Chapter 29 Chapter Twenty Nine
The famous lyricist Sammy Kahn was once asked the question: "Which came first, the melody or the lyrics?"
His answer was: "Neither of those, the phone had to come in first."
Someone's calling right now. It's Joe Pastermark.
"Sidney, MGM bought "True Treasure" from me. We want you to write the script, can you make time?"
Of course we can.
Billy Ross' "True Treasures" opened on Broadway in 1935.Billy Rose is a top producer on Broadway, and he does everything he does.He transformed the Hippodrome Theater on Forty-third Street into a circus tent, with spectators sitting in a circle watching performances in the "circus".Starring Jimmy Durant and Paul Whitman, written by Ben Hurt and Charlie MacArthur, composed by Rodgers and Hart, directed by George Abbott, all top notch.
After the musical was staged, it received rave reviews, but there was a problem: the production cost of the show was too high to even break even, let alone turn a profit.Five months later, "True Treasure" was discontinued.
The last time I was on an MGM set was almost ten years ago.From the outside, not much has changed.I soon realized how wrong I was in this judgment. Joe Pastermark hadn't changed a bit, he was just as energetic as ever. "I've signed Dorothy Day, Martha Rae, Jimmy Durant. To sign Dorothy, I've got her husband, Martin Melcher, as a co-producer. The director is Your old friend Charles Walters." This is really good news.Charles and I haven't seen each other since we worked together on "A Thousand Flowers." "Who is the leading actor?" Pastermark showed hesitation, "It hasn't been decided yet, but there is an actor who plays "Feng Gong Robbery" on Broadway, which should be a suitable candidate." "What's his name?" "Richard Bolton. I want you to fly back to New York with Walters and see him." "my pleasure." When I went to the cafeteria at lunchtime, I was shocked inside.The canteen supervisor was the same Pauline.We greeted each other, and when she was about to seat me, I asked her, "Where's the writer's seat?" "There is no screenwriting seat." "We..." I said, "Then I'll be the first to be seated." She looked at me, "Mr. Sheldon, I'm afraid you will feel alone. You are the only writer on the set today." From one hundred and fifty screenwriters to "you are the only screenwriter on the set today".How much has Hollywood changed in the past ten years? Next, it took me a few days to come up with the outline of the screenplay for The True Treasure.On Friday, Charles Walters and I flew to New York to see Richard Burton. "Phoenix Palace Robbery" is a masterpiece, Julie Andrews and Robert Gullett also starred, the director is Moss Hart.Bolton's performance was brilliant. The company had arranged for Charles Walters and I to have dinner with Burton after the show.We met him at Satie's.Richard Burton was no ordinary man—frank and sincere, with Welsh charm at its best.He is well-read, intelligent, and open-minded.Bolton is not a big star yet, but he will definitely be in the future. I haven't had time to write down my script outline yet.I said to him, "I don't have anything written yet, but I can tell you the story." He smiled and said, "I love listening to stories, please tell me." True Treasure is a romantic love story set against the backdrop of two circuses competing with each other.Burton got very excited when I finished telling the story. He said: "I love it, and I really want to work with Dorothy. Call my agent and let him sign." Charles and I looked at each other.We've found someone we like.everything's ready. The next morning, we were back in Hollywood.Joe Pastermark sent Benny Thorne to sign Burton.Thorne called Burton's Hollywood agent, Hugh French, and arranged a meeting. After exchanging greetings, Hugh French said: "Richard called me. He really likes this film and hopes to start shooting as soon as possible." "Okay, let's sign the contract." Hugh French asked, "What about the pay?" "Two thousand dollars. That's what he got paid for his last film." The broker said, "Benny, our asking price is two thousand five thousand." Thorne, a seasoned negotiator, was furious. "Why should we pay him more? He's not that famous yet. This role is a breakthrough for him." "Benny, I gotta tell you—there's another movie he's looking for. They're willing to pay twenty-five hundred dollars." Thorne didn't let up. "Very well. Let them pay. Let's find another Xianming." In this way, Richard Burton did not play "True Treasure" but went to play "Cleopatra", met and fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor, and added a rich stroke to the picture of Hollywood affairs.In my opinion, if Thorne would have paid the extra five hundred dollars, Richard Burton would have been in "True Treasure" and walked into the wedding hall with Martha Rae. We then signed Stephen Boyd and the film started.It's a perfect lineup.Dorothy Day is the perfect choice for Kitty Wander, Stephen Boyd is excellent and Martha Rae is a joy.But my favorite is Jimmy Durant. Durant started out as a concert pianist.He opened a nightclub and formed a show team with two other performers, Jackson and Clayton.After getting to know Durant in depth, you will find that every time he decides to fly solo, he will not forget to carry his past partners.He likes to tell stories about his past, and I never heard him criticize anyone. My script was approved and the filming started.Everything went well during the shoot. "True Treasure" was nominated for the Best Local Musical of the Year at the Writers Guild Awards after its release.
