Authors: Adela Gregory
Crypt 33 (20 page)
It remains a wonder that Huston was even barely able to manage the bizarre combination of characters assembled on the set. One way he dealt with such variety and complexity was simply to drink heavily and throw himself into the nightly ritual of the gambling casino. Most of the cast and crew went directly to the bars after filming and most woke up to screeching hangovers, forever blaming the air-conditioning system for its nightly breakdown. Though the early morning calls were normally delayed, much talk in the company revolved around whether they “would have the honor” of Monroe's presence that day. Most were overjoyed on days when she appeared in her white Cadillac sedan at 11:30
A.M.
A.M.
Tension between Miller and Marilyn was barely visible during the first couple of weeks. But after shooting, when Miller rewrote the next day's lines, he irritated the actress beyond belief. As difficult as it was for Marilyn to remember her lines, she hated Miller for not being able to make up his mind regarding his characters' development. She observed that the more he wrote, the less clear each became. Marilyn adhered closely to her lines, while Eli Wallach had trouble giving Miller and Huston the exact repetition of the dialogue that would still deliver the best performance. Miller wanted it his way, and Huston found it difficult to appease him. The heavy nightly drinking during the first few weeks had little effect on the performance of the crew and cast. Most were still in awe and starstruck by the combination of Gable and Monroe. Time would tell whether their competence would continue as Huston's production advanced into the second two weeks.
13
The Alkali Man
T
he bitter feud between Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe raged on silently behind the scenes; cast and crew unwittingly bore the burden of their marital woes. Miller did his best to impress the company with his professionalism, but he was forever changing scenes and characterizations, which only lengthened shooting time and added to the film's costs. Ironically the scene of his divorce from first wife Mary became the location of his final break with Marilyn. The Stix Ranch in Quail Canyon, fifty miles northeast of Reno and adjacent to Pyramid Lake, was the very spot Miller had spent recapitulating his aborted first marriage on his way to his second. Now he was in the throes of dissolving that one while in the company of his third-to-be, Inge. The Stix house would be the place where the characters Gay, Roslyn, Guido, and Isabell would get to know each other after meeting at the casino in Reno, and where Gay falls for Roslyn.
he bitter feud between Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe raged on silently behind the scenes; cast and crew unwittingly bore the burden of their marital woes. Miller did his best to impress the company with his professionalism, but he was forever changing scenes and characterizations, which only lengthened shooting time and added to the film's costs. Ironically the scene of his divorce from first wife Mary became the location of his final break with Marilyn. The Stix Ranch in Quail Canyon, fifty miles northeast of Reno and adjacent to Pyramid Lake, was the very spot Miller had spent recapitulating his aborted first marriage on his way to his second. Now he was in the throes of dissolving that one while in the company of his third-to-be, Inge. The Stix house would be the place where the characters Gay, Roslyn, Guido, and Isabell would get to know each other after meeting at the casino in Reno, and where Gay falls for Roslyn.
Huston and Frank Taylor had pushed up the start of filming to 9:45
A.M.
to allow time for Marilyn to get to the set. However, the cast often did not arrive until 10:45. Finally, around eleven Monroe's finned Cadillac would roll up in the wind-dusted sunlight next to Gable's sleek Mercedes. Miller, Huston, and second-unit director Tom Shaw would be waiting patiently.
A.M.
to allow time for Marilyn to get to the set. However, the cast often did not arrive until 10:45. Finally, around eleven Monroe's finned Cadillac would roll up in the wind-dusted sunlight next to Gable's sleek Mercedes. Miller, Huston, and second-unit director Tom Shaw would be waiting patiently.
