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A REMARKABLE CAREER
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From child star in silents
to glamour in the 1940s
of TheColumnists.com
In the summer of 1974,
during one of my first trips to Los Angeles, I discovered there
was a listed phone number for Anne Shirley Lederer in the Malibu
directory, so I dialed the number.
A woman with a very charming manner answered, so I plunged ahead
and told her I'd watched the 1934 movie "Anne of Green Gables"
at least half a dozen times on TV and really wanted to interview
the original, authentic, one and only Anne Shirley.
“It’ll take me an hour to get
there,” she said. “Look, it’s tea time and your
voice sounds pleasant and I’ve never been interviewed in
30 years so….”
And two hours later there she was striding through the lobby
of the Century Plaza hotel: No pigtails and gingham gown, but
rather salt and pepper hair and a fancy Chanel suit. She said
her driver would be picking her up promptly in two hours.
“So let’s get started, Bub.”
Though she had fallen out of the headlines by 1974, Anne Shirley had long ago earned her place in movie history. On camera in her infancy as a child model, she had worked steadily as a juvenile movie player through the silent era under the name Dawn O'Day--she was in Tom Mix's classic 1925 western "Riders of the Purple Sage"--and into the sound era of the early 1930s. Then, in 1934, she was cast as the leading character, Anne Shirley, in the movie version of Lucy Maud Montgomery's classic children's novel "Anne of Green Gables"--and decided to take the character's name as her own for the rest of her acting career.
Just three years later, Anne Shirley received a Best Supporting Actress nomination playing Barbara Stanwyck's social-climbing daughter in "Stella Dallas" (1937). Maturing into one of Hollywood's most beautiful young ingenues, she graduated to leading roles in the 1940s and always will be remembered for her sizzling performance in "Murder, My Sweet," the 1944 movie version of Raymond Chandler's mystery classsic "Farewell, My Lovely" with Dick Powell as detective Philip Marlowe. After that film, she gave up her career for marriage--first to actor John Payne, then to RKO studio executive Adrian Scott and finally to screenwriter Charles Lederer, who died just two years after I interviewed her.
Here are some highlights from my talk with
Anne Shirley, who died nearly 20 years later in 1993:
QUESTION: Could you talk a bit about how you started out in movies?
ANSWER: I started out at 22 months working for fashion spreads in New York magazines and was soon in flickers. Lucky for me these were silent days because I could not speak. Many were "crawl-ons"–I can’t call them walk-ons. That was all in Manhattan but when things got tight for money my mother moved us to Hollywood. I’d like to regale you with stories. But I only have dim memories of the director chattering away, which was possible before sound.
I do recall "The Callahans and The Murphys" (1927), when I was only nine, because Marie Dressler’s breath was something else. Yes, that great lady could belt back a few and then some.
There was 1928’s "Sins of the
Fathers," where I was Ruth Chatterton’s daughter and
then Jean Arthur (played the part) as a grown up. I don’t
think we ever met. I remember Ruth’s lah-dee-dah British
accent, that’s it.
I did three movies with Barbara Stanwyck: "So Big"
(1932) and "The Purchase Price" (1932), She was extra
nice to us kids and years later we made a big hit at Goldwyn
(Studio)--1937’s "Stella Dallas." She remembered
me, but as “Dawn”. It helped that we had a connection.
Q: Why do you consider the film "Finishing School"
(1934) to be the turning point in your career?
A: Oh, yes. A director named George Nicholls hired me as one
of three ingenues for "Finishing School." But the RKO
head office gave the part to Mitzi Green, who was a big "kidlet"
star of the time. But (Mitzi's) father read the script and said
the part wasn’t big enough, so she quit days before shooting
started and I was suddenly in.
Then RKO assigned Nicholls to direct "Anne of Green Gables.
It was going to be one of RKO’s big pictures of the year
with location work to be done on Prince Edward Island. Of course,
I’d read the book by (Canadian) author L.M. Montgomery–every
girl my age had. It already was a classic.
Then RKO experienced yet another salary freeze and decreed it
all had to be done on the back lot. (Some second unit photography
had already been shot on Prince Edward Island, the locale of
the story.) George said he needed somebody he could trust to
deliver (a performance) and remembered me.
Right at that time I really was Anne--as
garrulous and gawky as she was. It made for a perfect fit. They
even changed my name to the character’s. And that was fine
with me. It wasn’t unheard of, you see: Tom Brown’s
name had been changed for the film "Tom Brown of Culver."
