The Letters of Cole Porter

by Cole Porter

  ‡ Jarmila Novotna (1907–94), a Czech soprano who was a star at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the 1940s and 1950s.

  § José Ferrer (1912–92), a prolific Puerto Rican actor, director and producer. He later won an Academy Award for Cyrano de Bergerac (1950).

  ¶ An English-language version of Jacques Offenbach’s La belle Hélène ran at the Alvin Theatre on Broadway with Novotna in the title role, from 24 April to 15 July 1944.

  * Perhaps a theatrical or film agency, as Bray was an actor.

  † A reference back to Porter’s letter of 9 March.

  ‡ Presumably the actor Richard Cromwell (1910–60), who appeared in major films such as Jezebel (1938) and Young Mr. Lincoln (1939).

  * See above, p. 285.

  † Note by Stark: ‘Sylvain his chauffeur-valet’.

  * A further contract held at the Cole Porter Trust reveals an agreement between Bella Spewack and Porter to write the work, which is ‘suggested by THE TAMING OF THE SHREW’. It is unclear why this further agreement (dated 2 April 1948) was necessary.

  † McBrien, Cole Porter, 311, cites a letter from Linda Porter to Bernard Berenson detailing the nature of the illness: ‘[I] picked up a virus “Flu” germ & I spent three weeks in bed. I am up for the first time today – a bit shaky.’

  * An architect by profession, Ed Tauch was a friend and lover of Porter’s from the mid-1930s. See McBrien, Cole Porter, 154–5.

  † Probably Robert Bray.

  * Possibly a reference to the French costume designer Marcel Vertès, who went on to win two Academy Awards (Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction) for Moulin Rouge (1952).

  * Catherine d’Erlanger.

  * On 8 May 1948, Madeline P. Smith wrote to Stark: ‘Mr Porter will now arrive in Los Angeles on Friday, May 14th, instead of Saturday, May 15th – at 9:10 P.M. Los Angeles time.’ Stanford University, Cole Porter Collection, shelfmark FE209, Correspondence: 1948 (TLS on Waldorf stationery), 1–6.

  † Marion Bell (1919–97) was an actress, best known for her appearance in the original production of Lerner and Loewe’s Brigadoon. She was briefly married to the lyricist Alan Jay Lerner.

  ‡ Carol Bruce (1919–2007) appeared in numerous Broadway productions, including the 1946 revival of Show Boat.

  * Ruth Warrick (1916–2005) was an American singer and actress who appeared in the film Citizen Kane (1941) and the TV show All My Children (1970–2005).

  † Patricia Morison (1915–2018) was a prolific stage actress whose credits included Kiss, Me Kate on Broadway, in London and in two television productions.

  ‡ Ruth Chatterton (1892–1961) was an American film and stage actress, best known for appearing in the film Dodsworth (1936).

  * ‘Brush Up Your Shakespeare’.

  † Dorothy Kirsten (1910–92) was one of America’s most popular operatic sopranos.

  * Carmelita Maracci (1908–87) was a celebrated dancer and choreographer, known for her fusion of ballet and Spanish dance techniques. She worked for a range of companies, including American Ballet Theatre.

  * Marguerite and Howard Cullman, who married in 1935, were well-known investors in Broadway shows. The hits they put money into include Oklahoma!, Carousel, Brigadoon, South Pacific, Annie Get Your Gun and Fiddler on the Roof. See Marguerite’s obituary at the New York Times from 27 July 1999: https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/27/theater/marguerite-w-cullman-94-an-investor-in-broadway-hits.html (accessed 9 June 2018).

  * The New York Times reported on 16 August that Porter ‘isn’t due back from the Coast until early next month’ and that this meant the opening of Kiss Me, Kate would be delayed until ‘early next year’. See Sam Zolotow, ‘Lunts Alter Plan for Comedy’s Bow’, New York Times, 16 August 1948, 11.

  † Harold Lang (1920–85) was a popular Broadway dancer in the 1940s, appearing in several musicals before Kiss Me, Kate. He later starred as Joey in the landmark 1952 revival of Rodgers and Hart’s Pal Joey.

  ‡ ‘Mr. Porter, now on the West Coast, is expected in New York early next month when production activities will start in earnest’, New York Times, 21 August 1948, 9.

