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My Life with Cleopatra

Page 9

by Walter Wanger


  Brought Liz together with Irene Sharaff for the first time. An important meeting because I want them to like each other. Thank heavens, it came off well.

  JUNE 13, 1961

  Levathes raised the roof about Burton’s contract, which is still being negotiated. He wants to reduce it to $200,000 for thirty weeks.

  Levathes asked me if I would take over Skouras’ convention plans. As I understand the situation, Skouras is worried about the morale of the theater exhibitors and salesmen handling Fox films, which have not been too successful lately. He wants to have a convention and banquet here at the studio—on a Cleopatra set—and has given orders to rush a set into production. His plan is to put on a big show for the exhibitors and salesmen to impress them with future product and create an atmosphere of progress.

  I complained about the set being built on our budget and refused to handle the convention for the studio.

  JUNE 26, 1961

  The studio situation is a mess. Skouras and Levathes lost the four-picture deal they planned to make with Liz, and they are upset.

  The studio is still overrun with Wall Street associates, asking all kinds of questions about picture making. As a result, Levathes has gone on an efficiency kick, but I think it’s too late.

  Liz and Eddie went to the Russian Ballet in Los Angeles and gave a party for the dancers later. The dancers, in turn, invited the Fishers to visit them in Russia. Liz and Eddie accepted the invitation and plan to go next month.

  JUNE 30, 1961

  We are to shoot all of Cleopatra in Italy!

  Most of the stage space here is taken up with television, and what is left is needed for George Stevens’ Greatest Story Ever Told, so it was suddenly decided to get us off the lot.

  Called Liz to tell her the news, and she didn’t seem too happy about it. She is worried about getting a good place to live in Rome. I told her we’d start looking for her. She was also very anxious to get Roddy McDowall in the picture. I said JLM and myself want Roddy too, and we are working on it. Eddie was not enthusiastic about going to Italy. He has many deals here and I don’t think he is anxious to go away, because he is worried about Liz being so far away from her doctors.

  News of the sudden change in plan was relayed instantly to Johnny Johnston and John DeCuir who were contacted at New York’s Idlewild Airport where they were enroute to Italy to set up locations only.

  JULY 7, 1961

  JLM busy helping Liz write a speech she is going to deliver at a fund-raising banquet for Cedars of Lebanon Hospital.

  JULY 9, 1961

  Elizabeth’s speech, about how it feels to be near death, was an enormous success. It was so dramatic and vivid that the audience pledged almost seven million dollars.

  JULY 11, 1961

  My birthday! Liz and Eddie to Moscow.

  JULY 18, 1961

  Liz and Eddie back from Moscow and talking about doing a picture in Russia. They are anxious to get started on Cleopatra. Liz in fine health.

  JULY 25, 1961

  Still in a muddle about Burton.

  Ordinarily I would close a deal like this myself, but at Fox the signing of an important actor becomes a major operation involving the casting department here and in New York, legal departments on both coasts, New York executives, etc. The studio has a lot of people who have to be kept busy.

  JULY 26, 1961

  Went to Western Costume to see Irene Sharaff’s costumes for Liz. They are marvelous—Irene really is a genius and wonderful to work with.

  Liz has postponed her date for fittings. I suspect she gained weight on the Russian trip, which means she’s on a crash diet again. She likes clothes to fit skin tight. One or two pounds can make a difference, and Liz is always concerned about looking her best, naturally.

  JULY 27, 1961

  Excerpts from a letter to JLM in Rome:

  … We are still counting on a starting date of September 18th. If this is to be changed, please advise us as soon as possible, as it will affect actors’ starting dates. I am very anxious to know what date you want Liz and if there is any news on villas. I haven’t heard a thing from Rosemary or Johnny on either matter.

  Eddie’s opening was not nearly as effective as Vegas because the room was so large and the whole rat pack was there and they finally got up on the stage and it became a real Hollywood evening, if you know what I mean.

  With love to all.

