs: Martin Gang, attorney, to Mary Wall [secretary to Myron Selznick], July 7, 1942; Della Williams to Mary Wall, June 26, 1942; Myron Selznick & Co. to Martin Gang, June 24, 1942, MLP, Box 7, folder 6.

9.
A Guy Named Joe: San Francisco Examiner
, Oct. 1, 1942; Irene Dunne:
Hollywood Reporter
, Oct. 30, 1942.

10. Army Emergency Relief show:
New York Times
, Oct. 1, 1942.

11. “the President’s favorite”: Grace Tully,
F. D. R., My Boss
, 85; FDR viewed:
Variety
, Feb. 12, 1935, and April 24, 1934.

12. “That old gal”: ML, quoted by Betty Black, transcript of interview fragment by Kotsilibas-Davis, MLP, Box 30, folder 19, 2187.

13. “First Lady Takes Role”:
New York Times
, June 24, 1943.

14. “Recently”: ML, quoted in
LA Times
, June 10, 1945; “Once you have seen”: ML, quoted in Ben Maddox, undated
Screenland
article on
The Best Years of Our Lives
, Core Collection film file on
The Best Years of Our Lives
, AMPAS.

15. “Those incredible”: ML, quoted in
LA Times
, July 15, 1945; “The blind soldiers”: ML, quoted in
New York Post
, March 1, 1980.

16. Hearst newsreel: “Hollywood Stars Entertain Wounded Soldiers,” [Jan.?] 1945, UCLA Film and Television Archive.

17. “I received”: ML, quoted in
San Francisco Examiner
, May 21, 1946.

18. Ruth Mack Brunswick: Roazen,
The Historiography of Psychoanalysis
, 269.

19. taking nothing: Betty Black, transcript of interview fragment by Kotsilibas-Davis, MLP, Box 30, folder 19, 2186.

20. salary: memo from Harry Sokolov, Oct. 30, 1944, Myron Selznick Collection, Harry Ransome Humanities Research Center, Austin, Texas.

21. “Myrna Loy has never”: Parsons,
San Francisco Examiner
, April 16, 1944; ML, quoted in ibid.

22. “He was constantly”: obituary of Myron Selznick,
LA Times
, March 24, 1944.

23. “her favorite shade”: 1944 MGM press release for
The Thin Man Goes Home
, British Film Institute.

24. “a sort of one-finger Thalberg”: Fitzgerald, quoted in Latham,
Crazy Sundays
, 159.

25. taken on to please his brother: Scott,
In Capra’s Shadow
, 156; “dreadfully dull”: quoted in ibid., 157.

26. tippling . . . would be banished:
Hollywood Reporter
, April 5, 1944; “In real life”: Sikov,
Screwball
, 209.

27. “production as a whole”:
Variety
, Nov. 22, 1944.

28. Mexico to divorce:
LA Times
, Aug. 2, 1944.

29. “I heard the unmistakable”: Leonora Schinasi Morris to Arthur Hornblow Jr., undated [1944], Hornblow Collection, Special Collections, AMPAS.

30. “Myrna said five”: Leonora Schinasi Morris to Arthur Hornblow Jr., Dec. 17, 1944, Hornblow Collection, Special Collections, AMPAS; “a wonderful”: ibid., undated [1944].

31. “she was dewy-eyed”: Young, quoted in Leonora Schinasi Morris to Arthur Hornblow Jr., undated [1945], Hornblow Collection, Special Collections, AMPAS.

32. “Myrna Loy shared”:
Washington Post
, Sept. 17, 1944; “ ‘Is you is’ ”: “Town Talk,”
Washington Post
, Feb. 13, 1945.

15. POSTWAR

1. “was more than the amicable”: Scheuer,
LA Times
, June 10, 1945; “broken away one by one”: ibid.

2. “I’ve got to trip”: ML, quoted in Scheuer,
LA Times
, June 10, 1945.

3. agreement with RKO:
Variety
, July 4, 1945.

4.
Best Years
came into being: Berg,
Goldwyn
, 393.

5. “we would spend”: Wyler, “No Magic Wand,” 11.

6. “The name of no other”: contract dated Jan. 4, 1946, Goldwyn Collection, folder 4859, AMPAS.

7. “looks young”: Robert Sherwood,
The Best Years of Our Lives
, Final Shooting Script, May 22, 1946, scene 68, p. 33, Goldwyn Collection, AMPAS.

8. “You loved each other”: ibid., scene 240, p. 173.

9. “I can’t believe”: quoted in Chierichetti, “Myrna Loy Today,” 15; seeing them meet: Kevin Thomas to the author, Dec. 16, 2007.

