My Life with Cleopatra (18 page)

We even took over Cinecitta. There were other companies shooting on the lot, but none of them had thousands of extras in colorful costumes. We crowded the commissary at lunchtime.

The logistical and transportation problem of maintaining our group—hundreds of actors, technicians, et al, were immense and difficult. But it was the personal equation, the problem of keeping up morale, that concerned me as a producer.

Some of our crew people came to Rome with only a few days’ notice from the studio in Hollywood. They told family and friends they would return in weeks, which proceeded to stretch into months. Babies were being born at home; marriages threatened to go on the rocks; people were homesick and ill. Mail delivery became as important to us in Rome as to troops in the trenches. Letters, photographs, news from home were passed from hand to hand.

And there were the personal problems brought about by the tension of too close association. Our job, plus the language barrier, kept us in our own little ghetto. We were working all the time, with no idea when we would be free and able to make appointments. The doors of all the dressing rooms and offices were always open, with people dropping in at any time to relax. The forced intimacy took its toll in shattered friendships, arguments, and gossip.

As in Hollywood, where on-set gossip is transmitted as if by telepathy to the trade-paper columns, so it was in Rome. The newspapers gleaned every crumb of gossip and printed them every day.

All this tension coupled with forced intimacy was complicated further by constant pressure from the studio. Tempers frayed, then snapped. Key people wanted to quit. I had to spend more and more of my day soothing, cajoling, flattering.

In the old days when I was head of production at Paramount and we had a problem with our stars on the Coast, we used the Long Island studio as a safety valve. We would send our problem people east and the trouble would end. When stars lived in New York, they could be lost in the crowd when they left the studio. They took on outside interests, became less conscious of their own special status. But here in Rome we are on stage all the time—it’s easy to feel the whole world revolves around us.

F
EBRUARY
25, 1962

9:15
A
.
M
. JLM called. Although it’s Sunday, he’s hard at work. He said Liz and Eddie came to see him last night. They wanted to go to Paris on the 27th to celebrate her birthday.

I said “fine” but reminded him it is our plan to finish all the shooting involving Liz just as soon as we can. With Liz finished on the picture, some of the pressure from Hollywood and New York would be lightened, because Liz is not insured. If anything happened to her now, the company’s investment would be lost. She is even less replaceable in the film now than when we were in England and I said, “No Liz, no Cleo.”

All of the pressure from Hollywood, the demands of writing and directing, plus the “romance” are taking a toll on JLM. He is in a state of exhaustion.

He also feels that in order to finish the battle sequences of the script, he must have assistance right away. I called Skouras to get MacDougall back. His first question to me was, “Is this your idea, or does Joe approve?” Skouras always worried about JLM.

F
EBRUARY
26, 1962

Liz worked today with Rex in the scene in Antony’s quarters.

A good day’s work—five and three quarter pages—which is remarkable considering that two pages of filming ordinarily is considered good. JLM is in bad shape, though. He is distraught and overloaded with work.

F
EBRUARY
27, 1962

This is the day for birthdays: Joan Bennett, Liz, Erna Stenbuck, and my daughter Melinda.

8:30
P
.
M
. Picked up Kurt and Ketti Frings to go to Eddie’s birthday party for Liz—she is thirty today. The party was in the Borgia Room of the Hostaria del Orso. Eddie obviously planned it to show the world everything was all right between him and Liz. His gifts to her were a large diamond ring and an antique mirror.

There was music and dancing, and Elizabeth tried to keep the party moving, and the Dom Perignon flowed. JLM and I left for home at 11
P
.
M
.

I remembered the disastrous birthday party in London last year which probably brought on Elizabeth’s almost fatal sickness. What trials and tribulations she has had—the girl so many envy!

F
EBRUARY
28, 1962

Now the Italian newspapers report Roddy McDowall is having a romance with Sybil Burton. Such utter nonsense!

Randy MacDougall flew in from Hollywood to help JLM with the continuity of the script. JLM delighted. Randy’s attitude is fine. I left them together at the art department looking over drawings of the battles of Moongate and Actium, which have yet to be written and filmed.

