Saturday, January 23, 2010
Awesome and Then Some
Awesome, and Then Some
By DICK CAVETT
Dick Cavett on his career in television.
Tags:
john ford, john wayne, lauren bacall, noel coward, woody allen
(Warning: Good friends have refused to believe a word of what I’m about to relate. Your credulity is about to be strained.)
The setting was the Universal lot in Hollywood, and I was preparing a prime-time special to be called “Dick Cavett’s Backlot U.S.A.” We’d somehow lured Mae West out of her most recent retirement. We had Mickey Rooney and Gene Kelly. We needed another big-name guest.Someone came in with a message and casually dropped the words, “The Duke is shooting over on the Western street.”
I was fairly sure that by “Duke” he didn’t mean Edward VIII. Before there was time to even think, “Feets, do yo’ stuff,” I was all but out the door. My producer, the splendid Gary Smith, didn’t need to ask where I was going. He just said, “Get him for the show.”
“Sure thing,” I said, laughing.
I hit the ground running. A man carrying a fake tree pointed the way. It felt like that heavy slogging one experiences in dreams. I knew I’d be too late. I got through a section of London, the New York street, the New England village . . . and there it was up ahead. The square of an old Western town. “The Shootist,” which proved to be John Wayne’s final movie, was being filmed.
Somehow — although it seemed I had met all my heroes and non-heroes in the biz — I had always been certain, deep down, that I was not destined to meet John Wayne. It was just not in the scheme of things.
If the word “icon” — used daily now for just about everybody, even me — ever applied in its fullest force to anyone it was to the man embarrassed as a kid by his real name, Marion Mitchell Morrison.
How could I ever hope to find myself standing beside the star of “Sands of Iwo Jima,” seen five times by Jimmy McConnell and me in our Nebraska youth? (Later, we’d “play” the movie, taking turns being The Duke, our bikes standing in for horses.)
How could I expect to meet “The Ringo Kid” from “Stagecoach”? Or the man in another one of those great Monument Valley John Ford classics (“She Wore a Yellow Ribbon”?), riding toward the camera, the cavalry column behind him, the storm overhead. Surely this mythic figure could not occupy the space right next to you.
And yet there he was.
Associated Press John Wayne during a scene from the 1976 movie “The Shootist.”
The gods had smiled and arranged for my first glimpse of him to be the ideal one. Mounted and in full cowboy drag: the chaps, the boots and spurs, the neckerchief and the well-worn Stetson atop the handsome head. He was waiting for the scene to begin.
I moved, or rather, was moved toward him. He saw me gazing upward.
“Well,” he said — in John Wayne’s voice! — “It sure is good ta meet ya.”
I reached up to shake the mounted man’s proffered hand. It enveloped mine like a baseball glove.
He was instantly likable and, although it seems almost the wrong word for such a fellow, charming. We chatted for several minutes until shooting resumed. I watched him ride off for the next shot. I figured that was it. I was satisfied.
Meanwhile, I had forgotten about the special, and I started to leave. I couldn’t wait to phone Jimmy McConnell.
Suddenly, the Duke — preceded by his shadow — came up behind me, on foot now. As with the Great Pyramid at Giza, nothing prepared you for his size. (And there was a rumor that he wore lifts in his boots. I was not about to ask.)
“I’d enjoy talking to ya but I’ve got a scene to shoot with Betty Bacall,” he said. “Do you want to watch?”
The answer came easily. And my new friend led me inside to the set.
It was the old West, and the scene was in the kitchen of the house belonging to Lauren Bacall’s character. She was about to serve him a meal.
“Ya wanna run your lines, Duke?” asked an assistant.
“No thanks, I know ‘em. Most of ‘em, anyway.” (Crew laughs.)
I was a few feet from him, in the shadows. They were still setting up and Duke was humming to himself, and — I guess unconsciously recognizing the tune — I began to hum along. He spotted me and chuckled. And the following dialogue took place. On my solemn word. (I went straight home and wrote it all down before it faded.)
