Read My Life with Cleopatra Online
Authors: Walter Wanger
My Life with Cleopatra (10 page)
We are all very frightened and, it appears, so is the world. The streets around the hospital are crowded with reporters and cameramen checking everybody going in and out of the hospital. People crying; flowers and gifts and cures are coming in from all over the world.
JLM was at the hospital last night from 2 to 6
A
.
M
., when the situation was critical. He had been sent for, as he is very close to Liz and Eddie. Sid Rogell called Skouras from my house to give him a personal report that she was improving.
I spoke to Eddie in the afternoon, who said the news was a little better—thank heavens. I went to the hospital but was unable to see Liz. Dr. Goldman said she has a tube in her windpipe to help her breathe. It may leave a scar about an inch long, he said, but it can be covered by plastic surgery later.
The picture, of course, has been postponed for the present.
M
ARCH
6, 1961
Still can’t get into the hospital without being photographed and interviewed, so I found a back way. Eddie was in an awful state. Dr. Goldman told me Liz is making progress and is much better. She is being fed intravenously and receiving blood transfusions.
JLM said she wrote a note asking to see her mother. Eddie is the only other person who has seen her.
M
ARCH
7, 1961
News about Liz is a little better. I went to the clinic with Sid but was unable to see Liz. Her parents arrived, which is good.
M
ARCH
9, 1961
Liz nearly out of danger. Eddie fine.
The messages to Liz from all over the world are unbelievable. The mail is stored in huge laundry baskets. Most of it is touching. For instance, “Six thousand of us are praying for you at the Boeing plant. We know you’ll pull through.” Wire from a U.S. destroyer saying, “Hooray for you, Liz, don’t give up.” Calls from doctors and wires offering assistance, even from Russia. The clinic has never been in such chaos.
M
ARCH
11, 1961
The tube is finally out of her throat and she is uncomfortable and irritable. She has trouble breathing and is in a lot of pain.
Liz’s Rolls came by my house to pick up some soup my cook had especially prepared for her. The cook, a great fan of Liz’s, has occasionally made spaghetti for her, which is always picked up in grand style by the Rolls-Royce.
M
ARCH
12, 1961
Saw Liz at the hospital. She looks marvelous, sitting up in bed drinking champagne and is in great humor. Truman Capote was also there visiting.
Skouras called. He is arriving Tuesday and is still terribly worried about Liz. “Do anything she wants to make her happy, and healthy. That’s all that counts—forget about the picture,” he said on the phone. No doubt about it, in his typically expansive way he is deeply concerned about her.
M
ARCH
13, 1961
Skouras is not coming to London but called and told Sid Rogell and JLM they are to go to New York without me for conferences about the future of the picture.
M
ARCH
14, 1961
Dr. Goldman says Liz is eating her first solids and custards. It will be August or September before she can go back to work. This is the news we are waiting for.
Skouras okays pulling down $600,000 worth of sets in London and has given us a starting date in Italy in September.
M
ARCH
24, 1961
Sid Rogell called to say Eddie is insistent we film the picture in Hollywood. Eddie said he is taking matters into his own hands, as he is responsible for Liz and must protect her. It’s his duty not to expose her to any more bad climate and he wants her near her Hollywood doctors. He said Liz is now walking and in good humor.
M
ARCH
24, 1961
Met JLM and our staff at Pinewood to decide what to do about the English sets, props, and costumes. JLM and I are going to Rome in a few days to look for locations, and, following the week of surveying in Rome, JLM and production members will go to Egypt and all the way up the Nile looking for locations.
M
ARCH
29, 1961
Liz and Eddie flew home to Hollywood.
There was a riot at the clinic today when they left on their way to the airport. The door was almost torn off her Rolls-Royce and she had to be moved from one car to another. Airport authorities told me Queen Elizabeth never had such a send-off as Elizabeth Taylor—an interesting contrast to her arrival in England, when she had such a ghastly reception from the press.
The picture is still up in the air waiting for doctors to confirm our new starting date. The only thing definite now is our return to Hollywood for the time being. I must get rid of my house in London and take Shelley, my youngest daughter, out of school. I thought I would be here for the rest of my life and gave out stories of that nature to the press. But here goes.
