Arturo

Linda Darnell's marriage to her first husband Peverell Marley ended when she filed for divorce in July 1950, which was granted in early 1951. Earlier, she had twice separated from him, once in 1946-47, when she became involved with Howard Hughes, and later, in mid-1948, after she became involved with Joseph Mankiewicz while they filmed A LETTER TO THREE WIVES. Marley used Mankiewicz' name to get Linda to pay him $125,000 for him to agree to a quiet divorce; as mentioned, this had lifelong repercussions to Linda's solvency and career choices. Linda's affair with Joe Mankiewicz lasted off and on for nearly 6 years. She was madly in love with him, but as he was married to an unstable woman, actress Rosa Stradner, whom he both feared and feared she might commit suicide, he was not about to change that status. Linda grew despondent at the hopelessness of her situation, to the point of considering ending her life. Outwardly, of course, she did not exhibit any of this, although she was now drinking noticeably all the time. Additionally, Mank had convinced her to go to psychoanalysis; this, combined with her drinking, unleashed her inner demons to the point where she could erupt in fury with little provocation. All future relationships would have to deal with her sudden mood swings. Although Linda made two of her best movies for Joe, in the end he betrayed her, as she took it, when the part in THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA he had promised her he cast Ava Gardner. This ended their affair, as Linda felt the sting of humiliation at being passed over. At that point, TBC would've given an important part in this prestigious picture, just when her career was needing something of this nature. And he gave her the tools for her touch into her troubled past and present, turning her simple nature into one bordering on neurotic.

Another example of the 'What If?" parlour game scenario with Linda Darnell would be in the choice of men she became involved with romantically, whether she married them or not. Each of her three husbands she chose for different reasons, and received some comfort and solace from them, at least initially. Husband No. One, Peverell Marley, was 42 when they married in 1943, more than twice Linda's 19 years of age at that time. He had joined the service, and when he came back on leave, she realized how much she missed him and had come to depend on him; after all, their friendship had grown stronger as she battled her mother for independence, and boss Darryl Zanuck over better roles as her career stagnated. They eloped to Las Vegas, a move which estranged the studio even more against her, causing them to remove her from the musical she had been filming, THE GANG'S ALL HERE, and suspending her. For awhile later, relations remained chilly, and Linda was given more bland assignments, while Marley's contract as cinematographer at Fox was not renewed. Linda claimed that she wanted an older man, and that he provided the support and understanding she needed. As time went on, however, and Linda matured into adulthood, and into sexy siren roles, the disparity in ages became more pronounced. He began to belittle her, and refused to attend many industry functions with her. Most damagingly, he taught her to drink hard liquor, and insisted she drink with her. This would develop into Linda's lifelong drinking problem. And as the marriage became shaky in the second half of the 40s, Pev revealed the mercenary view he had of their marriage. When they separated in 1946, and Linda shortly became seriously involved with Howard Hughes, if temporarily, Marley met with HH, and discussed divorcing Linda for $25,000. This ended Linda's affair with Hughes. Later, when she filed for divorce in 1950, Marley demanded $125,000 to not bring Joe Mankiewicz' name into the picture, since Linda was having an affair with him. This she scraped together, and led directly to her financially unstable situation for the rest of her life; it led to her taking any part offered, instead of holdong out for the right part. More to come....

FALLEN ANGEL, Otto Preminger's 1945 interesting noir followup to his breakthrough hit of the year before, LAURA, will be on Fox Movie Channel Friday, April 26 at 6 am eastern, 3 am pacific. Starring Alice Faye, Dana Andrews and Linda Darnell, it's backstory is almost as intriguing as what's on the screen.PS-LAURA will be on FMC this Thursday morning. Edited by: Arturo on Apr 22, 2013 10:21 PM

Leo, I live in the Whittier area. Are you planning to go to any of the TCM Movie Festival this month?

jjg: Perfect storm pretty much sums it up; forces out of Linda Darnell's control, that overwhelm and swamp her career and private life. Such a shame really, to be hit on so many fronts.