My agent, Sam Weisbord, called me. "Sidney, we just sold Patty Duke to ABC." Of course I know the name.At the age of twelve, Patty Duke won the role of Helen Keller in "The Miracle Workers", which fascinated the whole Broadway and won an Oscar after the film was released. Sam said, "We've got a slot, every Wednesday night at eight o'clock. We've got a name, it's called The Patty Duke Show, and everything else is falling into place. But there's one more problem." "Then I don't understand, if everything is ready, what's your problem?" "We don't have a script." Turns out they were selling only the Patty Duke title. "We want you to write the script." "Sorry, Sam," I said, "I can't say yes."
In the early '60s, people who worked in film looked down on people who worked in TV.When television was just starting out, the broadcasters used to go to the movie companies.They said, "We have a great new promotion, but we don't know how to make a show. How is everyone working together?" The answer is simple.Film companies have their own promotion channels, which are theaters, and most film companies have their own theaters.They see this emerging technology as a passing fad, and they want nothing to do with it.Film studios are so disgusted with television that they don't even allow the stars of new films to appear on television until they're released. I was also influenced by that attitude, and the failed collaboration with Desi was so fresh in my memory that I said, "I'm sorry, Sam, I don't do TV." He was silent for a moment, "Okay, I understand. But would you like to have lunch with Patty out of courtesy?" I don't see any harm in this.And, actually, I was curious and wanted to meet her. We met in a box at the Brown Derby Hotel.Accompanying Patty were four agents from William Morris & Associates.She was sixteen, smaller than I'd imagined, and looked terribly frail.She sat next to me. "It's a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Sheldon." "It's an honor for me too, Miss Duke." As we talked over the meal, she was less shy than she had been at first, but still vulnerable.She would hold my hand during meals, and I knew how much she wanted to be loved. Patty's life experience is very rough, much like the scene described in a Charles Dickens novel.Her mother was insane and her father was an alcoholic who eventually abandoned the family.At the age of seven, Patty began living with her agent, John Ross, and his wife, Ethel, in a small, cold apartment.Patty never had a real home. Before The Patty Duke Show aired, John Ross was a struggling third-rate surrogate.His clients were small roles, among them a young actor named Ray Duke. One day, Duke came to Ross and asked if he could represent his sister Anna, who had no acting experience at the time.After meeting the seven-year-old, Rose agreed to be her agent. A few months later, the situation in Anna's house had deteriorated to an unbearable level, and the Ross couple agreed that she would move in with them and soon renamed her Patty.It was Rose's decision, and she announced: "Anna Marie is dead, and now your name is Patty." John Ross read in the newspaper that a musical called "The Miracle Workers" was scheduled for Broadway, and he thought Patty Duke would be an excellent choice for the role of the blind, deaf, and dumb Helen Keller.He spent months training Patty.In the end she beat a hundred girls to win the role, and their lives changed forever.After the musical was staged, John Ross's little-known client became an overnight sensation. Patty began to be hired through Ross for thousands of dollars a week.Instead of knocking on the doors of producers and begging them to hire their clients, Ross is the one who is being courted by producers, directors and studio executives.Such good luck even he himself could not believe it.