  § Hanya Holm (1893–1992) was one of the most prolific and respected choreographers of the twentieth century, both in the ballet and Broadway spheres. Her later Broadway credits included My Fair Lady (1956) and Camelot (1960).

  * Presumably, Robert Raison.

  † Bill Haines, the owner of 416 North Rockingham.

  * A relative of Stark’s partner Allen Walker.

  † Marginal note by Sam Stark: ‘asthma’.

  ‡ Kiss Me, Kate.

  § Annotation by Stark: ‘Raison’.

  * Porter’s lawyer or other legal representative.

  † Lisa Kirk (1925–90) was a celebrated actress who mainly played soubrette roles such as Bianca in Kiss Me, Kate.

  * Heaven on Earth, a musical comedy by Jay Gorney, with book and lyrics by Barry Trivers and directed by John Murray Anderson, opened at the New Century Theatre, New York, on 16 September 1948 and closed after only twelve performances, on 25 September.

  † Edward, My Son, a play by Robert Morley and Noel Langley, directed by Peter Ashmore and produced by Gilbert Miller and Henry Sherek, ran for 260 performances at the Martin Beck Theatre, New York, between 30 September 1948 and 14 May 1949.

  ‡ Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire had opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York, on 3 December 1947.

  § Kurt Weill’s vaudeville Love Life, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, opened at the 46th Street Theatre, New York, on 7 October 1948.

  * Maurice Levine (1918–97) was a prolific conductor and musical director, for example of the original production of Weill’s Lost in the Stars (1949). He was best known for curating the Lyrics and Lyricists series at the 92nd St Y in New York.

  † Pembroke Davenport (1911–85) conducted Porter’s Seven Lively Arts, Kiss Me, Kate and Out of This World.

  * Stark’s annotation: Sam Stark Shebinger.

  † Slim Aarons (1916–2006), a celebrated American photographer famous for photographing celebrities.

  * Brooks Atkinson, ‘At the Theatre’, New York Times, 31 December 1948. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/29/specials/porter-kate.html (accessed 9 June 2018).

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  FROM KISS ME, KATE TO OUT OF THIS WORLD, 1949–1950

  Porter’s popularity and fame were renewed in the New Year, following the opening of Kiss Me, Kate. Typical of the acclaim he received was a telegram from Irving Berlin: ‘. . . ELLIN* AND I SAW “KISS ME KATE” LAST NIGHT AND THOUGHT IT WAS SWELL[.] CONGRATULATIONS ON A WONDERFUL JOB AND A SMASH[.] LETS [sic] SEE YOU SOON SO I CAN TELL YOU IN PERSON WHAT I THINK OF THE MANY HIGHSPOTS[.] LOVE=IRVING.’1 Porter’s position in the public eye had never been stronger. On 16 January, the New York Times ran a profile headed: ‘Cole Porter is “The Top” Again: After five years in which his tunes seemed less popular, he has come back with “Kiss Me, Kate”.’ The article contains a brief interview:

  “I don’t know how my music gets that way,” he said the other day. “I simply can’t analyze it. I can analyze the music of others. The word for Dick Rodgers’ melodies, I think, is holy. For Jerome Kern, sentimental. For Irving Berlin, simplicity. For my own, I don’t know.”

  His interest in the musical side of his work has grown. He summed up his current attitude in this way:

  “I enjoyed writing the songs of ‘Kiss Me, Kate.’ I think the show has more music in it than any I have ever done. I liked what Irving Berlin had done with ‘Annie Get Your Gun.’† His having so much music in it made me feel like trying a similar thing. In the old days I would tinker with a tune to make it fit a lyric; I don’t think I would now. I also liked writing for people with real voices like Alfred Drake and Patricia Morison. I want to do more shows like this one.” [. . .]

  Since he is soft-spoken and has a sense of proportion, Mr. Porter is not sore at the critics, but he thinks that most dram
atic reviewers should not write about music. As evidence, he offers: “My good friend, George Jean Nathan,* knows it’s ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ only when he sees people standing up.” When I asked Mr. Porter whether he wanted these views to appear in print, he replied with a deadpan blandness that did not conceal the light in his eyes. “Only if you mention Nathan by name.” [. . .]

