by Mark Griffin
Chapter 8: Giant
“I think Rock Hudson”: Steve Hayes, interview with author, September 19, 2016.
“I guess I wasn’t in”: George Stevens, Interview. Date unknown.
“The reaction was”: Willsmer, Giant: The Making of an Epic Motion Picture, p. 9.
“To my mind”: Willsmer, Giant: The Making of an Epic Motion Picture, p. 10.
“There was nothing regal”: Ferber, Giant (Sears Readers Club Edition), 1952, p. 28.
“We thought about Bill Holden” . . . “He’s the best”: Willsmer, Giant: The Making of an Epic Motion Picture, p. 16.
“When I first went”: Rock Hudson’s comments are taken from the documentary, George Stevens: A Filmmaker’s Journey, directed by George Stevens, Jr. and released in 1985 by Castle Hill Productions/Warner Bros.
“Wonderful, wonderful news”: Western Union telegram from Rock Hudson to George Stevens, dated November 4, 1954, archived at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick Library.
“I was very grateful”: Rock Hudson’s comments were videotaped for the documentary George Stevens: A Filmmaker’s Journey, directed by George Stevens, Jr. and released in 1985 by Castle Hill Productions/Warner Bros.
“Look at the way”: Hudson and Davidson, Rock Hudson: His Story, p. 58.
“Frankly, I would rather have” . . . “We are not going to” . . . “Liz Taylor cast herself”: Willsmer, Giant: The Making of an Epic Motion Picture, p. 19.
“We should think”: Willsmer, Giant: The Making of an Epic Motion Picture, p. 18.
“Marfa was”: “Location is Everything” by Ben Weber, Set, p. 41.
“At the time”: “A Giant Time” by Lance Avery Morgan, The Society Diaries, May-June, 2015, p. 118. See also: www.thesocietydiaries.com.
“Rock made me laugh”: Elizabeth Taylor’s comments are taken from the television special TNT Extra: A Very Special Conversation with Elizabeth Taylor, hosted by Larry King and originally broadcast on the TNT Network on March 13, 1993.
“I don’t mean to”: “Rock Hudson: An Interview” by Sandra Shevey, Playgirl, February 1974, p. 55.
“It was like”: Jane Withers, interview with author, March 6, 2015.
“Jimmy was jealous of Rock”: “The James Dean I Knew” by Bob Hinkle, online article for www.americanlegends.com.
“Stevens is throwing”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 64.
“It was after”: Graham, Giant: The Making of a Legendary American Film, p. 75.
“We were all having”: Carroll Baker’s comments are taken from the 2003 documentary Return to Giant, directed by Jim Brennan and produced by Kirby Warnock.
“The lights came up”: Willsmer, Giant: The Making of an Epic Motion Picture, p. 56.
“I had never seen”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 69.
“Elizabeth, the Earth Mother”: Willsmer, Giant: The Making of an Epic Motion Picture, p. 59.
In addition to mourning (footnote): Warner Brothers Inter-Office memo from Tom Andre to Eric Stacey, August 31, 1955, 9:15 a.m.; archived in the Warner Brothers Archives, USC School of Cinematic Arts.
“a communist picture”: Willsmer, Giant: The Making of an Epic Motion Picture, p. 63.
“Giant is a strong contender”: “Screen: Large Subject; The Cast” by Bosley Crowther, New York Times, October 11, 1956, p. 51.
“an epic film”: Review of Giant, The Hollywood Reporter, October 10, 1956, p. 3.
“with Giant, Hudson”: Review of Giant, Variety, October 10, 1956, p. 6.
“I think Rock Hudson was”: Kevin Thomas, interview with author, January 22, 2017.
“Dear George, I thought you”: Letter from Rock Hudson to George Stevens, May 29, 1962, archived in at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick Library.
Chapter 9: Written on the Wind
“The question of whether”: Hudson and Davidson, Rock Hudson: His Story, p. 61.
“Phyllis Gates and Rock Hudson began”: Carlyle, Under the Rainbow, p. 131.
“That was an arranged marriage”: Stockton Briggle’s comments are taken from the documentary, Rock Hudson: Acting the Part, which was originally broadcast on the A&E Network on March 7, 1999 (Peter Jones Productions).
“The whole thing”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 207.
“What I heard”: Marty Flaherty, interview with author, July 3, 2015.
“Phyllis behaved”: Christopher Riordan, interview with author, September 8, 2015.
