Everybody Was So Young: Gerald and Sara Murphy, A Lost Generation Love Story

by Amanda Vaill

  They organized morning . . . smiling to herself: All photographs, SWM scrapbooks, HMD.

  [>] Strange music . . . giants and dwarfs: GCM/CT taped interview, HMD.

  The Hemingway party . . . chairs at their feet: Ibid.

  “these men, living”: GCM to Hadley Hemingway and EH, [14 Jul. 1926], JFK.

  “you two children”: Ibid.

  “dow dow”: Reynolds, Hemingway: The American Homecoming, p. 49.

  Before they went to Spain . . . relinquish the habit: GCM to CT, 7 Nov. 1963, HMD.

  “Papa”: GCM to Hadley Hemingway and EH, [14 Jul. 1926], JFK.

  [>] “I didn’t want . . . think it’s fine”: GCM/CT interview, HMD.

  “to look or feel . . . do it well, Papa”: GCM to Hadley Hemingway and EH, [14 Jul. 1926], JFK.

  “He was watching me”: GCM/CT interview, HMD.

  “everybody yelled ‘Olé’”: GCM and SWM/CT taped interview, HMD.

  “a little silk dress . . . all my diamonds”: SWM/CT taped interview, HMD.

  paid for by Gerald: Baker, Ernest Hemingway, p. 172.

  “I stamped out . . . He didn’t notice”: SWM/CT taped interview, HMD.

  [>] “no one has anything”: SWM to Hadley Hemingway and EH, [14 Jul. 1926], JFK.

  “kept unearthing”: GCM to Hadley Hemingway and EH, [14 Jul. 1926], JFK.

  guitar for Baoth . . . Sara herself: SWM to Hadley Hemingway and EH, [14 Jul. 1926], JFK.

  fireworks display . . . cheering crowd: GCM/CT taped interview, HMD.

  Monty Woolley . . . Bulldog banter: HMD interview.

  They also became fascinated . . . “crinkly-toes!”: HMD and CT interviews.

  [>] “Gaytrüd”: GCM to SWM and HMD, 4–9 Sept. 1937, HMD.

  The Murphys greeted . . . Sara’s drum: SWM to Hadley Hemingway and EH, [14 Jul. 1926], JFK.

  “Brides, I find . . . seem to have??”: SWM to Pablo Picasso, undated, Musée Picasso.

  “She was dancing . . . unladylike”: GCM quoted in Milford, Zelda, p. 120.

  [>] “I was sure . . . over and over again”: Ibid., pp. 117–18.

  Why did they seem . . . “anything about people”: GCM/CT interview, HMD.

  “Dear Scott . . . Theories about friends”: SWM to FSF, [summer 1926], PUL. This letter is often assumed to follow the champagne-and-caviar party at the casino but cannot have been written then, as it refers to the MacLeishes (plural), and Archie MacLeish didn’t arrive in Antibes from Persia until June 16.

  [>] an apology: Inferred from an undated letter of acknowledgment from SWM to FSF in which she writes, “Thanks for your note. Don’t you think of it again—I haven’t,” PUL.

  [>] following two young . . . dancing with one of them: Milford, Zelda, p. 120.

  The Murphys were going . . . “knocked him cold”: GCM/CT interview notes, HMD. MacLeish, according to his biographer Scott Donaldson, denied punching Fitzgerald but claimed Scott had thrown a punch at him—to no effect. But MacLeish often liked to remember himself as more pacific than he always was.

  [>] “We saw the Murphys . . . much any more”: FSF to EH, [fall 1926], The Letters ofF. Scott Fitzgerald, p. 297.

  Murphys had lent . . . remainder of the autumn: SMW to Zelda Fitzgerald, 28 Jun. 1927, PUL; “you were too lovely about running our entire place while we were away” is Sara’s characteristic comment.

  “depressed and . . . baffled”: FSF to EH, [fall 1926], The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald, p. 297.

  “Dear Hadern . . . hitched up to the universe”: GCM to Hadley Hemingway and EH, [14 Jul. 1926], JFK.

