I Love the Illusion: The Life and Career of Agnes Moorehead (34 page)

Indeed, Paul did have other plans on the fire; one of the most intriguing
was a new play,
The Scourge of the Sun,
by playwright Leslie Stevens, a
rewrite of
Marlowe.
Paul told Agnes that the part of Queen Elizabeth “is
just made for you” and believed that Cedric Hardwicke would play the
“older man” with Richard Burton as Marlowe. Paul informed Agnes that if
all of these ingredients, including Joseph Anthony as director, fell into place
the show would begin touring, but “not quite in the strenuous pattern as
the last one” and promised longer rest periods. He anticipated a successful
road tour which would culminate in taking the play to New York for a
limited Broadway engagement. Agnes, from Rome, was excited, immediately
writing Paul, “If you are in New York I hope John (Paul’s secretary) will
either forward this letter or read it to you via phone. Your letter was
exciting . . . I must read the play immediately.”

Filming
The Tempest
was moving along well, despite some communication
problems. In Yugoslavia, for instance, the crew was made up of Russian and
Yugoslavians who spoke no English. Agnes also noticed that on the set the
Yugoslavian actors and crew members were “guarded by police from their
own country! It’s amazing — there is a soldier on the set continually —
poor souls.” With few exceptions, most of the actors and crew members
involved didn’t speak English which made it difficult for Agnes and the
other American actors to understand what they were saying. “I have no idea
what they are saying but instinctively I go on.” But she saw the humor in
the situation: “I can out-shout the Russians and out-gesture the Italians —
so they look at me in complete wonderment and let me alone.”

Happily for Agnes much of
the filming and dubbing took
place in Rome. Accompanying
Agnes was her secretary and
stand-in Kathy Ellis. In their
spare time Agnes and Kathy took
on the role of tourists and visited
museums and sampled the fine
cuisine. Agnes reported that
“Kath” is “on cloud nine.” When
they first arrived in Rome, the
film company put them up in a
hotel until an apartment was secured. The hotel was not to Agnes’ liking,
describing it as dreary, ugly and uncomfortable. But the apartment found
for them was another matter; it was “small but charming” with an Italian
maid thrown in who couldn’t speak English. “It keeps me studying nightly
to make my wants known; however, we get along very well. She is exceedingly
well trained and cooks dreamily.” Also welcome were the visits paid by
American friends who also found themselves in Rome, such as fashion
designer Don Loper and columnist Hedda Hopper.

Perhaps due to Gregory’s optimistic letter regarding the possibility of
staging
The Scourge of the Sun,
Agnes declined the offer to play Ben-Hur’s
mother. But, as it turned out,
Scourge
also fell by the wayside and the team
of producer Paul Gregory, director Joseph Anthony and writer Leslie
Stevens began work on another production which would ultimately unite
all of them in a play featuring Agnes,
The Pink Jungle.
As work on
The
Tempest
was coming to a conclusion in the summer of 1958, Agnes was on
the lookout for another project. While still in Rome, she received an offer
to work in a picture with the Italian actress Anna Magnani, the best actress
winner for
The Rose Tattoo,
but this too fell by the wayside as Agnes reported
to Paul Gregory: “She has absorbed any scene that is of any consequence
and if that is the case it would be foolish for me to stay here to do it.”

By early July Agnes was done with the picture and on her way home —
via Cairo, Nice, and London. This would be her first visit to Cairo, but not
her last; in 1961 she would present her one-woman show there. After a
layover with her friend Derek Prouce in London she would go on to New
York City and then head home to LA, with a brief stop to see Sean who was
spending the summer at the Kitchen Middens farm in New Concord,
Ohio. She gave this itinerary to Paul Gregory along with her insecure
feelings about her career. Yes, she had just completed
The Tempest
but other
things such as
Ben-Hur,
the Marlowe play, and the Magnani picture had not
panned out, and as an actress in her upper 50’s she was worried about her
next job. Paul attempted to reassure her: “Darling, don’t worry about making
a living — just tell me I have your time to fill and I will see to it that the
money rolls in.” He then appealed to her vanity by mentioning the visit to
Cairo. “If Nasser sees you in Cairo there will be a revolution, for they
haven’t had such a gorgeous bombshell since poor little Israel tried to seize
the Suez.”

When Agnes arrived in New York, she found that the religious album she
had recorded prior to leaving for Rome,
Psalms of David,
with violinist
Ralph Hollander, had been released and was selling well. The
New York
Times
review was favorable: “an interesting and honest attempt to heighten
the prose of several of the psalms of David . . . aside from the artistic worth
of the recording, it would be well for all speech students to listen to Miss
Moorehead’s enunciation of English, with special ear to her pronunciation
of ‘hosts’.” This review must have cheered former speech teacher Agnes,
who did take pride in her enunciation of the English language.

In California, Agnes finally proceeded to legally end her five-year
marriage to Gist. Separated since 1954, Aggie testified in Santa Monica
Superior Court that Gist told her in 1954 that he was interested in another
woman. “He was cold and distant and urged me to get a 24-hour divorce
in Mexico. He told me to go home, that he had no further interest in me.”
Kathy corroborated her testimony. Under terms of the property settlement
Agnes did retain the title to the Roxbury Drive home in Beverly Hills, the
thing which meant the most to her, and she was ordered to pay a token $1
per month alimony. She wrote out a $120 check for Gist so she “wouldn’t
have to deal with him for at least another ten years.”

