The Books: The Cleopatra Papers, by Jack Brodsky and Nathan Weiss

Next book on the Hollywood shelf:

The Cleopatra Papers: A Private Correspondence, by Jack Brodsky and Nathan Weiss.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Book Excerpt. For those of you new to me, I have been going through my Bookshelves, in alphabetical order, doing excerpts, since 2005. And I’m still nowhere near done, and that doesn’t even count all of the books I have added to my collection since 2005. It’s insane. How can one woman living in a small apartment have so many books? And I assure you, I’m not a crazy hoarder. Organization is key, and I devote time to my shelves. And, when I have needed it, friends came over and helped me out in the middle of The Mental Collapse of 2009 to BUILD me bookshelves. But this Book Excerpt project has been going on, periodically, since 2005. If you look in the right-hand nav and scroll down (way down), you’ll find a section called My Bookshelves, and that’s where all the excerpts are, organized by genre. I’m proud that I have kept this up. It’s fun. Many books I own I’ve only read once or twice, but I keep them around as reference. I LOVE having a working library. I USE these books. I am my father’s daughter. You could ask my dad a question, and he would stand up, walk to one of his bookshelves, take down a book (he always knew just where it was), flip through the pages, and read you a sentence that answered your question. Oh, Dad.

My last book excerpt was in January, before I went to Memphis and before I got so busy that I am currently trying to train myself to only need 4 hours of sleep because I need more hours available to me.

I am now in the section of my library that I refer to as the “Making Of” section, which consists of books detailing the “making of” certain movies, notorious and non-notorious. I love “making of” books, and The Cleopatra Papers is one of the best out there. One of the best things about it is that there is no perspective, no retrospect. It is a series of letters, memos, telegrams, and transcribed phone calls between two men, one in New York, and one in Rome, employed by 20th century Fox, and working on Cleopatra. They were friends for years, and as the production exploded into chaos (repeatedly – not just because of the Burton-Taylor affair, but for many many many many other reasons) – they kept in touch with one another, almost clinging to the sanity of their friendship in the midst of corporate mayhem.

Nathan Weiss was the publicity manager for 20th Century Fox, and Jack Brodsky was his assistant. The trials and travails of the Cleopatra production are now legendary – from starting out in England, only to realize that, duh, it rains a lot in England, so they never got bright Roman sun, to Elizabeth Taylor’s emergency tracheotomy, to then making the decision to start all over again and move the entire production to Rome, where the affair of Taylor and Burton began, with both of their spouses (Eddie Fisher, for Taylor, and Sybil Williams, for Burton) present. Then came the condemnation from the Vatican along with a publicity storm that Weiss and Brodsky struggled to manage. Every step of the way the production was dogged with problems. Money was pouring out of the coffers. Brodsky was sent to Rome to handle the situation (a losing proposition), and that is where the letters begin. Meanwhile, back in New York, the board of directors of 20th century Fox were spiraling into a pit of corporate gladiatorial combat. This was 1962, 1963. The studio system was gasping its last breath. Out in Hollywood, Marilyn Monroe was beginning filming for Something’s Gotta Give with Dean Martin. She was also cavorting with the Kennedys, and the studio was punishing her for her behavior. She was fired. There is a lot of evidence that Monroe was handled harshly whereas Taylor was indulged – and that Monroe was handled harshly as a direct result of Fox’s rage at Taylor’s behavior. But they couldn’t punish Taylor, they couldn’t fire her, too much had already happened, too much money had been spent, and Cleopatra, come hell or high water, had to be completed because of the money already down the drain. Monroe had no such luck. There are eerie stories of Monroe going to work on the now nearly-empty Fox lot – everything having been sold off to finance the runaway train of Cleopatra. They couldn’t even afford to give Monroe a proper birthday party (par for the course for a star of her magnitude). Things were changing. The industry was changing. The lunatics were running the asylum. The rules of the game had changed, and nobody was dealing with it yet.

Meanwhile (of course I have to get this in there), Elvis Presley was just out of the army and was looking forward to doing projects that had meaning, that mattered … but in the context of the times, when panic ruled the board rooms, you can certainly see why the decisions were made to make his films for as cheaply as possible, the majority of the budget going to his salary – so that they could at least make a profit. They worked him like a dog. Three films a year for 10 years. No concern for art, or anything other than the bottom line. Obviously Elvis purists feel angry about this (although, as I have said repeatedly, people would do well to watch some of those movies again. The narrative of “Every Elvis Movie is Terrible” is flat out untrue) – but when seen in the context of Cleopatra, as well as the Monroe situation … the treatment of Elvis makes perfect sense. These guys in charge were just trying to survive, in a market that was no longer favorable to them, in a world that had changed entirely in a matter of years.