After lunch, I found myself drawn to Patty, who had an irresistible charm.I asked her, "How about coming over to my house tonight and having dinner with me and Joa?" She beamed, "I'm so happy." Joya was as attracted to Patty as I was.She was lively and cute, and we couldn't stop laughing from her throughout the evening. Joya and I were talking when we suddenly realized that Patty had left the table.I got up and went to her.She is washing dishes in the kitchen.Now I am completely conquered. "Petty, I promise to write you a script." She hugged me warmly and whispered, "Thank you."
I decided that since I was going to have my name on a show, I had to be able to control the quality of the show.I had my first meeting with the producer. "Sidney, we're all happy that you're willing to write the script." "thanks." "In addition to creating, you are also an editor and reviewer, supervising other screenwriters." "I don't need another screenwriter." They stared at me, "What?" "Since I plan to participate, I plan to write it myself." "Sidney, that's impossible. We've got thirty-nine episodes, every Monday." "I want to write it all myself." They looked at each other in horror.I didn't know why they reacted that way until later.Nobody has ever single-handedly written a weekly half-hour comedy series. "Is there any room for change?" I said, "No." "Then sign the contract." I found out after a few months that they had signed four other writers at the same time as me, so every time I went to them and said, "I didn't write the script for next week," they would always be able to Give me a script in time and say, "Please read it." Patty is underage, and California has very strict child labor laws, so we decided to shoot the show in New York.In New York, producers can spend the minor's time as they please.Me, Joa, and Mary moved back to New York. Writing for Patty Duke was a challenge because I didn't want to waste her incredible talent.I figured out a way to have her play two roles—two sisters: a dynamic, straightforward New York girl, and her demure, virtuous sister from Scotland, who had been separated at birth. Producer-director Bill Asher suggested changing the sisters to cousins, which would explain their distance from each other.I accepted the offer. The Patty Duke Show was filmed in an old television studio on Twenty-sixth Street, just a dozen blocks from the theater where I had worked as an usher and usher.The surrounding environment is not very good.One day we hired a secretary who started work at nine o'clock in the morning.At ten o'clock a large rat crawled across her feet, at twelve o'clock she was accosted by strangers while she was out at lunch, at one o'clock she quit her job. I wrote six episodes ahead of time.Now it's finally time to start filming.Everything is going smooth. The studio cast William Scarlett as Patty's father, Gene Byron as Patty's mother, Paul O'Keefer as Patty's brother, and Eddie Ambergate as Patty's Quest By. On the first day of filming, Patty led a set of rituals that became a daily routine.Every morning, before filming starts, all the cast and crew line up and sing, "Good morning, good morning. We're all glowing and on our marks." It was an interesting sight: these weather-beaten crew members, some unshaven, most in T-shirts, lined up in a row singing nursery rhymes.On the surface, Patty is the luckiest of TV stars.It was not until three years later that I learned about her real life status.
There is a potential danger in having one actor play two roles: If the audience cannot tell the two roles apart, the confusion can be deadly.To avoid that from happening, we went with casual casual outfits for Patty, and far more casual outfits for Cathy.To further ensure that there would be no confusion, I structured the lines and the plot to portray Patty as a high-energy, gregarious girl, and Cathy as a more conservative, traditional one. After seeing the dailies from the first day, I knew all these precautions were unnecessary.Patty does not need to rely on costumes and lines to shape her characters, and she can switch between the two roles very freely.