  “When life gets bumpy . . . talk about it after”: GCM to EH, 6 Sept. 1926?, JFK.

  Ernest had guessed . . . finances as a result: EH to Hadley Hemingway, 19 Nov. 1926, JFK.

  “Hadley and you”: GCM to EH, 6 Sept. 1926?, JFK.

  He didn’t tell them . . . returned to America: Because the Murphys knew and were fond of Pauline, it would have been natural for Ernest to refer to her and her plans in at least one of the letters he wrote them that autumn; but there is no mention of her in their correspondence until the following spring, just before she and Ernest married.

  [>] “Love Pirates . . . for my work”: EH to Clarence Hemingway, 14 Sept. 1927, in Emest Hemingway: Selected Letters, pp. 258–59.

  “We said to each other . . . don’t ever budge”: GCM and SWM to EH, [fall 1926], JFK.

  15. “How can a wise man have two countries?”

  [>] “Everyone in America”: GCM to EH, 13 Feb. 1927, JFK.

  “Therefore shall a man”: Gen. 2: 23–24, in GCM “Notebooks” file, HMD. The quotation is undated but it is written on stationery from the Savoy Plaza Hotel, where Gerald and Sara stayed during New York visits in 1926 and 1929.

  “grang pere . . . tent n’etait pas la”: HMD diary, 1 Jan 1927, HMD.

  “three nigger hives . . . adorable”: PH to EH, 5 Oct. 1927, JFK.

  Don Stewart . . . “false goatsbeard”: DOS, By a Stroke of Luck! p. 157.

  [>] “Picture . . . windows”: GCM art notebook, HMD.

  “Capital, ionic”: Ibid.

  recoiled . . . cooing: FMB interview.

  newly acquired cowboy . . . raids on the kitchen: HMD diary, 1 Feb., 3 Feb., 1928, HMD.

  [>] “the theatres . . . Executions”: SWM to Zelda Fitzgerald, 28 Jun. [1927], PUL.

  “a new opera”: GCM to EH, 19 Mar. [1927], JFK.

  concert at the Conservatoire . . . Scarlatti: Poster for Ada MacLeish concert in Myers papers, FMB.

  “We wanted our children”: AMacL, Reflections, p. 66.

  Frenchified upbringing: DP to RB, 7 Nov. 1929, BU.

  [>] “They really couldn’t”: AMacL to EH, 19 Jun. [1927], Letters of Archibald MacLeish, p. 202.

  “these damn school girl . . . his affection”: AMacL to EH and PH, 13 Aug. [1927]; Ibid., p. 206.

  encouraged him . . . year to paint: GCM to EH, 6 Sept. [1926], JFK.

  more and more carrying . . . household alone: Yvonne Roussel Luff/HMD interview, HMD.

  occasionally complained: William MacLeish interview.

  “You’re right . . . for a while”: GCM to EH, 18 Jun. 1927, JFK.

  “ballet of métiers” . . . cranes and warehouses: GCM art notebook, HMD.

  filmed in a large, light . . . 69 rue Froidevaux: This idea was first proposed to me by Nelly Maillard, documentaliste of the Musée National Fernand Léger in Biot.

  [>] “my testicles give me”: AMacL to EH, [Jun. 1926], JFK; AMacL, Letters of Archibald MacLeish, p. 178.

  “He walks with Ernest”: AMacL, Collected Poems, p. 146.

  “all Fairies”: EH to GCM and SWM, [late autumn 1926], HMD.

  “was extremely sensitive”: GCM/CT interview, HMD.

  “You are quite sure” . . . lied to him: EH, “A Simple Enquiry,” The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, pp. 327–30.

  Hemingway began a novel . . . lousy writers: Item 529 B Ch 20, p. 1, JFK.

  [>] “a 4CV Terrot . . . without losing a spangle”: GCM to EH, 18 Jun. 1927, JFK.

  [>] sometimes ride tandem . . . whizzing by: S&G, p. 29; HMD interview.

  choosing dresses . . . Ellen Barry: ESB interview.