Several noir(ish) dramas on Fox Movie Channel this Thursday, April 23. And FALLEN ANGEL is on the following day: MOONTIDE Dock worker Bobo (Gabin) awakens from a drunken binge and is afraid he may have killed a man. *Cast:* Jean Gabin, Ida Lupino, Thomas Mitchell, Claude Rains, Jerome Cowan, Fritz Lang, Nunnally Johnson *Director:* Archie Mayo 1942 7:45 am EST, 4:45 AM PST; LAURA Everyone, including Det. Mark McPherson (Andrews) thinks that ad agency executive Laura Hunt (Tierney) has been murdered, but has she? *Cast:* Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson, David Raksin *Director:* Otto Preminger 1944 9:15 am EST, 6:15 AM PST: CRY OF THE CITY A New York police lieutenat (Victor Mature) walks a tightrope as he tracks his former best friend, who is now a cop-killer. *Cast:* Victor Mature, Richard Conte, Shelley Winters, Fred Clark, Tommy Cook *Director:* Robert Siodmak 1948 11:00 am EST, 8 AM PST: PANIC IN THE STREETS A medical officer (Richard Widmark) races against time after he discovers two gun-happy hoodlums (Zero Mostel and Jack Palance) are running around the streets of New Orleans carrying the virus to a deadly new plague. *Cast:* Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Jack Palance, Barbara Bel geddes, Zero Moste *Director:* Elia Kazan 1950 1:00 pm EST, 10 AM PST: MURDER, INC. A true account of the infamous gangster organization of the 1930s and its number one hit man (Falk). *Cast:* May Britt, Peter Falk, Morey Amsterdam, Simon Oakland, Henry Morgan, Sylvia Miles, Sarah Vaughan, Stuart Whitman, Vincent Gardenia *Director:* Burt Balaban 1960

I normally post the FMC schedule for the next few days on the "Upcoming Fox Movies...." thread over in Hot Topics. They have the occasional lineups featuring only (or mostly) their great noir dramas from the 40s and into the 50s, as on yesterday.

Linda Darnell, imho, is an good example of "What if?". If only one or a few factors had been different, what would the outcome have been? It wouldn't have taken much to change the resultant career trajectory, as well as how this affected her personal life, and vice versa (or as Billie Dawn said it, "Vice-A, Voice-A". Of course, this speculation is fruitless and frustrating, but it can be done for almost any Hollywood personage. For instance, had Darryl F. Zanuck been more sympathetic towards Linda's career, especially immediately after FOREVER AMBER poised her on the verge of potential superstardom, and maybe given her a few more roles that were either in important pictures, or that were tailored expressly to her strong traits, or that offered her stronger acting opportunities, would her movie career abruptly peter out as quickly as it did within a few years of once she started freelancing? Or might she have soared higher in popularity, to the point where Fox would have gladly re-signed her instead of letting her contract lapse? This, in turn might have made her command a higher salary, both under her contract, as well as in the freelancing mid-50s. She would not have had the chronic and acute financial situation, which caused no end in stress, and forced her to have to accept some offers that she might've more profitably (in the long run) declined. All this in turn, might have kept her less stressed to the point of not drinking as much as she did, which contributed to her prematurely aging looks and weight gain. Any thoughts?

Perhaps the last great movie Jeffrey Lynn did was A LETTER TO THREE WIVES, playing husband to Jeanne Crain.

I grew up in Los Angeles, and still live in the LA area.

Leo, you are very welcome. HANGOVER SQUARE is a favorite of mine as well. Since I discussed Linda's movies in more or less chronological order, it must be buried in her thread some two thirds of the way back. As for Laird Cregar being Raymond Burr's brother, I never heard or read that, and I'm not sure. Anyone?

Linda Darnell's life came to an end unexpectedly on April 10, 1965. She had suffered major burns over 90% of her body in a house fire in the early morning hours the previous day. She had been staying with friends in Chicago, and was the only one seriously burned in the fire. I won't go into detail here, as there seem to be several versions on how and what happened. Suffice to say that stories that she the fire started when she fell asleep while smoking, or that when she awoke to the blaze she was so disoriented due to being drunk, that she couldn't find her way out, have pretty much been disproven; they live on as ugly rumors. Anyway, Linda died relatively young; she was 41 years old. She had lost much in the previous several years: husband, home, some of her dignity. But she was slowly pulling the pieces back together, as she was again making movies, filming TV shows, and working onstage. Whether she could have pulled off a full-blown comeback had she lived is debatable; most likely she would have continued doing the same, with an occasional movie or TV role to augment the stage work she so enjoyed. She was not a forgotten star when she died, as had been portrayed. True, she hadn't done much that was widely seen for a few years, but her old movies were then played constantly on TV stations, and she was an occasional talk show guest. A host of magazine articles appeared in the months after her death, both in this country and abroad, chronicling her life and career. As her daughter Lola had discovered the previous summer, when she toured with her mother, Linda Darnell was loved and remembered by the many fans she still had.