By evening, I was able to call Liz and Eddie in California. They had a good trip and are rarin’ to start
Cleopatra
again. They are going to buy a house in California and settle there. “It’s the only place in the world for us,” Eddie said.
A
PRIL
15, 1961
Talked with JLM. The writer situation is acute. We discussed the possibility of Lillian Hellman, to give it the woman’s touch, or Paul Osborn. I think JLM should do it himself if it is at all possible.
A
PRIL
19, 1961
Called Liz in California to congratulate her on the Oscar she won last night, which was big news here in London in the papers and on radio and television.
She was elated. “My legs are still a little wobbly,” she said. “I haven’t walked much since we’ve been home.”
She told me she was so weak that Eddie and Dr. Kennamer had to help her up on stage to receive her Oscar and she said she and Eddie are still searching for a home in the Beverly Hills area.
Next month they are going to go to Las Vegas where Eddie will play for four weeks. Eddie got on the phone to quip: “I may work Liz into the act now that she’s won an Oscar.”
Cleopatra
is tentatively set to start again in Hollywood this summer with locations in Rome and Egypt. Liz said she was ready and eager but still doesn’t have permission to work yet from Dr. Kennamer. I made a date to meet with her in Hollywood sometime next week.
A
PRIL
24, 1961
Leaving today for Hollywood—the fiasco in London is ended. We didn’t make the film. We didn’t even settle the hairdressers’ strike. But Liz is still alive, and determined to make this the greatest picture ever made. The question is: when, where and how?
INTERMISSION IN HOLLYWOOD[1961]
— HOLLYWOOD —
A
PRIL
25, 1961
The attitude here toward
Cleopatra
has changed. Bob Goldstein left London to take charge of the studio following Buddy Adler’s death. Now he is behind the eight-ball himself; current product had not been successful, so he is mighty interested in having one good and big picture to the studio’s credit.
Goldstein wants us to succeed, but he is in the middle of a gigantic tug of war between a minority group of shareholders and bankers and Skouras. The minority group, composed of John Loeb, of Loeb-Rhoades, one of the leading investment houses on Wall Street, lawyer Milton Gould, and investment broker Peter G. Treves, are attempting to force a change in management. They want to oust Goldstein and Skouras and elevate Peter Levathes, who is supposed to have done wonders for Fox in the field of television, to be in charge of the studio’s film operation. Later they want him to not only head the studio but eventually become president of the corporation. This power struggle occupies the attention of almost every executive at the studio. Power politics is the order of the day, not picture making.
I was shocked, when I returned, to see the physical change on the lot. More than half of the studio back lot has been sold for a gigantic housing development, and construction crews are already at work on what will soon be Century City.
Also, most of the sound stages are busy with TV series. Only one or two motion pictures being filmed, and it looks as if the studio has decided its future lies in television.
Happily, however, the studio also seems convinced that the only films successful at the box office are blockbusters. Despite our Dunkirk in London they realize
Cleopatra
has the look and smell of bigness and potential success.
A
PRIL
25, 1961
Saw Liz at her bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel. I bought her a gift—a carved emerald of Cleopatra which came from Czar Nicholas’ collection. Liz adores to have things given to her. She’s like a child with gifts.
A
PRIL
26, 1961
JLM is finishing the treatment for his version of
Cleopatra
, and it’s excellent. Bob Goldstein continues to be co-operative and pleasant with us.
A
PRIL
29, 1961
We have accomplished three things of importance in our first few days at the studio: writer Randall MacDougall was hired to do a new script from JLM’s screenplay outline, for $75,000; Irene Sharaff agreed to design Elizabeth’s costumes; Leon Shamroy was signed as cameraman.
MacDougall is a hard, fast worker and excellent researcher. He used to write documentaries for the BBC, and his work has a crisp, see-it-now flavor, but his scenes and dialogue are not in JLM’s class and I suspect JLM will write his own script eventually.