“a combination of kitsch”: Halliday, Sirk on Sirk, p. 110.
“this drama of psychic violence”: Douglas Sirk’s comments are taken from the documentary, Behind the Mirror: A Profile of Douglas Sirk, directed by Sue Mallinson and produced by Mark Shivas (BBC, 1979).
“Rock Hudson would very”: Universal-International press release issued by David A. Lipton, Vice President of Marketing & Publicity.
“As usual, I’m”: Oppenheimer and Vitek, Idol: Rock Hudson, p. 59.
“Soap opera beyond”: Lauren Bacall’s comments are taken from her interview with Mark Cousins for the BBC-TV series Scene by Scene (2000), produced by May Miller.
“My career”: Bacall, By Myself and Then Some, p. 252.
“He never said a word”: Oppenheimer and Vitek, Idol: Rock Hudson, p. 59.
“Since I was”: Stack and Evans, Straight Shooting, p. 183.
“With Written on the Wind, Sirk”: David Thomson, interview with author, August 8, 2016.
“I have seen”: Ebert, The Great Movies, p. 511.
“That’s what I was”: Halliday, Sirk on Sirk, p. 122.
the so-called “flying parson”: “News to U From U-I,” undated Universal-International Press Release issued by Charles Simonelli, Eastern Advertising and Publicity Department Manager.
“I felt that it”: “Battle Hymn—25 Orphans Flying Here from Korea,” Citizen-News (Metropolitan Edition), January 31, 1956.
“A little hole”: “Dean Hess, Preacher and Fighter Pilot, Dies at 97” by Sam Roberts, New York Times, March 7, 2015.
“former jailbird”: Mike Tomkies, The Robert Mitchum Story: It Sure Beats Working, New York: Ballantine Books, 1972, p. 135.
“He’s the only man”: Letter from Colonel Dean E. Hess to William Wilkerson of The Hollywood Reporter, May 7, 1956, p. 2.
“I had a lot of problems”: Halliday, Sirk on Sirk, p. 124.
“He was there”: Halliday, Sirk on Sirk, p. 125.
“There is a great”: Letter to Philip Gerard (Eastern Publicity Manager for Universal-International) from Jack Diamond (Universal Publicity Director), September 4, 1956.
“Is Hollywood’s”: “In Focus: Rock Hudson,” Star News, February 16, 1957, p. 2.
“Perhaps the most”: “Screen: All the Cliches; Battle Hymn is Usual Film About Service,” by Bosley Crowther, New York Times, February 16, 1957, p. 14.
“Hudson has great”: Review of Battle Hymn by James Powers, The Hollywood Reporter, December 18, 1956.
“Why don’t you” . . . “Because he’s a”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 138.
“He expected everything”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson.
“The minute we got”: Clark and Kleiner, Rock Hudson—Friend of Mine, p. 72.
“I asked Rock”: Lee Garlington, interview with author, June 2015.
“It is my understanding”: MGM Inter-Office Communication from Bud Brown to Joe Finn, June 15, 1956.
“The colored boy”: Letter from Walter Strohm to William Kaplan (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer de France), June 18, 1956.
“Well, then, we have” . . . “They have decided”: Oppenheimer and Vitek, Idol: Rock Hudson, p. 61.
“One Sunday morning”: Hudson interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, August 24, 1983.
“You’ll be lucky”: Relyea, Not So Quiet on the Set, p. 52.
“There isn’t”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 144.
“Bob, do
you think”: Daniel, Tough as Nails: The Life and Films of Richard Brooks, pp. 117–18.
“moments in bwha-nality”: Review of Something of Value, Time magazine, May 20, 1957.
“forceful though hard”: Review of Something of Value by Philip T. Hartung, Commonweal.
“I don’t want”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 149.
“Rock, there’s a man” . . . “I was surprised” . . . “I learned”: Stepping Stones: The Story of a Girl Who Lived Her Dreams (unpublished memoir) by Lois Darlene Rupert, archived at the University of Wyoming/American Heritage Center.
Chapter 10: A Farewell to Arms
“my long tale”: Baker, Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story.
“a high achievement”: “Love and War in the Pages of Mr. Hemingway” by Percy Hutchison, New York Times, September 29, 1929.
“There is too much sentiment”: “Helen Hayes, Gary Cooper and Adolphe Menjou in a Film of Hemingway’s ‘Farewell to Arms’” by Mordaunt Hall, New York Times, December 9, 1932.