  As always,

  Walter F. Wanger

  JULY 29, 1961

  JLM sent a telegram to Owen McLean, casting director at 20th Century-Fox, complaining that with the starting date of the picture only seven weeks away only six of approximately forty-six principal roles had been cast.

  AUGUST 1, 1961

  Irene Sharaff upset because Liz has not yet come in for fittings or given a date when she will come. Irene is not used to working this way. I explained that Liz would come when she felt she was in shape.

  JLM now in Rome without a sufficient production staff. He’s trying to do everything himself, which is ridiculous. It’s unfair to bother him with all these extraneous problems and expect him to turn out a great script which has to satisfy three of the most important artists in the world.

  AUGUST 2, 1961

  The villa for Liz and Eddie in Rome is becoming a problem.

  In this picture the producer also fills in as janitor and general handy man. At 2 A.M. I finally got through to a Princess in Rome who is in the real-estate business. She said she would look for something for the Fishers.

  AUGUST 4, 1961

  Eddie insists that Elizabeth’s personal physician, Dr. Rex Kennamer, go to Rome with them—at company expense. Dr. Kennamer’s fee is $25,000 plus expenses for the six weeks he will be in Rome.

  AUGUST 4, 1961

  Excerpts from a letter to JLM:

  Dear Joseph,

  I thought that your interview on arrival in Rome was just fabulous. I sent the copy I got from Ascarelli over to Elizabeth. Incidentally, I’m working now trying to organize a really proper, world-wide organization to handle the publicity and exploitation of the picture. Einfeld is reluctant to spend any money and that, confidentially, is because of the pressures on him by the new members of the board who are trying to eliminate him; and Harry Brand at this end doesn’t want to work with Einfeld if he can help it. So, between the two, I’ll try to get the new board to meet with Pete Levathes to set up something that is commensurate with the type of effort that you are making.

  … Peter Levathes has been pressing me for the script, which I have refused to give him, and he is also very money-conscious now due to the presence here of the board members, including John Loeb. They all have the orthodox, Wall Street point of view of that operation. However, I have naturally refused to let him have the script, and told him that they’d just better be patient and come through with the money if they want a great picture. I found out the budget they hope for is six million on the first version, eight million for this version. The intrigue and conversation are very brutal and wild …

  AUGUST 9, 1961

  Levathes says Kennamer’s fee is outrageous and refuses to okay it.

  Irene unhappy because Liz wanted her to come to her bungalow for fittings because her arm hurts from shots. Irene refused. Liz out tonight at Kirk Douglas’ party, and, presumably, is better and ready to work tomorrow.

  AUGUST 10, 1961

  Eddie’s birthday.

  Liz came to the studio for fittings and was very pleasant and slim. Liz and Irene getting on famously.

  AUGUST 13, 1961

  Talked with JLM in Rome, who said we are getting off to a bad start.

  England all over again: we do not have a script, the sets aren’t ready, costumes aren’t ready. The props are not ready either and we need more than a million dollars’ worth. We are being forced to begin shooting next month so Skouras can keep the Board of Directors quiet and because of the starting date on Liz’s contract.

  AUGUST 16, 1961

  Una
ble to make a deal with Trevor Howard as Caesar. I called JLM in Rome and recommended Rex Harrison, who, I think, will be better in the long run. JLM agrees so we are going after him.

  AUGUST 22, 1961

  Now the villa for Eddie and Liz has become a crisis. Eddie says they won’t go to Rome unless they have the right place to live. He suggests we send Bob Abrams, a friend and associate of his, to Rome to look. We have agreed to do this—at company expense.

  AUGUST 25, 1961

  Enroute to Rome stopped in New York to see Skouras. He was livid over an interview with Elizabeth in a recent Look magazine in which she said, “It will be fun to be the first Jewish Queen of Egypt.” The statement was annoying to the Egyptian government, which had promised us co-operation.

  — ROME —

  AUGUST 27, 1961

  Arrived here embarrassed and discouraged.

  Embarrassed because of a story in the Rome Daily American which sounded as though JLM was doing nothing until I arrived. We were promised a retraction Tuesday.