Ran two hours and 18 minutes of
Cleopatra
with Randy. What is on the screen makes all the heartache and tension and anxiety worthwhile. Burton, Liz, and Rex are magnificent. No matter what her personal problems, once Liz gets before a camera she’s a perfectly disciplined and professional actress.

M
ARCH
1, 1962

St. David’s Day, the great Welsh holiday.

Burton, who had been out all night pub-crawling and celebrating, arrived on set at 7
A
.
M
. and promptly went to sleep. We
couldn’t wake him for his scenes, which caused a delay in shooting. Richard offered to pay for the delay, however, and explained that St. David’s Day comes only once a year.

Eddie phoned in to say that Dr. Pennington ordered Liz to stay at home because her legs are troubling her. They are swollen and in terrible shape. Phlebitis again.

M
ARCH
2, 1962

Weather better. Rex worked today and was excellent. The doctors say Liz can’t work today or tomorrow, which worries me intensely. I am afraid of a blood clot.

This picture seems to be crisis after crisis after crisis.

M
ARCH
4, 1962
—SUNDAY

Rex Harrison called for the doctor today. The clinic is thriving.

M
ARCH
5, 1962

Today we filmed the bath scene. In it, Germanicus has come from Rome to get Antony to return. Antony refuses to see him because he is so happy with Cleopatra—to hell with Rome, his wife, and duty.

Cleopatra comes in to see Antony, who is in the bath, with three handmaidens pouring water over him and sponging him down while he banters with them. When Cleopatra enters, the handmaidens take off and Antony comes out of the bath looking very chic and masculine in a toga. They commence a beautiful love scene.

JLM’s dialogue is right out of real life, with Cleopatra telling how she will feel if Antony leaves her. “Love can stab the heart,” she says.

It was hard to tell whether Liz and Burton were reading lines or living the parts.

Burton’s friend Pat was sitting on the sidelines staring. Although Liz didn’t seem perturbed, I was afraid she might get
upset. Since we don’t like visitors on the set anyway, I asked her to leave.

M
ARCH
6, 1962

Liz late this morning because of illness. She went right into a continuation of yesterday’s love scene, with Burton’s Pat on the sidelines again. Yesterday I told Burton’s secretary to keep Pat off the set, please, but to no avail. So I asked her to leave again.

M
ARCH
8, 1962

The papers today had a story that Burton would never marry Liz. He was quoted as saying he has no intention of divorcing Sybil.

The timing was perfect—we were filming the scene in which Cleopatra finds that Antony has deserted her. She enters his bedroom, takes a dagger and stabs all his clothes. Then she slashes the drapes. She ends up cutting the bed to ribbons and collapses in sobs on it.

It was a difficult, strenuous scene, but Liz did it all with only a few takes. She really went so wild and lashed out in such frenzy that she banged her hand. We had to send for Dr. Pennington.

M
ARCH
9, 1962

Another heartbreaking day.

Elizabeth is in the hospital for X-rays of her hand and cannot work until Monday. She was too violent when she played the scene yesterday.

Eddie Fisher called, upset over a story by Louella Parsons saying he and Liz will dissolve their marriage as soon as a property settlement is worked out, which is why her agent, Kurt Frings, is in town. Not true—Kurt is her agent, not her lawyer.

The Rome newspapers instantly took up the cry, using Louella as a source, and are headlining the story all over again.

Until the “bully-beef episode” and Burton’s “denial” we had
managed to convey to the world press our enthusiasm for the greatest picture ever made. For the most part we had only very favorable publicity for the film. In the past few weeks, however, the publicity has not only been embarrassing but inaccurate and dishonest, as well as voluminous.

James Lawn, the Associated Press man, told Brodsky he has a deskful of wonderful copy on the movie which he can’t send out. “Newspapers want only one thing—the Burton-Taylor romance,” he told Brodsky. The AP has requests from all over the world for stories on Burton and Taylor. They say it is the biggest story ever handled from Rome, of only slightly less world-wide interest than the death of a Pope.

