CHAPTER 2: THE BEGINNING (1/15/42-3/8/42)
From Helena Kauer,
My Man Hollywood: A Life of Carole Lombard, 1979:
“When the war broke out, funds were needed, and a key source of these were, of course, from war bonds…Of course, those denizens of Hollywoodland were often enlisted to help entice the sales of war bonds from eager citizens.
Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau had organized the system, placing the publicity director for MGM, Howard Dietz (the man who designed the famous lion emblem of the studio [1]) in charge of the Hollywood Victory Committee, as it was called. The HVC was intended to serve as a governmental way for actors not in the military to help their country through stimulating bonds purchases…Women were especially useful on this front; stars such as Hedy Lamarr would kiss any man who bought a certain amount of bonds. Such methods were remarkably effective, amassing millions in bonds... [2]
Setting off by train (as Dietz had cautioned planes as being too dangerous) to her native Indiana, Lombard raised a combined total of two million in bonds. After the tour ended, on January 15th, Lombard encouraged her entourage, which consisted of Gable's agent, Otto Winkler, and her mother, Bess, to return back to Los Angeles by plane, for she wished to return as quickly as possible. Gable stayed behind to work on a film with Lana Turner,
Someday I’ll Find You (1942), which was Gable’s penultimate film. Lombard had left a sort of blonde female dummy for Gable, with a note, reading “So you won’t be lonely.” He had built a male counterpart for Lombard, laboring on it for three days. [3] However, both Winkler and her mother were petrified of flying. So, in a sporting mood, Lombard proposed a coin toss: heads for returning by train, tails for returning by plane. The coin came up heads. [4] They booked express tickets that night, and arrived in Los Angeles on the morning of the 16th."
Carole Lombard in Indiana, 1942
“Welcome back, Ma!”
-Clark Gable, 1942, welcoming his wife home [5]
From the February 1942 issue of
Variety:
“Lombard Begins Filming; Donates $150,500 Salary to Charity [6]
Carole Lombard has begun filming on her newest film, [on February 3rd], entitled ‘He Kissed the Bride,’ at Columbia…Of the actress’ salary, $75,000 goes to the Red Cross, $25,000 to the Motion Picture Relief Fund, $25,000 to the Infantile Paralysis Fund, and $25,500 to the Navy Relief Fund."
Shumlin to Direct ‘Rhine’ for Hal Wallis
...Shumlin, who produced the play [Watch on the Rhine] is set to make his directorial debut with the film, while Miss [Lillian] Helman wrote the legiter. Dashiell Hammet is to script it. Paul Lukas, the play’s star, is almost certain to star, says producer Wallis, and Irene Dunne is to costar. [7]
‘Devil Can Wait’ Now ‘Hell Bent’ For Jordan
The planned sequel to hit ‘Here Comes Mr. Jordan,’ starring Claude Rains, has been retitled from ‘The Devil Can Wait’ to ‘Hell Bent for Mr. Jordan.’ [8]
Continued from
My Man Hollywood:
“On February 15th, 1942, the film To Be or Not to Be premiered. Reception was rather bad for the film, with particular attacks at director Lubitsch. No actors were truly spared the critic’s scorn, but Lombard received at least faint praise.”
From The New York Times’ review of To Be or Not To Be, written by Bosley Crowther:
“Jangled moods and baffling humours…To say it is insensitive and macabre is understating the case…Miss Lombard glows, but her talents cannot truly shine in such a film.” [9]
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Footnotes:
1. This is OTL. A lot of stuff about Hollywood is weird like this.
2. Allow me to wax EdT on you, for this is, again, OTL. Lamarr would kiss any man who bought $25,000’s worth; Lana Turner’s was 50,000, and she fulfilled this promise many, many, many times.
3. No, it’s not from Hollywood Babylon. But it is OTL, and so is everything until specifically said otherwise.
4. The coin toss is OTL, but its alternate result is the POD.
5. They called each other “Ma” and “Pa.”
6. This is based on an OTL Variety issue. IOTL, Joan Crawford took over the part that Lombard was to take in the film (released as They All Kissed the Bride, filmed under the title I have listed) and, in commemoration of the deceased star, donated her salary of $112,500 to charity. Lombard, while not receiving the part of a dead woman, still is eager to help the war effort, and, as a larger star than Crawford, gets a larger salary.
7. IOTL, Lukas did star in the film, about the resistance in Germany, and Hammet did script, but Irene Dunne declined the part, claiming that, while she liked the content, it was too small; Bette Davis took it. It was nominated for Best Picture in 1943.
8. This title change was made IOTL, but the film was never made.
9. Crowther did write a review of the film IOTL, which was similar to this. He praised Lombard’s performance unequivocally OTL, but does not here.