  Discouraged because once again we were under the gun to start the film. JLM had advised Skouras it would be cheaper to keep Liz on salary while we took time to prepare, but the attitude as always was, “For God’s sake, get something on film.”

  Talking to the people at Fox is like a Kafka play in which you call a number, and no one’s at the other end of the phone. You try to reason but discover no one is listening. Again we were about to attempt to film in opposition to every basic tenet of the professional film maker. We had no sets, no script, and no proper administrative organization. Although Johnny Johnston is in charge of production, the problems were way too big for one man. He is sick as well. When MGM made Ben-Hur in Rome they had three powerful production men and a staff working for over a year in advance and still had plenty of problems.

  AUGUST 28, 1961

  John DeCuir is complaining about the lack of stage space.

  DeCuir, a good-looking, dedicated young man who is an ardent Catholic and goes to church every morning, is working non-stop on the design of sets. He will take all the abuse in the world without listening to anyone; he just goes on building and building. He has a great imagination combined with a terrible habit of elevating everything on platforms, which makes his sets difficult to light and photograph.

  When I arrived here, he said we had an awful space problem: there was no room for the throne room on any of the stages at Cinecitta. He suggested we take over the DePaulis Studio, the biggest in Europe. It is, however, three quarters of an hour from Rome and from Cinecitta; it has no heating, no lights and no air-conditioning. When I pointed this out to DeCuir he smiled dreamily and said, “But there is space.”

  I told him I wouldn’t hear of using another studio. If we did, Liz would have to make up here, then drive to the other studio. It was just too much trouble for all concerned. DeCuir went away unhappily, muttering that there wasn’t room enough here for his throne room but he’d try to cram it someplace.

  Talked with a real-estate man about a villa for the Fishers. Abrams is looking constantly but is having trouble finding the right place—they want a lot of space and a lot of bathrooms. Not everyone with a palazzo is anxious to rent to the Fishers, because they have too many animals and too many children.

  AUGUST 28, 1961

  JLM gave the crew of 100 technicians from Hollywood and England a pep talk about relations with Italian workers. He said: “Please bear in mind that if it is difficult to communicate with the Italians, the reason is that you do not speak their language. Not that they do not speak yours …” Good to remember any place and any time.

  SEPTEMBER 1, 1961

  Liz and Eddie arrived in Rome today with Dr. Kennamer, whose fee was finally approved.

  We had to set squadrons of police to protect Liz from the paparazzi—Rome’s jackal-like photographers. Photos of Liz are worth a small fortune and the photographers here are the most aggressive and obnoxious in the world.

  The Fishers and the doctor went off immediately for a cruise on Sam Spiegel’s yacht.

  SEPTEMBER 2, 1961

  Skouras arrived today looking tired.

  For the first time I had the feeling that the operating committee of bankers who had been investigating the studio had gotten to him. They canceled the Stevens picture, The Greatest Story Ever Told, without asking for Skouras’ opinion or okay. That picture was a dream of his and he was heartbroken. Apparently the bankers are getting very tough with him. I think he came to Rome to get away from them.

  Before we got to Rome a deal had been made with Prince Borghese to rent his private beach at Anzio for $150,000. After we started to build the Alexandria set there we found the beach was the one where the Allied troops landed. It was still mined!

  I went to the beach, where an army of workers was clearing ground. One bulldozer struck an unexploded shell. We had to call in demolition experts to lug live ammunition away. More delays—and danger. All we need is to have a shell blow up and hurt some of our people!

  In addition, I learned that the beach is next door to the NATO firing range, which means we will have to arrange our schedule so we are not working when the big guns are blasting. We will have to get NATO permission to be allowed on our own set!

  SEPTEMBER 5, 1961

  Abrams called from Naples to say that Liz and Eddie had fallen in love with a 70-year-old Greek cook on the yacht. They want me to arrange to bring him to Rome.

  SEPTEMBER 6, 1961

  The press clamor here in Rome is incredible. We are getting requests from all over the world from correspondents who want to interview Liz or see the sets being constructed.

