Eve, I empathize with your annoyance with this guy’s behaviour (he sounds like an ass), but may I make a suggestion?
Perhaps you just caught him at a bad time. You never know - maybe the phone call just preceding yours was from his attorney telling him that his accountant just absconded with his life savings. You just never know when you interrupt someone, what you might be interrupting and what kind of mood they’ll be in.
If he’s really the only one who’s still alive who could answer what appears to be some very pertinent questions, I’d suggest sucking it up and trying one more time. If you could find his phone number, surely you can find an address, no? Write him a letter apologizing for the intrusion on his time and thanking him for taking your call (as much as it might kill you to do so). Tell him you understand how busy he is (even if he’s not, and you know it) and basically kiss his butt. Tell him you understand he may have been busy at that time, but perhaps at his leisure he wouldn’t mind sharing some of his insights. Puff up his pride really big and make him feel like he’s invaluable to you. Lie. Tell him you think he’s the greatest director of all time. Do whatever kissing up it takes to GET YOUR ANSWERS. That is the point, after all, is it not?
Then you’ve got your story, he’s got his ego and everyone lives happily ever after.
I’ve never had a book author call me and I would probably react differently, but I am almost always rude to reporters, when they’ve tried to talk to me. Quite frankly, they don’t accept a polite no. To them that is just an invitation for them to explain why I just don’t realize how much help they can be to me. So, when they approach me and I say “no,” if the next sentence out of their mouth isn’t “well, thank you for your time” then I am either walking away or hanging up on them.
Everyone else from that movie is dead?
Did ya tell the old coot he was next? Actually I was wondering you might have do dig a bit but SOMEONE has to be around. Maybe the studio Doctor at the time is gone, what about his nurse or staff? Might take some digging to find out but I would think the answer to that question very interesting and well worth it. I have found that people who were “support” members of activities such as making a film tend to LOVE recalling their momentary brush with the rich and famous.
On a different note, If I could have a few minutes of your time so that I could ask you a few questions that I feel you would be most qualified to answer. Please contact me via e-mail.
no seriously, just have a few questions in regards to research for a biography I am working on.
Sorry to hear he was so nasty. It happens. To give him the benefit of a doubt, there may be extenuating circumstances. I like to think that I’d be more civil under similae circumstances even on my deathbed, but people differ. And then there’s the class of people who really believe that you can keep people at arm’s length by applied rudeness.
FWIW, I liked a lot of Mr. Donen’s films, especially “Mirage” and “Charade”. But on the other hand, Donen followed this up with the abysmal “Arabesque”. The differences between the films? He didn’t have the same stars, and especially he didn’t have screenwriter Peter Stone. Me, I give more credit to the underappreciated wordsmiths.
Guin—That’s it, exactly. I get a lot of polite refusals, which I don’t like; but I take them in stride. This was just NASTY.
Shayna—I have since spoken to two people who know him and they both said, “I’m not surprised—he is one cranky old bastard.” I’d been calling him every few months for more than a year, and he’d always barked, “I don’t feel like it—call me in a few months!” before. So, like a polite young gentleman on a date, I will accept that “no” means “no.”
Osip—Just about everyone IS dead (hmmmm . . . ). But I have tracked down and written to the costume designer, and hope to find more people through him. But Donen was the producer, so he would’ve been the one to shepherd her through the insurance exam, dammit.
Oh, well, on a happier note, Kay’s sister is seeing me next week and loaning me the FAMILY PHOTO ALBUM, and she has contacts at “Vanity Fair,” so I am keeping my fingers crossed for some good advance publicity.
EVE: Sounds like it’s going to be an interesting book. I’d love to read it when it comes out – what other books have you written? I’d like to read them to (heck, I LOVE biographies and will read almost anything – except romance novels. You’re read one of them, you’ve read them all.)
As for Mr. Donen, just because he may be a brilliant director doesn’t make him a nice person. Same is true of any celebrity you can think of. Nuff said.
Caircair, DARLING, I’ve done books on Jean Harlow, Theda Bara and Anna Held—you can find 'em on amazon.com and thanks for asking!
This book will have much more in the way of sex and scandal than my others—but Ike, you may be assured I can ALWAYS squeeze in a fair share of innuendo, invective, and crushing sarcasm.
