Nicholas Ray

by Patrick McGilligan

Weisel, Al. See Frascella, Lawrence

  Welles, Orson, 89, 91, 112, 113, 115, 126, 135, 248, 318, 408, 413, 415–16

  Wenders, Wim, 478, 486, 487, 488, 490, 491

  “Wet Dreams” project, 475–76

  White, Josh, 82–83, 89–91, 90n, 230

  Wilde, Cornel, 311, 312

  Wilder, Billy, 153, 162, 237, 456

  Wilder, Thornton: appearance of, 22; Fast as protégé of, 100; La Crosse College speech of, 16–17; plays by, 22, 26–27, 101, 115; as Pulitzer Prize winner, 22; radicalism of, 18; as Ray role model/mentor, 22, 23, 24, 56, 270, 427; Ray as student of, 21, 26; Ray’s admiration for, 34; Ray’s visits with, 31, 35; “true expression of life” quest of, 54; as University of Chicago faculty member, 21; Wright-Ray relationship and, 31, 32, 34–35, 46

  Williams, Alice Kienzle. See Kienzle, Alice

  Williams, Sumner, 173, 195, 196, 271, 353, 363, 401, 423, 438, 439

  Wind Across the Everglades (film): budget for, 360, 362, 370, 376; casting for, 359, 360, 362, 365–66; deal-making for, 357–62; ending for, 371, 375–76; European release of, 413; filming for, 361, 366, 367–73, 375–76, 405; firing of Ray from, 366, 367, 371–72, 435, 436; influence of Ray’s personal life on, 28; location for, 384; Manon-Ray relationship and, 363, 364–65; postproduction activities for, 373–74, 375; previews of, 374–75; Production Code and, 358; Ray’s commitment to, 358–61; Ray’s eye-patch and, 465; Ray’s reputation and, 413, 456, 457; Ray’s views about, 375, 383; read-through for, 366–67; release of, 376; reviews of, 376; Schulberg-Ray meeting in NYC about, 358; script/themes for, 360, 362, 363, 366, 371, 383, 456

  Winters, Shelley, 15, 109, 239–40, 287, 319, 345

  WKBH radio (La Crosse), 13–14, 18, 19

  womanizing, Ray’s: during early years in Hollywood, 109; Evans-Ray marriage and, 77; father-daughter factor in, 286; Houseman-Ray relationship and, 115; in La Crosse, 20, 29; Lambert’s views about, 333–34; Odets-Ray relationship and, 270; Ray’s boasting about, 105; Ray’s image and, 239–42; Ray’s personality and, 88; and Ray’s relationships with women, 87, 89, 110; Ray’s reputation and, 241; Ray’s sexuality and, 25, 239; referrals concerning, 241; on Sylt Island, 452, 453; at Taliesin, 43; They Live by Night and, 122; at University of Chicago, 22; Utey-Ray relationship and, 399; in Washington, 77; as a youth, 7. See also specific woman

  Woman’s Secret, A (film), 138, 143–46, 149, 151, 155, 159, 169, 170, 172, 175, 231

  Wood, Natalie: Academy Award for, 317; ambitions of, 285; car accident of, 289–90; Dean and, 285, 303–4, 303n; first big role of, 125; Hopper’s relationship with, 288, 289, 304; “I’m a Fool” production and, 285, 303n; Miracle on 34th Street and, 285; personal and professional background of, 284–85; “pregnancy” of, 312; Ray documentary and, 472; Ray’s relationship with, 286–90, 302–4, 312; Rebel Without a Cause and, 88, 194, 272, 285–86, 287–89, 290, 293, 294, 295, 298, 300, 302–4, 305, 306, 407; The Searchers and, 308; and student-professor film, 474; Wagner’s relationship with, 342