Much of the film was shot in the Stix house, which was virtually rebuilt by art director Steve Grimes. It had been the abandoned, incomplete project of Guido and his dead wife. Within its ruins, in spite of Guido's efforts to entice Roslyn into romance, she falls for Gay, a nervous veteran unable to get over his war-induced traumas. His character is lost in pedantic, supercilious dialogue. Instead of sounding like the cowboy he is supposed to be, Gay talks like a sophisticated New Yorker in a psychotherapy group. Roslyn shoots from the hip, succinctly calling him on what he is, all this from a woman who slips into a frenzy over the unjust killing of horses! But her ill-conceived character just doesn't wash. Roslyn asks the right questions and seems to have all the right answers, more like a probing psychoanalyst than an ignorant local dance instructor.
Injecting electricity into the shots of the lengthy early scene with Guido and Marilyn dancing proved to be painstakingly tedious. But it ultimately allowed Marilyn to feel at ease with her costars and crew. She came ready to work. But the first scene Marilyn had with Gable stopped her from functioning at all. Afterward, she lay in bed, having ingested several sleeping pills yet unable to drop off to sleep. The apprehension of finally connecting with her “father” and feeling the utter loneliness of her fatherless childhood shocked her nervous system into near catatonia, leaving her emotionally frozen.
Being excited and aroused by Gable's presence was different from the lifelong fantasy of starring with a legend. She felt she would buckle under the pressure, still not quite believing it was really happening. She was good enough to costar with her movie idol in a major Hollywood film, after all. But with her insecurities she couldn't believe it.
With his room strategically next to hers on the seventh floor, Whitey Snyder would awaken Marilyn Monroe every morning, rolling her over and shaking her to consciousness. She would complain about being too tired to work. Whitey would ask her whether she planned to be on the set that day. If not he would inform the production office. He would also ask if she needed a doctor. Often enough, Monroe would request that her maid, Harriet, call the doctor. Then, if Marilyn decided she was well enough to appear, it took hours to get her ready, physically and emotionally. Whitey made great strides in preparing the perfect makeup for Marilyn while she still lay abed. Building up her confidence so that she felt sufficiently prepared was also part of Snyder's job.
Miller and Huston pondered the screenplay daily. Miller could not have been more unsure of himself Perhaps he was afraid that his wife's critique was in fact correct, that the story line and the characters were weak. He made constant last-minute adjustments that proved aimless and ineffective. Most thought Huston could find the elements of reality and truth in the story, but between his drinking and the gambling losses, he wasn't living up to his acclaim.
The relentless traveling to and from location exasperated everyone. The weather was either excruciatingly hot, overcast, or rainy, and production frequently had to be shut down until conditions changed. Between the harsh climate and the unpredictability of the motley crew, production remained on-again off-again. Even during the productive days, Huston could only get in five or six hours of serious camerawork. By the time lunch was called at noon, filming had been in progress for only an hour and a half
Meanwhile, Miller was continuously pontificating over the script with Huston, a disheartening spectacle to the rest of the company. Their leaders were not leading but only confounding the cast and crew, causing a lackadaisical attitude to develop and prevail throughout the filming. While the kaffeeklatsch was being set up in the morning, everyone's first question was, “Is Marilyn working today?” After a discussion of the odds, there came a blow-by-blow accounting of who had slept with whom the night before, and then how much Huston had drunk or was down at the craps table.
As a change of events, Frank Sinatra was near Reno appearing at his Cal-Neva Lodge on Lake Tahoe, not far from the California-Nevada border. He called publicity man Harry Spencer to invite the major stars to his show, earmarking his old friend Marilyn for attendance, of course, Gable refused to attend unless the entire company was invited. So Marilyn gathered her entourage and caravaned to Lake Tahoe. Whitey and Marilyn traveled together. They were surprised that Sinatra was playing before a standing-room-only crowd, and both hassled trying to get drinks. Marilyn sipped slowly on the Scotch Mist that Whitey had wrestled for her, coolly handling herself in the audience, applauding appreciatively and dreaming of DiMaggio as the crooner belted out her favorite love songs. After the show, Sinatra graciously visited their table, introducing himself to the company. Most were impressed by his indomitable charm, but Sinatra was brief and cordial when speaking to the actress, spending only a few minutes exchanging Hollywood pleasantries. Then, almost immediately afterward, the group pulled out to return to their hotel early enough for the sleep needed before the next day's shooting.
