Arturo

*What about Linda's daughter during these final years of Linda's life?* Well, Linda and daughter Lola Marley had a difficult relationship during the last half of the 50s and into the 60s. When Linda drank (and she seemed to drink constantly when her career was not doing well, and as her financial situation grew more and more precarious), she would lash out at those around her: husband, family members, employees, friends, AND Lola. Lola always felt somewhat abandoned while growing up, staying with family or friends, or in boarding school, as her mother was often away from home filming a movie, doing summer stock, or focused on her charity drives. Her times with her mother when Linda was in town were usually of a short duration during the day. Lola learned to stay away when her mother had been drinking, as she could suddenly become extremely upset. Lola even felt her life threatened on more than one occasion, and knew that if she could outrun her mother to get upstairs, she would be safe. Lola really enjoyed the early days of Linda's marriage to Robby Robertson, because he made sure there were many outings of the three of them together, and she felt a part of a real family. Later, as that marriage started to turn sour (we'll get to that shortly), Linda's drinking, which had been somewhat abated, returned with a vengeance. By then Lola had her pre-teen/young teen rebellion issues to add to her resentments. But just as a brief preview, their relationship ends on a positive note (such as it is).

*Okay, Arturo. This is the third time you have come on to this thread to correct me. I have not corrected the faults I find in your Linda Darnell thread. In fact, I am very supportive of your endeavors. I think it is sad that you cannot be supportive of this thread, because the only time you post is when you seem to find fault.* *I have put a lot of effort into researching and writing about Greer Garson's life. I think others do appreciate it, despite the occasional error or two, and it will continue.* TB, I've posted 10-12 times on this thread, and I have been supportive of your efforts. I do not doubt the effort you have put into this thread; you are definitely doing a great job providing this information. Some of my comments have been my opinion on a movie, or additional information that I feel can further the dialogue. The occasional error or omission I see I will note, and I have no qualms about you doing the same regarding my posts. PS - I am not very effusive in my praise these days here, as my laptop in not working, and I can post furtively from my PC at work.

*Michael Wilding plays her partner in crime and romantic interest. Mr. Wilding at this time was married to Elizabeth Taylor, who appeared as Greer's daughter in JULIA MISBEHAVES three years earlier.* Not yet. Taylor did not marry Wilding until a year later, in 1952. If I remember correctly, I believe that when this movie was released in mid 1951, the recently divorced Liz was having an affair with Stanley Donen, who was also directing her in LOVE IS BETTER THAN EVER and also inbetween marriages.

*Why did They Wont Forget not get a directing credit????* Maybe they DID forget!

Linda Darnell's big screen movie roles had slowed to non-existent by the end of the 50s. There are several reasons for this. First of all, film offers had obviously dropped, more so as her weight seemed to fluctuate more and more, some of it due to drinking. But she still looked good overall. She may have gotten the reputation of having this drinking problem, although that probably didn't come until later; in any case, her drinking never interfered with her professional demeanor on the set or elsewhere. More likely, the lessening of roles was more due to her age; she had turned 35 in October 1958, a difficult enough age under the best of circumstances for women actresses, but even more so with the ongoing retrenchment of the film industry. She did turn down some roles that were offered, either because she didn't care for it, or the movie, or both; others because she wanted to do stage work, which she found she really enjoyed. She also liked the TV dramas that she had been doing for the past several years; both of these outlets offered her better roles than what she was being offered for the big screen. Linda had some potential movie projects that might have been viable screen entertainment. While still married to Phillip Leibmann, in 1955, he had purchased a script for her, "Constantia", a romantic drama about a crippled girl, which was to be filmed in Portugal. Linda, by this time set on divorcing Liebmann, would not take his last-ditch offer, which also included her as producer. Later, a drama was postulated for Linda by Columbia Studios of her Broadway debut, HARBOR LIGHTS, but that play's flop spelled finis to that venture. In the early 60s, another venture by Linda as an independent producer, this time with current husband Robby Robertson, was a European love story called "The Virgin Heart", but plans to film it in Greece were aborted by the couple's ongoing financial crisis. Robby dabbled in real estate, and borrowing on Linda's name and credit, soon found himself overdrawn. He also failed to pay property taxes on her mansion for several years. At the end of the 50s, he convinced her to give up her manager, with him taking over the running of her career. He had her turn down offers to appear on stage at different venues around the country, as he tried to steer her in a new direction, a nightclub act. More to follow......