“It broke my heart”: Haver, David O. Selznick’s Hollywood, p. 395.
“full of bubbling energy”: Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms.
“Most directors”: Haver, David O. Selznick’s Hollywood, p. 397.
“Papa liked”: Nolan, John Huston: King Rebel, p. 153.
“Could you concentrate”: Haver, David O. Selznick’s Hollywood, p. 398.
“unplayable and undramatizable”: Behlmer, Memo from David O. Selznick, p. 471; Letter from David O. Selznick to Robert Chapman, Associate Professor of Playwriting and English at Harvard University.
“torturing”: Haver, David O. Selznick’s Hollywood, p. 398.
“It’s of utmost importance”: Telegram from David O. Selznick to Spyros Skouras, President of 20th Century-Fox, September 10, 1956; archived in The David O. Selznick Collection at The Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
“Rock Hudson is the first”: Haver, David O. Selznick’s Hollywood, p. 398.
“I did A Farewell to Arms”: Hudson interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, August 24, 1983.
“I should be less than candid”: Grobel, The Hustons, p. 446.
“In Mr. Huston”: Grobel, The Hustons, p. 447.
“And that was the end”: Hudson interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, August 24, 1983.
“He was a very nervous”: Grobel, The Hustons, p. 447.
“I have had to go”: Behlmer, Memo from David O. Selznick, p. 482; The memo, dated May 6, 1957, is from David O. Selznick to director Charles Vidor.
“I had these highly” . . . “We were shooting”: Hudson interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, August 24, 1983.
“I flipped over Rock”: Elaine Stritch’s comments are taken from the DRG Records release Elaine Stritch: At Liberty, recorded live on January 10–12, 2002 at the Joseph Papp Public Theater.
“The memo indicates”: Telegram from director Charles Vidor to producer David O. Selznick; archived in The David O. Selznick Collection at The Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
“Mr. Morris and I”: Letter from David O. Selznick to Joe Schoenfeld (editor, Daily Variety), June 21, 1957; archived in The David O. Selznick Collection at The Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
“I have never worked”: Letter from David O. Selznick to Arthur Fellows, May 29, 1957; archived in The David O. Selznick Collection at The Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
“I do hope that Rock”: Letter from David O. Selznick to Henry Willson (Famous Artists Corporation), January 14, 1957; archived in The David O. Selznick Collection at The Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
“Please keep your eye out”: Memo from David O. Selznick to cinematographer Piero Portalupi, June 22, 1957; archived in The David O. Selznick Collection at The Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
“It would be in your own”: Memo from David O. Selznick to Rock Hudson, June 20, 1957; archived in The David O. Selznick Collection at The Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
“damagingly distracting” . . . “Frightened”: Telegram from David O. Selznick to attorney Barry Brannen, July 31, 1957; archived in The David O. Selznick Collection at The Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
“It wasn’t a pleasant”: Hudson interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, August 24, 1983.
“If there was”: Review of A Farewell to Arms by William K. Zinsser, New York Herald-Tribune.
“Sweep and frankness”: Review of A Farewell to Arms, Variety, December 25, 1957.
“Hudson is an actor”: Review of A Farewell to Arms, The Hollywood Reporter, December 19, 1957.
“The essential excitement”: “David O. Selznick’s ‘A Farewell to Arms’; Hemingway Story Is New Film at Roxy—Rock Hudson, Jennifer Jones Are Starred” by Bosley Crowther, New York Times, January 25, 1958, p. 14.
“I received a call” (footnote): Stepping Stones: The Story of a Girl Who Lived Her Dreams (unpublished memoir) by Lois Darlene Rupert, archived at the University of Wyoming/American Heritage Center.
Chapter 11: The Tarnished Angels
“Pylon doesn’t work” (footnote): Halliday, Sirk on Sirk, p. 136.
“They paid Faulkner”: “Sirk’s The Tarnished Angels: Pylon Recreated” by Pauline Degenfelder, Literature/Film Quarterly, vol. 5, no. 3, Summer 1977, p. 243.
“Strangely enough”: Letter from Douglas Sirk to Albert Zugsmith, August 19, 1956; from the George Zuckerman Papers archived at The American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
“like a scarecrow”: William Faulkner: Novels (1930–1935) including Pylon (Library of America Series), p. 791.