  Workers Laboratory Theatre, 37, 49

  Works Progress Administration (WPA): Kazan and, 108; Ray as employee of, 68–73, 75–76, 77, 81, 97, 104, 118, 134, 193, 196, 218, 381; Washington Political Cabaret and, 74. See also Federal Theatre Project

  Wright, Frank Lloyd, 31–36, 37–48, 52, 54, 101, 169, 196, 297

  Yordan, Philip: Academy Award for, 392–95; Bronston and, 391, 394–95; Circus World, 418, 439; El Cid and, 407–8, 412; The Fall of the Roman Empire, 412–13, 420; 55 Days at Peking and, 419–20, 421, 422, 424, 425, 426, 431, 433, 434, 436, 437; Heston and, 412, 419, 425–26; In a Lonely Place and, 252; Johnny Guitar and, 246–47, 252–54, 270, 390, 395; King of Kings and, 390–99, 396n, 401–5, 407, 408, 417; Los Negroes and, 410, 411, 425; at Nikka’s, 439; professional background of, 246–47; Ray’s contract with, 418, 436, 439; Ray’s relationship with, 396, 401–5, 410, 412, 415, 435, 437, 453; Ray’s student-professor film and, 477; Ray’s withdrawal from 55 Days at Peking and, 435; reputation of, 390; Utey and, 433. See also Security Pictures

  Young Go First, The (play), 56–59, 60, 64, 140

  “Your Red Wagon.” See They Live by Night

  Zanuck, Darryl, 221–22, 228, 229, 324, 325, 340, 453

  Sources and Acknowledgments

  Queries and correspondence: Norma Barzman, Walter Bernstein, Ernest Borgnine (via Harry Flynn), Robert Calhoun, Juan Cobos, Tom Farrell, Lamont Johnson, Arthur Laurents, Arthur Leipzig, Annegret Löwe, Ted Mahar, Sylvia Maibaum, Eugenio Martín, Gerald Peary, Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr., Susan Schwartz Ray, Allen and John H. Rindahl, John Sbardellati, Pete Seeger, Clancy Sigal, Claude Stanush, Bertrand Tavernier, Robert Wagner, Alan R. and Malvin Wald, Julian Zimet (a.k.a. Julian Halevy).

  Interviews: Richard Baer, Jeff Chouinard, David Dortort, Bernard Gordon, Farley Granger, Millard Kaufman, Jud Kinberg, Mickey Knox, Joan Leslie, Richard Maibaum, Bill Pepper, Allene Roberts, José Lopez Rodero, Stanley Rubin, Marian Seldes, Stewart Stern, Herbert Swope Jr., Jon Manchip White, Philip Yordan.

  Advice and assistance in the U.S.: Jeremy Arnold, Matthew Bernstein, Pat Broeske, Paul Buhle, Jean-Pierre Coursodon, Douglas Daniel, James V. D’Arc, Ronald L. Davis, Jim Drake, Lynne Morrish Drake, Scott Eyman, Philippe Garnier, Keith Halderman, Harry Hanson, Charles Higham, Brian Kellow, John Kern, Steven Korn, Bill Krohn, Al LaValley, Vincent LoBrutto, Glenn Lovell, Leonard Maltin, Joseph McBride, John McCabe, Dennis McDougal, Joe McNeill, Alisha Mendenhall, Marilyn Moss, Paul Gregory Nagle, James Robert Parish, Gerald Peary, Gene D. Phillips, Laurel Radomski, Joanna E. Rapf, Arnie Reisman, Christiane Retzlaff, Neal M. Rosendorf, Sasha Solodukhina, Michael Sragow, David Thomson, Dave Wagner, Duane Wright, Harold Zellman.

  Especially: Ken Mate and his staff for their investigative acumen.