  Fathi Ibrahim, head of the Fox operation in Egypt, arrived today. Colorful and influential, Fathi speaks perfect English and handles himself like a character actor in a play. He is smooth, understanding, and able to get things done in a quiet way—but it must be his way. He is also very good on social contacts. His wife, Mary, is a charming woman, a real beauty, and the niece of the Emperor of Ethiopia.

  At head of public relations is Giulio Ascarelli, an Italian-born American citizen, a real savvy guy who knows all the press in Rome, Paris, and London.

  Tall, thin, and distinguished looking, Giulio is a worldly character who loves good things and a good life. Part of his future, however, is based on the income he expects to get from the Fox pension plan. He has been with the studio a long time and he intends to do the best job possible for us—without endangering his position. I fear he can be handled easily by Skouras.

  SEPTEMBER 7, 1961

  Finally got a chance to look over Cinecitta. The studio where we plan to work is very much like any Hollywood studio—for which I am partly responsible. When I was in Rome in 1936 I stayed with Dorothy de Frasso and her husband, the Count de Frasso at their Villa Madama, a fabulous palace with ceilings by Michelangelo, which was later used by Goering during the war.

  One day they arranged for me to meet Mussolini, who was then at the peak of his power. Il Duce told me he wanted to build a film studio in Rome and asked for my suggestions.

  I told him he ought to send someone to America—which he did. A very bright and wealthy engineer, Senator Roncaroni, who owned a racing stable in Rome, came to visit me in Hollywood. I showed him around, arranged for him to get blueprints of the major studios, including Fox, and he returned to Rome and designed Cinecitta.

  Although we are not the only company shooting at Cinecitta we have certainly brought a circus flavor to the lot and to Rome. In one area an army of Italian men is being drilled to fight mighty land battles. An hour away at Anzio, ships were being constructed for the naval engagement at Actium, and Cleo’s royal barge was being fitted with purple sails just like the ones the real Cleopatra’s barges had.

  Our sails, however, were of modern nylon because silk or cotton sails fade in the sun.

  On the Borghese hunting estate on the Anzio beachhead, ancient Alexandria was being rebuilt and in Rome, half a mile from the real Forum, we
were constructing a movie Forum larger than the original, where Caesar will welcome Cleopatra.

  Our dance director, Hermes Pan, has been rehearsing hundreds of dancing girls for months, preparing them for the big procession scene when Cleopatra enters Rome.

  A Negro ballet is on one of the sound stages rehearsing; athletes are practicing pole vaulting and swordplay in the athletic field, with archers shooting nearby; the charioteers—mostly Hollywood stunt men who worked in Ben-Hur—are working out on one of the outdoor sets. Some people are in costume, some out of costume, since the wardrobe department can’t keep up with our needs.

  SEPTEMBER 9, 1961

  Elizabeth’s dressing room is not ready yet.

  An entire building is being redesigned for her. Eddie is upset over his problems, so they have become mine now: a station wagon, a cook, the Greek chef, and an upcoming photographic interview with Life.

  With the exception of the cast, everyone associated with the film now wears a numbered, silver-dollar-sized badge. They come in three colors: blue for production, yellow for construction, and red for visitors. My badge is Number 11.

  SEPTEMBER 11, 1961

  Negotiations finally concluded for Rex Harrison to play Caesar, at $10,000 a week plus expenses, a car and driver, and co-star billing.

  Roddy McDowall, Hume Cronyn, and half a dozen others signed for co-starring and feature roles.

  Actors are arriving from all over the world every day. Some of them are not met at the plane because of our transportation problems. And the housing department occasionally messes up on getting the right accommodations, which makes for more chaos.

  SEPTEMBER 12, 1961

  The handmaidens and the slave girls are on strike!

  They claim the costumes they wear in the movie are too skimpy. Thank heavens for Magli, the Italian production manager. He pointed to the line of Italian male workers ogling and cheering the girls in the picket line, and proved that the costumes they wore to picket in were skimpier by far than their movie costumes.

  Liz on time for tests today. She couldn’t be in better spirits or more co-operative.

 

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