My Life with Cleopatra (23 page)

The memorandum set up new termination dates for Elizabeth’s services and for completion of first and second unit photography in Italy and Egypt. Also, a daily report was to be made on the progress of this new shooting schedule.

Merman refused to sign it and walked out of the room.

JLM walked out, too, after telling the Wise Men what he thought of them and their procedures.

Rogell signed and I signed as producer.

J
UNE
6, 1962

Unable to shoot today because NATO was firing at Torre Astura where we had scheduled a location. The Three Wise Men have
left. They still don’t realize that if this picture is great it can be their only salvation, and the studio’s.

J
UNE
7, 1962

Rained out of the Forum set, so JLM went into the studio where he shot two days’ work in one, including a retake of the slapping scene with Liz, which went off beautifully and without incident or accident.

J
UNE
9, 1962

Liz unable to work because she has to have dental work on two infected teeth.

Eddie Fisher called from New York. Said he is happy—but he didn’t sound it.

Saw Dr. Coen, who told me my blood pressure is up, which puts a strain on my heart. “Take it easy,” he told me.

Levathes telephoned from Hollywood to say he had fired Marilyn Monroe. He considers himself a big hero. He reminded me of a time when I was a very young man and was general manager of the greatest of all motion-picture companies, Paramount. I had practically unlimited powers. One day, however, I was impatient and fired a star.

Jesse Lasky, who was my boss, said to me, “Walter, under your contract you have a perfect right to get rid of that star, but that is not what we hired you for. We hired you to get the best out of people, not to fire them.”

J
UNE
10, 1962

Rain.

The Monroe story is in all the European newspapers. “No company can afford Monroe and Taylor,” a Fox spokesman says. No company can afford the mismanagement of Fox, I say.

Earl Wilson called from New York to check on a story that I
had been removed as producer of
Cleopatra
. I said, “It is a problem of cutting costs, nothing else.”

J
UNE
12, 1962

News of my being “fired” is in today’s papers.

Liz couldn’t be sweeter. She was so angry she wanted to quit. But JLM and I convinced her to work on for the good of the picture.

J
UNE
13, 1962

Arrived here by boat today just as Richard and Liz flew in on a helicopter. The island is at its summer paradise best; the water blue beyond belief, the surroundings idyllic.

J
UNE
14, 1962

First day of shooting held up. Liz is ill and can’t work. Rogell called from Rome and suggested we stop the picture since we have the ending filmed.

Bill Middlestat, our prop man, was a hero today. Middlestat, a former All American football player and a Phi Beta Kappa, is one of the best special-effects men in the business. Today while on the beach watching some butane tanks being unloaded for special effects, he noticed that something appeared wrong with one of them. He ordered everyone out of the area and, in moments, the tank exploded. His quick thinking saved the lives of quite a few people.

J
UNE
16, 1962

Had a long talk with Rizzoli, the William Randolph Hearst of Italy and a big picture maker (he financed
La Dolce Vita
) about Marilyn Monroe. I’m sure Marilyn would be excellent in films here where the picture is shot first, the sound dubbed in later.

In American films, sound and picture are done together. Using the European system it would be possible to make a picture quickly with Marilyn, then have her dub her own voice later. I think such a system would be successful and so does Rizzoli. I will get in touch with Marilyn later and try and fix a deal for her.

The difference in shooting technique has caused us no end of trouble with the Italian crew who don’t really believe it when an assistant director calls for “Silence!” Even after all these months our crew finds it hard to believe that we are not going to do the voices and sound later.

J
UNE
17, 1962

Sunday. The floating paparazzi.

“Why don’t you take my yacht for the weekend and get away from life’s problems?” Rizzoli asked me yesterday. His yacht, a converted American sub-chaser, is beautifully appointed and manned.

Rizzoli also suggested I extend the invitation to Elizabeth. “She can have anybody aboard she wants,” he said. Elizabeth was delighted. She invited a large group of friends, including Burton; Monica Vitti, the Italian star; Michelangelo Antonioni, the director (
La Notte
); Marcello, the Duke of Caracculo and a pal of Rizzoli’s; Terence Rattigan, the playwright, and several others. The only stipulation Elizabeth made was that no photographs be taken.

Since we filmed Sunday morning, it was 2
P
.
M
. before we were able to board the yacht. But once aboard we were wined and dined magnificently as we cruised to Capri. Liz, however, was more alert than the rest of us because halfway through lunch she suddenly looked up and said, “What’s that behind the curtain?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” said one of the Italians.

One of the party got up and pulled the drape. There was a man concealed there, movie camera in hand. He was shooting footage for Rizzoli’s newsreel company.

Elizabeth was rightfully furious, as was Burton. I came in for my share of blame, too, because Rizzoli was my friend. The matter was settled before we got back to land when Rizzoli promised not to release any of the film.

Back at Ischia, Liz thought the matter over and called her attorney Louis Nizer to tell him what happened. He promised to write a strong letter to Rizzoli warning him against showing the film.

J
UNE
20, 1962

Haven’t heard a word from the executives in New York or Hollywood since they left here.

Although I am off salary and, theoretically, without any real authority I am remaining with the picture and still functioning as producer.

I don’t think the executives know what they are doing. Regardless of what they think and do, this is my project.

We are still up in the air about the battle scenes at Pharsalia and the additional scenes with Liz at the mausoleum.

Meanwhile, JLM is going ahead shooting the battle of Actium—one of the most important battles in the picture. At Cleopatra’s insistence the battle is to be fought at sea even though Antony is famed for his fighting on land.