  Advice and assistance outside the U.S.: Charles Barr, Isabel Matilde Barrios Vicente, Ruth Barton, John Baxter, Samuel Blumenthal, Jean-Loup Bourget, Christophe Damour, Frank Deppe, Bernard Eisenschitz, Terence Gelenter, Barbara Helgenberger, Enrique Herreros, Reynold Humphries, Yola Le Cainec, Daniel Lopez, Brian Neve, Anthony Tracy, Christine Retzlaff, Andre Rubin de Celis, Santiago Rubin de Celis, Bertrand Tavernier, Mary Troath, Christian Viviani, Gwenda Young, Francesco Zippel.

  Special thanks to Dr. D. Antonio Castro Bobillo for inviting me to the Congreso Internacional in Madrid in 2008, where I discussed Ray and the blacklist.

  I am also grateful to the staff and faculty of the School of History & Archives at University College Dublin, and to Marianne Doyle, Colleen Dube, and Janine Torrell of the Fulbright Commission of Ireland for welcoming me to Dublin for five months in 2009, a Fulbright teaching appointment that also permitted time for writing and research.

  Screenings and photographs: John Baxter; Claire Brandt, Eddie Brandt’s Saturday Matinee; Rosario Lopez de Prado, Filmoteca Espanola, Madrid; Rosemary Hanes, Moving Image Section, Library of Congress; Jerry Ohlinger’s Movie Material Store; Scott McGee, Turner Entertainment Network; Paul Nagle; Allen Rindahl, Alan Rode and the Film Noir Foundation.

  Special thanks to Francy Paquette of Allied Digital Photo in Germantown, Wisconsin, for many kindnesses and services.

  Archives and organizations: Kristine Krueger, National Film Information Service (Production Code Collection), Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; Center for Advanced Film Studies, American Film Institute; Rosalie Wagner, Aurora Public Library (Aurora, Indiana); Cinémathèque Française (Paris); Cecile W. Gardner, Reference Librarian, Boston Public Library; Charis Emily Shafer, Oral History Research Office, Butler Library, Columbia University; Rachel Howell, Texas/Dallas History & Archives, Dallas Public Library (Texas); Joyce L. Pike, Special Collections (Budd Schulberg Collection), Rauner Library, Dartmouth College; David M. Hardy, Section Chief, Records Management Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation; Office of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (Wisconsin); Margo Stipe, Curator and Registrar of Collections, and Indira Berndtson, Administrator, Historic Studies, Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, Frank Lloy
d Wright Foundation, Taliesin West (Scottsdale, Arizona); Rose Eddy, Galesville Republican (Galesville, Wisconsin); Leah Donnelly, Special Collections, Fenwick Library, George Mason University; Getty Research Institute (Frank Lloyd Wright Correspondence), Los Angeles, California; Don Dailey, local historian, and Stephanie Ralph, reference librarian, Granby Library (Granby, Colorado); Barbara Truesdell, Center for Study of History and Memory, Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana); Lilly Library, Manuscripts Department (Clifford Odets Collection), Indiana University; Cara Gilgenbach, Special Collections (Robert Lewis Papers), Kent State University Library (Ohio); Connie Maginnis, Pastor, Kingfield United Methodist Church (Kingfield, Maine); Anita Doering, Brian Hannum, and Bill Petersen, Archives and Local History, City of La Crosse Public Library; Lois A. Groeschel, registrar in probate, La Crosse County; Steve Ross, director of student services, School District of La Crosse; Todd Harvey, Archive of Folk Culture (Alan Lomax Collection), Library of Congress.

