Myrna Loy (67 page)

32. “come along”:
Variety
, Nov. 14, 1933; “a flyer’s”:
Variety
, Oct. 10, 1933.

33. “Clark Gable”: Will Rogers, quoted in
Variety
, Nov. 14, 1933; “every woman”: Irving Thalberg, quoted in Hay,
MGM
, 100; “the affair”: Adela Rogers St. John, quoted in Harris,
Clark Gable
, 82; “would have”: Gable, quoted in Vieira,
Hollywood Dreams Made Real
, 116.

34. “Phone calls”: Marx,
Mayer and Thalberg
, 166.

35. the published caption:
Photoplay
, Nov. 1934, 47; “At the moment”:
New York Daily Mirror
, Nov. 27, 1933; “the most voluptuous”: Eleanor Barnes,
LA Illustrated Daily News
, Dec. 11, 1933.

36. “My ears”: quoted in Tornabene,
Long Live the King
, 177; “He’ll never”: Hughes, quoted by Lewis Milestone, AFI Oral History, Lewis Milestone Collection, folder 172, p. 139, AMPAS.

37. “He believed”: ML, quoted in
Philadelphia Inquirer
, Nov. 29, 1987; “his nearness”: Crawford and Ardmore,
A Portrait of Joan
, 88; Joan Blondell reported: Kennedy,
Joan Blondell
, 37; “a caveman”:
Photoplay
, Nov. 1931, 67.

38. “a tenderness”:
Variety
, June 12, 1934.

39. “presents grave danger”: Wingate to Mannix, Dec. 13, 1933, PCA files for
Men in White
, AMPAS.

8. MR. AND MRS. THIN MAN

1. “Myrna Loy and William Powell”:
Lion’s Roar
, Nov. 1941, n.p.

2. “drinking at the bar”: Breen to Mayer, April 6, 1934, PCA files for
The Thin Man
, AMPAS.

3. “It seems to me”: Undated letter, Harriet B. Adams to Breen, PCA files for
The Thin Man
, AMPAS; “excessive amount”: Breen to Mayer, Sept. 26, 1936, PCA files for
After the Thin Man
, AMPAS.

4. W.S. Van Dyke: Lambert,
Norma Shearer
, 255.

5. The original Nick: Hammett,
The Thin Man
, 27.

6. “got excited”: Hammett,
The Thin Man
, 151.

7. “the real”: Goodrich,
The Real Nick and Nora;
“it was nice”: Hellman, “Dashiell Hammett,” n.p.

8. “I hope so”: Frances Goodrich, Jan. 1934 letter quoted in Goodrich,
The Real Nick and Nora
, 76; “I don’t care”: Van Dyke, quoted in Bowers, “Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett,” 464.

9. initial profits: Mannix Ledger, Howard Strickling Collection, AMPAS; “made in Culver City”: Harry Haun, “The Queen of Hollywood,”
New York Daily News
, Jan. 6, 1985.

10. “We got into the habit”: ML, quoted in Loy and Powell, “Why We Are an Ideal Team,” 7; “I have never”: Powell, quoted in
Lion’s Roar
, Nov. 1941, n.p.

11. “Be brave”: Powell in unsourced clipping, MLP, Box 33, folder 4; floppy flippers: ML, quoted in Chierichetti, “Myrna Loy Today,” 13.

12. “Is your cash register”:
Variety
, Nov. 11, 1934.

13. “I wanted it”: Howe, quoted in Higham,
Hollywood Cameramen
, 87.

14. “someone like”: Powell, quoted in Bryant,
William Powell
, 78; “a bit of a fuss pot”: Powell, quoted in Loy and Powell, “Why We Are an Ideal Team,” 7.

15. “fancy tail feathers”: Powell, quoted in Francisco,
Gentleman
, 99.

16. “write a story”: Mayer, quoted in Eyman,
Lion of Hollywood
, 301.

17. “a murder mystery . . . newlyweds”: Van Dyke, quoted in Koszarski,
Hollywood Directors
, 312; rights for $22,000: This amount was reported in the
Chicago Tribune
, March 9, 1937, but Sam Marx remembered paying $14,000 (
BB
, 90).

18. sixteen days: Van Dyke, quoted in Koszarski,
Hollywood Directors
, 311.

19. “general tone”: Breen to Mayer, Feb. 21, 1934, PCA files for
The Thin Man
.

20. “Don’t be so”: Hammett,
The Thin Man
, 163.

21. “Santa Claus hasn’t”: ML, quoted in Hall, “Should a Girl Forgive?” undated typescript, 5.

22. “If women”: ML, quoted in Harrison Carroll,
LA Evening Herald Express
, Nov. 22, 1935.

23. Kansas City: Francisco,
Gentleman
, 7–8.

24. Powell at Warner Bros.: Basinger,
The Star Machine
, 401–4.

25. salaries:
New York Times
, Jan. 7, 1937;
Motion Picture Herald
, Feb. 6, 1937.

26. “One could tell”: Marx,
Mayer and Thalberg
, 78; “with Stromberg”: quoted in Latham,
Crazy Sundays
, 188–89.