Brodsky and Weiss had a thankless job. First off, before the Taylor-Burton thing exploded, they were constantly badgered about the lack of publicity for the production. They worked their asses off getting critics interviews, advance publicity, talking up the production, working their contacts. Then, when suddenly Cleopatra made front-page news all over the world because of the Taylor-Burton affair, their jobs changed irrevocably. Suddenly there was so much publicity, and it was all bad, and handling it was absolutely impossible. It was an explosion of a volcano. How do you “spin” this? Brodsky and Weiss both felt that although the situation was stressful and horrible – it actually might work in the film’s favor. That people would come out to see the movie just to see the onscreen sparks flying for this real-life romance that had outraged the world and the Vatican.

Weiss held down the fort in New York, firing off telegrams and letters to Brodsky in Rome, keeping him informed of the corporate wheeling and dealing. People were fired. Big people. Other people died. It was the movie that would never end. So and so is “out” now, and so and so is “in”. Plane-loads of executives would fly to Rome to check up on the production, and Weiss would send warning telegrams to Brodsky to expect so-and-so.

Like I said, this collection of letters plays out in real-time. Except for an introduction, there is no perspective, no “and so this is how it was, and this is why these decisions were made”. These are two men dealing with an explosion in real-time. It is difficult to convey the insanity of 20th century Fox at that time, but you can feel it a bit in these letters. You can feel the entire edifice crumbling, you can feel an entire system collapsing in upon itself, absolutely not equipped to deal with a production such as Cleopatra. DeMille comes up a lot. Joseph Mankiewicz, the director, would stare at a crowd of 1,000 extras, with production people shouting at them through bullhorns to “MOVE TO THE LEFT” or whatever, and literally say to his assistant, “How the hell did DeMille pull it off?”

The Cleopatra Papers is a terrific business book, certainly, and it shows how every aspect of a production is important. Elizabeth Taylor got a sunburn. This is cause for concern, and everyone is involved in how to handle it. No detail is irrelevant. But when the Taylor-Burton affair began, the entire situation changes. Rex Harrison emerges in these papers as a hilarious and cranky and put-upon fellow, hanging out in his villa for months on end, waiting for them to be ready for his scenes. An insane situation.

Here is an excerpt from 1962. “Mank” is Joseph Mankiewicz. “Charlie” is Charles Enfield, head of advertising and publicity at 20th C. Fox. “WW” is Walter Wanger, the producer of Cleopatra. “SPS” is Spyros Skouras, the president of 20th Century Fox (he resigned in 1962, forced out because of the Cleopatra situation). He stayed on as chairman, and Darryl Zanuck took over. It was an astonishing event, because Skouras was a legend. But Cleopatra changed the world.

Excerpt from The Cleopatra Papers: A Private Correspondence, by Jack Brodsky and Nathan Weiss

New York, March 29
Dear Jack,
If we thought the place was berserk before, you should have seen it now that SPS had all-day meetings with the top brass on the product shortage. We have no pictures for 1963, that’s all. It seems that [Peter] Levathes insists on not rushing pictures into release, something long talked about here, but never practiced; it accounts, among other things, for the fact The Hustler did less than it deserved. Therefore we won’t have – he won’t give them to us – Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation or The Inspector until late June or July. Not that they could bring in enough money if we did have them, but they could kid themselves into it. So, it’s an emergency, we’re desperate, we have nothing to release during the first part of May and June. The solution? Kill the intended “art” playoff on Caligari and go with it immediately (in May) on a “mass”, “crash” basis. Maybe invest a lot of money in an ad campaign, and who knows, we may have another Snow White and the Three Stooges on our hands.

Two days ago SPS announced at a meeting that Cleopatra wouldn’t be ready for release before March of 1963! Remember when it was to be in time for this year’s annual stockholders’ meeting?

My leaving still undecided.

Love,
Nat

MARCH 26 WEISS NEW YORK
FISHER BOUNCED SYBIL FLYING BURTON TAYLOR GOING OUT IN PUBLIC FOR FIRST TIME STOP GET UNDER THE DESK STOP AM TERRIFIED STOP BRODSKY

MARCH 30 BRODSKY ROME
PAPERS ARE FILLED TAYLOR BURTON ON TOWN STOP ANGRY LETTERS POURING IN STOP EXECS UPSET BECAUSE AFFAIR NOW PUBLIC THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW WEISS

Rome, April 1
Dear Nat,
It gets more incredible every day. So many highlights, I don’t know where to begin, so I’ll just jot down the ones I remember.