Meanwhile Gable, the first-time, overcautious father-to-be, tended to his wife's every move. Kay's pregnancy jangled Marilyn's nerves. To see Gable fussing over his wife may have reminded Monroe of her own failed pregnancies.
Clark Gable took immense pride in commanding the highest salary around. His $750,000, plus 10 percent of the gross, plus overtime pay of $48,000 per week, was more than twice Marilyn's at $300,000 plus an extra $3,000 per week for Paula.
His contract specifically stated he had strict control over each and every line of his, and none could be changed without his approval. He was, however, bothered by the maddening number of script changes he was asked to okay and by the surrounding confusion.
Gable's presence intimidated most of the company. Even Huston, who was six years younger than Gable, did his best to upstage him. Gable had lived very well during his legendary career and reached a high pinnacle of success. But now he was settling down and anticipating the birth of his first child, a world apart from the high-rolling Huston, who gambled and drank his nights away. Huston played on Gable's former reputation as a carouser and attempted to lure him back into his previous life-style. And every time he won or lost at the tables, he would brag to Gable, vainly hoping to arouse his envy. Huston almost got to him with the proclamation, “The one great lesson in gambling is that money doesn't mean a goddamn thing.” But the debonair Gable handled him well, feeding his director's ego yet refusing to succumb.
Early on, in fear of performing on-camera with her matinee idol, Marilyn was even later than usual, arriving at noon despite the request that she appear during the special early morning sunlight. Instead of chastising her when she made her belated entrance with her entourage of fourteen (including hairdressers, masseurs, makeup artists, body makeup artists, stand-in, dressers, secretary, personal maid, wardrobe and seamstress, chauffeur, Miller, Paula Strasberg, and Rupert Allan), Gable sat wringing his hands. But he patiently and calmly proceeded to act the scene. Actually Gable was more distressed by Montgomery Clift, who at first was more of a problem on the set than Marilyn. Clift was an emotional wreck after the disfiguring car accident that had ruined his boyish face. Perhaps Monty, the professed homosexual, was trying to prove that the macho Gable was merely a false image of a real man. Slapping the aging actor on the back when he knew Gable suffered from a slipped disk was especially disconcerting to Gable. At the outset Gable simply ignored the younger actor, shooing him away like a fly. Then Gable became fascinated with the way Clift worked on-camera and began to respect his acting finesse. Competing with Monroe's truancy, Monty was vying for attention from the crew by demonstrating his willful rebelliousness and belligerence. Also a tortured soul, he and Marilyn often giggled together in their shared recognition of all of life's absurdities. They understood each other. The director acknowledged that even with all his psychological hangups Monty was intelligent, cultured, and a superb actor.
Confident that he could handle Marilyn as he had on
The Asphalt Jungle,
Huston was expecting her to be submissive and compliant. But the Marilyn of 1960 possessed far more power, popularity, and expertise than the starlet of 1950. Likewise, Miller figured he was equipped to handle his wife, but she was displaying more independence and defiance toward him than he had ever known. At times, Huston mistakenly relied on Miller to intervene for him, but to no avail. Monroe would not listen to anything Miller said.
The Asphalt Jungle,
Huston was expecting her to be submissive and compliant. But the Marilyn of 1960 possessed far more power, popularity, and expertise than the starlet of 1950. Likewise, Miller figured he was equipped to handle his wife, but she was displaying more independence and defiance toward him than he had ever known. At times, Huston mistakenly relied on Miller to intervene for him, but to no avail. Monroe would not listen to anything Miller said.