27. “We were getting”: Hackett, “Reminiscences of Albert Hackett,” 31.

28. “Van Dyke certainly”: Rudy Behlmer, editor’s epilogue, in Van Dyke,
W. S. Van Dyke’s Journal
, 114–16.

29. “We couldn’t”: quoted in Goodrich,
The Real Nick and Nora
, 123.

30. Hammett . . . suffered a breakdown: Johnson,
Dashiell Hammett
, 151–52.

31. suspended Hammett’s contract: note in
Selected Letters of Dashiell Hammett, 1921–1960
, 133.

32. rejected Hammett’s proposal: Drees, “The Thin Man,” 52.

33. “No one ever”: Hammett to Hellman, quoted in Drees, “The Thin Man,”

9. MYRNA LOY VS. MGM

1.
Motion Picture Herald
survey: reported in
Hollywood Citizen News
, Aug. 14, 1935.

2. Robbin Coons, “Hollywood,”
Gettysburg Times
, Nov. 27, 1936.

3. Joseph Breen objected: Breen to Mayer, Sept. 26, 1936, PCA file for
After the Thin Man
, AMPAS.

4. “Miss Loy’s costume”: Carolyn Anspacher,
San Francisco Chronicle
, Sept. 23, 1936.

5. “We did succeed”: Van Dyke, quoted in Koszarski,
Hollywood Directors, 1914–1940
, 315.

6. Otis Ferguson:
New Republic
, Nov. 25, 1936.

7. “Look for”:
Variety
, July 17, 1934; Donald Ogden Stewart: Stewart papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

8. “Not one person”:
Motion Picture Herald
, Sept. 22, 1934.

9. “There would be”: Russell,
Life Is a Banquet, 60
.

10. “There’s all”:
Variety
, Nov. 13, 1934.

11. revise the
It Happened One Night
script: Capra,
The Name above the Title
, 164.

12. “He was able”: Loy, “Reminiscences of Myrna Loy,” 1434.

13. He mounted two cameras: Walker,
The Light on Her Face
, 203.

14. hiring a few rich:
Variety
, July 10, 1934.

15. “our faith”:
New York Times
, Nov. 30, 1934.

16. “As a result”: Capra,
The Name above the Title
, 404.

17. “Story concerns”:
Variety
, July 10, 1935; “a shy little person”: Frank Nugent on
Maskerade, New York Times
, Jan. 27, 1937; “so absolutely perfect”: ML, quoted in McDonald, “Myrna Knows All the Answers,” 74.

18. “I knew”: ML, quoted in Chierichetti, “Myrna Loy Today,” 13.

19. “artless, unsophisticated”: McDonald, “Myrna Knows All the Answers,” 74; Gottfried . . . had recommended: Kevin Brownlow, email to the author, June 12, 2008, based on his unpublished interview with Reinhardt; Powell insisted: Rainer interview, quoted in Brenner, “The Last Goddess,” 395.

20. “I was just”: Rainer, quoted in
People Magazine
interview, April 11, 1988, n.p.; “good looker”: Mayer, quoted by Rainer in Brenner, “The Last Goddess,” 399; “We’ve made you”: Mayer, quoted by Eyman,
Lion of Hollywood
, 243.

21. “until the whole”: ML, quoting Mannix in Chierichetti, “Myrna Loy Today,” 13.

22. septic infection: Terry Hornblow to the author, April 21, 2005.

23. “but the nature”:
LA Evening Herald
, March 8, 1935; “Chatter”:
Variety
, March 19, 1935; “Several weeks ago”: Manners, “I Know Myrna Loy—But Not Very Well,” 87.

24. Mannix telegram to ML: dated May 10, 1935, MLP, Box 7, folder 5.

25. “with the gay assurance”:
New York Times
, May 12, 1935.

26. “we don’t die”:
New York Herald
, May 19, 1935; “Miss Loy soon”: ibid.

27. “descended like a swarm . . . killed”: Lyn, “Unmasking Myrna Loy,” 71.

28. “there’s nothing”: ML, quoted in
Picturegoer
, June 15, 1935.

29. “I had to pinch”: ML, quoted in
Beverly Hills Shopping News
, Jan. 6, 1936.

30. In the past:
Variety
, May 29, 1935; “The gentle”: Samuels, “Loyal to Loy,” 55.

31. “Myrna Loy Abrogates”:
LA Examiner
, Aug. 14, 1935; “I was given”: ML, quoted in
Hollywood Citizen News
, Aug. 14, 1935.

32. “was never a field mouse”: Ager,
Variety
, Aug. 14, 1935.

33.
Soak the Rich: Variety
, Aug. 21, 1935.

34. “Some executives”: “The Myrna Loy Crisis,”
New York Times
, Aug. 25, 1935.

35. “Actress Mends”:
New York American
, Sept. 11, 1935; “Myrna Loy Back”:
LA Times
, Sept. 4, 1935; new contract:
LA Times
, Nov. 27, 1937.

10. MRS. ARTHUR HORNBLOW JR.

1. “The Arthur Hornblows”: Zeitlin, “Happy Ever After,” 89.