*It may be that the credits are missing. It does say 2 reels, and I would imagine that is most of it. If you get the chance to view it, you will have to let us know.* Well, the movie is about one hour and twenty minutes long, so if there are only two reels, it seems most of it is missing. Hopefully, i'll find out soon.

*One of the strangest stories is one I've read a lot about Southwestern Indian history. The story claims that the Navajos and Apaches speak a type of language that comes from the Northwest coast of Canada, and linguists estimate that they have been in this area for only a few hundred years, maybe 500 or so.* This is true. They spoke varieties of the Athapaskan language family, although they were more in the North(west) interior of Canada than along the coast. They were relative newcomers to the Southwest, apparently just ahead of the Spaniards. I remember reading that routes along the western Wasatch range in Utah, and along the eastern front of the Rockies in Colorado have been postulated as possible migration paths.

*He had attempted to do the same thing several years earlier with Greta Garbo in TWO-FACED LADY and with Norma Shearer in HER CARDBOARD LOVER. Both those films flopped at the box office, and the actresses never made any more movies at MGM or elsewhere. Greer was determined to make sure this did not happen to her.* Well both actresses had done comedy prior to their final flops: Garbo famously in 1939 ("Garbo Laughs") in NINOTCHKA, and Shearer all the way back into the silent era, but also most reacently in 1939: IDIOT'S DELIGHT and THE WOMEN. Garbo had not planned on retiring, and Shearer retired, but not because she couldn't do comedy, or this comedy had been a flop.

*For example, the name Navajo is more or less a Spanish word meaning Indian Thief, while the tribe's name for itself is the Dine, pronounced Din-nehh. The Pueblo Indians (the ones who lived in mud apartment houses) gave the Apaches their name, which means "Thief and Raider". I can't remember what the Apaches call themselves. I think they just use that name.* Well Fred, since the Navajo were originally a band (or bands) of Apaches, the Spaniards fixed the name "Apaches de Navajú" on them originally. Later, due to taking up a pastoral lifestyle with the introdction of sheep, they differentiated themselves enough culturally from the other bands of Apaches as to be seen as a separate group. And due to their close relationship, the various groups of Apaches had words for themselves similar to that of the Navajos, something along the lines of "N'De".

1959 was a year when Linda Darnell's output began to slow. She had no featured films that she filmed or were released this year. She did continue to perform around the country onstage in various plays; this she really enjoyed. There was an instance in Chicago, doing the play "Late Love", where she became anxious and she couldn't remember her lines. Prior to the night's performance, she was hypnotized and given the suggestion that she did know her lines. Reputedly, she did the performance perfectly, and a reviewer (from Variety) stated, "Miss Darnell was entrancing, rather than in a trance". Linda also continued to do some TV, but not as much as in the previous 2-3 years. This included an episode of the hit show "77 Sunset Strip". She also did a pilot, an hour-long drama about a woman who raises horses on her ranch, but it did not sell. Ironically, as her recent episodes on TV Westerns had demonstrated, Linda was willing to work on a weekly series, as well as on series episodes, in a genre she didn't care too much for, due to her being allergic to horses. Linda took up a new charity cause this year. While in Chicago doing "Late Love", she met a young boy who had kidney failure and had a short time to live. The always kindhearted and generous Linda (she had been instrumental in founding the Girls' Town of Italy a few years back) flew him to LA, and showed him Disneyland. Later that year, she received a call that his time had come, and Linda flew to Chicago immediately, but he had passed by the time she arrived. She was distraught, and threw herself into fundraising for the Kidney Foundation, becoming first the president of the LA chapter, later of the national chapter. So she busied herself with this cause, as well as her stage work. But by the end of the year, after the pilot did not sell, and with the bills piling up, her husband coaxed her into a new career endeavor, in an effort to make more money.

TB, thanks again, and thanks for the link. I will have to look into this resource; I did notice that their HOMEWARD BORNE did not seem to be acomplete copy.

Thank you so much for this great resource. UCLA is on the other side of town from me, and gas and parking aren't cheap, but the subway/bus is a doable alternative. I will try to take advantage of this information soon, and often. Thanks again for sharing.

*I would like to see HOMEWARD BORNE.* *I just checked and UCLA has a print of this film. It was produced by Columbia/Screen Gems.* *I wonder when it was last seen on television...? This is something that TCM could possibly show, with UCLA's help, if they featured Linda as SOTM.* TB, that would be great if tCM could show it, especially as part of a SOTM for Linda. Just one question: What does "has a print of this film" mean? Is this actual film on reels, or something transfered to tape, or DVD, or...? Can a copy be rented, borrowed or bought from them? Thanks.

