Tallulah!
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48 “worth the price of admission,” Baltimore News, June 20, 1922.
49 “You look like a human rummage sale,” Martin Brown, The Exciters, typescript, LPA.
50 “an engaging touch of reality,” unidentified clipping, LPA.
50 “If you don’t say she is great,” The New York Globe, September 23, 1922.
50 “sophomoric Young Intellectual,” unidentified clipping, LPA.
50 “nonchalant and insolent,” The New York Tribune, October 1, 1922.
Madcaps in London
53 “taking a chance on me,” Berman, op. cit.
54 “a wise old man,” idem.
54 “a fair chance of being engaged,” letter from Will to Marie, January 1923.
55 “I thought I was going to Mars,” Berman, op. cit.
55 “she had no occupation,” Scotland Yard files.
56 “The telephone’s just rung,” Estelle Winwood, University of Southern California symposium, “Tallulah,” March 25, 1977.
56 “what a sensation it made,” author’s interview with Una Venning, January 1982.
58 “shuffled around the floors,” Frances Donaldson, New York Times Book Review, September 15, 1991.
59 “Although naturally temperamental,” SE.
61 “Mrs. Patrick Campbell recalled,” author’s interview with Charles Bowden, November 1992.
Naps
64 “I started to walk down the stairs,” John Churchill Aubrey, “Love—and What Then?” Picturegoer Weekly, May 21, 1932.
65 “a dog at the table,” author’s interview with Douglas Fairbanks Jr., July 1992.
66 “obsessed with death,” author’s correspondence with Paul Busby, 2002.
67 “All my theories go to pieces,” Hubert Parsons [Gerald du Maurier and Viola Tree], The Dancers, typescript, BL.
70 “since the days of Mrs. Langtry,” W. Macqueen-Pope, The Footlights Flickered.London: H. Jenkins, 1959.
70 “A very beautiful and charming young lady,” letter from Gerald du Maurier to Will, March 3, 1923.
70 “I have not become a snob,” letter from Tallulah to Will, spring 1923.
72 “paying marked attention,” Zit’s Weekly Newspaper, June 29, 1923.
72 “Gerald adored her,” author’s interview with Gladys Henson, January 1982.
72 “the most divine woman,” letter from Tallulah to Will, spring 1923.
74 “I dreamed of being a star,” Denis Brian, Tallulah, Darling. New York: Mac-Millian, 1980.
75 “frequently in the company,” Michael Baker, Our Three Selves: The Life of Radclyffe Hall. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1985.
75 “sang really bawdy songs,” author’s interview with Quentin Crisp, January 1993.
75 “I want my Tallulah baby!,” author’s interview with Anton Dolin, August 1978.
Risky Behavior
76 “I had been especially cast,” SE.
77 “a serious young actress,” included in Brendan Gill, Tallulah. New York: Holt Rinehart & Winston, 1972.
77 “a series of romantic plays,” The Era, March 26, 1924.
77 “a silent figure scrubbing floors,” Edward Knoblock, Conchita, typescript, LPA.
78 “the monkey scored his success,” SE.
78 “we stole the play,” author’s interview with Clifford Mollison, February 1982.
79 “a great admiration for Tallulah Bankhead,” New York Post, April 26, 1924.
79 “I felt rewarded,” SE.
80 “stung by the play’s failure,” Edward Knoblock, Round the Room. London: Chapman and Hall, 1939.
80 “the most obscene thing,” author’s interview with Waldemar Hansen, June 1993.
80 “tears of shame,” Tallulah Bankhead, “Tallulah’s Almanac,” Show Business Illustrated, January 2, 1962.
82 “How clever she is,” author’s interview with Cathleen Nesbitt, August 1978.
82 “We saw a great deal of Tallulah,” letter from Will to Marie, August 8, 1924.
83 “an eloquent defense of his cause,” Allene Tupper Wilkes, The Creaking Chair.
New York, London: Samuel French, 1926
84 “was far too well informed,” author’s interview with Joseph O’Donohue, February 1993.
86 “quasi-maternal,” author’s interview with Kenneth Carten, August 1978.
Modern Wives
87 “She was so magnificent,” Berman, op. cit.
88 “a habit of pretending indifference,” Basil Dean, Seven Ages: An Autobiography, 1888–1927. London: Hutchinson, 1970.
88 “I simply broke down and laughed,” SE.
89 “Frustrated and miserable,” TB.
