The Las Vegas Story, directed by Robert Stevenson. 1952. Las Vegas: Warner Archive. DVD.
Wait ’til the Sun Shines, Nellie, directed by Henry King. 1952. Los Angeles: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. DVD.
The Hitch-Hiker, directed by Ida Lupino. 1953. Los Angeles: Kino Classics. DVD.
The Bigamist, directed by Ida Lupino. 1953. Los Angeles: Film Chest. DVD.
The French Line, directed by Lloyd Bacon. 1953. Los Angeles. Out of print.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, directed by Howard Hawks. 1953. Los Angeles: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Digital download.
Mogambo, directed by John Ford. 1953. Kenya: Warner Archive. Digital download.
Niagara, directed by Henry Hathaway. 1953. Los Angeles: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Digital download.
Pickup on South Street, directed by Samuel Fuller. 1953. Los Angeles: Masters of Cinema. Blu-Ray.
The Barefoot Contessa, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. 1954. Los Angeles and Rome: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. DVD.
Three Coins in the Fountain, directed by Jean Negulesco. 1954. Los Angeles and Rome: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Digital download.
Peyton Place, directed by Mark Robson. 1957. Los Angeles: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Digital download.
Notes
INTRODUCTION: THE AMBASSADOR HOTEL, 1925
the Cocoanut Grove: Burk, Are the Stars Out Tonight? Additional details about the Ambassador Hotel from Goodyear, “Hotel California.”
On this night in 1925: Maas, The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, 75–78.
“Gross, ugly, hairy Eddie Mannix”: Ibid., 77.
“I’d seen firsthand how Hollywood can bring you down”: Ibid., 78.
“The romance stories were a lot of bologna”: Collis, “The Hughes Legacy.”
“Remember her?”: Mathison, “Cradle-Robbing Baron.”
“the whole equation”: Fitzgerald, The Last Tycoon, Kindle loc. 271.
CHAPTER 1: HOLLYWOOD BABYLON
“Prohibitionists, suffragettes, retirees”: Williams, The Story of Hollywood, 41.
driven around town: Marshall Neilan, handwritten autobiographical notes, 1954, Folder 21, Marshall Neilan Special Collection, Margaret Herrick Library.
the first motion picture made entirely within the community of Hollywood: Schickel, D. W. Griffith: An American Life, 149.
Love Among the Roses: Williams, The Story of Hollywood, 58.
resurrected the Ku Klux Klan: Rosenwald, “The Ku Klux Klan Was Dead. The First Hollywood Blockbuster Revived It.”
“the most virulently racist major movie”: Cheshire, “Why No One Is Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Feature Film.”
“The picture had me on the edge of my seat”: Maas, The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, 11.
“a magic name”: Simberg, “Studio Club Closes Doors on Memories.”
“I’m not psychic”: Drew, “Billie Dove,” 15.
“I wanted motion pictures”: Ankerich, “Billie Dove,” 76.
“Not that I doubted”: Stamp, Lois Weber in Early Hollywood, Kindle locs. 352–54.
“The only bona fide woman’s sphere”: Ibid., Kindle locs. 661–63.
“Hollywood is honeycombed with prostitutes”: Williams, The Story of Hollywood, 89.
“plainly, they were food”: Brownlow, The Parade’s Gone By, 43.
“She was not well dressed”: Drew, “Billie Dove,” 21.
Schulberg made the Alexandria the family’s first stop: Schulberg, Moving Pictures, 91.
the Alexandria lobby: Schulberg, Moving Pictures, 90; and Marshall Neilan’s autobiographical notes.
“After she finishes a picture”: Schulberg, Moving Pictures, 91.
“You wouldn’t hear about it”: Louella Parsons Oral History, June 1959.
“bichloride of mercury”: Pita, “Olive Thomas, the Original ‘Flapper’ and a Mon Valley Native, Still Fascinates.”
cleaning product: Goessel, The First King of Hollywood, 261.
“wild cat combat”: Vogel, Olive Thomas, Kindle loc. 1384.
ruptured bladder: Williams, The Story of Hollywood, 107.
Griffith built a model of Babylon: Ibid., 87.
“Hollywood Babylon”: Ibid., 93.
he returned to the East Coast: “Lo, the Movies Have Achieved Revivals!”
CHAPTER 2: THE MANY MRS. HUGHESES
“A Motion Picture Novel”: Kemm, Rupert Hughes, 75.
“a Bowery washerwoman”: Finstad, Heir Not Apparent, 380.
“kiss nearly every woman”: Ibid., 347.
“to take a cruise”: Rush Hughes deposition, September 10, 1976.