2. “sleepy, quaint”: Lane, “Myrna Talks about Marriage,” 42.

3. Fairbanks was an old friend: Jeffrey Vance to the author, July 30, 2007.

4. salary for 1935: U.S. Treasury figures,
New York Times
, Jan. 7, 1937; percentage:
Variety
, Nov. 21, 1933.

5. “High altitudes”:
New York Times
, Feb. 1, 1935.

6. “He married a lot”: Hackett, quoted in Goodrich,
The Real Nick and Nora
, 55.

7. “genuine disdain”: Curtis,
W. C. Fields
, 323–24.

8. Visart would . . . become pregnant: David Chierichetti to the author, March 17, 2008; see also Chierichetti,
Mitchell Leisen
, 12.

9. “perennial Peter Pan”: Fontaine,
No Bed of Roses
, 202.

10. “I’m interested”: ML, quoted in Harrington, “The Marriage Code of Myrna Loy,” 92.

11. “never tells her”: Penn, quoted in Zeitlin, “Myrna’s Maid Tells on Miss Loy,” 84.

12. “we have a few friends”: ML, quoted in Hall, “That Other Me,” 7.

13. “wines at the right”: Owens, “Why the Perfect Wife’s Marriage Failed,” 62; first big party:
LA Examiner
, Jan. 23, 1938.

14. “the shyest”: Manners, “I Know Myrna Loy—But Not Very Well,” 30; photo caption: Constance McCormick scrapbook, vol. 1, Constance McCormick Collection, USC.

15. lunch given by Merle Oberon:
LA Examiner
, May 25, 1936.

16. “You certainly know”: ML to Cukor, June 27, 1977, Cukor Collection, AMPAS.

17. Trocadero:
LA Examiner
, Feb. 14, 1937.

18. “Venus de Milo”: Charles Laughton in an uncredited clipping, British Film Institute, London.

19. testimony of Betty Black: transcript of interview fragment by Kotsilibas-Davis, MLP, Box 30, folder 19, 2176.

20. “Mrs. Popper”:
LA Evening Herald Express
, July 2, 1938.

21. “no ballroom”: ML, quoted in Zeitlin, “Happy Ever After,” 88; “lifted bodily”: ML, quoted in Hamilton, “Myrna Loy’s Honeymoon House,” 87; charm bracelet: unsourced clip, MLP, Box 33, folder 5.

22. “a peasant handkerchief”: Willson, “The Revealing True Story of Myrna Loy,” Part 3, 81; “I hate clothes”: ML, quoted in Hall, “So You Want to Be a Movie Star?” 7.

23. “She never”: Theresa Penn, quoted in Zeitlin, “Myrna’s Maid Tells on Miss Loy,” 30.

24. a bequest: Last Will and Testament of Myrna Loy, a.k.a. Myrna Williams, Oct. 5, 1983, Surrogate Court of the State of New York.

25. six ducklings: Terry Hornblow to the author, April 20, 21, 2005; “i am sorry”: Terry Hornblow to ML, 1936 letter, MLP, Box 32, folder 1.

26. Terry found his father: Terry Hornblow to the author, April 20, 21, 2005.

27. stepson Michael: Michael Hornblow to the author, June 10, 2005.

28. “It is curious”:
LA Evening Herald Examiner
, Aug. 1, 1936; We Hate Arthur: James Kotsilibas-Davis recollections, transcript fragment, MLP, Box 30, folder 19, 2105.

11. WIFE VS. MISTRESS

1. “When I began”: ML, quoted in Dorothy Manners, “Notes on Myrna Loy,” 1960 typescript in ML Bio folder, AMPAS.

2. fellow actor Robert Ryan: McDowall,
Double Exposure
, 238; marriage rate: Mintz and Kellogg,
Domestic Revolutions
, 136.

3. “on ribbing terms”: ML, quoted in Zeitlin, “Behind the Mystery of Myrna Loy,” 70.

4. in
On Golden Pond:
Doris Hornblow to the author, May 13, 2005.

5. “consort”: Mordden,
The Hollywood Studios
, 146.

6. “I am presenting”: Ed Sullivan, quoted in
New York Daily News
, Dec. 10, 1937.

7. “I’m sick to death”: ML, quoted in Schallert, “She’s Tired of Being a Wife,” 26.

8. “I’m determined”: L. B. Mayer, quoted in Crowther,
Hollywood Rajah
, 83.

9. “The sanctity”: Production Code, reprinted in Mast,
Movies in Our Midst
, 332–33.

10. a laundry list: Breen to Jason Joy, April 2, 1936, PCA files for
To Mary—with Love
, AMPAS; paying Myrna $3,000 a week: May 25, 1936, George Wesson letter, Fox Collection, UCLA.

11. “hash-over”:
Variety
, Sept. 2, 1936; “It begins”: quoted in
Hollywood Reporter
, Nov. 6, 1936.

12. “That woman”: ML, quoted in Chierichetti, “Myrna Loy Today,” 10; “Please put”: Breen to Mayer, Nov. 12, 1936, PCA files for
Wife vs. Secretary
, AMPAS.