  Know what happened to “Begin the Beguine” when it was part of the score of “Jubilee,” produced in 1935? Nothing. It died. Some years later a swing recording by Artie Shaw became the rage. “The song got so popular,” Mr. Porter remarks wryly, “that performers eventually got around to doing it the way I wrote it.”2

  Porter was also on the cover of Time magazine on 31 January 1949, further evidence of his cultural status at that moment. But as he revealed in the following letter to Bella Spewack, his success was tempered by personal problems:

  12 January 1949: Cole Porter to Bella Spewack3

  Dear Bella: –

  Your letter of January 10th arrived. I am awfully sorry about that card being missing.

  Why are you in the hospital? Saint Subber† assures me that you aren’t ill. Is it a rest? Or are you ill?

  Linda is still in the hospital but seems to be better. The terrible agony that she went through spoiled all the joy of Kiss Me, Kate.

  Love,

  [signed:] Cole

  A week later, he was able to report more positively to Sam Stark on Linda’s health, as well as the recording of the original cast album of Kiss Me, Kate, which had only been lightly censored due to Porter’s racy lyrics:

  19 January 1949: Cole Porter to Sam Stark4

  Dear Little Sam: –

  I have neglected you lately for the Columbia Recording Company, which is making the album of twelve sides of the Kiss Me, Kate score. They will be twelve-inch records, and everything in the show except the First Act Finale* is being recorded with the stage lyrics.

  Linda is definitely off for Tucson on Friday, February 28th, with [Howard] Sturges, her maid, her nurse, and Gracie.† And I expect to fly to my little home in Brentwood very shortly afterward.

  That’s all,

  [signed:] Cole

  One of Stark’s passions was his collection of theatre memorabilia, which explains why so much of his correspondence with Porter has survived. The next two letters are Porter’s response to Stark’s impatient request for copies of the sheet music from Kiss Me, Kate for his collection and his sharp rebuttal of Stark’s apparent claim that the sheet music for ‘Too Darn Hot’ did not match what was heard in the show:

  20 January 1949: Cole Porter to Sam Stark5

  Dear Sam:

  Stop being so impatient about getting the numbers from Kiss Me, Kate. You will receive them as soon as they are published, and before the general public gets them. If you can hold your horses a bit, you will receive a total of fifteen numbers.

  Call up Bobby Raison for all my news. It will save me so much time and there aren’t enough hours in the day to attend to my work here.

  That’s all,

  [signed:] Cole

  10 February 1949: Cole Porter to Sam Stark6

  Dear Sam:

  Under separate cover I am returning the copy you sent me of TOO DARN HOT. If you knew music you would realize there is no mistake in this copy.

  Thank you very much for sending me the clippings. I died at the idea of a show being called “The Life of Cole Porter”. I have forwarded these clippings to Linda.

  Best from Tully* and me.

  [signed:] Cole

  Porter had little time to write to Stark because success had brought with it responsibilities, such as overseeing the cast album and publication of the sheet music mentioned in the letters above. But he had also moved on to write the score of his next show, according to Time magazine, which ‘Subber and Ayers plan for next fall’; it would eventually become Out of This World (1950). Furthermore, the article notes that he was about to leave for Hollywood ‘to help cast a second company of Kiss Me, Kate, which may turn out to be the biggest smash of his career’.7 The following letter to Stark confirms his plans to travel:

  27 January 1949: Cole Porter to Sam Stark8

  Dear Sam: –

  I arrive Tuesday night in Los Angeles. Robert† is meeting me.

  Can you spend the week-end of Friday, Feb. 4th with me?

  Please telephone me on Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 2nd).

  Love,

  [signed:] Cole

  The Porters’ ongoing concerns over Linda’s health may have been behind the decision for her to draw up her will, which she signed on 24 January; she essentially left everything to Cole.9 Whether or not by coincidence, a day later (25 January) Porter removed his collection of twenty-one gold cigarette cases from The Fifth Avenue Bank Safe Deposit Vaults, Inc., at 530 Fifth Avenue. These cases were specially commissioned by Linda for the opening night of each of his musicals, as well as a couple that were Christmas presents.* The following letter from Cole to Linda highlights the tenderness between them at this time:

  5 February 1949: Cole Porter to Linda Porter10

  Dearest Linda,

  I was very surprised, and so pleased to get your letter written on two postcards this morning. It also made me happy to read I should not worry about you, because until this note from you I did worry.