I first approached Miss Sharaff, who is one of the top Broadway designers, to do costumes for
Cleopatra
in 1958. Irene, who is tall, sharp-eyed and candid, brushed it off with, “It wouldn’t be possible to do
Cleopatra
without making it look like a production of
Aida
.” Now, however, she admitted that some of the excitement of our concept of the picture had reached her and agreed to design Elizabeth’s costumes.
Shamroy, invariably called Shammy, is a top cameraman, three-time Oscar winner and also one of the most colorful characters in Hollywood. A growling, cigar-smoking cynic, he has a wonderful sense of humor and grouses loudest when a picture is going well. When there are problems, he is happy—then he is in familiar territory.
Shammy is not only a trusted friend, but his personal insight is as keen as his camera’s. For me, as well as for many other Hollywood producers, directors, and stars, he often serves as a kind of lay analyst. Also he is one of the best cameramen in the business. He was under contract to me in the Thirties and we made many fine pictures together, including
Private Worlds
.
A
PRIL
30, 1961
The order of the day is: Make
Cleopatra
in Italy and Egypt during the months of September and October and shoot all interiors in Los Angeles in the winter on our wonderful, big, well-equipped stages.
We start making plans for that schedule—but carefully now—because we know that it was not the schedule yesterday and it probably will not be the schedule tomorrow. Every time we are given a starting date and a location date someone has to begin making commitments for space; someone else takes a trip to the area to find locations; cast and crew are hired and commitments made. And each change or cancellation costs money.
But Fox has had a long period without a hit. Skouras has a large, experienced, world-wide distribution organization which is keyed to handle lots of important product and isn’t getting what it needs. The Old Boy is in a panic. He hopes and prays that
Cleopatra
will do for Fox what
Ben-Hur
did for MGM.
M
AY
1, 1961
Skouras had promised the Board of Directors in New York a June start for
Cleopatra
and is raising hell over JLM’s news that
we won’t have the script in time. A June start is completely out of the question.
M
AY
2, 1961
Dr. Rex Kennamer, Elizabeth’s close friend and Beverly Hills doctor, has given us the official go-ahead for her on filming locations in Italy in September. “Liz is in excellent health,” he said.
M
AY
5, 1961
Letter to Spyros Skouras:
Dear Spyros:
We feel that the meetings with you here during Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were most constructive and the decisions arrived at after the meeting with Dr. Rex Kennamer were completely sound and will enable us to make the picture the company wants under intelligent and correct organization. We are reviewing herewith the questions we were faced with and our answers:
Question 1
. Why can’t the film be started until September?
For many reasons, involving not only the size and scope of the picture itself, but also the health of Miss Taylor and the certainty we must have that she can successfully sustain the most grueling role of her entire career. We have taken advantage of the enforced layoff to improve the concept of the story we want to tell. The fact that we had to leave England necessitated tearing down all the sets. These must be redesigned and reconstructed here and abroad. Many of the costumes have yet to be designed and made. The very labor of crating and shipping the salvaged props from England would take almost three months.
As far as Miss Taylor is concerned she is still not fully
recovered from her illness, in the sense that her leg still bothers her. She has never looked more beautiful nor has she ever been more enthusiastic about the project. The scar on her neck will have to be removed by plastic surgery. Dr. Kennamer has informed us that this cannot be done until the early part of July. This means that she will not be available for testing wardrobe and make-up until the latter part of July.
Question 2
. Isn’t it true that if Elizabeth Taylor had not gotten sick you would have started the picture in England in April?
Of course this is true. We would have done the best we could. We would have attempted to rewrite the script as we made the picture, utilizing the sets that were already constructed. We would have been at the mercy of the uncertain English weather and there was no reason to suppose that our progress would not have been at least as expensive and the making of the picture as cumbersome as it was during the few weeks in which production had started previously.
The production of
Cleopatra
under those circumstances would have been hazardous and unsatisfactory. As it is, we are now able to undertake this great project properly prepared and under the best possible circumstances.
Question 3
. Why are you shooting the locations first?
Because from every possible point of view it would be foolhardy to do anything else.