1. Burton says to me, “Jack, love, I’ve had affairs before. How did I know the woman was so fucking famous? She knocks Khruschev off the front page.” So I say, “Rich, it’s none of my business, but you can’t very well deny everything in print and then go out on the Via Venuto till three in the morning.” So he says, “I just got fed up with everyone telling us to be discreet. I said to Liz, ‘Fuck it, let’s go out to fucking Alfredo’s and have some fucking fettucine.'”

2. Meeting Emlyn Williams, who is Burton’s friend and the emissary of his friends in England, here to stop Liz-Dickie. We spent an hour of hilarity, Williams, me, Burton, a Life reporter and photog here doing piece. Williams and Burton did great bits and Burton did hilarious imitation of Roddy McDowall-Rex Harrison fight, where Harrison, after being asked by McDowall to photograph him, says, “Well, you see, Roddy, that is, well, I’m sorry, but, well, the fact is … I just don’t like you.”

3. Taylor and me in a half-hour argument on “Eyewitness to History.” CBS here wants to do a class documentary on the making of the film, not touching the personal mess. But Taylor says no. Her quote to me: “The picture has had too much fucking publicity.” I tell her this will balance bad stuff and be great break. She argues, I argue. Guess who won? Anyway, I have Burton working on her. He feels it’s important for her, but she said no to him the first time he tried her at my request. Now he tells me he thinks it’s because she’s afraid she can’t really speak anything but written lines. He says he will coax her and tell her he’ll write something for her. When I asked what about Mank, Burton bridled and said he’d do it, not Mank.

4. Up until a couple of days ago, everything though Burton was giving a great performance offstage. Now he seems like a different person, so caught up in Taylor’s web. Anyway RB told JLM that “I fall more in love with her each day.”

Love,
Jack

APRIL 1 BRODSKY ROME
STOP ALREADY WITH THE PUBLICITY I KNOW YOUR FEELINGS WERE HURT BUT ISN’T THIS GOING TOO FAR STOP WE ARE ON PAGE ONE OF DAILY NEWS AND MIRROR FOR FIVE DAYS IN ROW STOP I THINK THATS BETTER THAN WORLD WAR II STOP CONFIDENTIALLY EXECUTIVES VERY UNHAPPY LOVE WEISS

Rome, April 2
Dear Nat,
It’s an insane asylum here. Incredible day, incredible. Spent the whole day trying to get Taylor to make some kind of statement re Fisher in hospital. Got nothing. Guess I’m just as well off. Burton told WW at time of big mess, “Walter, I never thought it would come to this.” Taylor told Burton she’d live in a cold-water flat to be with him. He said he wanted to go back to the Old Vic and she said she’d give up acting just to be out front. Enough. One explanation, and it sounds right to me, is that Burton told Sybil, “Look, this pic is important to me; go to England until this mess clears or until end of pic.” This version has it that RB can outmaneuver ET. We’ll see. I bet on her.

What a day! Earl Wilson woke me up at 5 a.m. calling from Beverly Hills to tell me about Eddie being in the hospital in New York. Also went through one of the most spectacular Cleo conversations yesterday with Elizabeth, Burton, Mank and Mank’s son, Tom, in Mank’s dressing-room trailer. Can you imagine a conversation where everyone starts putting Fisher down? After a while I begin to feel, “Maybe I’m wrong, maybe it was his fault.” That’s what she can do with those eyes of hers! Taylor turns to me and says, “Do you think Eddie will divorce me?” I begin to feel sorry for her until I get out into the air.

Love,
Jack

New York, April 4
Dear Jack,
All the execs here sit around every morning talking about how the romance will damage the Cleo box office and only Charlie and I feel that everybody but everybody will go to see the pic to say that they can see on screen what’s going on off it. Charlie has been telling them to sign Burton to a six-picture deal. But apparently M and M don’t see it that way.

I’m surprised at Charlie backing us on the romance, after how nervous he was at Francis of Assisi. Remember when our star Brad Dillman, just divorced, wanted to bring Suzy Parker to the opening, and Charlie forbade it, saying, “Saints come alone”?

Love,
Nat
P.S. Has it occurred to you that Rome is a kind of crazy Actors Studio with Taylor-Burton rehearsing off camera?
NW