89 “I had the bother,” letter from Maugham to Bertram Alanson, May 17, 1925. Ted Morgan, Maugham. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1980.
90 “if she needed more time,” SE.
90 “I don’t give a good godamm,” TB.
91 “came flying into rehearsals, Noël Coward, Present Indicative. London, Toronto: W. Heinemann, 1937.
93 “psycho-analytic neurotics,” Noël Coward, Fallen Angels, typescript, LPA.
93 “the impudently witty lines,” Seymour Hicks, Night Lights: Two Men Talk of Life and Love and the Ladies. London: Cassell, 1938.
94 “sweetest and nicest,” SE.
94 “Best was rather awed by Tallulah,” author’s interview with Sarah Marshall, October 1994.
95 “never drank so much so fast,” Show Business, op. cit.
95 “She was totally undisciplined,” author’s interview with Lord Jeffrey Amherst, January 1982.
95 “Coward later claimed,” Peter Daubenay, My World of Theatre. London: Jonathan Cape, 1971.
95 “a minor, controlled spat,” S. N. Behrman, People in a Diary. Boston: Little, Brown, 1972.
95 “And I thank Noël for that,” John Kobal, People Will Talk. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986.
Femme Fatale
96 “I was born in love,” SE.
99 “I despise our England,” Michael Arlen, The Green Hat, typescript, LPA.
99 “spending considerable of her spare London moments,” New York World, December 21, 1924.
99 “I was very shy,” author’s interview with Barbara Dillon, February 1982.
100 “dignity and air of tragedy,” Theatre World, October 1925.
102 “I couldn’t bring myself to speak the stuff,” John Hobart, “The Speaker’s Daughter Takes the Floor,” San Francisco Chronicle, September 18, 1938.
102 “the play was undoubtedly bad,” SE.
102 “as realistic and as natural,” Lamparski, op. cit.
103 “I do not personally think,” SE.
104 “the most creative and original thing,” Kobal, op. cit.
Something Different
105 “Jack was very good to them,” author’s interview with Bernard Bashwitz, February 1982.
105 “unlike that enjoyed by any other actress,” Theatre World, September 1928.
106 “the embodiment of their dreams,” Dean, op. cit.
107 “I always found Tallulah extremely charming,” Patrick Hastings, The Autobiography of Sir Patrick Hastings. London: W. Heinemann, 1948.
108 “one of the most mordant portraits,” Patrick Hastings, Scotch Mist. London: Duckworth, 1926.
110 “Stop giggling, Tallulah,” author’s interview with Glenn Anders, March 1981.
110 “giving them every inflection and tone,” John Gielgud, Early Stages. New York: Macmillan, 1939.
115 “Why should I go?” Sidney Howard, They Knew What They Wanted. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, 1925.
Skylarking
118 “Angry Young Men Playwrights,” author’s interview with Silvio Narrizano, January 1982.
118 “Over here they like me to Tallulah,” Milton Bronner, “American Girl Fibs Her Way into Britain’s Highest Favors,” unidentified newspaper, August 29, 1926, LPA.
118 “the finest role ever written,” New York Telegraph, April 10, 1921.
120 “Sharkespeare just was not
popular,” Richard Huggett, Binkie Beaumont: Eminence Grise of the West End Theatre. 1933–1973. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1989.
120 “all the music in Romeo and Juliet,” The Graphic, February 28, 1928.
121 “I worked myself woozy,” Jack F. Sharrar, Avery Hopwood, His Life and Plays. Jefferson, NC, and London: McFarland and Company, 1989.
121 “he is only here for a couple of days,” New York American, October 8, 1926.
121 “bloody awful,” author’s interview with John Perry, February 1982.
121 “In spite of its shortcomings,” Avery Hopwood, The Gold Diggers, typescript, LPA.
124 “which I think is rather remarkable,” Sharrar, op. cit.
Sex Plays
126 “Williams had had other affairs,” author’s interview with Robert Flemyng, February 1982.
128 “a sensation in Berlin,” New York Herald Tribune, August 26, 1926.
128 “that eccentric old fossil,” Avery Hopwood, The Garden of Eden, typescript, LPA.
129 “the cost will be too great,” Theatre World, July 1927.
130 “Hold up your shoulders,” Tallulah Bankhead, “Actress,” included in The Theatre Handbook and Digest of Plays, edited by Bernard Sobel. New York: Crown, 1940.