In another thread, some people seemed to have taken exception with ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM being the Essential choice for this week, preferring UNFAITHFULLY YOURS over it. Personally, I think AATKOS was a commendable choice, and of the other two films Linda was in yesterday evening, either would have been good choices as well, UY, but especially NO WAY OUT.

Leo, I have never heard this. Maybe some scenes were done for her two Italian ventures (one of which was never released in the US) which were meant for European audiences only. But if that had been the case, this would have certainly been widely reported. While some of her films and some of her producers had her expose fair amounts of cleavage, she seems to have been more reticent in this than some of the other sex bombs of the postwar era. Certainly at Fox they didn't have her push this too much; in fact, in FOREVER AMBER, they refilmed some scenes to deempahsize her "heaving bosoms" (as per objections by the Legion of Decency). It wasn't until the arrival of Marilyn and, and a bit later, Jayne Mansfield that the studio expoited this more fully.

THE GREAT JOHN L. (Sullivan), is a movie I have also been trying to get my hands on for many years. This 1945 biopic has one of Linda's earliest portrayals in her new image of siren. It seems to be the only movie released by UA that is not out on DVD. Wish the Crosby estate, or whoever holds the rights, would put it out.

just a reminder: This Saturday evening, tCM will show three movies that feature Linda Darnell. It starts with ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM, where she is billed third after Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison, and has the peripheral role of Tuptim, the King's favorite new concubine. It seems that much of some 25 minutes or so that were excised from the already long film might've had Linda's character; there is no other way to explain the brevity of her role. Next comes UNFAITHFULLY YOURS, also costarring with Rex Harrison. This black comedy again had some 30+ minutes cut out, a preamble in Linda's hometown. Lastly, the taut race drama NO WAY OUT, where Linda holds her own in this searing film.

*TCM should show ROADHOUSE & UNDER MY SKIN as films of more interest. When it comes down to it.* These are Fox films (as are a couple listed below), and while FMC hasn't shown either in awhile, they will have three Negulesco films this weekend: THREE CAME HOME (twice), PHONE CALL FROM A STRANGER (twice), and BOY ON A DOLPHIN. Check the "Upcoming 20th-Century Fox...' thread in Hot topics for more info, time, etc.

TB: Thanks for the info. I've yet to enter the Netflix world (I feel like I have too many options already with Directv). I have DAKOTA INCIDENT on DVD, which I taped off of Encore Westerns (I think, although not sure if TCM has ever played it) a few years back. I'm not sure if BLACK SPURS is available on DVD. Both of these would be good ones to show if Linda is ever given the SOTM treatment. Here's hoping.

Here is another link to a youtube video I came across of another TV show Linda did, Ford Television Theater's episode entitled "Fate Travels East". It was broadcast in March 1957, and taped sometime in late 1956 or early 57. Despite, as Gary Merrill said about Anne Baxter in ALL ABOUT EVE, "Makeup's a little heavy", Linda looks noticeably less heavy than in ZERO HOUR, filmed around April 57, or in the link I posted recently for 'Trial By Fire" (which since it was 'live', was probably done at the time of broadcast in September 57; this demonstrates her fluctuating weight problem, which continued to go up and down rather substantially over the next few years.

Linda Darnell apparently had several movie offers to choose from after she did BLACK SPURS in the fall of 1964. One of these might be a phantom credit which used to appear in her filmographies (unlike THE CASTILIAN, this one doesn't seem to be listed anymore). This would be for the 1965 film BOEING BOEING, with Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis, a straight man role. I don't known if she was offered this part, but then unable to make it due to her demise in April of that year (it seems to have filmed later that spring, mostly in Paris). Not sure what part Linda would've had in this sex farce; don't think it was that of the maid, played (in her last film) by Linda's old costar, Thelma Ritter.

In September 1964, Linda Darnell, fresh from doing stage work around the country, reported to Paramount Studios to take her first feature film role in over 6 years; she had not been seen on the big screen since 1958, as ZERO HOUR! played itself out (and in some markets, the made-for-TV drama HOMEWARD BORNE). She looked forward to the part of a madam in BLACK SPURS, to be done for producer A.C. Lyles; it was one of his economical programmers he did 2-3 times a year, crowded with many big names of yesteryear. Linda would costar with Rory Calhoun and Terry Moore. She enjoyed reporting to the movie set, as she always enjoyed and partook of the convivial ambiance during the shoot. She handled herself like the professional that she was, and although she may have appeared rather stout around the middle, she was still beautiful, and there was no signs of her drinking, if any, affecting production. Linda had no illusions as to the quality of the movie ("A two week quickie that no one will see"), but enjoyed the work, and more importantly, needed the money. Probably most significantly for her future, AC LYles received many calls from other producers, enquiring about her. Soon, he would be feielding a number of concrete offers of more film roles for Linda. More to come.....