  Please let me know, through [Howard] Sturge[s], when you want me to come over. I am keeping from Friday to Monday free so that I can always fly over when you feel well enough for me to do so.

  The ranch sounds like everything charming and it is a joy to know that you are there and not in that terrible New York.

  I am talking to Sturge[s] tonight. As a matter of fact, I think it’s a good thing that you are not near the telephone.

  All love,

  Cole

  P.S. I am sending you, under separate cover, a most beautiful present. My secretary, Mrs. Egan, gave it to me as she has never fallen out of love with Gracie.†

  The composer also hinted at his concern for his wife in the following letter to their friend William Skipper, who had sent flowers to Linda:

  30 January 1949: Cole Porter to William Skipper11

  Dear Skip: –

  Your flowers for Linda arrived just when she was leaving for the train, so they have been decorating my room instead of her’s. [sic] She asked me to write to you and thank you, as she is not well enough to thank you herself, and has left for Arizona.

  It was very thoughtful of you to send these flowers and she deeply appreciated it.

  Sincerely yours,

  [signed:] Cole

  Porter’s periodically strained relationship with the press continued in late January, when he was quoted in an interview in the New Yorker as saying ‘Porter is a Yale man, and the author of “Bingo” and “Bulldog,” as all who witnessed a 1946 movie based (roughly) on his life know, but he regards most Yale graduates as colossal bores, exempting from the indictment only his brothers in Scroll and Key, a fashionable society.’12 Porter wrote to correct the quotation:

  2 February 1949: Cole Porter to the Editors, The New Yorker13

  Brentwood, Calif.,

  To the Editors, The New Yorker,

  Sirs:

  I would appreciate it very much if you would correct the statement attributed to me in your issue of January 29th. The article says, “He [meaning me] regards most Yale graduates as colossal bores.”

  What I said has been misconstrued, to a point of reversing my meaning. I was asked if I still keep in touch with Yale, or with Yale men, or something to that effect, and replied that when I was at Yale, I noticed that Yale men two or three years out of college became awful bores – meaning bores to the undergraduates. I intended this as an explanation of my not having gone back to New Haven often in the years since I graduated. I would not say that I have never met a Yale man who was a colossal bore, but the fact is I have found many Yale men brilliant, and the great majority of my oldest and dearest friends are Yale graduate
s.

  Yours very truly

  Cole Porter

  Meanwhile, business continued with Kiss Me, Kate thriving on Broadway. The next four letters provide a window into the everyday matters that a successful Broadway songwriter had to deal with. The first two concern an exchange with Patricia Morison, star of Kiss Me, Kate, about signed photographs; in the third, Porter graciously provides a further autographed photograph to a fan; and the fourth addresses a typical request from a friend, Jean Howard, for tickets to his hit show:

  28 January 1949: Cole Porter to Patricia Morison14

  Dearest Pat: –

  In return for this horror, will you please send me a beautiful photograph of yourself?

  My address is:

  416 No. Rockingham Ave

  West Los Angeles 24

  California

  I shall miss you greatly.

  Love,

  [signed:] Cole

  19 February 1949: Cole Porter to Patricia Morison15

  Wonderful Pat:

  The photograph arrived. It is magnificent! I am having it framed quick.

  I am very well. Linda is better but still suffering in Arizona.

  Your writing paper is charming. What is your new address?

  Love to you and Richard.

  [signed:] Cole

  10 February 1949: Cole Porter to Kenneth M. Browne, Bangor Maine16

  Dear Mr. Browne:

  I am sending you, under separate cover, the autographed photograph you asked for.

  Thank you very much indeed for your charming letter. Letters such as yours make people such as me work harder.

  Sincerely,

  [signed:] Cole Porter

  17 February 1949: Cole Porter to Jean Howard17

  Dearest Jeannie:

  Upon receipt of your wire I immediately telephoned to New York, to the producers’ office, and got you two seats for next Friday, February 18th. I have wired you to that effect. Some day, before you die, let me know whether you ever received the seats.

  Love,

  [signed:] Cole