“Hollywood wasn’t even on the map”: Louella Parsons Oral History.
“WELCOME WILL H. HAYS”: Williams, The Story of Hollywood, 112–13.
“Hays was the guest of honor”: Kemm, Rupert Hughes, 135.
“search for my fortune”: Finstad, Heir Not Apparent, 60.
“The outermost ends of the earth”: Ibid., 107.
Houston Riot of 1917: Wisenberg, “The 1917 Houston Riot. And the Era of Black Lives Matter”; Brown, “Seeking Justice for the Mass Hanging of Black Soldiers After the Bloody 1917 Houston Riots.”
“I lived right in the middle of one race riot”: Citizen Hughes, 162.
paranoia that he could contract polio: Fowler, “Howard Hughes: A Psychological Autopsy.”
“She was taken for a minor operation”: Annette Gano Lummis deposition, August 12, 1977.
“Never share control”: Raymond D. Fowler, Ph.D., “A Brief History of Howard R. Hughes,” Folder “Fowler—A Brief History of Howard R. Hughes 1979,” Raymond Fowler files, courtesy of Sandy Fowler.
Annette agreed: Finstad, Heir Not Apparent, 117.
“a charming young boy”: Annette Gano Lummis deposition, August 12, 1977.
“movie people”: Finstad, Heir Not Apparent, 118.
letter from Allene to Big Howard: Dietrich, Howard: The Amazing Mr. Hughes, 32.
“the truest film play you ever saw”: Kemm, Rupert Hughes, 129.
“Mrs. Rupert Hughes”: Ibid., 132.
“There was something the matter with her”: Ibid.
“an opportunity to expound”: Ibid., 139.
“Marriage is the greatest bunco game in the world”: St. Johns, “Is Marriage a Bunco Game?”
like a younger version of Adelaide: Eleanor Boardman d’Arrast deposition, March 30, 1977.
Rupert shot her down: Kemm, Rupert Hughes, 143.
“a brave, brilliant woman”: “MRS. RUPERT HUGHES A SUICIDE IN CHINA; Message from Standard Oil Man at Haiphong Tells Author of Tragedy.”
“Howard R. Hughes Jr., son of the late president of the Hughes Tool Company”: “Death Car Driver Free.”
Stoddard’s family suspected: Allyson Malek (grand-niece of Mata Stoddard), email correspondence with author, November 2016.
“swathed in bandages”: “Death Car Driver Free.”
Hughes first denied: Mata Stoddard coroner’s inquest, February 11, 1924, transcript.
“I can’t remember”: Ibid.
“constant problem”: Johnston, Houston, the Unknown City, 328.
“the only two people”: Fowler, “A Brief History of Howard R. Hughes.”
its success had been inconsistent: transcript of tax hearing held in Washington, D.C., on September 30, 1926.
“had such a fortune”: Felix T. Hughes to Howard R. Hughes Jr., January 28, 1924.
“My father bragged so much”: Howard R. Hughes Jr., telegram to R. C. Kuldell, January 29, 1924.
“serious developments”: R. C. Kuldell, telegram to Howard R. Hughes Jr., February 15, 1924.
“indiscreet in the Conlin affair”: Howard R. Hughes Jr., telegram to R. C. Kuldell, February 18, 1924.
Hughes was sending Conlin money: Hal Conlin to “Mac” (Neil S. McCarthy), May 27, 1928.
“dishonorable ungenerous selfishness”: Kemm, Rupert Hughes, 148–49.
> “lied flatly again and again”: Ibid., 149.
“calling me a liar, a thief and a miser”: Howard Hughes to Rupert Hughes, April 29, 1924.
The relatives demanded: Transcript of tax hearing, September 30, 1926.
forcing Hughes to put up his own shares: Carl Byoir and Associates notes on Stephen White draft of “The Howard Hughes Story,” written for Look in 1954.
“I may have owned it”: Howard Hughes, in conversation with Stephen White, transcript dated December 23, 1953.
“The thing I knew”: Muir, “Fabled Flier’s Millions Resulted from Doing What Came Naturally.”
“I wasn’t building anything for myself “: “A Texan with Ideas of His Own Risks His Millions in Movies but Finds Originality Pays.”
“steady, sober young man”: Dietrich, “The Howard I Remember.”
“The doctor called Ella”: Ibid.
“never saw the slightest sign of affection”: Ibid.
“she was the queen”: Annette Gano Lummis deposition, August 12, 1977.
“I can’t send him with all that money”: Ibid.
“very shortly after my mother’s death”: Rush Hughes deposition, September 10, 1976.
Rush and Avis never saw Rupert again: Ibid.
