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Ginger's Susan Hayward Message Board: To reach If You Knew Susie by Trish Sharp, click the profile photo at www.facebook.com/susanhaywardclassicfilmstar and you will see the link.

Ginger's Susan Hayward Message Board
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BIG...STORIES...BIG...NEWS...AFTER....OSCAR WIN...>>>

Many of you may already know about the publicity and news stories that were put out about Susan from the time before...and after...her Oscar win for I WANT TO LIVE! It is always 'big stuff' to read all sorts of things about the stars when they are on the top of the TOP! And after an Oscar win...it seems, in those days, everyone wanted to know what was in the works for a next movie project...or what was going on in their lives..(since they seemed to have NO PRIVATE LIVES once on the..TOP)

Here are a few of the things I found very 'interesting'...in that way with Susan's career. These were things that happened right before or after an award nomination..or...the winning film.

After Susan became such a BIG STAR for her nomination in WITH A SONG IN MY HEART (1953)...they rushed a re-relase of a film she had made as a co-star in 1942...REAP THE WILD WIND..only (full page ads in the papers) this time it is not PAULETTE GODDARD that gets the top female star billing with JOHN WAYNE and RAY MILLAND...Instead it is SUSAN HAYWARD who gets 2ND BILLING with JOHN WAYNE and pulls GODDARD down to the number 4 SLOT of the stars.

AT THE SAME TIME...(WASIMH)...being so BIG for her, she won out as 2ND BILLING in THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO..with GREGORY PECK, SUSAN HAYWARD and leaving AVA GARDNER in 3RD place billing, even though, we all must admit, that AVA's role was much larger and more important than SUSAN's in this film.

THE PRESS....also wanted to pry into the private lives of the stars, so that so many times articles and rumors were pushed out to the public that was just to bring more 'notice' to those stars who were on the TOP...and never caring whether it was hurting the people involved...or not...

One of these, with Susan, was after Susan and Jess divorced, and Susan being in the news so much, the press decided to 'work in' a love story that, as far as I know...never happened...and was only for the PRESS to play with the adoring fans/public movie goers who read...and sometimes believed...anything that was written about a star.

THIS LOVE STORY...involved SUSAN and JEFF CHANDLER, who had gone to school together in Brooklyn, but as far as I could ever see (in truth) had ever gone any further than that...and that they both wound up in the same industry..Movies!!

I remember reading in MODERN SCREEN a big story about how Jeff had always been in love with Susan but had never shown his true feelings, but now that she was 'unmarried'...he had confessed that he was and had always been deeply in love with her. The article in the magazine was called...."THE IRON MAN AND THE REDHEAD"...and had two of the worst pictures I had ever seen of either of them. NOT TOGETHER EITHER. They were separate photos...and it was the first time I thought to myself.."anything to pry into people's lives and make up stories. Look...they couldn't even get great shots of either of them. This must be a set-up...for sure."

NOW...they may have been friends, but I had also heard that they had nothing to do with each other...
just both movie stars...BUT..what it did do...was to make the 'fans'...want to see them together! Maybe not as a married couple..but to see them ON SCREEN TOGETHER..(which, again, could have been for a boosting in one or the others career..and I don't think that Susan needed any BOOSTING at the time.)

This did go on for quite some time...(meaning the fans pushing to see them together) and finally they did do THUNDER IN THE SUN together. After that...the big romance-thing had long rode its way out of the magazines, etc...and they were able to make the picture without having to be 'known as a new couple in love.'

JUST..another Hollywood worked...to make something out of...nothing. (AND FRANKLY...I think BOTH of them could have fared very well, without ever making that picture! I don't think of it as...GOOD...or...BAD...) That's all I have to say on THUNDER IN THE SUN...(LOL)

Re: BIG...STORIES...BIG...NEWS...AFTER....OSCAR WIN...>>>

Errol, thanks for the interesting post.

The press can be vultures constantly looking for prey that will feed them and also made them a buck or two.
We've really seen this in full bloom during this past election year, and it continues --except of course, if they are in love with someone, it swings the other way, and God help the other guy/or girl.

I had never known of the Jeff Chandler/Susan connection until later in life when I was reading some of the bios about her. My understanding is that they were good friends, and that Susan made that dud, Thunder in the Sun, to help Chandler out. Of course,my info, only comes from what I read. Tim, did, I think, at one time, mention that Susan and Jeff Chandler were friends. I think it was when we were having a discussion about Susan having (or not having) female friendships.

Re: BIG...STORIES...BIG...NEWS...AFTER....OSCAR WIN...>>>

Hi, Errol:

Yes, Oscar nominations -- and especially Oscar wins -- make for some pretty extensive "changes" to an actor, including getting better positioning on movie marquees, more publicity, and (whether true or not) more romantic "pairings."