There is one more issue that needs to be resolved with ABC.The company assigned a nosy young man, whom I'll call Todd, as their liaison.Every Monday morning, he would come to my office, and the first thing he said when he saw me was, "I've seen your latest script. It's too bad. It's going to get the company in trouble." By the time we got to taping the first episode, I finally had it all. The company invited the talented Oscar-winning composer Sid Lamin to compose the series.After the first recording was done, Sid and I stood on the side of the stage talking.I saw Todd hurrying towards us.He came up to Sid and exclaimed, "Your music is the only thing worth mentioning in the whole show." That afternoon, I called one of the company's executives. Todd disappeared, and my ears were finally clean.
The last time I was on an MGM set was almost ten years ago.From the outside, not much has changed.I soon realized how wrong I was in this judgment. Joe Pastermark hadn't changed a bit, he was just as energetic as ever. "I've signed Dorothy Day, Martha Rae, Jimmy Durant. To sign Dorothy, I've got her husband, Martin Melcher, as a co-producer. The director is Your old friend Charles Walters." This is really good news.Charles and I haven't seen each other since we worked together on "A Thousand Flowers." "Who is the leading actor?" Pastermark showed hesitation, "It hasn't been decided yet, but there is an actor who plays "Feng Gong Robbery" on Broadway, which should be a suitable candidate." "What's his name?" "Richard Bolton. I want you to fly back to New York with Walters and see him." "my pleasure." When I went to the cafeteria at lunchtime, I was shocked inside.The canteen supervisor was the same Pauline.We greeted each other, and when she was about to seat me, I asked her, "Where's the writer's seat?" "There is no screenwriting seat." "We..." I said, "Then I'll be the first to be seated." She looked at me, "Mr. Sheldon, I'm afraid you will feel alone. You are the only writer on the set today." From one hundred and fifty screenwriters to "you are the only screenwriter on the set today".How much has Hollywood changed in the past ten years? Next, it took me a few days to come up with the outline of the screenplay for The True Treasure.On Friday, Charles Walters and I flew to New York to see Richard Burton. "Phoenix Palace Robbery" is a masterpiece, Julie Andrews and Robert Gullett also starred, the director is Moss Hart.Bolton's performance was brilliant. The company had arranged for Charles Walters and I to have dinner with Burton after the show.We met him at Satie's.Richard Burton was no ordinary man—frank and sincere, with Welsh charm at its best.He is well-read, intelligent, and open-minded.Bolton is not a big star yet, but he will definitely be in the future. I haven't had time to write down my script outline yet.I said to him, "I don't have anything written yet, but I can tell you the story." He smiled and said, "I love listening to stories, please tell me." True Treasure is a romantic love story set against the backdrop of two circuses competing with each other.Burton got very excited when I finished telling the story. He said: "I love it, and I really want to work with Dorothy. Call my agent and let him sign." Charles and I looked at each other.We've found someone we like.everything's ready. The next morning, we were back in Hollywood.Joe Pastermark sent Benny Thorne to sign Burton.Thorne called Burton's Hollywood agent, Hugh French, and arranged a meeting. After exchanging greetings, Hugh French said: "Richard called me. He really likes this film and hopes to start shooting as soon as possible." "Okay, let's sign the contract." Hugh French asked, "What about the pay?" "Two thousand dollars. That's what he got paid for his last film." The broker said, "Benny, our asking price is two thousand five thousand." Thorne, a seasoned negotiator, was furious. "Why should we pay him more? He's not that famous yet. This role is a breakthrough for him." "Benny, I gotta tell you—there's another movie he's looking for. They're willing to pay twenty-five hundred dollars." Thorne didn't let up. "Very well. Let them pay. Let's find another Xianming." In this way, Richard Burton did not play "True Treasure" but went to play "Cleopatra", met and fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor, and added a rich stroke to the picture of Hollywood affairs.In my opinion, if Thorne would have paid the extra five hundred dollars, Richard Burton would have been in "True Treasure" and walked into the wedding hall with Martha Rae. We then signed Stephen Boyd and the film started.It's a perfect lineup.Dorothy Day is the perfect choice for Kitty Wander, Stephen Boyd is excellent and Martha Rae is a joy.But my favorite is Jimmy Durant. Durant started out as a concert pianist.He opened a nightclub and formed a show team with two other performers, Jackson and Clayton.After getting to know Durant in depth, you will find that every time he decides to fly solo, he will not forget to carry his past partners.He likes to tell stories about his past, and I never heard him criticize anyone. My script was approved and the filming started.Everything went well during the shoot. "True Treasure" was nominated for the Best Local Musical of the Year at the Writers Guild Awards after its release.