In 1958, Linda Darnell continued much the same type of work that she had the previous year. As no viable movie roles were being offered, she made more TV dramas and did live stage work around the country. Already discussed were her appearances in WAGON TRAIN; she also did episodes in the dramatic anthology series STUDIO 57, PURSUIT and CIMMARON CITY. In this last one, she starred as a suddenly widowed woman in that frontier Oklahoma town. The episode is titled KID ON A CALICO HORSE, and refers to young Dean Stockwell, who rides into town and is accused of killing her husband. It transpires that he did not do it, but that Linda had once been in love with his father, and accidentally killed him. Mayor George Montgomery saves the kid from a lynching mob, and later proves his innocence. Linda continues to look fetching in this, and her weight is once again noticeably less than in had been in the second episode of WT. She also has a more prominent role than in that show, if not quite as dominant as in her first episode of WT. She does well by this part, if she seems more of a victim than she had been as Dora Gray in Wagon Train. But as in that series, she leaves town at the end, to start a new life elsewhere. Linda continues to be seen at industry functions with her husband, working on getting more work. She is always glamorous, and there are some publicity stills with her with a new look, that poofed out teased hairdo popular in the late 50s-early 60s (think Liz Taylor's coif in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF). But offers of movie roles that interest her are not forthcoming; her only release this year in movie theaters is with the limited release of HOMEWARD BORNE, a drama she had filmed for PLAYHOUSE 90 the previous year. Here she stars as a housewife who adopts a child, which causes strife with her husband Richard Kiley when he returns from war. Also featured was Linda's costar from BLACKBEARD THE PIRATE, Keith Andes.

*Wagon Train is no longer airing on the Encore Westerns channel, but when it did, the Darnell episodes were particularly fun to watch.* Well, at least here in LA, "Wagon Train" is on every Saturday at noon on METV. Of course you have to deal with the commercials. *I like how Linda was playing well-written dramatic parts on television. When a lot of big-name film stars went to TV, they invariably guest starred as themselves on sitcoms or variety shows, but Linda actually finds very challenging roles in the new medium and does well with them.* TB, I totally agree with you there. And that's actually all that Linda really wanted in her career: challenging roles for her to do. When she saw that she was not getting them in the movies, she found them on TV and doing stage work. So this phase of her career was fairly satisfying from an artistic standpoint, although not considered nearly as prestigious as film work, and financially it was not enough, as she received substantially less for this work than for feature film roles. But she persevered, especially as she had a loving husband to support her in her endeavors.

Linda Darnell's most recent movie, ZERO HOUR, was released in the fall of 1957. It was her first movie in theaters since DAKOTA INCIDENT over a year earlier (other than the spottily released ANGELS OF DARKNESS). She had turned down at least one other movie role because she was enjoying the live stage, and felt that movie making took up too much time. Plus she continued to work in the faster pace of television. One of these projects, a rare filmed episode of Playhouse 90, HOMEWARD BORNE, would see it released on a limited basis in movie theaters in 1958. Other TV programs she did, with broadcasts in 1958, included the western series "Wagon Train" and "Cimmaron City". In the former program she did two episodes, both playing the same character: 'The Dora Gray Story" and "The Sacramento Story". The first had Linda playing a woman who is tagging along with gunrunner John Carradine when Robert Horton comes upon them. When Horton realizes that Carradine is not selling blankets, he arrests them both. Linda helps Carradine escape, but Horton takes her to the nearest fort to have her locked up. She warns him not to go there; unbeknownst to him, she had come from there, having been involved with the officer in charge, Mike Connors, who is also involved in the gunrunning. Anyway, Linda offers to help Horton escape, but he refuses. Later she saves him from an attack by a band of Native Americans. This is a strongly written episode of WT, and could have been expanded to a feature film with a little effort. Linda's second show for the series, was the first season finale. She is seen briefly, reprising the character, in a coda to the earlier episode. Linda still looks great; in fact, she had lost some weight from her appearance in ZH. She also wears a peasant blouse that exposes quite of bit of cleavage for television in the 50s. However, the second episode has Linda somewhat heavier, but still alluring nonetheless.