10. attaching a headset: Herman,
A Talent for Trouble
, 287.

11. “and he came down”: Margaret Tallichet Wyler, quoted in Davis,
The Glamour Factory
, 245.

12. “Willy Wyler and Toland”: Teresa Wright, quoted in Windolf, “From Best Years to Our Years,” 21; “Thanks to depth of field”: Bazin, “William Wyler,” in
Bazin at Work
, 8.

13. “not only”:
New York Times
, Nov. 22, 1946; “a horse-drawn”: Farber, “Nervous from the Service,”
New Republic
, Dec. 2, 1946.

14. “force, beauty” and “he now seems”: Agee,
The Nation
, Dec. 14, 1946.

15. 1958 lawsuit:
New York Times
, July 1, 1958; Herman,
A Talent for Trouble
, 293.

16. “This time”:
San Francisco Examiner
, Jan. 4, 1946.

17. According to Betty Black: Betty Black, transcript of interview fragment by Kotsilibas-Davis, MLP Box 30, folder 21, 2189.

18. “a delightful lady”: Melinda Markey Van Dyke to the author, Sept. 29, 2007.

19. He once chastised her: Jack Larson to the author, July 3, 2006.

20. “The symbol”: ML, talk delivered to California Women’s Council, “Women United for the United Nations,” March 23, 1948, MLP, Box 8, folder 2.

21. Woll’s attack: reprinted in
Hollywood Reporter
, Sept. 30, 1946.

22. Joan Crawford hated: Newquist,
Conversations with Joan Crawford
, 151; Esther Williams found him: Williams and Diehl,
The Million Dollar Mermaid
, 155.

23. “I happen to know”: Parsons,
San Francisco Examiner
, Oct. 2, 1946.

24. “I am not”: ML, in
Hollywood Reporter
, Oct. 2, 1946.

25. Martin Gang filed:
LA Times
, Oct. 4, 1946; “that she has not”: Woll, quoted in
LA Times
, Oct. 22, 1946.

26. “it suddenly became”: Bacall,
By Myself
, 177.

27. contributed $1,000: list of contributors to the Committee for the First Amendment, William Wyler Collection, folder 596, AMPAS; “one of the most”: FBI report on ML, Feb. 10, 1965, Dept. of Justice, FBI archives.

28. Schary . . . testified: quoted in
LA Times
, Oct. 30, 1947; “Whenever a serious”: Douglas and Arthur,
See You at the Movies
, 161.

29.
Hollywood Fights Back:
ABC radio broadcasts, Oct. 26 and Nov. 2, 1947, tape recordings heard at the Paley Center for Media, New York.

30. secret list:
Variety
, Oct. 29, 1947; “a Communist device”:
Variety
, Oct. 22, 1947.

31. “It is unfortunate”: William Wyler to ML, Sept. 20, 1947, MLP, Box 32, folder 1.

32. “Film Industry Rules”:
Variety
, Nov. 26, 1947.

33. “I dare them”: ML to Wyler, Sept. 24, 1947, MLP, Box 32, folder 1.

16. BREAKING AWAY

1. “traitorous”: quoted in Francisco,
Gentleman
, 217.

2. For
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
: RKO production files, UCLA.

3. split directing duties: Schary,
Heyday
, 140.

4. Grant threatened: Black,
Child Star
, 402.

5. “the calmness”: “ ‘Oh shucks’ “: Grant, “She’s My Dream Wife,” 64, 51.

6. “For the most part”:
New York Herald Tribune
, July 25, 1947.

7. Shot in just: RKO production files, UCLA; duplicate outdoor sets: Hodgins, “Mr. Blandings Goes to Hollywood,” n.p.

8. Norman Panama and Melvin Frank guessed: Hodgins, “Mr. Blandings Goes to Hollywood,” n.p.; RKO . . . in red ink: Richard B. Jewell, “RKO Film Grosses, 1929–1951,” n.p.

9.
Variety
complained: March 31, 1948.

10. “a bull’s eye”: James Agee,
The Nation
, April 24, 1948.

11.
Blandings
advertising tie-ins: Jurca, “Hollywood, the Dream House Factory,” 29.

12. “I love her”: Grant, “She’s My Dream Wife,” 74.

13. “they’re too much alike”: Kael, “The Man from Dream City,”
New Yorker
, July 14, 1975, n.p.

14. “a big star”: Lewis Milestone, AFI Oral History, Milestone Collection, folder 172, 209, AMPAS.