My agent, Sam Weisbord, called me. "Sidney, we just sold Patty Duke to ABC." Of course I know the name.At the age of twelve, Patty Duke won the role of Helen Keller in "The Miracle Workers", which fascinated the whole Broadway and won an Oscar after the film was released. Sam said, "We've got a slot, every Wednesday night at eight o'clock. We've got a name, it's called The Patty Duke Show, and everything else is falling into place. But there's one more problem." "Then I don't understand, if everything is ready, what's your problem?" "We don't have a script." Turns out they were selling only the Patty Duke title. "We want you to write the script." "Sorry, Sam," I said, "I can't say yes."
In the early '60s, people who worked in film looked down on people who worked in TV.When television was just starting out, the broadcasters used to go to the movie companies.They said, "We have a great new promotion, but we don't know how to make a show. How is everyone working together?" The answer is simple.Film companies have their own promotion channels, which are theaters, and most film companies have their own theaters.They see this emerging technology as a passing fad, and they want nothing to do with it.Film studios are so disgusted with television that they don't even allow the stars of new films to appear on television until they're released. I was also influenced by that attitude, and the failed collaboration with Desi was so fresh in my memory that I said, "I'm sorry, Sam, I don't do TV." He was silent for a moment, "Okay, I understand. But would you like to have lunch with Patty out of courtesy?" I don't see any harm in this.And, actually, I was curious and wanted to meet her. We met in a box at the Brown Derby Hotel.Accompanying Patty were four agents from William Morris & Associates.She was sixteen, smaller than I'd imagined, and looked terribly frail.She sat next to me. "It's a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Sheldon." "It's an honor for me too, Miss Duke." As we talked over the meal, she was less shy than she had been at first, but still vulnerable.She would hold my hand during meals, and I knew how much she wanted to be loved. Patty's life experience is very rough, much like the scene described in a Charles Dickens novel.Her mother was insane and her father was an alcoholic who eventually abandoned the family.At the age of seven, Patty began living with her agent, John Ross, and his wife, Ethel, in a small, cold apartment.Patty never had a real home. Before The Patty Duke Show aired, John Ross was a struggling third-rate surrogate.His clients were small roles, among them a young actor named Ray Duke. One day, Duke came to Ross and asked if he could represent his sister Anna, who had no acting experience at the time.After meeting the seven-year-old, Rose agreed to be her agent. A few months later, the situation in Anna's house had deteriorated to an unbearable level, and the Ross couple agreed that she would move in with them and soon renamed her Patty.It was Rose's decision, and she announced: "Anna Marie is dead, and now your name is Patty." John Ross read in the newspaper that a musical called "The Miracle Workers" was scheduled for Broadway, and he thought Patty Duke would be an excellent choice for the role of the blind, deaf, and dumb Helen Keller.He spent months training Patty.In the end she beat a hundred girls to win the role, and their lives changed forever.After the musical was staged, John Ross's little-known client became an overnight sensation. Patty began to be hired through Ross for thousands of dollars a week.Instead of knocking on the doors of producers and begging them to hire their clients, Ross is the one who is being courted by producers, directors and studio executives.Such good luck even he himself could not believe it.