“throw his mother down the stairs”: Drew, “Eleanor Boardman,” 50–51.
“that son-of-a-bitch”: Finstad, Heir Not Apparent, 287.
twin beds: Dietrich, Howard, 34.
CHAPTER 3: NO TOWN FOR A LADY
“You’ll let me watch”: Keats, “Howard Hughes: A Lifetime on the Lam,” 127.
“postproduction was not going smoothly”: A. A. MacDonald, telegram to Howard R. Hughes, June 4, 1925.
“enthused and disgusted”: A. A. MacDonald, telegram to Howard R. Hughes, June 14, 1925.
Graves’s cut of the film: Neil S. McCarthy, telegram to Howard R. Hughes, March 10, 1926.
cut Graves out: Ralph Graves to Howard R. Hughes Jr., May 12, 1926.
“lifelong debt”: Ralph Graves to Howard R. Hughes Jr., 1962.
“investors”: unsigned letter to Lloyd Wright, October 27, 1967.
“I had to prove me right”: Keats, “Howard Hughes,” 128.
“Failure was unconscionable”: Dietrich, Howard, 45.
“the richest man in the world”: Ibid., 39.
“I don’t carry any money”: Ibid., 55.
“I don’t want to go on record”: Ibid., 57.
“friendship with Marshall Neilan”: Publicity biography of Howard Hughes, February 1930, Lincoln Quarberg collection.
Hughes would request: Howard Hughes to Stephen White, December 23, 1953.
“roar on into the night”: Marshall Neilan, handwritten notes, 1954.
“pretty virgins”: Maas, The Shocking Miss Pilgrim, 74–75.
“protégée of mine” Neilan, handwritten notes.
a new young Texan oilman: Beatty, “The Boy Who Began at the Top.”
“the screen is a powerful influence”: “A Texan with Ideas of His Own . . .”
“If my pictures didn’t make money”: Ibid.
“any price”: Vaught, “Howard Hughes: The Producer of Hell’s Angels at Home in Los Angeles’s Hancock Park.”
built for socialite Eva K. Fudger: Ibid.
“Cannot understand”: Ella Rice Hughes, telegram to H. R. Hughes, December 22, 1925.
“Love Ella”: Ella Rice Hughes, telegram to H. R. Hughes, December 24, 1925.
wiring Dietrich instructions: Howard Hughes, telegram to N. Dietrich, December 31, 1925.
“a tentative deal”: Neilan, handwritten notes.
“Let’s make it”: Ibid.
“Vaseline-haired pretty boys”: Ibid.
Neilan made an excuse: Ibid.
four members of Hughes’s crew to die: Rogers, “4 Million Dollars, and Four Men’s Lives.”
“Howard wanted to film”: Dietrich, Howard, 71–72.
“Hughes was unfamiliar”: Rogers, “4 Million Dollars, and Four Men’s Lives.”
“As he whirled earthward”: Ibid.
“the Caddo office direct”: “‘Hell’s Angels’ Completed.”
“For over two years”: Rogers, “4 Million Dollars, and Four Men’s Lives.”
“your idea of a practical joke” and further correspondence and photograph: Lincoln Quarberg files, Folder 4, Margaret Herrick Library.
“a heck of a life”: Finstad, Heir Not Apparent, 27.
“a spendthrift kid”: Dietrich, Howard, 77.
“I think she didn’t like the people”: Annette Gano Lummis deposition, August 12, 1977.
“extroverted, voluptuous actresses”: Dietrich, Howard, 80.
“all mixed up with Klan”: Fred Lummis to Howard Hughes, November 8, 1928.
The divorce agreement: “Agreement between HRH and Ella Rice.”
“The divorced wife of Howard Hughes”: Los Angeles Paper, September 14, 1930.
“We got married and it didn’t work”: Muir, “Fabled Flier’s Millions Resulted from Doing What Came Naturally.”
“I have been accused of practically everything”: Howard Hughes to Stephen White, transcript of conversation dated September 29, 1953.
CHAPTER 4: THE GIRL WITH THE SILVER HAIR
“It sounds like I’m bragging”: Ankerich, “Billie Dove,” 95.
“silver-flecked long bob”: Spensley, “For the Love of Billie.”
“Going mole hunting on Dove”: Skolsky, “Tintype (Billie Dove).”
“I was once a fan”: Busby, “Beauty Bows to Brains: Billie Dove, Long Praised for Bewitching Charm, Wins Praise for Histrionic Ability.”
tears came to her eyes: Ankerich, “Billie Dove,” 75.
“It was a short name”: Ibid.
“I just sat up there smiling”: Drew, “Billie Dove,” 16.
