The Last Tycoon
Page 16
p.21, Charles Francis Adams: Charles Francis Adams Jr (1835–1915), part of the Adams political dynasty, was a railway executive and historian. Wylie goes on to paraphrase famous comments he made in his autobiography, published in 1916.
p.21, Gould, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Astor: Examples of American business tycoons: Jay Gould (1836–92), Cornelius Vanderbilt (1843–99), Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) and John Jacob Astor (1763–1848).
p.23, 42nd Street: A popular 1933 musical film directed by Lloyd Bacon and choreographed by Busby Berkeley.
p.26, all the kingdoms: See Luke 4:15.
p.27, Tom Mix or Bill Hart: Tom Mix (1880–1940) and William S. Hart (1864–1946) were stars of the early Westerns.
p.27, Come, come, I love you only: From the song ‘My Hero’ by Stanislaus Stange (1862–1917) for his adaptation of the operetta The Chocolate Soldier (1909) by Oscar Straus (1870–1954).
p.28, Will Rogers… Hollywood’s St Francis: Will Rogers (1879–1935) was a hugely popular actor, entertainer and humourist, known for his good nature and moral lifestyle.
p.33, DeMille: Cecil B. DeMille (1881–1959) was an important Hollywood director and producer, mostly remembered for his historical epics.
p.35, the Emperor and the Old Guard: A reference to Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) and the most high-ranking regiment of his imperial guards, made up of veterans.
p.36, Griffith: D.W. Griffith (1875–1948) was one of the most important early film directors, whose 1915 masterpiece The Birth of a Nation pioneered many new techniques.
p.38, Morgan’s: Possibly a reference to the actor Frank Morgan (1890–1949).
p.38, Tout passe… éternité: “Everything comes to an end. – Only robust art is eternal” (French), ll. 41–42 of the poem ‘L’Art’ (1858) by Théophile Gautier (1811–72).
p.39, the Prince of Denmark: Introduced later in the text as “Prince Agge”, who was a real historical figure: Prince Aage of Denmark (1887–1940) was a cousin of the King of Denmark who renounced his rights to the throne and joined the foreign legion. According to Fitzgerald’s notes, he is visiting Stahr’s company “to learn about pictures from the beginning”.
p.43, Georgie Jessel: George Jessel (1898–1981) was a famous entertainer, actor and producer.
p.48, Reinhardt’s Miracle: A play, based on a medieval legend, written by Karl Vollmöller (1878–1948) and directed by Max Reinhardt (1873–1943), which was restaged on Broadway in 1924, having premiered in London in 1911.
p.50, Margaret Sullavan: Margaret Sullavan (1911–60) was a Hollywood actress who specialized in playing romantic leads.
p.50, Colman: Ronald Colman (1891–1958) was an English actor who often played the role of the archetypal English gentleman in Hollywood productions.
p.51, a Eugene O’Neill play: Eugene O’Neill (1888–1953) was an Irish American playwright who specialized in realist dramas featuring disillusioned, contemplative characters.
p.51, Carroll and McMurray: A reference to the Hollywood actors Madeleine Carroll (1906–87) and Fred MacMurray (1907–91). These names were changed by Wilson to the fictitious “Corliss and McKelway”, perhaps because of unfounded libel fears.
p.52, Hays: A reference to Will H. Hays (1879–1954), the president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, who in 1930 established a code regulating the content of movies.
p.55, Joe Breen: Joseph Breen (1888–1965), a film censor for the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America.
p.60, Bernadotte: The name of the current Swedish royal house, of French origin, which came to power in 1810. Prince Agge, being part of the Danish royal family, would not have been related to the Bernadottes.
p.60, Hell’s Angels or Ben Hur: Hell’s Angels (1930) and Ben Hur (1925) were historical epics, directed by Howard Hughes (1905–76) and Fred Niblo (1874–1948) respectively, which went over their production budgets but met with major success at the box office.
p.63, Nicolay’s biography: A reference to Abraham Lincoln: A History by Lincoln’s former secretaries John G. Nicolay (1832–1901) and John Hay (1838–1905), first published in 1890.
p.66, Knights of Columbus: An American Catholic fraternal organization founded in Connecticut in 1882.
p.69, Claudette Colbert: Claudette Colbert (1903–96) was a Hollywood actress often cast in romantic comedies.
p.69, coureur du bois: More correctly known as coureur des bois, literally “runner of the woods” (French), a term used to designate French Canadian fur traders.