While Paul was preparing
The Pink Jungle
through the remainder of
1958, Agnes accepted a part in the low-budget feature,
Night of the Quarter
Moon,
once again cast as a mother, this time of John Drew Barrymore. It is
actually quite an interesting little film, directed by cult favorite Hugo Haas,
that had a social theme for its time. Through a series of misunderstandings
the wife of the Barrymore character (Julie London) is revealed to be part
black. Agnes’ character is a closet bigot; at first she warmly welcomes
London into her family, but once it becomes known that her daughter-inlaw is part black, she viciously turns on her and turns her husband against
her as well. All this so she can protect what is really important to her, her
social status in the closed-minded community she lives in. At one point the
Moorehead character explains, “I always thought we should have equality
for all people in the world. Until it happened to me.” Boosting the film,
more so than the somewhat hackneyed script, is a good cast: Nat King
Cole, Dean Jones, Edward Andrews, Charles Chaplin, Jr. and Cathy
Crosby. However, it certainly was a product of its time and, as author Lynn
Kear states, it can seem “hilariously dated” for today. Overall, the reviews
for the film upon release were disappointing, though
Variety
threw Agnes a
bouquet: “Agnes Moorehead as the mother who highhandedly brings
annulment proceedings despite her son’s opposition delivers her usual
competent performance.” The film went nowhere at the box office.

Agnes made the first of three appearances on
The Shirley Temple
Playhouse
in the fall of 1958, as a witch in an hour-long adaptation of
Rapunzel.
Miss Temple didn’t appear in the play itself and the leading role
of Rapunzel went to a young newcomer, Carol Lynley. Miss Lynley had
happy recollections of her time working with Agnes. She recalled Agnes as

“great company always — funny,
feisty, witty, direct and very professional; just a fabulous lady.” But she
never really got to know her, despite
working with her again the next year
in a
General Electric Theater
presentation
with Ronald Reagan, and future
meetings at social events. “We never
socialized on a personal level. There
was a big difference in our ages. I think
the only person she ever really socialized
with who was much younger than she
was Debbie (Reynolds).” While they
certainly did get along, “She was a
private person, she never volunteered
information regarding her private life

and she never invaded your privacy.” Miss Lynley never even knew that
Agnes had a son. Still, she cherishes the memory of their professional
collaborations. “I think she was one of the all-time great Grande Dames
of Hollywood.”

Rapunzel
did well in the ratings and won favorable reviews. “In view of
the approach of Halloween,
Rapunzel
was an appropriate choice for the TV
screen. There probably was no new moral lesson in this fairy tale. But if
there happens to be a rampion garden in the neighborhood, it probably
won’t be invaded for a long time by young adventurers. Miss Moorehead
might just happened to be hiding there.” Carol Lynley was applauded as
“lovely and sympathetic.” Agnes was not Endora in
Rapunzel,
but a more
evil cousin. Some of the dramatic gestures that she uses in
Rapunzel
may
remind one of the witch she would immortalize within a decade, but this
witch was ugly where Endora was glamorous, evil where Endora was
mischievous. By this time Agnes was getting greatly excited about
The Pink
Jungle,
and her part in the show.

The Pink Jungle
was a musical-comedy about the world of Madison
Avenue, and specifically the cosmetic industry. The head of a cosmetic firm,
Eleanor West, dies and her son inherits the company. A battle for the
succession to the presidency begins, with the main focus being between two
vice presidents, Tess Jackson and Chris Taylor, who both also happen to be
in love with the son. Agnes was cast as Eleanor West, or rather her ghost,
because we never see her as a living being, but rather a specter who returns
to watch over the son, the company, and other members of her family. For
the part of Tess Jackson, Paul Gregory wanted an actress who not only
could handle comedy and the musical numbers but someone whose name
would mean box office. He approached Ginger Rogers with an offer of
$5,000 per week plus a percentage of the box office. It was too good to turn
down and she didn’t. The other ingredients were strong with a supporting
cast led by Leif Erickson as the “good” son (Gig Young had declined the
role), Maggie Hayes as Ginger Rogers’ main competitor for the presidency
of the firm and the attentions of Erickson, Gavin Gordon as Erickson’s
father (described as a “nincompoop” in the script), Ray Hamilton as the
brother of the Erickson character — a ner’do well, and Louis Nye as a
psychiatrist. Joseph Anthony directed, with book by Leslie Stevens, music
and lyrics by Vernon Duke and costumes by Jean Louis (including a
$32,000 chinchilla trench coat and $8,000 beaded gown worn by Ginger
Rogers). With these elements the show seemed to be a good bet for a long
run on Broadway.

Rehearsals for
The Pink Jungle
wouldn’t begin until the late summer and
in the meanwhile Agnes received an offer to appear at the 1959 Vancouver
International Festival in the play
Mary Stuart
in the role of Queen
Elizabeth. Swedish actress Viveca Lindfors was cast in the title role. The
money was good; for two weeks of rehearsals and then two weeks of
performances at the festival, Aggie would receive a lump sum of $8,000.
There seemed to be a tacit agreement that everything was in place and the
Festival artistic and managing director, Nicholas Goldschmidt, made an
announcement of Agnes’ participation before any contracts were signed. It
turned out to be premature when Agnes specified (through Paul Gregory)
that she expected the Festival to provide her with an apartment and a maid,
at their expense. Goldschmidt said it was their understanding that they
were to
find
Agnes an apartment and maid but not pay for them, because
it just wasn’t in their budget. Despite a prestigious play, above-the-titlebilling, and the large fee, Aggie decided not to participate since the Festival
was unwilling to accept her other demands.