My understanding of Susan and Jeff Chandler (aka Ira Grossel) was that they'd been schoolmates in Brooklyn and knew each other way back when. I also read that after she won the Oscar, Jeff asked her to appear in "Thunder in the Sun" to boost his career, which hadn't been doing that well. And, as we know, she did, and received bad reviews for yet another bad picture.

I also read that she was among Chandler's family and friends who were involved -- either directly or indirectly -- in suing the hospital in which Jeff died (after some kind of back surgery) from what was perceived to be negligence or possible malpractice.

I think at that time he'd been married. But who knows whether he ever loved Susan in any way other than as a friend? They were of different religions, which may have been a stumbling block, or it may simply be that they were friends. And, as we know, sometimes that's a stronger bond than romance.

Along the lines of the Oscar, I have been noticing a lot of TV appearances by Kate Winslet, and I'm hearing that she might win for "The Reader." If so, we may see some of the same things happen to her as happened to Susan. Some things never change, do they?

Gloria

Re: BIG...STORIES...BIG...NEWS...AFTER....OSCAR WIN...>>>

Great letter Errol.

I would like to enlarge on your paragraph re Snows of Kilimanjaro and Ava Gardner having a larger role than Susan. Originally, as I understand it, Hedy Lamarr was due to play Ava's part but was taken ill. (Ann Francis was also set to play Cyn but didn't look enough like Susan to be mistaken for her ... as the screenplay read.) Hedy and Susan knew each other from earlier in the war when they toured children's hospitals in the L.A. area. Susan's part was complete and "in the bag" before Ava shot her scenes. For some obscure reason, many of Susan's scenes were left on the cutting room floor, thus giving Ava the major role.

Wouldn't it be marvellous if all such scenes on Susan could be somehow miraculously restored? I also read some years back that the desert scenes with Rex Harrison in The Honeypot were found and were going to be added to the film. Unfortunately, it hasn't yet happened!

Trish

Re: Re: BIG...STORIES...BIG...NEWS...AFTER....OSCAR WIN...>>>

Hey, Trish:

I think it would be wonderful if any scenes of Susan in her films were added to the films. Heck, it would even be worth buying the DVDs again, LOL.

I was just thinking about that yesterday; specifically, the scene in "Stolen Hours" where she's doing the twist at the party the day before the big race. Supposedly, it was cut from the release of the video because it was felt that the twist would date the film. However, there's something else that dates the film (and I think you and I have discussed this before because, as a Brit, you weren't aware of it). That is the line she says to her sister while in the hospitallooking at herself trying on wigs before her surgery: "This REALLY IS the new frontier," the New Frontier being the slogan in John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign.

I say, what's the difference is something dates a movie? We know that, in this case at least, it's been decades since the movie was filmed. Let us enjoy it!

Re: BIG...STORIES...BIG...NEWS...AFTER....OSCAR WIN...>>>

" I say, what's the difference is something dates a movie?"

Absolutely so Gloria. Virtually everything about CASABLANCA, CITIZEN KANE, ALL ABOUT EVE and many films we cherish as classics 'dates the movie'. This in no way detracts from its viewing surely.

When it comes to late 50's / early 60's cinema, if studios think that deleting a Twist segment or references to particular political slogans of the day, will somehow 'modernise' the movie, then they have rocks in their collective heads.

The clothing, the hairstyles, the sets, the very way many scenes were shot, all trumpet the age of the film. Recall many of those early 70's films like MEAN STREETS,CARNAL KNOWLEDGE, FIVE EASY PIECES, MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER etc. The grainy zoom-ins, the use of colours like algae greens and corduroy browns, the nature of the soundtrack. It is impossible, without actually remaking a movie, to 'update' or obscure the era in which it was made.

So yes - some of the Susan deleted scenes ( in the abovementioned movies and more besides I presume) would be a delight to see.

Kerry

Re: Jeff Chandler and Susan...more than friends ?

Nothing against Jeff Chandler because I was a fan myself. But someone I know who resides in Brooklyn, said recently that Mr. Chandler had a perchant for cross-dressing and that many of his friends knew of it.
Presumabley if Susan knew her old school chum enjoyed doing that activity , that he would not have appealed to her in a romantic sense (even though they remained close as friends in a platonic sense).
I don't know how true this is and I likely should not even be writing of it. But if it has even a grain of truth to it then I would bet that it would put him out of the running for any of Susan's romantic fantasies.
Forgive me Mr. Chandler and any of his fans or family, true or not true.
Ginger you may please remove this entry if you feel it should not have been entered. ~ANN~

Re: Re: Jeff Chandler and Susan...more than friends ?

Ann:

I had read about this rumor many years ago, and like you, I have no idea if it's true or not. Also, like you, I would not have expected Susan, who seemed to like her men pretty robust, to have been attracted to a man like that.