  That spring . . . complained about it later to Gerald: SWM to PH, 17 Jun. 1927, PUL; GCM to EH, 18 Jun. 1927, JFK.

  “What a remarkable . . . La Mère Dante”: GCM to CT, 24 Aug. 1960, HMD.

  spoke French like a butcher: AMacL, Reflections, p. 67.

  “Gerald would get over . . . Gerald ditto”: AMacL to EH, 13 Aug. [1927], Letters of Archibald MacLeish, p. 206.

  [>] “People have now started . . . give us time”: SWM to Zelda Fitzgerald, 28 Jun. [1927], PUL.

  Harpo Marx . . . trip to Pamplona: GCM to EH, 15 Jun. 1927, JFK.

  At a Paris concert . . . cut Picasso dead: AMacL interview, “The Art of Poetry,” The Paris Review, vol. 14, no. 58, p. 69.

  “Hélas, alors”: GCM to Pablo Picasso (postcard), 19 Sept. 1927, Musée Picasso.

  “
I’m working . . . work quietly”: GCM to EH, 18 Jun. 1927, JFK.

  [>] “such as the Greeks”: LW, p. 144.

  “blk. fond”: GCM art notebook, HMD.

  Its inspiration . . . bar tray: GCM, MacAgy/Murphy papers, HMD.

  [>] objects . . . personal iconography: See also Rubin, The Paintings of Gerald Murphy, p. 37.

  “faultily faultless”: GCM to EH, 18 Jun. 1927, HMD.

  They had been cruising . . . drop anchor in time: JDP, The Best Times, pp. 150–51.

  “hot boat”: GCM to EH, 18 Jun. 1927, JFK.

  “the child of my old age”: Donaldson, Archibald MacLeish, p. 176.

  [>] “I don’t mind a fairy” . . . same between them: GCM/CT interview; HMD. Gerald Murphy’s memory of this incident placed it shortly after their first meeting; but he distinctly remembered Hemingway wearing a bandage around his head at the time, something that happened after an accident with a bathroom skylight in the spring of 1928.

  “They were on their way . . . glad to be going”: Zelda Fitzgerald, Save Me the Waltz, p. 98.

  “We are very fond . . . important thing: GCM to FSF, 15 May 1928, PUL.

  “We are friends . . . so far away”: FSF to EH, [Jul. 1928], JFK; Correspondence ofF. Scott Fitzgerald, p. 220.

  The Murphys had recently . . . Scott and Zelda: Morton, Americans in Paris, p. 279.

  “it looks like the setting”: Zelda Fitzgerald to Mr. E. E. Addison, 29 May 1928; in Milford, Zelda, p. 140. Milford quotes it as “Madame Tausand’s,” which is clearly a mistranscription.

  [>] “There are limits . . . something awful would happen”: Ibid., p. 141.

  “I hope you die . . . next to her”: Ibid., p. 142.

  “The view was not . . . what she looked like”: Ibid., pp. 141–42.

  One morning, soon after . . . flea markets: HMD interview.

  [>] “It was such a . . . didn’t ever happen”: GCM to JDP, [19 Jan. 1929], UVA.

  [>] “I’ve never been exposed” . . . second place: Ibid., 5 Aug. 1928.

  In the summer of 1928 . . . Metropolis: King Vidor interview in Schickel, The Men Who Made the Movies, p. 147.

  consciously adopted the “shadowy effects”: King Vidor interview by Dowd and Shepard, King Vidor, p. 48.

  “a lot . . . the viewer”: Schickel, The Men Who Made the Movies, p. 143.

  [>] “a classic country”: King Vidor interview, quoted in Miller, Letters from the Lost Generation, p. 8.

  “in my home town . . . singing songs”: King Vidor interview by Dowd and Shepard, King Vidor, p. 102.

  Scott Fitzgerald . . . Gerald Murphy: GCM to FSF, 15 May 1928, PUL. Vidor came . . . Gerald’s pictures: HMD interview.

  “I thought that the type”: King Vidor interview, quoted in Miller, Letters from the Lost Generation, p. 8.