p.71, Cary: The Hollywood star Cary Grant (1904–86).
p.72, Sidney Howard: Sidney Howard (1891–1939), a Pulitzer Prize-winning screenwriter and playwright.
p.73, Tracy: Spencer Tracy (1900–67), a major Hollywood actor.
p.74, Manon: Presumably a film adaptation of the French novel Manon Lescaut (1731) by Abbé Prévost (1697–1763).
p.79, Aeschylus… Diogenes… Asclepius… Menander: Aeschylus (525/24–456/55 bc) was the first of the great classical Athenian tragedians; Diogenes of Sinope (fourth century bc) was a Greek philosopher and founder of the Cynic school of thought; Asclepius was the god of medicine in Greek mythology; and Menander (c.342–c.292 bc) was the best-known dramatist of Athenian New Comedy. In the 1941 edition Edmund Wilson substituted “Euripides” for “Diogenes” and “Aristophanes” for “Asclepius”, second-guessing Fitzgerald’s intentions and believing he was correcting mistakes in the author’s draft, but, as Matthew J. Bruccoli points out in the Cambridge University Press edition, there is no evidence to suggest Fitzgerald got confused in his intended references.
p.89, ‘The Thundering Beat of My Heart’: A reference to ‘The Beat of My Heart’ (1934), a song composed by Harold Spina (1906–97), with lyrics by Johnny Burke (1908–64).
p.90, tapped for Bones: Chosen for the elite Skull and Bones society at Yale University.
p.90, Benny Goodman playing ‘Blue Heaven’: Benny Goodman (1909–86) was a jazz clarinettist and band leader. ‘My Blue Heaven’ (1924) was a popular song composed by Walter Donaldson (1893–1947), with lyrics by George Whiting (1884–1943).
p.90, Paul Whiteman with ‘When Day Is Done’: Paul Whiteman (1890–1967) was a popular jazz band leader. ‘When Day Is Done’ (1926) is the English version, with lyrics by B.G. Desylva (1895–1950), of the German song ‘Madonna’ (1924) by Robert Katscher (1894–1942).
p.90, ‘Little Girl, You’ve Had a Busy Day’: The original song is called ‘Little Man, You’ve Had a Busy Day’ (1934) and was composed by Mabel Wayne (1904–78), with lyrics by Maurice Sigler (1901–61) and Al Hoffman (1902–60).
p.90, ‘Lovely to Look at’: A song composed by Jerome Kern (1885–1945), with lyrics by Dorothy Fields (1905–74) and Jimmy McHugh (1894–1969), for the musical film Roberta (1935).
p.92, They asked me how I knew… my true love was true: The beginning of the song ‘Smoke Gets in Your Eyes’ (1933), composed by Jerome Kern (1885–1945), with lyrics by Otto Harbach (1873–1963).
p.95, Sonja Henie: Sonja Henie (1912–69) was a Norwegian Olympic figure skater and Hollywood actress.
p.100, John Barrymore and Pola Negri: John Barrymore (1882–1942) was an American stage and film actor. Pola Negri (1897–1987) was a Polish-born Hollywood actress.
p.100, Connie Talmadge: Constance Talmadge (1898–1973) was a film actress of the silent era.
p.102, Glenn Miller playing ‘I’m on a See-Saw’: Glenn Miller (1904–44) was the leader of a popular swing band. ‘I’m on a See-Saw’ (1934) is a song composed by Vivian Ellis (1904–96), with lyrics by Desmond Carter (1895–1939).
p.104, Randolph Hearst: William Randolph Hearst (1863–1951) was a US newspaper tycoon and politician.
p.110, McKinley: William McKinley (1843–1901) was the twenty-fifth President of the United States.
p.110, The Hairy Ape: A 1922 play by Eugene O’Neill.
p.120, Spengler: Oswald Spengler was a German historian and philosopher who is most famous for his The Decline of the West (1918).
p.121, Sir Francis Drake had nailed his plaque to the boulder on the shore: The English explorer Sir Francis Drake (c.1540–96) reportedly left a brass plaque where he landed in northern California in 1579. A plaque which purported to be Drake’s emerged in 1936, but it was subsequently proven to be a hoax.
p.122, Emerson: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82), writer and poet, leader of the Transcendentalist movement.
p.122, Rosicrucian: Pertaining to the Rosicrucian Order, an esoteric society whose teachings are said to be based on secret teachings from antiquity.
