Most of the major Hollywood studios had their own musical series: MGM was selling tickets with the Broadway Melody films, Warners had their Gold Diggers and Paramount showcased radio talent in their Big Broadcast films. So it seemed only natural that Goldwyn, who had brought Busby Berkeley, Eddie Cantor and the Goldwyn Girls to the screen, should top them all. Inspired by the death of Florenz Ziegfeld, he started working on his screen version of the Follies in 1932, spending six years trying to get just the right mix of talent.
For starters, he asked Irving Berlin to write the score. But Berlin said no. He didn't particularly like Goldwyn, and though he might consent to sell the producer the occasional song, he didn't want to work on an entire film score with him. Goldwyn then turned to the Gershwins, offering them a persuasively large paycheck and the chance to film a ballet based on George's tone poem "An American in Paris."
To that end he brought together one of the ballet world's most innovative choreographers, Balanchine, with a 20-year-old ballerina who had just made the successful transition from the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo to the London company of the hit Broadway musical On Your Toes. Goldwyn was so impressed with Zorina, in fact, that he signed her to a seven-year contract.
All he needed was a script. His first choice to write it was Lillian Hellman, who had adapted her play The Children's Hour for him as These Three (1936). Only Hellman had no idea how to write a musical. She tried to refuse the assignment several times, but eventually took a stab at it. By this time, he had also hired The Ritz Brothers and radio stars Edgar Bergen and Phil Baker as comedy relief and classical singers Helen Jepson and Charles Kullmann to throw in a little opera. Hellman couldn't come up with a plot to tie all that talent together, nor could anyone else until Goldwyn turned to one of Hollywood's most facile problem-solvers, Ben Hecht. He concocted a story about a film producer who hires a simple country girl to help him get in touch with what the average audience member wants to see on screen (which amazingly included grand opera and Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending). He then falls in love with her only to discover that she's given her heart to a singing soda jerk.
Goldwyn bought the plot without realizing that Hecht had modeled the producer's character on him. As work progressed on the film, even without a script, most people on the Goldwyn lot were aware that their boss was infatuated with Zorina. He even hired a taxi to follow her when she left the studio each day. Mrs. Goldwyn was aware of it, too, growing suspicious when he started bringing her surprise gifts. She almost left him, but eventually decided to tough it out. Apparently the only person not aware of Goldwyn's infatuation with Zorina was Zorina, who was too busy falling in love with Balanchine to notice.
A failed love affair was the least of Goldwyn's worries, however. After writing two great songs for the film, "Our Love Is Here to Stay" and "Love Walked In," George Gershwin started experiencing debilitating headaches. Goldwyn blamed it on high living; there were rumors linking the composer to former Goldwyn chorus girl Paulette Goddard and French actress Simone Simon. But when Gershwin had to be hospitalized, doctors discovered he had a brain tumor. He passed away on July 11, 1937, and, on Ira's recommendation, Goldwyn hired Broadway composer Vernon Duke to finish the songs.
Plans to film a ballet based on Gershwin's "An American in Paris" came to a sad end, too. Balanchine spent weeks rehearsing the number and planning out every camera move. He'd even managed to keep Goldwyn out of his rehearsals. Finally came the grand unveiling, with the choreographer dragging his producer around the set to show him exactly how the number would be filmed. Goldwyn didn't make it through the number. With his arm in a sling after a fall at home, he was more short-tempered than usual and walked out. Later he summoned Balanchine to his office and announced that the number was being cut because it was too "artistic…the miners in Harrisburg wouldn't understand it." Balanchine tried to change his mind, even pointing out that there were no miners in Harrisburg, but to no avail. Instead, he had to stage a musical version of Romeo and Juliet with jazz-dancing Montagues fighting more reserved Capulets. It would be 13 years before "An American in Paris" would make it to the screen in director Vincente Minnelli's Oscar®-winning film for MGM.
With so much chaos in its production, it would be the perfect Hollywood story for the film to turn out a huge hit. But perfection was to elude Goldwyn, even in this. Although critics praised some elements of the film -- the Gershwin songs and Balanchine's choreography in particular -- and later audiences have been convulsed by The Ritz Brothers' antics, the film was an all-around flop, losing almost half of Goldwyn's investment. As a result, the producer abandoned plans for any further all-star musicals. With his marriage on the line, he also abandoned plans to follow up on Zorina's positive reviews. For the rest of her contract, he allowed her to work on Broadway and at other studios, but never worked with her again on a personal basis. Not knowing the real reasons for his rejection, she spent the rest of her life thinking she had let him down professionally.
Producer: Samuel Goldwyn
Director: George Marshall
Screenplay: Ben Hecht, Ray Golden, Sid Kuller, Sam Perrin, Arthur Phillips
Cinematography: Gregg Toland
Art Direction: Richard Day
Music: George Gershwin, Vernon Duke, Ray Golden, Alfred Newman
Cast: Adolphe Menjou (Oliver Merlin), The Ritz Brothers (Themselves), Vera Zorina (Olga Samara), Kenny Baker (Danny Beecher), Andrea Leeds (Hazel Dawes), Edgar Bergen (Himself), Helen Jepson (Leona Jerome), Phil Baker (Michael Day), Bobby Clark (A. Basil Crane, Jr.), Ella Logan (Glory Wood), Jerome Cowan (Lawrence), Nydia Westman (Ada), Charles Kullmann (Alfredo in La Traviata), Alan Ladd (Auditioning Singer).
C-120m.
by Frank Miller
