Brandon Judell
Broadway: The Golden Age
Before he moved into our neighborhood, local prince Farley Granger was considered one of the most beautiful men in Hollywood. The proof's on the DVDs. Just rent his two Alfred Hitchcock efforts, Rope (1948) with Jimmy Stewart and Strangers on a Train (1951) with Robert Walker. These two homoerotic thrillers display a man who adds an extra "h" to "hhandsome."
But although he was in demand in filmdom's capital, Granger wasn't happy there, and he rebelled, refusing to make films such as Lorna Doone that he rightfully predicted would be fiascoes. He noted at that time: "You have to decide what's most important: money or doing something you believe is right. Too many people try to please everyone. They're scared to open their mouths and careful not to step on toes. They're not individuals; they're shadows. You've got to believe in certain things within yourself, and back them to the hilt."
So what did Granger do? He bought up his contract from Samuel Goldwyn, packed his bags, and headed for Broadway.
Now in Broadway: The Golden Age, a most delicious, prize-winning, new documentary, one some critics are claiming to be one of the very best of the year, Granger talks about his love affair with the Great White Way. "The first show I saw," he recalls, "was Annie Get Your Gun with Ethel Merman, and I just went berserk. I really went mad. I said I want to be up there. . . . [So I left the West Coast and came here.] I was a young movie star broke literally because I decided I wanted to be in the theater." And he did get to be in the theater, eventually appearing in productions of The Glass Menagerie, Deathtrap, and The Seagull.
Granger is not alone in his love affair with the theater district. Director Rick McKay has interviewed over 100 other thespians who were equally mad about performing live in Manhattan. Chita Rivera, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Robert Goulet, Tammy Grimes, Derek Jacobi, Lainie Kazan, Eli Wallach, Gwen Verdon, and Elaine Stritch also hold forth with mesmerizing memories of what it was like during the Golden Age. Just imagine back then, during one week you could open The New York Times and see ads for The King and I, Paint Your Wagon, A Street Car Named Desire, I Am a Camera, Guys and Dolls, Uta Hagen in Saint Joan, and Ethel Merman in Call Me Madam. Now that's a selection.
No wonder Ben Gazzara smiles as he remembers going on auditions with his pal James Dean. Carol Burnett recalls chipping in five dollars with her three other roommates and buying a $20 dress in Bloomingdale's. The gals would take turns wearing the frock on job hunts. Another star remembers weighs the choice between buying an ironing board or going to a see show. The show always won. there are the tributes to Laurette Taylor and Marlon Brando. Plus Shirley MacLaine hilariously shares how being a stand-by for a star in Pajama Game brought her fame.
A few weeks ago, McKay noted at the Palm Beach Film Festival that these "100 people left their small towns or just crossed the or left a borough, and they went out on a limb when everyone else was going to Hollywood. They were going to New York and they all succeeded because none of them wanted to be superstars. They wanted to work on stage, and they all did. and they're all so proud of that fact.
"They did it 8 times a week with no microphone over a 30 piece orchestra for 1500 people," McKay adds. "These folk didn't have a studio helping them. There was no editor to take their best cuts, and they were so proud of it. Their passion still moves me because I thought wow! Broadway's the last frontier of an artist. You can save a performance in a film like Hollywood did for Elizabeth Taylor many times. But you can't recut and build a Broadway performance in the edit room. You're alone out there. Make no mistake about it."
To help you relive a few of these great moments, Kino Video has rereleased producer Ely Landau's The American Film Theater productions. Back in the seventies, Landau came up with the brainchild of preserving great plays and performances by filming them. Fourteen films were made, and they are all quite exhilarating. There's Peter Hall directing Ian Holm and Vivien Merchant in Harold Pinter's The Homecoming. Alan Bates and Brian Cox let loose in David Storey's In Celebration. Laurence Oliver, Joan Plowright, and Derek Jacobi are directed by Sir Olivier in Three Sisters, and Katharine Hepburn, Paul Scofield, and Lee Remick conquer Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance.
If you can't go to Broadway, go to www.kino.com, and let Broadway come to you.[Judell]
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