“took it for granted”: Ibid.
“I knew nothing about sex”: Ibid., 18.
“only marry a Jewish girl”: Ankerich, “Billie Dove,” 81.
“We didn’t kill him”: Willat and Birchard, “Conversations with Irvin V. Willat.”
“Marry me, marry me, marry me”: Ankerich, “Billie Dove,” 82.
“okay to get married”: Drew, “Billie Dove,” 26.
“Westerns and boat pictures”: Ibid., 25
“I just stood around and looked scared”: Ankerich, “Billie Dove,” 83.
“our philosophies of life”: Stamp, Lois Weber in Early Hollywood, Kindle loc. 4610.
“The producers select the stories”: Ibid., loc. 4663.
“The real American girl”: Kingsley, “Busy U City.”
“cute little dolls”: Elliot, “Exit Flapper, Enter Woman.”
“The modern girl”: Stamp, Lois Weber in Early Hollywood, Kindle loc. 4917.
“I wanted to look ill”: Drew, “Billie Dove,” 33.
“He tried to run my life”: “Billie Dove Obtains Divorce; Beatings by Willat, Director, Related.”
“Marion had a special butler”: Ankerich, “Billie Dove,” 88.
postmaster of Burbank: Drew, “Billie Dove,” 36.
“cutting the back of my hair”: Ibid., 37.
“a zombie”: Ankerich, “Billie Dove,” 88.
“he had me cased”: Ibid.
“deep love”: Ibid., 89.
3 A.M. movie: Behlmer, “Howard Hughes and Hell’s Angels.”
“I was still Mrs. Irvin Willat”: Ankerich, “Billie Dove,” 89.
Believing Hughes had disposable cash: Willat and Birchard, “Conversations with Irvin V. Willat.”
“Billie and my father”: Wagner, “Still Big in Germany.”
“bought and sold”: Drew, “Billie Dove,” 47.
“I lost all the respect”: Ankerich, “Billie Dove,” 89.
“What, you go to Las Vegas?”: Drew, “Billie Dove,” 47.
“a dress, very plain and long”: Ibid.
“After we got off the train”: Lillian E. Kenaston (Billie Dove) deposition, July 23, 1981.
&n
bsp; “I never asked any questions”: Drew, “Billie Dove,” 48.
“We didn’t stay”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 5: A BODY LIKE A DUSTPAN
“There’s a girl who has absolutely nothing”: March, “Young Howard Hughes, Reminiscences by a Survivor of Hollywood’s Golden Era.”
“Film still far from completed”: Lincoln Quarberg, telegram, June 19, 1929.
“brown and lustrous and limpid”: March, “Young Howard Hughes.”
“rare and mysterious quality”: Ibid.
“so bad it was embarrassing”: Ibid.
“a beautiful, upper-class slut”: Ibid.
“Nothing on earth”: Stenn, Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow, 44.
“It’s breaking up my marriage”: Ibid., 29.
terminated her pregnancy: Ibid., 30.
“Chuck went away”: “Is Jean Harlow Dead? Her Mother Says No!”
“I had to work or starve”: Stenn, Bombshell, 32.
“My dear Miss Harlow”: March, “Young Howard Hughes.”
cut the fabric: Faith Domergue, autobiographical manuscript.
“we all held our breath”: March, “Young Howard Hughes.”
“That’s better”: Ibid.
“she had guts”: Ibid.
“ducks flying over the street”: “A Texan with Ideas of His Own . . .”
“more out of curiosity”: Marshall Neilan, handwritten autobiographical notes.
The head shot of Harlow: Hell’s Angels program.
“This picture is guilty”: Quirk, “Close-Ups and Long-Shots.”
“You hate Jean Harlow”: “A Texan with Ideas of His Own . . .”
“I hate Hollywood”: Lieber, “But I Can Unmask Jean Harlow!”
“We sneaked in”: Ankerich, “Billie Dove,” 90.
A local character named Eddie Brandstatter: Perry, “Brandstatter Brought the Party to Old Hollywood.”
“struck me and knocked me down”: “Billie Dove Obtains Divorce.”
Willat had never actually abused her: Ankerich, “Billie Dove,” 89.
“I am free”: Whittaker, “Billie Dove ‘At Liberty.’”
CHAPTER 6: A COCK VS. THE CODE
“Miss Dove has no singing voice”: “The Painted Angel,” January 8, 1930.
$29,000 in its first week: “Comparative Grosses for May.”
“It won’t be long, Billie Dove”: “Lovely Billie Dove Faces Big Handicap.”
“Billie Dove carried the story”: “Sweethearts and Wives,” July 9, 1930.
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