Sewhite2000 wrote: MGM was always known as a studio that was all about the women, and RO did note that Garson's arrival at the studio was fortuitous that it came at a time when two of MGM's biggest female stars of the past decade, Garbo and Shearer, were just about to wrap up their movie careers. And of course, Jean Harlow, sadly, was dead by this time. Myrna Loy was certainly dependable. Judy Garland's star was just beginning to rise about this time, and Joan Crawford's biggest days wouldn't come until her move to Warner Brothers. Finance wrote: *......but Crawford was at least as high as 3rd among the MGM female contractees.* Actually, Joan Crawford's biggest days were in the early 1930s, where she was in the Boxoffice Top Ten for several years in a row. By the late 30s, she had slipped in the polls, so much so that she was one of the names listed as "Boxoffice Poison" in 1938. So she went after the supporting role of Crystal in THE WOMEN and scored a hit, and renewed interest in her. However, she still chafed that she trailed Shearer in the studio hierarchy. Third would never do for someone as driven and competitive as Joan. And when she saw Garson taking over as the Queen at MGM with Norma's abdication, she saw the writing on the wall, and asked for a release of her contract. We now think of her as her peak while at Warner's, but that probably has more to do with the way she reinvented herself, and her popularity, once there. The Oscar didn't hurt either, and while her career got its second wind (more like fifth actually), she never attained the huge success she had enjoyed in the early and mid 30s.

1957 turned out to be a busy year for Linda Darnell. Early in the year she married her third husband, Merle "Robbie" Robertson. He was an airline pilot, tall and handsome, and she fell madly in love with him. He had a beach house in Redondo Beach, as well as a sailboat. He helped her stabilize her drinking, partially caused by loneliness. She had been filming a TV movie for Playhouse 90, HOMEWARD BORNE, when they married early in March, so they took a honeymoon later that month. Daughter Lola felt that she was part of a real family for once, since they did things together. On Linda's career front, she was busy in the Hollywood social whirl, being accompanied by Robbie to premieres and awards shows. This was the first time since the beginning of the 50s that she did this consistently, and it may have paid off in her increased television work. She did several TV programs that year, besides the Playhouse 90 already mentioned. Most were dramas done for the various anthology series, including the Ford Theater, Schlitz Playhouse of the Stars, Studio 57, and the unfortunately named episode of Climax, "Trial By Fire", in which she is the mother of a troubled boy setting fires. Linda also continued to tour in "Tea and Symapthy" during that year. In fact, enjoying live stage work so much, she had turned down an offer to co-star with old costar Jeff Chandler in a western movie, DRANGO. One movie role she did accept was in ZERO HOUR, and economical film done for Paramount studios, also starring Dana Andrews and Sterling Hayden. In the well-known plot (AIRPLANE spoofed this film, using the dialogue almost line for line), Linda is the wife of Dana Andrews, a WW2 pilot who crashed then, and can't get over it, so she is at the point of taking their son and leaving him. He catches up with her aboard the plane; later, he has to fly it after the pilot and copilot get food poisoning. Linda didn't have much to do, but does what little there is quite well. This movie has become something of a camp classic, as people cannot hear the dialogue with the straight faced delivery, as originally intended. Linda looked like she was putting on some weight, in this film and in publicity photos, including those of her wedding. Later that year, she seems to have lost some of it, as she continued to battle this problem. She continued to work wherever she could, as she had some daunting financial problems. Movies, which paid best, were not being offered to her as they once had been, but she continued to work at it by playing the publicity game, and continued to be seen rather frequently out on the town. She was still a viable commodity, still had many devoted fans, but the new Hollywood no longer saw her as such, and were not beating down her agent's door with movie scripts. Movie roles that could have restored more of her popularity, that she could have still received had she remained under contract at her old studio, 20-th Century Fox. Besides not getting a top part in THE WAYWARD BUS, she could have been considered for roles in THE REVOLT OF MAMIE STOVER, HILDA CRANE, THE RAINS OF RANCHIPUR, THE BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE, TEENAGE REBEL, THE SUN ALSO RISES, even THE THREE FACES OF EVE. But by then, even Zanuck was not at Fox anymore. Edited by: Arturo on Mar 13, 2013 8:12 PM