  Gerald had been impressed . . . The Crowd: GCM to FSF, 15 May 1928, PUL.

  “My latest things . . . liberation”: GCM to JDP, 5 Aug. 1928, UVA.

  “An eye . . . foot in picture”: GCM art notebook, HMD.

  [>] All were presented . . . experimenting: Léger had been to stay at the bastide for three weeks that summer, and he and Gerald had long talks about their work and the direction of painting. In Léger’s view, surrealism was “the end of something and not the beginning, but with all the revolutions in art . . . it has dragged some real values onto the stage.” GCM, MacAgy/Murphy papers; HMD.

  “conglomerate standard”: GCM, MacAgy/Murphy papers.

  “Dear G . . . old call us”: AMacL to GCM, 1 Sept. 1928, HMD.

  16 “A dismantled house where people have once been gay”

  [>] Sara’s bottle bag . . . evade customs: Yvonne Roussel Luff interview.

  “I’m afraid we traveled”: HMD interview.

  Their rooms at the Savoy . . . assured one another: S&G, p. 123.

  [>] Don Stewart . . . Holiday: DOS, By a Stroke of Luck! p. 166.

  most Indians had . . . no uncertain terms: HMD interview.

  1737 Angelo Drive . . . Dicky, for Honoria: HMD and Patrick Murphy to Yvonne Roussel, undated; Yvonne Roussel Luff.

  Marion Davies . . . Charlie Chaplin: S&G, p. 40.

  “Patrick . . . Indians”: Baoth Wiborg (Murphy) to Yvonne Roussel, undated; Yvonne Roussel Luff; description of the cowboy outfits from a photograph in SWM’s albums, HMD.

  “My God . . . Cupid Chips!”: GCM to JDP, [19 Jan. 1929], UVA.

  [>] “It saves . . . Mary Pickford”: Ibid.

  Dorothy Parker . . . office door: Meade, Dorothy Parker, p. 198.

  “a $150, . . . heart out of you”: GCM to JDP, [19 Jan. 1929], UVA.

  In Chicago . . . in that city: Vidor, King Vidor, pp. 99–100.

  [>] “SINCERELY HOPE . . . BEST REGARDS”: Telegram from Irving Thalberg to King Vidor, 27 Oct. 1928, Hallelujah! production files, King Vidor collection, University of Southern California.

  In the earliest stages . . . not been resolved: Vidor, King Vidor, p. 100.

  The first script . . . verses of the song: Aug. 1928 script for Hallelujah!, King Vidor collection, University of Southern California.

  The opening . . . “make it permanent”: Ibid., 25 Sept. 1928.

  [>] “[I]n two weeks . . . Minstrels”: GCM to JDP, 19 Jan. 1928, UVA.

  When Thalberg heard . . . picture in droves: Daily memoranda, Hallelujah! studio files, King Vidor collection, University of Southern California.

  To lighten things up . . . uplifting finale: Miscellaneous scripts, Hallelujah! and final credit sheet, Hallelujah! studio file; ibid.

  “LIONEL BARRYMORE . . . Zowie”: GCM to JDP, [19 Jan. 1929], UVA.

  It was still . . . ranch house: Diane Fish interview.

  Murphy children adored . . . picnicking: S&G, p. 42.

  [>] “It seems the most . . . trouble later”: SWM to FBW, [Mar. 1929], HMD.

  Rather than “letting everything” . . . addition to his own: Ibid.

  Murphys on shipboard . . . somthing to happen: Photograph, SWM scrapbooks, HMD.

  [>] “Ireland is doomed”: GCM to JDP, quoted in S&G, p. 29.

  “Ernie” in the first draft: Item 618, JFK.

  “I can blow him”: EH, “Fathers and Sons,” The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, p. 496.

  “My Dear Boy . . . (french spelling)”: GCM to EH, 16 Oct. 1927, JFK.

  “Every other day”: EH to JDP, [Dec. 1928], JFK.

  [>] “I know how the death”: AMacL to EH, 14 Dec. 1928, JFK. According to notes in the Hemingway collection, the letter was not opened until 5 May 1978, after Hemingway’s death.