  Ian Stade, Special Collections, Minneapolis Central Library; Jackie Hess, director, Mitchell Public Library (Mitchell, South Dakota); Ellen Tuttle, communications officer, Nieman Foundation, Walter Lippmann House (Cambridge, Massachusetts); Lynne M. Thomas, curator, Rare Books and Special Collections (Willard Motley Collection), Founders Memorial Library, Northern Illinois University (DeKalb, Illinois); Ron Simon, Paley Center for Media (New York City); Mary Finney, Pendleton Public Library (Pendleton, Oregon); Andy Crews, Texana/Genealogy, San Antonio Public Library (Texas); Erin Corley and Elizabeth Botten, Archives of American Art (Esther McCoy Collection), Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; Cynthia Franco, Special Collections (Oral History Collection), DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University (Dallas, Texas); Spring Green Community Library (Wisconsin); Sylter Rundschau Archiv (Sylt, Germany); Scott McGee, TBS-TCM, Turner Entertainment Network; David F. Miller, Legal Department, 20th Century-Fox (Studio Production Records); Julie Graham, Arts Special Collections, University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA); Lilace Hatayama, Manuscripts Special Collections (John Houseman Papers), Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA; Dyan Evans, Office of the University Registrar, University of Chicago; David Pavelich, Reference, University of Chicago Library; Special Collections, Regenstein Library, University of Chicago; James P. Liversidge, Popular Culture Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida; Kathryn Hodson, Special Collections (Richard Maibaum and Stewart Stern Papers), University of Iowa Libraries (Iowa City).

  Ned Comstock, Archives and Special Collections (Jerry Wald Papers and Warner Bros. Production Records), University of Southern California (Los Angeles); Katharine Beutner, Harry Ransom Center (James Jones Papers), University of Texas–Austin; Joan Miller, Special Collections (Elia Kazan Papers), Wesleyan University; Winona Public Library (Minnesota); Linda S. Ghelf, Records and Registration, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse; Paul Beck and Linda L. Sondreal, Special Collections, Murphy Library, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse; Harry Miller, Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research (Dore Schary Papers), Wisconsin State Historical Society; Special Collections (Will Lee, Daniel Taradash, and George Wells Papers), American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming (Laramie); Cynthia Ostrof, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library (New Haven, Connecticut).

  Special thanks to the librarians of the La Crosse Public Library who helped me time and again with questions and research. I couldn’t have done without the resources of the Raynor Memorial Library at Marquette University, especially the frequent advice and assistance of the reference department and the generous use of interlibrary loan.

  While perusing the Lichtig sisters’ papers in the Cinémathèque Française library in the summer of 2008 I noticed a vaguely familiar face staring at me from across the table. We shook hands at the duplicating machine. Bernard Eisenschitz, whom I first met in Paris when working on my Jack Nicholson biography fifteen years earlier, was engaged in spadework for his new book about Fritz Lang, a previous subject of mine. I was busy poaching on the turf he had claimed for himself in his excellent book Nicholas Ray: An American Journey. We had a good chuckle about that overlap and met the next day for coffee and conversation.

  Even though both are “warts and all,” I have treated Eisenschitz’s book and Susan Ray’s compilation of her husband’s writings and talks as “authorized” biographies. (Today Eisenschitz sits on the board of the Nicholas Ray Foundation.) Eisenschitz took shrewd advantage of access to many key individuals before they passed away, including members of the Kienzle family and Ray’s ex-wives, girlfriends, and close professional collaborators. I have drawn from many of those interviews and from the trail his 1990 book blazed, acknowledging them as best as possible in my notes. I am also grateful for Eisenschitz’s collegial tips and goodwill.

  By the same token I have been intrigued by Ray and his films ever since I encountered the director during his flamboyant 1973 visit to the University of Wisconsin in Madison, back when I was an undergraduate there. Many people whom I met and interviewed over the next decades knew Ray, and they play a role in these pages: The list includes (but is not limited to) Ben Barzman, John Berry, Jules Dassin, Bernard Gordon, Millard Lampell, Jesse Lasky Jr., Arthur Laurents, Norman Lloyd, Joseph Losey, Richard Maibaum, Martin Ritt, Budd Schulberg, Stewart Stern, Daniel Taradash, and Philip Yordan. Although I do not quote from my talks with them directly unless the interviews were previously published, my discussions with them have informed my portrait of Ray.