1956 had started out promisingly for Linda Darnell, who was again actively working on her career. She had done live theater for the first time, and really enjoyed it. She got good reviews overall, although her Broadway debut was a flop (the film Columbia had planned to make of HARBOR LIGHTS fizzled with the play). Linda continued to do television, appearing that summer in an episode of the Screen Actor's Playhouse, WHITE CORRIDORS, where she is a nurse menaced by an unknown person. On the big screen, she was in DAKOTA INCIDENT that summer, and late in the year, a dubbed version of her first Italian film venture, DONNE PROIBITE, was released belatedly some three years after its completion as ANGELS OF DARKNESS. It got poor reviews and few bookings outside of some metropolitan areas. More ominously, she had been made to do a screentest, for THE WAYWARD BUS, at her old studio, and didn't get the part. She felt that her movie career was about to slip away, and continued to rely on TV and the stage into 1957. On the personal front, she was seen frequently with Merle Robbie Robertson, attending premieres together. They seemed to be getting serious about each other. But Linda's frustrations with her career led to her drinking more and more, and this had the side effect of causing her to gain more weight, which was the last thing she needed as she was searching for work. She continued to have financial troubles, as she owed several years back taxes to the IRS, and property taxes on her mansion in Bel Air; she had again had a financial manager that embezzled funds meant for these.

A couple of thoughts: Kim Novak might've meant roles Lee Remick did which had been meant for Marilyn Monroe. Besides DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES, which I long ago remember reading that it had been intended for Marilyn, these included SANCTUARY and THE STRIPPER, both of which MM turned down (not sure what happened with DOWAR, althought Marilyn was still alive when Remick got the assignment. Incidentally, Fox briefly considered her to take over SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE, until costar Dean Martin balked, staing his contract was to star with Monroe. Novak could've been offered ANATOMY OF A MURDER after Lana Turner was out, as this was filmed at Columbia, where she was under contract then. However, it was probably a Preminger production, and he chose who he wished, rather than studio-initiated. btw, Kim played a down and dirty type in OF HUMAN BONDAGE.

Linda Darnell spent the summer of 1956 touring in TEA AND SYMPATHY. It seems that her reviews were heartening, so much so that Linda searched for a vehicle to make her Broadway debut. In July, she signed to appear in a drama HARBOR LIGHTS, to be financed by Columbia Pictures, with the idea of making a motion picture if it was successful. In September, Linda started to rehearse this play. Her original costar was to have been Dana Andrews, but he was drinking heavily, and was replaced by Robert Alda. The drama, set on Staten Island, dealt with a young wife having marital problems and two men to choose from. The script was going through constant revisions, and in the end was a mess. The tryouts in New Haven and Boston were none too successful, and called for more wholesale revisions. When it opened it New York in October, it received poor reviews and closed after only a handful of performances. Linda's chance on Broadway did not work out for her. Despondent, she returned to Los Angeles, where pal Ann Miller introduced her to a pilot, Merle Robertson, a handsome bachelor, who became a frequent companion. She was forced to audition for a role for THE WAYWARD BUS, to be filmed at her old studio, 20th Century Fox, but contractee Joan Collins was cast instead. Linda felt her options vanishing, with her new beau the only bright spot at this point.

FYI: Linda Darnell will be featured in a couple of movies in the next 2-3 days: On TCM, Friday 3/08 AT 3:30 pm eastern, 12:30 pm pacific: SECOND CHANCE (1953), thriller set in Mexico, with Robert Mitchum and Jack Palance. On Fox Movie Channel, Sunday 3/10 at 6 am eastern, 3 am pacific: FALLEN ANGEL (1945): small-town siren Linda is courted by Dana Andrews, who plans to fleece rich spinster Alice Faye and run off with Darnell. Compelling noir imho.

Great news. She's one of my favorite. Now if we can get Susan Hayward and Linda Darnell, and there'll be some awesome months on TCM this year.

If someone more tech savvy than me can post this link, which I had done sometime back (around page 18 of this thread), it will be much appreciated. Edited by: Arturo on Mar 7, 2013 3:34 PM

For anyone interested, I am reposting this info re: Linda's appearance on WHAT'S MY LINE: I posted this on the Classic Movie Actors on Episodic TV thread awhile earlier this evening, but seems to be just as appropriate here: I recently came across a series of videos on Youtube that shows the mystery celebrity clip segments on "What's My Line". I found this while looking for whatever clips were available for Linda Darnell. Hers is a good one, done in march 1956, talking in a good Italian accent, and looking glamorous and beautiful. of course in the comment segment I obviously didn't know Youtube etiquette, and being me, posted 1500 characters, when most had brief comments. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cef-S3oXSuA There are many more movie star clips you can access, most are quite entertaining Edited by: Arturo on Mar 7, 2013 because this link did not paste on here.