15. Salaries for
The Red Pony:
Ibid.

16. Linzer said: transcript of interview fragment by Kotsilibas-Davis, MLP, Box 30, folder 20, 957.

17. “many of the tensions”: ML, quoted in
San Francisco Examiner
, May 13, 1948.

18. “simple and gracious”: Henrey,
A Journey to Vienna
, 18.

19. “It did my heart”: Mike Mansfield, quoted in
LA Times
, Dec. 2, 1949.

20. took a pay cut:
Cheaper by the Dozen
contract, Oct. 3, 1949, in 20th Century–Fox Collection, UCLA.

21. “How are the poplars?”: Gene Markey to ML, undated [1949], MLP, Box 7, folder 5.

22. “We were away”: Markey, quoted in
London Daily Mirror
, Jan. 10, 1950; “Myrna Loy Admits”:
San Francisco Examiner
, Jan. 9, 1950.

23. “I shan’t”: Markey to ML, undated [1950], MLP, Box 7, folder 5.

24. “another storm”: Markey to Martin Gang and Robert Kopp, Feb. 13, 1950. private collection.

25. “It’s too painful”: ML, quoted in
LA Times
, Aug. 17, 1950.

26. “There are a few”: Markey to ML, undated [1950], MLP, Box 7, folder 5.

17. MRS. HOWLAND SARGEANT

1. “I want you”: Eleanor Roosevelt to ML, quoted in Arthur, “Interview with Myrna Loy,” 11; “I don’t know enough”: ML,
Extra
, June 1950, 3.

2. “a smart little” and “There’s a new”:
Long Beach Press Telegram
, March 25, 1951.

3. Myrna’s close women friends: transcripts of interview fragments by Kotsilibas-Davis, MLP, Box 330, folder 19, 2191, 2020, 2139.

4. “a mismanaged”:
New York Times
, May 5, 1952.

5. “Myrna Loy, known as”:
Washington Post
, Oct. 7, 1952.

6. “It strikes me”: Acheson, quoted in
New York Herald Tribune
, March 7, 1952.

7. pay cut: ML contract for
Belles on Their Toes
, July 18, 1951, 20th Century–Fox Collection, UCLA.

8. “a marshmallow mélange”:
Time
, May 5, 1952.

9. “professionally and personally”: ML to Passport Office, May 6, 1955, letter and affidavit, FBI file on ML, Dept. of Justice, FBI archives.

10. “a fine actress”: Olivia de Havilland to the author, Sept. 21, 2006.

11. “He would shake”: Jack Larson to the author, July 3, 2006.

12. United Artists agreed: financial agreement between Dore Schary Productions and United Artists, Aug. 15, 1958, Dore Schary Collection, Box 128, folder 51, Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, Madison.

13. “Daddy loves”: Jill Robinson, quoted in Peary and McGilligan, “Dore Schary,” 24.

14. “Where’s the corruption?”: Clift, quoted in Bosworth,
Montgomery Clift
, 333; “With due respect”:
New York Times
, March 5, 1959.

15. “There were sparks”: quoted in Bosworth,
Montgomery Clift
, 338; Leone Rosson diaries, Joyce Marie Faust Collection. Dates for subsequent diary quotations will be included in the text.

16. “wonderful to Monty”: Larson to the author, July 3, 2006.

17. “Dear Howland”: notebook draft of ML letter to Sargeant, private collection.

18. Howland represented: Linzer, transcript of interview fragment by Kotsilibas-Davis, MLP, Box 30, folder 20, 967.

19. “The 54 year old”:
LA Examiner
, June 1, 1960.

18. NEW YORK ENDING

1. “Hollywood seems to have”: ML, quoted in
San Francisco Examiner
, Jan. 31, 1965; “There are no”: ML, quoted in Braun, “Myrna Loy on Comedy,” 9.

2. “One problem”: ML, quoted in
LA Examiner
, Jan. 2, 1960; “People don’t dress”: ML, quoted in
LA Times
obituary, Dec. 15, 1993.

3. “I don’t know why”: “Star Admits Her 59 Years,”
San Francisco Examiner
, Sept. 14, 1964; Joan Crawford confessed: Newquist,
Conversations with Joan Crawford
, 164.

4. “Work is important”: ML, quoted by Dorothy Manners,
LA Examiner
, July 10, 1960; “I wish I’d had”: ML, quoted by Margaret McManus in
San Francisco Chronicle
, Pink Section, April 2, 1967.

5. “Myrna was”: Wynn Handman to the author, Oct. 11, 2006.

6. “You have a big voice”: Handman, quoted in
New York Morning Telegraph
, Nov. 13, 1970.