After lunch, I found myself drawn to Patty, who had an irresistible charm.I asked her, "How about coming over to my house tonight and having dinner with me and Joa?" She beamed, "I'm so happy." Joya was as attracted to Patty as I was.She was lively and cute, and we couldn't stop laughing from her throughout the evening. Joya and I were talking when we suddenly realized that Patty had left the table.I got up and went to her.She is washing dishes in the kitchen.Now I am completely conquered. "Petty, I promise to write you a script." She hugged me warmly and whispered, "Thank you."
I decided that since I was going to have my name on a show, I had to be able to control the quality of the show.I had my first meeting with the producer. "Sidney, we're all happy that you're willing to write the script." "thanks." "In addition to creating, you are also an editor and reviewer, supervising other screenwriters." "I don't need another screenwriter." They stared at me, "What?" "Since I plan to participate, I plan to write it myself." "Sidney, that's impossible. We've got thirty-nine episodes, every Monday." "I want to write it all myself." They looked at each other in horror.I didn't know why they reacted that way until later.Nobody has ever single-handedly written a weekly half-hour comedy series. "Is there any room for change?" I said, "No." "Then sign the contract." I found out after a few months that they had signed four other writers at the same time as me, so every time I went to them and said, "I didn't write the script for next week," they would always be able to Give me a script in time and say, "Please read it." Patty is underage, and California has very strict child labor laws, so we decided to shoot the show in New York.In New York, producers can spend the minor's time as they please.Me, Joa, and Mary moved back to New York. Writing for Patty Duke was a challenge because I didn't want to waste her incredible talent.I figured out a way to have her play two roles—two sisters: a dynamic, straightforward New York girl, and her demure, virtuous sister from Scotland, who had been separated at birth. Producer-director Bill Asher suggested changing the sisters to cousins, which would explain their distance from each other.I accepted the offer. The Patty Duke Show was filmed in an old television studio on Twenty-sixth Street, just a dozen blocks from the theater where I had worked as an usher and usher.The surrounding environment is not very good.One day we hired a secretary who started work at nine o'clock in the morning.At ten o'clock a large rat crawled across her feet, at twelve o'clock she was accosted by strangers while she was out at lunch, at one o'clock she quit her job. I wrote six episodes ahead of time.Now it's finally time to start filming.Everything is going smooth. The studio cast William Scarlett as Patty's father, Gene Byron as Patty's mother, Paul O'Keefer as Patty's brother, and Eddie Ambergate as Patty's Quest By. On the first day of filming, Patty led a set of rituals that became a daily routine.Every morning, before filming starts, all the cast and crew line up and sing, "Good morning, good morning. We're all glowing and on our marks." It was an interesting sight: these weather-beaten crew members, some unshaven, most in T-shirts, lined up in a row singing nursery rhymes.On the surface, Patty is the luckiest of TV stars.It was not until three years later that I learned about her real life status.
There is a potential danger in having one actor play two roles: If the audience cannot tell the two roles apart, the confusion can be deadly.To avoid that from happening, we went with casual casual outfits for Patty, and far more casual outfits for Cathy.To further ensure that there would be no confusion, I structured the lines and the plot to portray Patty as a high-energy, gregarious girl, and Cathy as a more conservative, traditional one. After seeing the dailies from the first day, I knew all these precautions were unnecessary.Patty does not need to rely on costumes and lines to shape her characters, and she can switch between the two roles very freely.
There is one more issue that needs to be resolved with ABC.The company assigned a nosy young man, whom I'll call Todd, as their liaison.Every Monday morning, he would come to my office, and the first thing he said when he saw me was, "I've seen your latest script. It's too bad. It's going to get the company in trouble." By the time we got to taping the first episode, I finally had it all. The company invited the talented Oscar-winning composer Sid Lamin to compose the series.After the first recording was done, Sid and I stood on the side of the stage talking.I saw Todd hurrying towards us.He came up to Sid and exclaimed, "Your music is the only thing worth mentioning in the whole show." That afternoon, I called one of the company's executives. Todd disappeared, and my ears were finally clean.