I don't believe she had romantic feelings towards Chandler. I do believe she saw him as a friend. I think the bond with ex-Brooklynites was very strong with Susan, as we know from her friendship with Thelma Ritter and probably others.

I know that comedians such as Don Rickles and Alan King were very fond of her. I think this was because of their being ex-Brooklynites, too. But I hardly think she would have had any "romantic" feelings towards them. Sometimes the media can't accept that celebrities can simply have friends. And that's a shame, because it shows a lack of respect for the people involved.

Re: Re: Re: Jeff Chandler and Susan...more than friends ?

Exactly Gloria. Good ponts, all.

~ANN~

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Replying to:

Ann:

I had read about this rumor many years ago, and like you, I have no idea if it's true or not. Also, like you, I would not have expected Susan, who seemed to like her men pretty robust, to have been attracted to a man like that.

I don't believe she had romantic feelings towards Chandler. I do believe she saw him as a friend. I think the bond with ex-Brooklynites was very strong with Susan, as we know from her friendship with Thelma Ritter and probably others.

I know that comedians such as Don Rickles and Alan King were very fond of her. I think this was because of their being ex-Brooklynites, too. But I hardly think she would have had any "romantic" feelings towards them. Sometimes the media can't accept that celebrities can simply have friends. And that's a shame, because it shows a lack of respect for the people involved.

Re: BIG...STORIES...BIG...NEWS...AFTER....OSCAR WIN...>>>

Ann and Gloria - I could well be wrong but I think that tale of Jeff Chandler enjoying cross dressing may have come from an Esther Williams autobio ? Can't be sure but I have a recollection of her relating a tale about finding him thus grabed on one occasion when they were engaged.

There is no allusion whatsoever to his sexuality in the tale - he was presumably just a heterosexual man who enjoyed cross dressing, which is not that uncommon.

Kerry

Re: Re: BIG...STORIES...BIG...NEWS...AFTER....OSCAR WIN...>>>

Ann and Kerry, I had read that about Jeff Chandler also and it was in the Esther Williams bio. I wondered why she even wanted to mention it.

Re: BIG...STORIES...BIG...NEWS...AFTER....OSCAR WIN...>>>

At the risk of being a name-dropper again, I would like to add my two cents to this discussion. A few years ago I met Esther Williams at a church she attends here in L.A. I told her how much I enjoyed her autobiography and especially got a kick out of her final retort to Jeff Chandler when he called her up to his bedroom and presented himself to her wearing woman’s makeup and a polka dot dress. Naturally, she was flabbergasted by what she saw, and when he asked if she could go along with their engagement knowing of his predilection, she said in no uncertain terms she could not handle it. Her parting remark to him was something to the effect that, “By the way, Jeff, you are too tall to wear polka dots.” When I quoted this comment back to Esther, she quickly corrected me by stating exactly what she had said. (The fact that she remembered the line verbatim says a lot.) A friend who was with her then asked if she had ever heard from Jeff’s family about the episode, and Esther said no. Needless to say, if the story was untrue, they could have filed a libel suit.

I guess I feel differently about her telling this story. I believe autobiographies should be truthful and since this was a big part of her experience, I think she had a right to tell the story. I also think that beyond her joking, she was hurt to be called up to his bedroom, only to be confronted with a man in woman’s clothes and not the romantic encounter she envisioned.

As someone who has had my own share of weird experiences with the opposite sex, I applaud Esther for being real. Unfortunately, I agree with Bette Davis’s assessment of actors in Hollywood, to wit: “An actress is more of a woman and an actor is less of a man.” Of course, there are exceptions if you want to include Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden, but then they drank.

Re: BIG...STORIES...BIG...NEWS...AFTER....OSCAR WIN...>>>

Jill:

I agree with you that autobiographies should be truthful about everything they report. (Some people may say, why report a cross-dressing Chandler, but heck, the woman was contemplating marrying him. By itself, that's reason enough, I say!)

Frankly, I loved her retort about the polka dots, LOL.

I agree with Bette Davis's remark about actresses and actors, too. Who knew better than la Davis about the subject? I also loved her comment about old age not being for sissies. I keep learning more and more about that as the years go by.

I guess the only thing that troubles me about any of these stories on celebrities is that they seem to occur more after they're dead and can't respond to them. But such is the nature of gossip, and we do pay attention to it.

Re: Re: BIG...STORIES...BIG...NEWS...AFTER....OSCAR WIN...>>>

I believe in telling the truth too, but some things, I think, could be omitted...just my own thoughts..everyone feels differntly about it. If I were a member of Jeff Chandler's family, I wouldn't have appreciated Esther Williams "broadcasting" that information, but then, again, to each his own.

Pretty cool,though, Jill, that you actually met and talked with Esther Williams.