And my mother legally changed her name, too, to Mimi Shirley.
Q: What do you remember about the filming?
A: That fine, old Broadway star O.P. Heggie was the bachelor
farmer Matthew and Helen Westley was Marilla, his sister, who
looked after him. I was the orphan who came to live with them.
Mr. Heggie spoke so slowly but not that way in person. He later
told me it was a Broadway trick to make people pay attention.
He and Helen made a pet out of me, always complimentary after
a good take. I wasn’t really acting, just being me and with
these marvelous back lot sets to play on.
It was a huge hit, made modestly not cheaply, an "A"
picture that really brought in the family trade. RKO was a woman’s
studio: that year the biggest stars were Irene Dunne, Katharine
Hepburn, Ann Harding and Constance Bennett, who left at year’s
end. There were the Rogers-Astaire pictures shooting but I never
had the gumption to sneak in and watch.
The picture made me Anne Shirley. Even today letters addressed
to Anne Shirley, Hollywood, somehow get to me. How do I explain
to those little girls watching me on TV that I’m somewhat
older these days?
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Rogers died before the film was released. |
Q: Then you immediately went over to Fox for Will Rogers’ last picture.
He died in Alaska in an airplane crash before the movie, "Steamboat Round the Bend," was released.
A: He had all his dialogue up on boards. But he never looked at the boards, he’d just say what he wanted to. I was shy so I couldn’t explain the huge fights between him and John Ford. The Ford stock company was there in force: brother Francis, Irvin S. Cobb, Stepin Fetchit. They’d kid around between takes while I was off for some obligatory schooling. Mr. Ford never asked me back so I’m guessing he thought me inadequate. Both men kidded me about the slacks I wore, which Mr. Rogers whispered in all sincerity might make some people think I was a loose woman.
Q: With the huge success of "Anne of Green Gables,"
why was there no immediate sequel?
A: For the same reason there was no sequel to "Gone With
the Wind" or most of the other hits of the time. Studios
didn’t think in those terms but I remember one that was
attempted at RKO right then--"Son Of Kong"--was a real
flop. We finally got around to making a sequel in 1940 when few
people cared to remember the original: "Anne of Windy Poplars."
And I can report nobody ever asks me about that. The Anne character
had grown up to become a schoolteacher and she encounters gossip
in her new position. Michael Kanin (Garson Kanin's brother) wrote
the script.
Q: Instead I guess they started casting you as a precocious teen
in "programmers."
A: No! In the next, "Chasing Yesterdays," Mr. Heggie
and Miss Westley were back and the story was by Anatole France.
I was the waif needing a custodian. The same story as Anne. But
definitely not a programmer. Then I did "Chatterbox"
(1936), where I’m tryng to make it as an actress just like
my mother. And there was a 1936 remake of "M’Liss,"
which had been a big hit for Mary Pickford. Mr. Nicholls directed
both "Chatterbox"and "M’Liss." RKO saw
us as a team.
Q: What was it like to work at RKO?
A: Well, it was an amalgamation of several studios so it had
several lots all over town and not one big one. I’d do one
scene at what used to be Pathe, then one at Radio, then back
again. There wasn’t as much money to spend as (at) MGM,
but I thought our stories were better because you could be yourself
a little more. I wouldn’t have lasted long at MGM. My pictures
tended to make money and as I inched towards 18 the studio made
me a sort of teenage star girls could relate to. And, let’s
face it, I stayed on for more than 10 years through many RKO
presidents. They’d troop us in to meet the latest president
and we’d be back a few years later. During the Depression
RKO was always losing money.
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"Stella Dallas" (1937). for her performance as Stanwyck's daughter. |
Q: You won your only Oscar nomination for "Stella Dallas" (1937). What do you remember about that one?
A: Just how powerful Barbara Stanwyck was. Through sheer force of personality, she could make a scene work. I was originally going to do it with Ruth Chatterton as the mother. But she’d hated (director) William Wyler so on "Dodsworth" she refused the role. And after Stanwyck was in Sam Goldwyn upped and (replaced) Wyler with King Vidor. Ruthie heard about it and went ballistic, I’m told.