On the eve of the battle Cleopatra visits the high priestess of Isis at the portable temple in her camp and asks that the outcome of the battle be disclosed to her. For the first time Isis fails her. The high priestess is frightened—evasive—obviously unwilling to lay before Cleopatra what she augurs for the following day. The fires will not burn. Isis will not respond. A note of doom has been sounded, foreshadowing the tragic end of the story.

J
UNE
23, 1962

For five years I have waited to see what I saw today—Cleopatra’s barge arriving at Tarsus.

The scene was right out of Plutarch. Cleopatra came sailing up the River Cydnus in a barge with gilded stern and outsized sails of purple, while oars of gold beat time to the music of flutes, fifes, and harps. She herself stands under a canopy of cloth of gold, dressed as Venus in a picture and surrounded by beautiful young girls; some stand dressed like sea nymphs and Graces, some steering at the rudder, some working at the ropes.

The barge was resplendent as it sailed by, clouds of incense rising from burners. The rigging of the barge, which cost $277,000 to build, was garlanded with flowers. The water between the wharf and the barge was thick with swimmers (75 of them) and hundreds of tiny boats. Thirty-five handmaidens on the prow of the 200-foot barge threw out coins for swimmers to dive after while forty other handmaidens strewed the water with flower petals.

We had trouble early in the day getting the handmaidens to steer the barge—they just weren’t strong enough. So we sent out a hurried call for some slim but powerful Italian men, whom Irene costumed and wigged hastily. They were then scattered about on the barge where they did the actual work while the beautiful girls merely functioned as props.

This is also Liz’s last day on the picture according to executive order of the studio.

The press wanted a story but we feared that if it was announced that Liz was finished in the picture it could be the signal for the press to descend again. Liz was determined to stay with the picture as long as possible.

Since we wanted to keep everyone happy we put out a story that it was not Liz’s last day, that she was finished for the moment but we expected to use her in other scenes.

J
UNE
25, 1962

My lawyer, Greg Bautzer, says I am to remain on the job as producer. He will get Fox to put out an announcement to that effect.

J
UNE
26, 1962

Skouras has resigned from Fox, to become effective September 20, 1962.

James Aubrey, President of CBS-TV’s network division and Darryl F. Zanuck are being mentioned as possibilities to take over.

Darryl, who is an old and good friend of mine, was production chief for many years and, in addition, is the company’s largest single stockholder.

Although I have spent much of my time the past few years fighting with Skouras I was sorry to learn he was resigning. Despite our many differences of opinion, I had always considered Skouras one of the best showmen in the business. He could have done a good job of selling
Cleopatra
, and had some novel ideas of getting guarantees before it opens.

J
UNE
28, 1962

Hume Cronyn finished his final scene as Sosigones today.

Hume was in full costume on the pier when the scene ended. He called to JLM, “Is that all, Joe?”

“Yes, Hume,” JLM said.

Hume turned to his wife, Jessica Tandy, who was on the sidelines watching, and shouted, “Jessie, we’ll go home.” With that he leaped happily off the pier into the water 25 feet below.

J
UNE
29, 1962

Now New York wants to call off Philippi—another scene which they never before have hinted they’d like to kill. The set is under construction and it’s ridiculous to do away with it, as the scene is essential for the opening of the second part of the film.

Obviously, New York cares about just one thing—ending the picture regardless of how and despite the fact we have only three weeks more to go.

JLM is so upset he sent the following cable to Skouras, Levathes, and Judge Rosenman:

J
UNE
30, 1962

Zanuck is in the fray—and he makes good sense.

Darryl, who is now in New York, gave the press a statement representing a complete vote of confidence in Skouras’ regime and an equally complete indictment of Fox’s “rule by committee” which, he said, “has approved all major decisions in production and administration during the last several years.”

Although DFZ did not say whether he had been offered the presidency of Fox, he said that the company’s president “must have the unqualified and unanimous support of a unified board of directors. He need not necessarily have total autonomy, but to
function properly … he cannot be placed in a position where he is ‘second guessed’ by inexperienced ‘committees’ …” By which he means committees loaded with Wall Street directors.

DFZ’s statement placed him smack in the middle of the factional fight within the studio’s board as to who will succeed Spyros. I think DFZ may be the man we are hoping for. Although his recent record as a producer is not good (most of his pictures lost money) he has a good record as a studio head and should be in Hollywood.

J
ULY
1, 1962

Sunday. The Italian crew refused to work today and I must say they are right.

Along with our American crew the Italians have been working days and nights all week long; most of them sleep in their clothes near the set at Ischia. Doc Merman has done a magnificent job prodding them. But we have been driving them too hard in order to finish here quickly, so they insisted on a day off.

J
ULY
2, 1962

Still no firm stand on Egypt.

One day we are going to shoot there, commitments are made, schedules planned. The next day Egypt is called off and we are to shoot the battle sequences in Spain and/or the United States.

J
ULY
5, 1962

Egypt is back on the schedule. We are returning to Rome to get ready.

J
ULY
7, 1962

Cable from Liz’s lawyer Martin Gang.

J
ULY
9, 1962

Liz wants to go to Egypt with the company but Doc Merman, who has talked with some of our Egyptian production people, says definitely not.

He was told that if she goes to Egypt there is a good chance she will be killed or there will be riots, because when she was married to Eddie Fisher, Liz made a large contribution to Israeli charities. Sounds ridiculous and improbable but Merman is convinced it would be dangerous for her.