Sid Rogell came back from a session with the accountant with the news that the picture will have cost $27 million by July 1st. At least that’s a more realistic figure than any we have had in the past.

M
ARCH
10, 1962

Skouras arrived in Rome today on the same plane with Jackie Kennedy. He was most excited, since she asked him to come down and talk with her on the flight.

Otto Koegel, who has been chief legal counsel for Fox for the past thirty years, arrived with Skouras, and we all assembled in my room for the customary conference.

Everyone was smiling and friendly, like duelists before a bout. An hour was wasted in verbal fencing—with no blood drawn, just some deft parrying and occasional ripostes. I still don’t know why they came to Rome, but I suspect it will be (a) budget and (b) Elizabeth and Burton. Only one point was agreed upon: There would be no more secret meetings which left out a few of the top people on the picture. We are to work all together as a team from now on in!

We all had dinner with Simonetta, her husband, Fabiani, Princess Alliata, Princess Aldobrandini, and my daughter Stephanie at
George’s Restaurant. It was a miserable evening, complicated by Skouras’ unpredictable behavior. Sometimes he can be the most gallant man imaginable. On this evening he embarrassed me. He got into an argument with Simonetta and before I knew it he put his hand over her mouth to stop her from talking to him. This to a woman he had never met before. Simonetta was shocked by him, as was everyone else.

M
ARCH
11, 1962

Although it had been decided just last night there would be no more secret meetings, this morning when I called Doc Merman, our production manager, to invite Skouras for breakfast, he told me Skouras, Sid Rogell, and Leon Shamroy were in his room instead of mine, where we were all supposed to meet.

When they came down to my room, JLM, who had arrived for the meeting in my room, sailed into the others for meeting without us.

Doc Merman and Sid Rogell said they weren’t discussing the picture.

“Why do you boys say that?” said Skouras. “You know we were.”

During the all-day meeting we were told that there were some minority-stockholder suits being filed against the company. The minority group was charging negligence—Fox had lost between $60 and $75 million in the past two years, according to rumor, and Skouras was disturbed.

The meeting ended when Liz and Eddie, hand in hand, came to get Skouras to take him to their villa for dinner. After dinner he returned to my room and we continued our talks.

Only one good thing emerged from the meeting: Skouras is now talking quality rather than budget when he speaks of
Cleopatra
. He realized only a great picture can save his situation with the Board of Directors.

He berated me constantly for insisting on having Burton
who, he said, is responsible for “all this trouble.” I protested that Burton would emerge as a big star when
Cleopatra
is released. “He will never be a big box-office star!” said Skouras.

I said I would like to put that statement down in my diary, which I did—in Skouras’ presence. Someday he’ll have to admit he was wrong.

“All Burton has done is cause trouble, and you can’t understand a word he says,” Skouras charged.

M
ARCH
12, 1962

Skouras, Otto Koegel, and myself looked at two hours and 40 minutes of the picture. They are wildly enthusiastic and say Burton is superb, as are Liz and Rex.

Burton bought us drinks at lunch and Skouras told him how wonderful he was, adding, “I understood every word you said.”

“That’s more than I can say about you, Mr. Skouras,” quipped Burton.

Skouras ended the conversation by offering Burton two more pictures to star in after this one.

M
ARCH
13, 1962

On the way to the studio today Skouras talked constantly, trying to prove that he, and not the minority group, is in control of the studio. “JLM can have anything he wants—as long as he cuts the script and speeds up shooting,” Skouras said. An impossible proposition.

M
ARCH
14, 1962

I was due to go to London at noon, but at the airport the plane taxied out and then returned without taking off. I’m not very superstitious, but I took that as a sign I should get off the plane. My bags went on to London without me.

I returned to the studio and found Skouras had come in without warning. He said yesterday he didn’t intend to go to the studio
again. The cast was finished at 3:30 and Liz and Burton were having cocktails with Hume Cronyn. Liz complained of a chill so I called for a doctor.

M
ARCH
15, 1962

Liz ill.