  Gerald asked Ernest . . . Marseille and Majorca: GCM to EH, [spring 1929], JFK.

  proofs of his new novel . . . Honoria’s crew: EH to AMacL, 18 Jul. 1929, Ernest Hemingway: Selected Letters, p. 300.

  On his insistence . . . handsome dowry: Thomas, John Strachey, p. 71.

  Strachey was already . . . day by herself: Ibid., p. 78.

  [>] “I hate figs”: DP to Helen Droste, Sept. 1929, quoted in Meade, Dorothy Parker, p. 202.

  smoking solitary cigarettes . . . gamine countenance: Yvonne Roussel Luff interview.

  Baoth went so far . . . patois: DP to Alexander Woollcott, in Meade, Dorothy Parker, pp. 201–204.

  “the Murphys have given their”: FSF to EH, 9 Sept. 1929, The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald, pp. 305–306.

  Gerald, at least . . . Antibes that summer: ZF to FSF, [late summer/early fall 1930], PUL.

  Zelda became terrified . . . drowning victim: GCM interview with Nancy Milford, Zelda, p. 155.

  “It’s been gay here . . . five years”: FSF to EH, 23 Aug. 1929, The Letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald, p. 305.

  [>] “absolutely blotto”: Meade, Dorothy Parker, p. 204.

  Another day, driving in Nice . . . fifteen days’ imprisonment: The information about Robert Benchley and Gerald Murphy’s run-in with the French authorities comes from a 13 Nov. 1919 letter from Charles D. Morgan, Gerald’s Paris lawyer, to Benchley, asking for an affidavit. Morgan’s
version contradicts that given by Honoria Murphy Donnelly in Sara and Gerald, where she claims the car was impounded when left unattended, and says that Gerald, “realizing that he was in the wrong . . . quickly apologized” (S&G, p. 32).

  [>] “Green fruit softening”: GCM to JDP, [19 Jan. 1929], UVA.

  Wasp and Pear: There is some dispute about the date of this painting. Murphy, of course, rarely dated his own paintings and had difficulty remembering their chronology when attempting to reconstruct it in later life. Douglas MacAgy, in his catalogue for American Genius in Review, assigned it to 1927; but William Rubin, in his Museum of Modern Art retrospective The Paintings of Gerald Murphy, dated it 1929. Elizabeth Hutton Turner reverted to the 1927 date for her Phillips Gallery exhibit, Americans in Paris. It seems to me impossible, however, for someone who painted as slowly and painstakingly as Murphy did to have executed four canvases in the 1927–28 period that also included Doves, Cocktail, and Portrait. And it seems equally unlikely in the face of documentary evidence that he painted no pictures after 1927—yet he described Wasp and Pear to Douglas MacAgy as “illustrating the direction in which my work was going when I was obliged to stop painting.” He painted nothing while he was in America from Oct. 1928 until Mar. 1929—so it seems likely that 1929 is indeed the only date that can be assigned to Wasp and Pear. The “green fruit” imagery, which dates from his Jan. 1929 letter to Dos Passos, only underscores this logic.

  “hornet (colossal)” . . . seen from below: GCM art notebook, HMD.

  [>] “bed of crimson” . . . dark secret love”: Blake, Songs of Innocence and Experience, unpaged facsimile edition.

  “it was his duty”: DP to RB, [7 Nov. 1929], BU.

  [>] “a wire from Gerald”: EH to FSF, 4 Sept. 1929, Emest Hemingway: Selected Letters, p. 304.

  “at an altitude . . . fruits, etc.”: GCM to Mary Hoyt Wiborg, 7 Sept. 1929, HMD.

  “He’s taking the injections . . . two years”: GCM to EH, 12 Oct. 1929, JFK. “bronchials showed speckly”: SWM to PH, [12 Oct. 1929], JFK.

  [>] “My mother wants me . . . you to America”: Baoth Wiborg (Murphy) to EH and PH, [Nov. 1929], quoted in S&G, p. 93.

  worst decision . . . also the kindest: Meade, Dorothy Parker, p. 206.