p.126, La Borwitz… Fleishacker, etc.: This list mixes fictitious and actual Hollywood figures. Jean Harlow (1911–37) was a Hollywood megastar and sex symbol whose life was cut tragically short. Douglas Fairbanks Sr (1883–1939) was a major actor, producer and director. Spyros Skouras (1893–1971) was an important Greek-born Hollywood executive. For Colman see second note to p. 50.
p.131, In disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes: From the first line of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29.
p.132, Buddy Ebsen… Harry Davenport… Donald Crisp: Buddy Ebsen (1908–2003), Harry Davenport (1886–1949) and Donald Crisp (1880–1974) were well-established character actors in Hollywood at the time.
p.134, Sex Fifth Avenue: A pun on Saks Fifth Avenue, the upmarket New York department store.
p.139, Gary Cooper: Gary Cooper (1901–61) was a Hollywood actor well-known for his cowboy roles.
p.139, Lord Charnwood: A reference to the 1916 biography Abraham Lincoln by the British writer and politician Godfrey Benson, 1st Baron Charnwood (1864–1945).
p.148, the Black-and-Tans: Special constables recruited from Britain in 1920 to help the Royal Irish Constabulary fight the Republican insurgents.
p.151, Beautiful Doll: Probably a reference to the song ‘Oh, You Beautiful Doll’ (1911), composed by Nat D. Ayer (1887–1952), with lyrics by A. Seymour Brown (1885–1947).
p.154, Harry Bridges: Harry Bridges (1901–90) was a union leader in San Francisco who became the head of International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
p.154, The New Masses: A left-wing magazine aligned with the Communist Party.
p.154, the “I AM” cult: The name of an occultist Californian sect active in the 1930s.
p.155, Doctor Caligari and Salvador Dalí’s Le Chien andalou: The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari is a 1920 German Expressionist horror film directed by Robert Wiene (1873–1938); Un chien andalou is a 1929 surrealist short film directed by Luis Buñuel (1900–83), in collaboration with Salvador Dalí (1904–89).
p.155, Communist Manifesto: The influential 1848 pamphlet by Karl Marx (1818–83) and Friedrich Engels (1820–95).
p.156, Fanny Brice: Fanny Brice (1891–51) was a comedian, singer and actress who was most famous for her radio series The Baby Snooks Show.
p.158, Balanchine the Russian dancer: George Balanchine (1904–83) was a Russian ballet dancer who moved to the US and worked in Hollywood.
p.158, the Ritz Brothers: A 1930s and ’40s comedy act formed by three brothers: Al (1901–65), Jimmy (1904–85) and Harry (1907–86).
p.161, Frankensteen: Richard Frankensteen (1907–77) was a union official who was beaten, along with his colleague Walter Reuther (1907–70), by strike-breakers at the Ford plant in Detroit in 1937. He was not Jewish as Stahr seems to think.
p.163, Legion of Decency: A Catholic organization formed in 1934 to curb indecency in movies.
p.164, Edward VII’s boast… best society in Europe: King Edward VII (1841–1910) was known for his fondness for fashion in high society, especially during the years he was still Prince of Wales, under the reign of his mother, Queen Victoria.
p.164, Carole Lombard: Carole Lombard (1908–42) was a Hollywood actress who starred in many comedies.
p.165, Fitts: Buron Fitts (1895–1973) was the District Attorney for Los Angeles County. He was rumoured to have close links with studio bosses.
Extra Material on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Life
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on 24th September 1896 at 481 Laurel Avenue in St Paul, Minnesota. Fitzgerald, who would always be known as “Scott”, was named after Francis Scott Key, the author of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ and his father’s second cousin three times removed. His mother, Mary “Mollie” McQuillan, was born in 1860 in one of St Paul’s wealthier streets, and would come into a modest inheritance at the death of her father in 1877. His father, Edward Fitzgerald, was born in 1853 near Rockville, Maryland. A wicker-furniture manufacturer at the time of Fitzgerald’s birth, his business would collapse in 1898 and he would then take to the road as a wholesale grocery salesman for Procter & Gamble. This change of job necessitated various moves of home and the family initially shifted east to Buffalo, New York, in 1898, and then on to Syracuse, New York, in 1901. By 1903 they were back in Buffalo and in March 1908 they were in St Paul again after Edward lost his job at Procter & Gamble. The déclassé Fitzgeralds would initially live with the McQuillans and then moved into a series of rented houses, settling down at 599 Summit Avenue.
