- Any sensible young man would be completely mad to even think about the theater. I am amazed to think I could ever make a living in this mad impossible business. But damn it, it is the only thing that will make me happy... the only thing worth the trouble.
- [on stage play Romeo and Juliet at John Drew Theater, East Hampton Long Island, New York, USA (1948)] I will play the heavy - guy name of Tybalt. The character is befitting an evil and bad tempered gent who fights three duels and is pretty hand with the rapier. The sight of Kingsley flashing his darting blade cheerfully about the stage letting the blood fall where it may - is a sight which may well cause some of the famed fencers of the past to whirl madly in their respective graves.
- [on the stage play, Three Men on a Horse] The theater itself is in the Chevy Chase Country Club, formerly the Bel-Air [in Highland Park, Illinois, USA]. It has been completely closed for the past seven years because the owner has been in the clink for that period of time. It was one of the largest gambling houses in the country, and the guy who owns it socked away about $6-million before they nailed him on income tax evasion, and he had to close up shop for a bit. They have a series of walnut paneled offices, and at a touch of the button, hidden doors spring open leading to parts unknown. The theater stage is surrounded on three sides, which makes for an interesting problem in staging and acting. We have started rehearsals and it looks as if we should have a good show], and I think I will be pretty fair myself - it is quite a big part [playing Kurtz in Three Men on a Horse].
- [on stage play Red Gloves] Arrived last evening from Baltimore. The entire Club Car was reserved for the cast. One of the boys left the show and I am taking over his part [playing Kurtz]. After one rehearsal, I went on last Saturday matinée, and it went well enough, so beginning tonight I will play it. Another good break - rather than open as scheduled in NY on the 8th right after Ann of a Thousand Days, which opens the 7th and perhaps take the starch out of our debut -- we are cutting short the last week here and opening Dec. 4th. This is a brave move on their part, as it will mean losing money by not playing those days here in Boston. But by not playing those days in Boston and if the NY critics cut us to ribbons (as I well suspect they may), we may do a slow fade - however, it is a gamble. . [Red Gloves opened 4 December 1948 with Charles Boyer at Broadway's Mansfield Theater, and closed on March 12, 1949 after 113 performances.]
- We finally got the thing [stage play Red Gloves] open last night and on the whole it is a good play. I understand they have more than $100,000 advance sales in NY, which ain't hay. I don't think I have ever seen a case of stage fright as the one that attacked Charles Boyer. His face was like gristle and he sat in his dressing room for an hour without moving a muscle or speaking a word. Once we went on, however, he gave a fine performance, and he personally has nothing to worry about. I guess about all of New York were here for the opening -- agents producers, actors. Jean Dalrymple [the Producer] gave a party in her suite, and all in all, it was quite gay.
- [on Stage Play, The Beaux Stratagem] My part is longer than it appears - about 15 sides. I was a bit worried after seeing that joker [the actor playing the part that Martin will now play] at Westport. By Wednesday, I will be playing the part my way, and I'll bet [the director] won't know the difference. I have evolved a method of playing sort of a mixture of Groucho Marx and Errol Flynn with that Irish brogue thrown in. It has been quite successful, and the people here have loved it. Yesterday, however, Brian Aherne and company showed up, and he was expecting what he had before. But I think I have almost won him over to my side. I will play it almost his way tonight, but terribly.
- [on stage play Romeo and Juliet at John Drew Theater, East Hampton Long Island, New York, USA (1948)] For our play they have decked me out in a pair of tights that are so tight they are actually indecent and I know that I shall blush throughout the performance. But what the hell, it is for my ART, or so it says here. I have raised a mustache which I like to think makes me look dashing.
- [on stage play Love from a Stranger] I must say that the high spot of the summer was Signe Hasso. She turned out to be a highly intelligent, remarkably alive and exciting gal. For some reason, she picked on me as a kindred spirit and we became quite good friends. She is the sort of person I know you would like.
- I am writing during [stage play] rehearsals for a little gem called 'Peg of My Heart.' If this isn't the cutest thing written, it comes awfully close. Fortunately, I have a small part (a cad and a bounder, of course) and the less I have to do with the thing, the better I like it. Peggy Ann Garner is the "star" and she turned out to be a very nice kid, completely unspoiled, and she has all the little boy apprentices mad about her. The one drawback [to Peg of My Heart] is that Paula Laurence has moved in with us, and she is one gal who rubs me completely the wrong way. For some reason she walks around thinking that she is the star of the joint and everyone must know it too. I wouldn't especially mind it from someone who had legitimate reasons for feeling that way, but she is strictly a no talent who hasn't the foggiest notion of how to act. But while she is a complete phony, she knows every important person in New York and Hollywood, and for that reason, Dick Barr [the director] butters up to her outrageously. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to take her without just blowing up and telling her where to head in. Outside of her, I must say, the company is a very pleasant one. Buff Cobb [stage name for Italian actress Patrizia Chapman], the ingénue, is very sweet, and cute too, but let me add, newly married to a Chicago radio man - so you see that all your fears are groundless.
- Saturday night I went to the theater to see the Lunt's stage play [Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne]. It was the first time, strangely, that I had seen them, and I must admit that my opinion is that of the rest of the world, they are real fine. The play itself is very weak and wouldn't survive a minute without them. The only fascinating thing about it is the change in their makeup. As you know, it begins on their golden wedding anniversary, when they are in their late seventies, and then goes all the way back to the beginning. She looks absolutely wonderful, so frail that you wonder how she moves around. Then in the very next scene she is in her early twenties, and again looks wonderful... real interesting. After the show, I decided to look in on Sardi's [Sardi's Restaurant]. I stood hemmed in at the bar, looking in vain for a familiar face - had a couple of drinks and went home, more forlorn than ever. Professionally (c'est a rire) things are very quiet; hardly a leaf stirs, hardly a hope remains. It is difficult for me to believe that I was once an actor, a pretty good one too. I am beginning to look, act, and think like a character in an Anton Chekhov play.
- This week they are doing [stage play] Born Yesterday, and doing it badly. Shelley Winters is starring in it. Here is a gal who is built like the proverbial brick outhouse; but as stupid and dull as they come, and can't act a lick. Her talent in bed fortunately must be considerable for she certainly has been successful in pictures and I can see no other reason why this should be so. The people in the resident company are nice enough, but thoroughly dull. By the way, the bosomy leading lady, the one Oracle mentioned, is happily married to the character man, so you should have no fears on that score.
- We have a good bunch here this time, a great relief from the rather dull crowd of last season. Actually there are only two that make it seem so pleasant; one a great comic, and the other a sort of Jack Merivale type, only much better on all counts. The show was very well received by the local press and Mrs. Ruth Hussey turned out to be a slightly frantic and hysterical young lady far removed from the placid and dignified gal she usually plays on the screen. I mean nothing derogatory by this, but merely that she seems to be tied up in a million knots that would give three or four high grade psychiatrists a merry old time untying. Actually, I have seen very little of her off stage as she is a local girl and the mayor and other dignitaries have been whisking her about. But she did pause long enough to tell me that I was one of the best actors she has ever played with - which is kind of pleasant. It has been rather surprising the reception I have been getting. After every performance there is a mad dash back stage by the local peasantry - both male and female, I may add - for my autograph and whatnot - and everyone says how overjoyed they are to see me back. As a man who needs to be told this sort of thing often, as you know - it has a very salutary effect.
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