“the raked disreputable hat”: William Faulkner: Novels (1930–1935) including Pylon (Library of America Series), p. 800.
“I went down into”: Rock Hudson’s comments are taken from a 1980 interview, which is included in the Douglas Sirk Filmmaker Collection, released by Turner Classic Movies and Universal Home Video in 2010.
“It made Douglas so angry and me so angry”: Transcript of Pete Martin interview with Rock Hudson (background for “I Call on Rock Hudson,” Saturday Evening Post, July 23, 1960).
“gallant”/“tender type”: Oppenheimer and Vitek, Idol: Rock Hudson, pp. 60–61.
“He saw me as a score”: Hofler, The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson, p. 307.
“Even though he was”: William Schallert, interview with author, December 28, 2014.
“The Tarnished Angels is a stumbling”: Review of The Tarnished Angels, Variety, November 20, 1957, p. 6.
“Mr. Faulkner’s faded story”: “Screen: Faulkner Tale; ‘The Tarnished Angels’ at the Paramount” by Bosley Crowther, New York Times, January 7, 1958, p. 31.
“Douglas Sirk took a”: Review of The Tarnished Angels by Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader, undated online article.
“I was with a bunch”: Armistead Maupin, interview with author, April 23, 2015.
“I didn’t think the story”: “Confessions of a Working Actor” by Rock Hudson, as told to Richard G. Hubler, p. 8. The manuscript is archived at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University.
“They just wanted Rock”: Oppenheimer and Vitek, Idol: Rock Hudson, p. 66.
“the absolute worst” . . . “He took a good book” . . . “Rock was then”: Martin and Charisse, The Two of Us, p. 212.
“Whenever Rock had time off”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 195.
“One of the biggest surprises”: “Louella Parsons in Hollywood,” Los Angeles Examiner; excerpted in Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 197.
“Do you want me to do”: Letter from Hedda Hopper to Jack Podell (editor, Motion Picture Magazine), July 3, 1958, archived at the Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“That would only”: Gates and Thomas, My Husband, Rock Hudson, p. 214.
“I was h
ired”: Otash, Investigation Hollywood!, p. 31.
“How long after” . . . “No, I can’t deny it”: Otash, Investigation Hollywood! pp. 32–37.
“What has Phyllis contributed”: “Exclusively Yours” by Radie Harris, Photoplay, April 1958, p. 60.
“Hi Hon—All’s I need”: Flaherty, “At Home” with Rock Hudson–Volume II.
“I was briefly”: Smith, Natural Blonde, pp. 146–47.
“Rock Hudson discovered me” . . . “In all the magazines”: Cynthia Chenault, interview with author, November 3, 2015.
“Rock Hudson gives a sympathetic”: Review of This Earth Is Mine, Variety, April 22, 1959.
Chapter 12: Pillow Talk
“No one wanted”: Hotchner, Doris Day: Her Own Story, p. 188.
“One of the most”: David Thomson’s comments are taken from the documentary “Back in Bed with Pillow Talk,” included on the 50th Anniversary Edition of Pillow Talk (Universal Studios Home Video, 2009).
“I felt that it was”: Hotchner, Doris Day: Her Own Story, p. 188.
“I liked those scripts”: Hotchner, Doris Day: Her Own Story, p. 185.
“In Ross’s office”: Hudson interview with Professor Ronald L. Davis, August 24, 1983.
“a couple of 1960 Cadillacs”: Review of Pillow Talk, Time magazine, October 19, 1959, p. 106.
“The reason why they”: Thomas Santopietro, interview with author, December 14, 2015.
“I honestly don’t think”: Doris Day, correspondence with author, December 19, 2014.
“He discovered”: Tony Randall’s comments are taken from his interview for the Turner Classic Movies Archival Project; the interview was taped on October 29, 2003 and it is archived at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Archive.
“In the original script”: Barrios, Screened Out, p. 277.
“The entire sequence”: Letter from Geoffrey M. Shurlock (of the Motion Picture Association of America) to Mrs. Kathryn McTaggart (Universal-International), February 4, 1959.
“a good, wholesome film”: Memo from Mrs. Dean Gray Edwards, President of the Federation of Motion Picture Councils, Inc., September 1959.
“The most exciting thing”: “Hunter & Melcher Prod’n Chockful of Fine Performances” by Jack Moffitt, The Hollywood Reporter, August 12, 1959, p. 3.