130 “some of the dialogue is delicious,” The Graphic, June 11, 1927.
131 “as good as might be expected,” Film Weekly, February 11, 1929.
131 “I was sick of this type of play,” SE.
131 “You never knew whether he was talking to you,” author’s interview with Charles Bennett, December 1992.
132 “they decided instead on Blanche Sweet,” Variety, February 29, 1928. But it was Greta Garbo who eventually starred in MGM’s A Woman of Affairs, the film based on The Green Hat.
133 “Get that Bankhead broad off my back,” Raymond Massey, A Hundred Different Lives: An Autobiography. Boston: Little, Brown, 1979.
136 “I was tremendously glad,” SE.
Surveillance
137 “compounded of mud,” Benn Levy, Mud and Treacle, typescript, BL.
139 “I’m sure they got along,” author’s interview with Robert Harris, February, 1982.
140 “it is impossible to hear what is said,” Theatre World, December 1927.
141 “She had a lot of fun,” author’s interview with Ben Welden, January 1994.
143 “The highlight of the play,” P. G. Wodehouse and Valerie Wyngate, Her Cardboard Lover, typescript, LPA.
143 “devoid of a single witty line,” Michael Mok, “Dammit! Write a Good Play! I’ll Buy It! Shouts Tallulah,” New York Post, May 5, 1935.
Betrayals
148 “reverse the performance of Lady Astor,” quoted in TB.
148 “seem to be pretty close on Tallulah’s heels,” letter from Marie to Will, December 14, 1928.
148 “where did you get that marvelous voice?” Taped recollection by Sara Mayfield, ca. 1970, sent to Cal Schumann. Mayfield was planning a book on Tallulah, but died without completing it.
149 “Tallulah sent Will a telegram,” letter from Will to Marie, January 11, 1929.
149 “it was the best thing you could have done,” letter from Marie to Tallulah, March 1, 1929.
149 “I broke all previous records,” letter from Tallulah to Will, September 1929.
150 “kept crowding in,” idem.
151 “no need to worry,” author’s interview with George Howe, January 1982.
156 “On the basis of its script,” Arthur Wimperis, He’s Mine, typescript, BL.
156 “girls will be boys!” Theatre World, December 1929.
Constrained by Crinolines
157 “My dear Tallulah,” unpublished memoir by Harry Ellerbe.
158 “the Americanisation of the London stage,” Theatre World, April 1928.
159 “by means of a trick,” The Stage [London], December 5, 1929.
160 “I’ve undressed in but two plays,” Ward Morehouse, “The Blonde Tallulah Bankhead and the Place She Holds in the London Theater,” New York Sun, May 3, 1930.
160 “Looking like Queen Victoria,” author’s interview with Joan Matheson, January 1982.
160 “I had a ghastly time,” San Francisco Chronicle, op. cit.
161 “a lover of poet Siegfried Sassoon,” Philip Hoare, Serious Pleasures: The Life of Stephan Tennant. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1990.
161 “a tiny little thing,” author’s interview with Ellen Pollock, February 1982.
163 “Does he love me, I wonder?” Alexandre Dumas, Fils, translated by Edith Reynolds and Nigel Playfair, Camille. London: Ernest Benn, 1930.
163 “still take a hideous delight,” Our Theatres in the Nineties, London: Constable and Co., 1932.
London Farewell
166 “London’s my home,” Morehouse, op. cit.
167 “men may come and men may go,” Rachel Crothers, Let Us Be Gay. New York, Los Angeles, London, Toronto: Samuel French, 1930.
171 “throwing technique to the winds,” St. John Ervine, “At the Play: Miss Bankhead Turns the Tide,” New York World, September 23, 1928.
173 “always a profligate spender,” Frances Marion, Off with Their Heads: A Serio-Comic Tale of Hollywood. New York: Macmillan, 1972.
173 “beady eyes for all the various stars,” author’s interview with Sam Jaffe, June 1992.
173 “a bit nearer to my favorite man,” letter from Tallulah to Will, fall 1930.
174 “I am frightfully well,” included in Gill, op. cit.
174 “Fresh from her bath,” Sunday Express, fall 1930.
175 “It is all slight but noisy,” London Times, December 19, 1930.
175 “a most divine thing to have said of you,” William McKegg, “A Lady for Legends,” Pictureplay, May 1932.