Linda Darnell could've pulled off the roles mentioned that were played by Katy Jurado. She did quite well over the years playing an assortment of ethnic roles; it was thought that 20th Century-Fox changed her first name from Monetta to Linda to evoke the latin-esque qualities her coloring suggested. They even used her one-fourth (?) Cherokee blood to advertise her playing an Indian maiden in BUFFALO BILL. Whether Linda would've taken a secondary role at this point in her career is not clear; later maybe, but possibly not in the early-mid 50s.

In 1964, Linda Darnell slowly picked herself up from the wreckage that was her career and her life. In the previous two or so years, she had divorced Robby Robertson, her third husband and then business manager. Her finances ashambles, she had lost her mansion, and was looking at the prospect of filing for bankruptcy. She had tried to commit suicide at least once, as her drinking was way out of control. Daughter Lola, unable to deal with her mother's drunken tirades, moved in with her father, Linda's first husband, Pev Marley. He had also got Linda situated once she lost her house. But shortly thereafter, he died, leaving Linda feeling more alone than ever; she had always been able to count on him. Meantime, Linda went back to work, resuming regional theater and even TV; she had been a guest star on "Burke's Law", in an episode that aired early in 1964. Most gratifyingly for LInda, Lola expressed a desire to go on tour with Linda during the summer of 64. She was amazed at the reception her mother received, realizing that she was still loved and remembered. Lola also realized how good an actress her mother was, and her professionalism at all times. They grew close that summer, and it was capped off with Linda being offered the first featured film role that she accepted, in several years. They excitedly returned to CAlifornia to prepare for this movie, BLACK SPURS. More to come......

http://archive.org/details/ClimaxTrialByFire?start=173.5 I found the link I mentioned below to the TV drama "Trial By Fire". As I watched it again, I decided to add some new observations. Despite the poor quality of the video, I can see that Linda has lost a little weight in the short time that had lapsed since she had filmed ZERO HOUR!. This I gather mostly from her face, which seems slightly less full in TBF (she wears an overcoat or a loose sweater throughout TBF, so with the poor image quality, it's hard to tell if she looks noticibly thinner bodywise from ZH). She also looks more glamorous here, due mainly to the makeup, which was probably done to emphasize her character of a mantrap. Edited by: Arturo on Apr 2, 2013 3:16 PM

In 1963, Linda Darnell, newly separated and soon to be divorced from her third husband, found her world in dire straits. Her financial situation was in shambles; that year, her hillside home was foreclosed upon. Her drinking had reached dangerous levels, posing a threat to daughter Lola's well-being. Lola, unable to cope with her mother's sudden anger she unleashed when drinking, had moved in with her father, Pev Marley. However, he died around this time of an apparent heart attack, forcing Lola to return to live with her mother. Linda had gone back to work, if tentatively at first, both because she needed the validation of her worth that she could only get from her career, and more immediately, she really needed to be making money. She returned to stagework, but she didn't return to doing TV, such as she had in the late 50s. A viable movie role never materialized at this time, although she would have welcomed a return to filming. There is a pseudo credit from a movie role Linda supposedly made at this time, THE CASTILIAN (VALLEY OF THE SWORDS). However, she is not in this. She may have been offered a role in this (the most appropriate part would have been that of the queen, played by Viveca Lindfors), but either turned it down, or was unable to travel to Spain due to her financial mess. For this reason, it is highly implausible she would have appeared in it, in an unbilled part as an extra, a la Elizabeth Taylor in QUO VADIS. This credit has shown up on some of her filmographies since the 60s until the present day. PS - I recently saw for the first time online a television drama Linda had done back in 1957, an episode of CLIMAX! titled "Trial By Fire" (although I stumbled onto the site, and can't seem to find it anymore). Linda plays a distraught mother of a 13 year old boy who is accused of setting a forest fire, which causes much damage to their resort community. Linda, who looks very much like she did in ZERO HOUR (she must've filmed this soon after that one, in the late spring of 57), has several great scenes, where she shows her acting ability, where she has much more opportunity to do so than in any of the other TV shows she did (from those I've seen). So it lends credence to her improved acting near the end of her career, honed on TV dramas and stage plays, and which makes her not getting any acceptable movie offers the more lamentable. Edited by: Arturo for clarity, since the computer at work allows me to separate by paragraph, while the one I borrowed doesn't even allow me to space more than one.