Alan Jay Lerner: A Lyricist's Letters (12 page)

Love,

Alan

A week later, the
New York Times
reported that the film was still on schedule to begin filming in October on location in Venezuela. The article included a couple of quotations from Lerner (flatteringly referred to as “a man of tomorrow”),
⁵⁴
who said, “The idea is to photograph that lush jungle terrain at its peak; as the rains end, the dry season begins.” Of the adaptation, he commented, “The novel is an allegory, not always the easiest thing to handle, but I’ve tried to be as faithful as was humanly possible to the story, translating it into terms of pure action and understanding.”
⁵⁵
Though he was confident enough to announce the project (and even draw attention to his approach), the vagueness of his words reveals his persistent struggle with this material.

    
The article also mentioned that Lerner was “busy collaborating with Burton Lane on the forthcoming stage musicalization of the ‘Li’l Abner’ comic strip.” Yet fate was quickly to bring this project to a final standstill. In July, Gabriel Pascal had died, and his obituary called Lerner’s attention back to the
Pygmalion
project for Broadway. It was a bittersweet decision to take on this material only a few weeks after his father’s death, since Lerner owed his love of language to his elder parent, to whom as a student he never sent a letter “that he did not return to me with notes in the margin suggesting more interesting ways of saying the same sentence”;
⁵⁶
perhaps Higgins came to represent a putative father-figure for Lerner. Around a month later, probably in early September, he was reconciled with his old collaborator Fritz Loewe. It is surely no accident that the move to patch things up coincided with Lerner’s reminder of human mortality in his father’s death. They joined forces with Herman Levin, who was due to produce
Abner
but agreed to take on
Pygmalion
as well. The show was announced on October 11 and immediately incurred the wrath of The Theatre Guild, which had
brought the
Pygmalion
project to Lerner and Loewe in 1952. Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner wrote to Lerner on behalf of the Guild in disgust and demanded justice, but, as Lerner reminds them in this letter, they had long relinquished their rights to the play and no “dirty trick” was involved:

    
To Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner

    
October 19, 1954

    
Dear Terry and Lawrence:

    
I returned from California a few days ago and found your disturbing, but flattering, letter. Because I was the one who withdrew from the project originally, I am answering your letter myself rather than in conjunction with Fritz, even though Fritz and I have discussed the matter thoroughly and I am, in a sense, speaking for both of us.

        
My reaction is puzzlement
⁵⁷
and bewilderment. Pascal, not The Theatre Guild, was the owner of the rights, and it was he who approached us about the project in California, much before any arrangement with The Theatre Guild. Our obvious obligation, if not legal, but definitely ethical, is to Pascal. When I came to New York two or three months later, Fritz and I were told by Gaby that he was entering into a producing partnership with the Guild. I can only believe that, in your great love for the property itself, and your highly complimentary enthusiasm for Fritz’s and my participation in it, which we both remember well, you have forgotten some of the facts. After all, Gaby was negotiating with Thompson and Allen
⁵⁸
before he died. Suppose that negotiation had been concluded and they had approached Fritz and me and we had accepted? Would you have written us as you did? Of course not. The property belonged to Pascal as it now belongs to his estate, and it is with his estate we negotiated.

        
That disposed of, perhaps you are wondering why Fritz and I didn’t come to you now, when we suddenly found a solution for some of the artistic problems. The answer is very simple. I am sure you remember the difficulty you and I had over the royalty agreement. Nothing discouraged me as much at the time as the fact that everybody held firm on their royalty and only the author was asked to accept less than minimum.
My ego was not troubled, but my sense of fairness was definitely jarred. Suffice to say I have improved my lot with Herman Levin.

        
In spite of the above, I found my brief association with you most pleasant and cannot but hold you both in the highest esteem and greatest respect. Fritz and I sincerely hope we will receive another letter from you soon, wishing us both good luck on a very difficult venture.

Sincerely,

Alan Jay Lerner

They replied the following day, reminding him, “You withdrew from the project because you said you were unable to lick the book. It was a blow to us because everything had been agreed upon and we were under the illusion that everything was going forward.” But in spite of Helburn and Langner’s indignation, Lerner was immovable, not least because he was indebted to Levin, to whom he had promised
Abner
.

    
While Levin started to negotiate with various actors (including Noël Coward and Michael Redgrave) to star in the musical, Lerner hastened to complete the work for which he was under contract at MGM. September had seen the premiere of the screen adaptation of
Brigadoon
—neatly bringing a new “Lerner and Loewe” product into the public eye at just the moment the team reunited—but the combination of Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse, under Vincente Minnelli’s direction, did not meet with universal acclaim from the critics.
⁵⁹
Nevertheless, Minnelli and Lerner pushed on with their next movie together. The director completed the screen test for
Green Mansions
with Angeli and Edmund Purdom,
⁶⁰
and in this letter Lerner gives Freed his detailed reaction to the two of them, as well as updating him on
Pygmalion
and asking when shooting would begin on
Huckleberry Finn
:

    
To Arthur Freed

    
November 15, 1954

    
Dear Arthur:

    
I have thought about the test a very great deal.

        
Let me begin by saying that obviously Vincente did a wonderful job, despite the limited time and the handicap of shooting indoors.
As for judging Angeli and Purdom, it is, of course, exceedingly difficult. I suppose the reason it is difficult reveals all the basic fallacies in judging anybody or anything by a test. A play is not one scene. A performance is in a sense a parabola, with a beginning, a middle, and an end, and one section of the arc cannot indicate the whole arc. So, in the final analysis I suppose one has to fall back on that awful word called “quality.” And when it comes to quality, I sincerely believe that Angeli does not have it. I don’t believe it is humanly possible to make somebody something they’re not. I don’t think you can act “purity,” at least the kind of purity and innocence that Rima possesses. Leslie Caron
⁶¹
has it, and she may be a far worse actress than Angeli. I also have grave misgivings about the way Angeli moves. It would seem to me that a real balletic background is an essential. When Rima moves through the woods it should be poetry. Audrey Hepburn
⁶²
moves that way, and again, so does Caron.