  Film scholarship is a continuum, and especially with the towering figures, there is always room for fresh research and corrections to history or hype. (I steal this thought from Dennis McDougal, who came to Milwaukee, treated me to dinner, and brazenly asked for total access to my Jack Nicholson files. I said yes and ended up blurbing his book, very different from mine.) With the great ones, there are always lingering ambiguities and mysteries to be argued or resolved by the next generation.

  A handful of people helped me with this book, above and beyond the call of duty. Special thanks to the usual suspects: my sharp-minded agent Gloria Loomis; my longtime, peerless editor Calvert Morgan Jr., who tries to strengthen not only my writing but (bless him) my quavering voice; and finally my wife, Tina Daniell, and three children—Clancy, Bowie, and Sky. One way or another they all shared in the job of work.

  Photographic Insert

  Raymond Nicholas Kienzle Jr. with his three sisters. Christmas, 1911.

  Ray’s parents, Raymond Kienzle Sr. and Lena Kienzle.

  Kienzle (still using his high school graduation photograph) makes a triumphant splash across the front page of the Racquet, the student newspaper of La Crosse Teachers College, 1930.

  “Struggle is grand”: Ray with girlfriend Jean Evans, soon to become his first wife.

  The cast of The Young Go First, the Theatre of Action’s only Broadway play, codirected by Elia Kazan. Left to right: unidentified actor, Earl Robinson, Perry Bruskin, Ben Berenberg, Will Lee, Harry Lessin, and Curt Conway. “Nik Ray” stares down from atop the mound of dirt.

  Ray, seen here motivating performers in a local community theater, traveled widely on behalf of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

  Farley Granger and Cathy O’Donnell, the ill-fated Romeo and Juliet of They Live by Night. Ray’s directing debut would sit on the RKO shelf for two years.

  The director seems at ease with John Derek and Allene Roberts on the set of Knock on Any Door, but Derek was not putty in his hands.

  Ray’s second marriage was to actress Gloria Grahame in 1948. Blissful photographs of the Las Vegas ceremony flooded America’s newspapers.

  Ray rehearses Gloria Grahame in a love scene with Humphrey Bogart for In a Lonely Place, a romantic thriller that many critics rank among his personal best. The husband-directs-wife angle made for good publicity, but off-camera their marriage was fraying.

  The director was inspired by the Colorado locations for On Dangerous Ground, an unusual, gripping film noir that Ray steered past studio skepticism. St
ar Robert Ryan, a soulmate for the director in several productions, stands at left.

  The close, conspiratorial two-man club of Ray and Robert Mitchum elevated The Lusty Men into a tone poem celebrating rodeo life and losers.

  Following his divorce from Gloria Grahame and after his troubles with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) were over, Ray developed a useful ladies’-man image in the Hollywood press. Among his many fleeting conquests were (top to bottom): Shelley Winters, Johnny Guitar star Joan Crawford, and Marilyn Monroe.

  Ray’s door opened to a “golden world” for the cast of Rebel Without a Cause, seen here during the first full reading of the script in the director’s Chateau Marmont bungalow. Clockwise from center: Natalie Wood, Nick Adams, actress Mitzi McCall, Frank Mazzola, unidentified actor, Dennis Stock (manning the tape recorder), Ray (back to camera), Stewart Stern, James Dean, Dean’s friend Jack Simmons (reading the role of Plato), and Jim Backus.

  Perfect casting for the teenage trinity: James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo in a publicity shot for Rebel Without a Cause.

  Ray and Dean had a profound kinship and ambitious plans for what they would do after Rebel Without a Cause. The star’s car-crash death on September 30, 1955, changed everything.

  Ray’s affair with the then-teenage Natalie Wood (here at the New York premiere of The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell) only lasted a few months after the filming of Rebel Without a Cause—though their friendship endured.

  The American dream on drugs: James Mason, playing the manic schoolteacher, telling Barbara Rush, his dutiful wife, that “God was wrong!” in Bigger Than Life.