Paramount
179 “Don’t let ambition kill you,” letter from Florence to Tallulah, dated “Thursday,” [fall 1941], included in Rawls, op. cit.
179 “We’re all working for money,” “Here Comes Tallulah!” Photoplay, May 1931.
180 “I was full of inhibitions,” Gladys Hall, “Has Hollywood Turned a Cold Shoulder on Tallulah Bankhead?” Motion Picture Story magazine, August 1932.
180 “I sounded so affected,” Lamparski, op. cit.
180 “St. Vitus’s dance,” Kobal, op. cit.
180 “still adjusting,” letter from Marie to John Emery, May 10, 1938.
180 “I am sure you need no help,” letter from Marie to Tallulah, January 22, 1931.
180 “I would love very much,” letter from Marie to Will, January 22, 1931.
181 “made a hit,” letter from Marie to Will, March 7, 1931.
182 “I can’t bear to watch it,” Louis Sobol, The Longest Street. New York: Crown, 1968.
182 “I managed to get out of the theatre,” Hall, op. cit.
182 “in a poor picture,” New York American, April 30, 1931.
183 “I lost a certain naturalness,” Kobal, op. cit.
183 “trying to ‘do a Garbo,’” Hall, op. cit.
183 “an ordinary young actress,” D.C.M., The New Yorker, May 9, 1931.
183 “You will never know,” letter from Marie to Tallulah, May 2, 1931.
183 “heavy comedian,” idem.
184 “You are the life line,” letter from Marie to Tallulah, June 19, 1931.
184 “I miss your motherly presence,” letter from Edie Smith to Marie, August 2, 1931.
184 “all of us connected with it,” author’s interview by Marguerite Tazelaar, New York Herald Tribune, May 24, 1931.
184 “self-consciously eccentric,” author’s interview with George Abbott, September 1982.
185 “I want to take this opportunity,” letter from Mrs. Locke to Will, July 17, 1931.
186 “offers additional evidence,” Film Daily, September 6, 1931.
186 “MAKE ANY ARRANGEMENTS ABOUT YOU,” telegram from Tallulah to Marie, October 23, 1931.
187 “Perhaps I shouldn’t say that,” letter from Edie Smith to Marie, December 3
0, 1931.
187 “Eugenia has a good imagination,” letter from Marie to Edie Smith, December 19, 1931.
189 “what a star,” letter from Edie Smith to Marie, December 30, 1931.
Hollywood
191 “she looks like a film star,” Graphic, March 10, 1928.
191 “we seem to want to give her the boot,” Elizabeth Wilson, “The Toughest Break in Pictures,” Silver screen, February 1932.
192 “if Tallulah had stayed in London,” Picturegoer Weekly, quoted in idem.
192 “Some of the angles used,” Variety, March 21, 1928.
192 “her mouth didn’t look graceful,” Gavin Lambert, On Cukor. New York: G.P.Putnam’s Sons, 1972.
193 “I never found it,” author’s interview with Artie Jacobson, May 1992.
193 “I never get used to myself,” Dorothy Spensley, “A Sizzling Comet Among the Twinkling Stars,” Movie Classics, March 1932.
194 “it is very fortunate,” letter from Marie to Tallulah, January 28, 1932.
194 “steady and unextravagant,” London Times, July 18, 1932.
Gary Cooper and Others
200 “You call that acting?” Frances Marion, op. cit.
201 “something out of the ordinary,” New York Times, August 31, 1932.
201 “reality and poignancy,” Daily News, August 31, 1932.
202 “no one seems to know what they are doing,” letter from Edie Smith to Marie, July 27, 1932.
I Want a Man!
203 “a swift impersonation of Sarah Bernhardt,” Marcella Burke, “The Truth About Tallulah,” Screen Book, January 1933.
206 “Clara Bow tooling around Hollywood,” author’s interview with Lina Basquette, October 1993.
208 “had reprimanded Hall,” Time, August 22, 1932.
208 “You have made your own reputation,” letter from Marie to Tallulah, May 13, 1931.
208 “He was going to write to you,” letter from Marie to Tallulah, August 13, 1932.
208 “I SHALL REFUSE ALL MAGAZINE INTERVIEWERS,” telegram from Tallulah to Marie, August 6, 1932.
208 “as loving and devoted a father,” letter from Marie to Tallulah, August 13, 1932.
211 “The reason I use my lids as I do,” Dorothy Spensley, op. cit.