Dr. Kennamer has assured us that there is every reason to believe that Elizabeth’s health will be at its best when we resume production. He has expressed his opinion that she is no more likely to become ill in Italy or Egypt than in California.
September, from the point of view of climate, is the finest month of the year in Italy.
Likewise, climatically speaking, October is Egypt’s finest month. Location work with Miss Taylor is essential in both places.
It is our plan to finish her in Italy as soon as possible, then to finish her in Egypt as soon as possible—and then to return her to Hollywood for a rest, while the remainder of the cast finishes its foreign locations.
This means that during the winter months, Miss Taylor would be getting the advantage of shooting the interiors in California instead of being subjected to the risks of intemperate climates elsewhere.
As far as the film itself is concerned—it is difficult to think of any major production involving locations in which the locations have
not
been shot first. The reasons for this are obvious. Once the outdoor shooting is done, the indoor shooting can be adapted to match it. The reverse is difficult and costly. The outdoor scenes usually involve many actors who can finish their parts rather quickly after their scenes are shot. To shoot the interiors first would require carrying them on salary for many months. Next, the fact that a company knows it has its most arduous work behind it is a tremendous asset both in the morale and speed of shooting the interiors. Also, if extra scenes are required they can be picked up before the bad weather commences.
Question 4. Cleopatra
will undoubtedly be the most ambitious and expensive project ever undertaken by 20th Century-Fox. Is it worth it?
No attraction in the history of show business has ever had the “want-to-see” publicity and demand from the public that
Cleopatra
with Elizabeth Taylor has had. The world-wide interest is considered unheard of in public “penetration” in every country where pictures are seen.
Consequently, the goal to achieve is not a compromise production or a film of expedience, but an original, exciting,
romantic historical film that will enthrall the audience and achieve a record international gross. The reason that we feel this can be done is:
1. We are telling the amazing story of the most remarkable woman of all times, showing her entire life from the age of 19 to her dramatic death at 39 years of age. Covering for the first time in the theater the contrasting lives of Caesar and Antony and the enmity of Octavian. All of this against the greatest panorama of world conquest. The spectacular sequences, such as Cleopatra’s entrance into Rome … the battle of Actium, and the orgies in Alexandria, will not be the stereotyped spectacles of the usual “big” pictures, but overall dramatic concepts never before on the screen. This picture, as now conceived, is one that every man, woman, and child should want to see. But in order to achieve this in an organized way, the logistics of this enterprise must be carefully organized and prepared in the next three months.
2. Yesterday we spent two hours with the production office in setting up all safeguards for the operation. A clear understanding of the objectives in all departments was agreed upon.
3. The script must be taut, gripping, exciting, and intelligent to satisfy the whole world market.
4. The cast must be superlative from an acting standpoint. Cleopatra could not be improved upon and Caesar and Antony must be the finest and strongest actors available, as well as all of the remaining cast.
5. The production must not look like a studio production. The beauty of Italy and Egypt will give this Todd-AO production a scope and authenticity that will lift the whole film to unique proportions.
6. The costumes, in the hands of the creative designers, will give a stamp of reality and style that will not have been seen before.
7. All the technical work is now being planned to be executed by Hollywood technicians, who are the best in the world.
8. The program is as follows:
During active preparation at the studio, Joseph Mankiewicz and staff will go to Italy and Egypt in two weeks to settle all problems regarding the locations so preparation can go forward. After two weeks, he will return to the studio to continue preparation. By the end of July, start tests with Elizabeth Taylor. In September, the film will commence in Italy with Elizabeth Taylor’s scenes, then to Egypt for Elizabeth Taylor’s scenes. As soon as her Italian and Egyptian work is finished, she will return to Hollywood to rest while Mankiewicz finishes his work in Italy and Egypt. Shooting will then commence in Hollywood on the interiors, probably by the end of October or first of November, and the company will remain here until completion.
We assure you we realize fully our responsibilities in being given the largest and most expensive production ever attempted by 20th Century-Fox and we will stop at nothing to give an attraction that will get you the largest profit and the most acclaim.
Kindest regards,
Walter