        
As for Purdom, I just simply couldn’t tell. Seeing only one scene, it is hard to know what light and shade, ferocity and aggressiveness, deep feeling and joy he is capable of. If you and Vincente think he has all that potential, I suppose that would clinch it. My basic negative feeling about him, however, was I didn’t feel any “burn” inside him. I didn’t feel his sex putting her on the spot. I didn’t feel any real animal in him. But that, perhaps, could be directed.

        
One thing I did find out very positively from the test is about the script. I could see more than ever how cut to the bone it must be. Within the next ten days I will send you a copy of the script with my suggested cuts. Incidentally, I would appreciate it if you would ask Mildred to send me an additional copy right away so that I have one here.

        
Pygmalion
is progressing smoothly, and much faster than I expected. About forty percent of the score is completed, and the book is completely broken down into a clear-cut story line, with all the new characters included. However, even though the writing will be completed in the next couple of months, we decided not to go into rehearsal until August. We’ve been doing a lot of preliminary work on casting, and I don’t think it’s going to be as difficult as we anticipated.
All in all it’s wonderful fun, in fact the most fun I’ve had writing in a long time.

        
Is there a shooting schedule yet on
Huck Finn
? I am hoping and praying that whatever additional work is needed I will be able to do before the middle of May. I’m trying assiduously to avoid any more of doing two things at once. Please let me know as soon as you have decided.

        
Give my love to Renee,
⁶³
Oscar
⁶⁴
and Ira.
⁶⁵
I miss you.

Devotedly,

Alan

Aside from the comments on the screen test, several things in this letter are arresting. In particular, there is a wonderful sense of Lerner’s joy at working with Loewe (“the most fun I’ve had writing in a long time”), so much so that previous struggles with adapting Shaw’s play into a musical no longer seemed to be getting in the way; it is surprising that “about forty percent of the score” had been written in only a couple of months of the old team getting back together. The other interesting aspect of the letter is the mention of a habit that had impeded Lerner’s recent progress (and which would also cause problems at other points in his career): “doing two things at once.” By sweeping aside his Hollywood work, Lerner was able to craft what would become unquestionably his most important work,
My Fair Lady
. It wasn’t entirely his decision, however.
Huckleberry Finn
was written and in rehearsal when Gene Kelly decided to withdraw and move to Europe to commence work on a dance film for MGM,
Invitation to the Dance
, which was a pet project of his.
⁶⁶
As a result of losing the star, and the growing problems with financing movie musicals in the 1950s, Freed eventually cancelled
Finn
.
⁶⁷
Much of the musical material is today housed in the Burton Lane Collection at the Library of Congress, and there is a complete screenplay in the New York Public Library. These suggest that had the movie come to fruition, it could have been a colorful addition to the Lerner-Minnelli-Freed canon.

    
With
Finn
and then
Green Mansions
canceled, Lerner’s mind was firmly set back toward Broadway. Happy in his setup as a silent co-producer with Herman
Levin, Lerner decided to add a second production to his portfolio: a musical by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane (of
Meet Me in St. Louis
fame) called
Three Tigers
.
⁶⁸
The relationship with Loewe was obviously harmonious, and
Pygmalion
proceeded well. In addition, a new subject was planned: a musical adaptation of Edna Ferber’s best-selling novel
Saratoga Trunk
. For both his new shows with Loewe, Lerner hoped to hire Robert Lewis, following from the aborted Lerner-Lane
Li’l Abner
(which was ultimately brought to Broadway with a completely different production and creative team, bar choreographer Michael Kidd). But Lewis was unavailable for
Pygmalion
, and Lerner wrote to tell him how sorry he was to have lost his director of preference:

    
To Robert Lewis

    
May 20, 1955

    
Dear, dear Bobby:

    
I’m absolutely heartsick that we can’t work together on
Pygmalion
. I think you must know that, were it left to me alone, I would wait till March or even later for you without a moment’s hesitation. Unfortunately, [just] as you have ethical obligations to
Mr. Johnson
, we have actual legal obligations to Rex Harrison,
⁶⁹
Stanley Holloway,
⁷⁰
Julie Andrews
⁷¹
and
the Pascal Estate. In all four of the above agreements we are obligated to go into production no later than January 1st. If there is a delay, we would either lose the people or pay a whopping penalty. As a matter of fact, it was only in the last two days that we successfully managed to persuade the Chase Bank, who represents the Pascal interests, to give us the outside date of January 1st. Up until then we had been legally bound to
open
by January 1st. So you can see how tied our hands are. I know that I shall miss you every moment of rehearsal, not only professionally, but personally as well.

        
For God’s sake let’s have nothing go wrong with
Saratoga Trunk
. It’s being planned so far ahead that we should be able to work out a time schedule satisfactory to us all. At the moment the plan is to go into production sometime before the end of ’56. It might well come after
Teahouse
on your schedule. (That’s just a guess.) Please, Bobby, let’s try and work that one out. I think it could be a wonderful show, and I hope you’re still interested in doing it.

        
They’re trying to set up some sort of corporation for which not only the play, but the motion picture would be financed by a motion picture company, and all of us would not only do the play, but the picture as well—participating in the profits of each accordingly. I think Fryer
⁷²
will be getting in touch with Bill
⁷³
about it in the next few days—if he hasn’t already.