This itinerancy would disrupt Fitzgerald’s early schooling, isolating him and making it difficult to make many friends at his various schools in Buffalo, Syracuse and St Paul. The first one at which Fitzgerald would settle for a prolonged period was the St Paul Academy, which he entered in September 1908. It was here that Fitzgerald would achieve his first appearance in print, ‘The Mystery of the Raymond Mortgage’, which appeared in the St Paul Academy school magazine Now and Then in October 1909. ‘Reade, Substitute Right Half’ and ‘A Debt of Honor’ would follow in the February and March 1910 numbers, and ‘The Room with the Green Blinds’ in the June 1911 number. His reading at this time was dominated by adventure stories and the other typical literary interests of a turn-of-the-century American teen, with the novels of G.A. Henty, Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe and Jane Porter’s The Scottish Chiefs among his favourites; their influence was apparent in the floridly melodramatic tone of his early pieces, though themes that would recur throughout Fitzgerald’s mature fiction, such as the social difficulties of the outsider, would be introduced in these stories. An interest in the theatre also surfaced at this time, with Fitzgerald writing and taking the lead role in The Girl from Lazy J, a play that would be performed with a local amateur-dramatic group, the Elizabethan Drama Club, in August 1911. The group would also produce The Captured Shadow in 1912, The Coward in 1913 and Assorted Spirits in 1914.
At the end of the summer of 1911, Fitzgerald was once again uprooted (in response to poor academic achievements) and moved to the Newman School, a private Catholic school in Hackensack, New Jersey. He was singularly unpopular with the other boys, who considered him aloof and overbearing. This period as a social pariah at Newman was a defining time for Fitzgerald, one that would be echoed repeatedly in his fiction, most straightforwardly in the “Basil” stories, the most famous of which, ‘The Freshest Boy’, would appear in The Saturday Evening Post in July 1928 and is clearly autobiographical in its depiction of a boastful schoolboy’s social exclusion.
Hackensack had, however, the advantage of proximity to New York City, and Fitzgerald began to get to know Manhattan, visiting a series of shows, including The Quaker Girl and Little Boy Blue. His first publication in Newman’s school magazine, The Newman News, was ‘Football’, a poem written in an attempt to appease his peers following a traumatic incident on the football field that led to widespread accusation of cowardice, compounding the young writer’s isolation. In his last year at Newman he would publish
three stories in The Newman News.
Also in that last academic year Fitzgerald would encounter the prominent Catholic priest Father Cyril Sigourney Webster Fay, a lasting and formative connection that would influence the author’s character, oeuvre and career. Father Fay introduced Fitzgerald to such figures as Henry Adams and encouraged the young writer towards the aesthetic and moral understanding that underpins all of his work. In spite of the licence and debauchery for which Fitzgerald’s life and work are often read, a strong moral sense informs all of his fiction – a sense that can be readily traced to Fay and the author’s Catholic schooling at Newman. Fay would later appear in thinly disguised form as Amory Blaine’s spiritual mentor, and man of the world, Monsignor Darcy, in This Side of Paradise.
Fitzgerald’s academic performance was little improved at Newman, and he would fail four courses in his two years there. In spite of this, in May 1913 Fitzgerald took the entrance exams for Princeton, the preferred destination for Catholic undergraduates in New Jersey. He would go up in September 1913, his fees paid for through a legacy left by his grandmother Louisa McQuillan, who had died in August.
At Princeton Fitzgerald would begin to work in earnest on the process of turning himself into an author: in his first year he met confrères and future collaborators John Peale Bishop and Edmund Wilson. During his freshman year Fitzgerald won a competition to write the book and lyrics for the 1914–15 Triangle Club (the Princeton dramatic society) production Fie! Fie! Fi-Fi! He would also co-author, with Wilson, the 1915–16 production, The Evil Eye, and the lyrics for Safety First, the 1916–17 offering. He also quickly began to contribute to the Princeton humour magazine The Princeton Tiger, while his reading tastes had moved on to the social concerns of George Bernard Shaw, Compton Mackenzie and H.G. Wells. His social progress at Princeton also seemed assured as Fitzgerald was approached by the Cottage Club (one of Princeton’s exclusive eating clubs) and prominence in the Triangle Club seemed inevitable.