King was a lovely man. Very meticulous. He’d explain every scene, say what he was looking for. If there was a lot of tension, “Missy” (Stanwyck's nickname) would reply with a dirty phrase that would have everyone laughing. She was only 30, playing at least a decade older. Later on there was a falling out with Vidor when he nixed her for "The Fountainhead" because by that time (Stanwyck) really was in her 40s. I had that happen to me and it’s always humiliating.
Q: How often did people mistake you for Olivia de Havilland?
A: Well, I replaced her on one day’s notice for "Saturday’s Children" (!940) because she said she would not do remakes. The clothes fit perfectly! And we were both up for Melanie in "Gone With the Wind." David Selznick had me test for it, but Leslie Howard was already cast and our 25-year age difference just could not be explained away. When he tested with Livvie he had a blonde wig and cosmetic touches that made him look younger. But I honestly do not think I could have done that part--maybe 10 years later! Livvie and I then worked together in "Government Girl" (1943) and I could see how opinionated she was. Plus she had great reserves of egotism which every movie actress needs. I was as shy as a church mouse I’m afraid.
Q: A lot of people say "A Man To Remember" (1939) contains your finest role.
A: One of the best. It was a remake of "Sweepings" (1933), which starred Lionel Barrymore. And it was better. Garson Kanin was a new director the studio was pushing along and he made it without much studio interference. And it wound up on The New York Times Best Ten list and I got wonderful reviews. Edward Ellis starred as a country doctor who takes in a baby–I was the grown up girl. Edward was thin, dour, not at all sympathetic. He was the title character in the movie "The Thin Man" (1934). Audiences warmed to him as the movie unfolded. He seemed just so natural. We worked into the night every night and the script was superior. It was by Dalton Trumbo.
Q: Another big critical hit was "All That Money Can Buy" (1941) from the Stephen Vincent Benet story "The Devil and Daniel Webster."
A: Edward Arnold and Walter Huston went right at it. And there was Jane Darwell, Gene Lockhart. I was the wife of Jimmy (James) Craig, who looked like a young Clark Gable. And that ruined his chances for stardom on his own. I don’t think it made much money it was a prestigious thing.
So was "Vigil in the Night" (1940), where I played Carole Lombard’s sister. It was very heavy stuff, I was a negligent nurse and a patient dies under my care. Carole told me she wanted to only play drama, she was sick of being typecast in screwball comedies. Me, I’d have given anything to do just one good comedy.
Q: Well, what about "Lady Bodyguard" (1943). Wasn’t that funny?
A: It was supposed to be light but it was awful. Then I did "Bombardier" (1943) and both my leading men, Randolph Scott and Pat O’Brien, had been born in the nineteenth century. I looked like I was having a fling with guys old enough to be my father. But leading men were scarce right then.
Q: It’s ironical that your last film--"Murder, My Sweet" (1944)--was just about your biggest commercial hit.
A: I was 26 and I wanted out. Too shy, I guess. I’d already worked 24 years. I had no real life. I only lasted that long to make my mother proud of me. I did this one to wind up my contract and I loved doing it. The director. Eddie Dmytryk, told me he’d hired Dick Powell as the hard boiled detective Philip Marlowe and I gasped. Like most people I thought of Dick as a crooner.
But Eddie said he had a boy scout’s face but with deep wrinkles indicating new found cynicism. And it gave Dick a whole new career just as I was winding up. At one point Claire Trevor and I went over to Eddie and tried to get him to let us change parts. I think I just might have managed but Claire looked too mature to play the distraught daughter although she told me she was tired of playing hard boiled types. Every actor hates playing what they do best.
Q: Then you just slipped away?
A: To a successful marriage (to writer Charles Lederer) and I had two kids to bring up. My daughter Julie Payne acts and Daniel is a poet. I thought I might stay in the business as a dialogue director but that category has been abandoned in a foolish attempt to cut costs. But letters? I’m getting a lot these days and all addressed to a teenager who disappeared a very long time ago. Old movie stars definitely do not fade away. We’ve just moved over to TV’s Late Show.
Husband Lederer died suddenly in 1976 and Anne Shirley decided not to give any more interviews. She died of cancer in 1993, still very much the well heeled Beverly Hills matron. She lived long enough, though, to see "Anne of Green Gables" revived as a spectacularly popular TV production starring Canadian Megan Follows as Anne Shirley. which led to a major boom in TV versions of Lucy Maud Montgomery stories.
©2009 by Jim Bawden. This column first posted Oct. 26, 2009.
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