Â
For all his frustration as the “circus” ringmaster, Huston continued to compete with Gable's macho image by immersing himself deeper in drinking and gambling. He had no go-between, as he had expected Miller to be, to deal with Marilyn and her doting acting coach Paula. And as his control on the set slipped still further, he drank and gambled still more. Facing the pressure of having to raise $1 million to renovate his estate in Ireland, he dreamed of “winning big” at the craps tables at the Mapes Hotel casino. Because of his huge losses, he placed an emergency call to his agent, Paul Kohner, to complete his contract negotiations with Universal Studios. Subsequently he flew to San Francisco to sign his contract for a new film on the life of Sigmund Freud and pick up a $25,000 advance, swearing to Kohner that he had learned his lesson and would never get involved in gambling again. But once he settled his debt with the casino bosses, Huston was once again playing craps.
A cool tomato in the games room, he could be spotted in the evening wearing a crisp shirt and sports coat, drinking scotch and leaning gently against the end of the craps table. By morning he remained fixed in the same position, still looking pressed and crisp and down another $30,000.
Huston's fifty-fourth birthday party was a welcome diversion from the ailments of the company, refocusing the spotlight on the master filmmaker. His personal friends from Paris, Dublin, London, New York, Chicago, and Hollywood flew in to surprise the eccentric director. Besides the entertainment by comedian Mort Sahl and singer Burl Ives, telegrams and flowers poured in from all over the world. His press agent, Ernie Anderson, who organized the affair in secret, even asked the ninety-five-year-old chief of the Paiute Tribe to appear in full regalia. Mrs. Mapes, the casino owner, paid back the “biggest consistent loser” at her tables by offering her hotel. But she invited so many of her social friends that the birthday bash became hugely overcrowded. Nonetheless it was a smashing success.
Â
Angry and bitter toward Miller for dragging her to Nevada for the “ridiculous movie” and for writing the undermining screenplay for his darling, Marilyn finally stopped the public charade of playing his wife and no longer even spoke to him. But then in spite of her public stand, the couple still had to share the same suite at the end of the hallway on the seventh floor of the hotel. And within that mini-suite of two bedrooms and a living room, the Millers remained silent enemies. Somehow Miller subtly suggested that he was interested in another woman though he never gave a clue as to who it might beâbut photographer Inge Morath and Miller had been exchanging long glances, and Marilyn assumed they were having an affair. (Inge was smitten by Miller's power on the set and his position in lifeâa screenwriter rarely made $225,000 a picture.) Finally their cold silence was broken and Miller screamed ugly remarks at Monroe. She retaliated by bluntly accusing him of not having any writing talent.
One evening after a few drinks in the company of cast and crew, Marilyn was ready for sleep. Whitey Snyder brought her back to the Millers' suite and began undressing the actress while her husband stood gazing silently out the window, never moving a muscle or batting an eyelash. Whitey placed her in bed and kissed her good-night on her forehead. He later commented that he could have cut the cold distance between the two with a knife.
Snyder tried to insulate the actress from Miller's hostility on the set by assuring her there would be others in her life. He also acted as the buffer between Marilyn and the publicity people and the photographers from Magnum. Dick Rown, the publicity representative, met a succession of photographers on arrival in Reno, saw them off after introducing them to the cast and crew on location, and shipped off film every night for developing into contact sheets. Whenever either Gable or Marilyn appeared on a sheet, the following procedure would commence: Magnum proof sheets would go straight to Whitey Snyder, who would “kill” the ones he disliked, then give them to Harry Mines, who would send them to Bob Lewin in Hollywood, who would show them to Rupert Allan. The photos taken by unit still photographer Al St. Hilaire would travel first to Producer's Laboratory in Hollywood, then to Rupert Allan, then to Whitey Snyder for “kills,” then to Harry Mines, and finally on to Bob Lewin. Pictures of Clark Gable from either photographer would go directly to Gable, and then back, except for the photos of Monroe and Gable together. The same procedure applied except the negative was cut out of the strip and into two pieces, with Gable receiving his half and Monroe hers. Allowing Whitey full censorship, this complicated setup was designed to prevent the release of unwanted or unattractive photos. Monroe's trust and confidence in Whitey's judgment was absolute; she gave him free rein over all her photo releases.
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