Wayne: Wasn’t he great?
Me: Who?
Wayne: Coward.
Me [startled, realizing now that the tune was Noel Coward’s “Someday I'll Find You”]: Yes.
Wayne: I’ve always loved his stuff. Remember the scene in “Private Lives” when they realize they still love each other?
Me: Yes, and did you know there’s a recording of Coward and Gertrude Lawrence doing that scene?
Wayne: Gee, I gotta get that. I guess I’ve read most of his plays.
Me [still not convinced there isn't a ventriloquist in the room]: I’ll send you the record.
Wayne: Well, thank ya. I like the line [he switched to quite passable upper-class British], “You’re looking very lovely you know, in this damned moonlight.”
Me: I did a show with Coward and, as he introduced them, “My dearest friends, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne.”
Wayne: I sure would love to have seen them in “Design for Living.” [Mentally I reach again for the smelling salts.] And, damn, I’d love to see that show of yours.
Me: I’ll see that you do. [Jesus! Did I? Oh, I hope so.]
Wayne: That’d be awful nice of ya.
Me: Did you ever think of doing one of his plays?
Wayne: Yeah, but it never got past the thought stage. I guess they figured that maybe spurs and “Blithe Spirit” wouldn’t go together. Can’t you see the critics? “Wayne should go back to killing Indians, not Noel Coward.”
As I looked around for someone to pinch me, the mood was shattered by a sharp, barking voice: “O.K., people. Places for 43.”
(There is a good bit more to this encounter, including a life-and-limb incident. Interested? Or would you rather have a piece on “Edward Bulwer-Lytton: Man and Boy”?)
It required the common sense of Woody Allen to put the whole thing into perspective. When I burbled the story to him, he seemed disappointingly un-astonished.
“It reminds you that he’s an actor,” he said. “Not a cowboy.”
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1 .
S
Brooklyn
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
I've yet to see this movie but this photo tells a good story all alone.http://matineeidle.files.wordpress.com...
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers
2 .
marie burns
fort myers, fl
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
Thank you so much for sharing. I'm afraid I thought of the Duke as nothing more than a Republican cowboy. It's nice to be wrong sometimes, if disquieting to be outsmarted by Woody Allen.But, you sly tease, did he do your show?The Constant Weader at www.RealityChex.com
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers
3 .
Riku
Berkeley
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
Yes, please more of this story and I'm even curious about just exactly what Woody Allen meant. One also wonders if you were able to separate Wayne the actor/legend from his politics. I can't do it unless I'm watching him in Stagecoach or Fort Apache or countless other wonderful films. But his notorious comments on African Americans in Playboy!Life and limb! You saved Duke's life, eh.
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers
4 .
Barry Rivadue
Home
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
It'd be "awful nice of ya" to run that Coward/Lunts program right here someday!
Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers
5 .
Evan
Boston
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
Yes. More, Dick.And only more on Bulwer-Lytton if you feel ready to abuse, "It was a dark and stormy night."
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers
6 .
steve-o
Calgary, AB
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
I choose to believe this tale Dick, just because it is such an awesome story. I certainly want to think it went down like that.Actually I wish I had been one of the crew, standing off to the side watching it go down.
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers
7 .
Tom
Irvine, CA
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
Growing up in Newport Beach, CA there would be an encounter from time to time but none as impressive as the first. Some buddies and I were hanging out in a fast food place where a friend worked. His boss was away and he was sneaking food to us down at the end of the long counter. Suddenly a booming voice interrupted our horseplay, "Do you think I could get a little service here?"The voice was unmistakable despite the unshaven face and the look of someone coming off a hard night previous."Hi Mr. Wayne", a few of us sputtered out, our adolescent voices cracking."Should you kids have your f***ing bikes in here?" Was his reply.We hustled our way out immediately and watched him drink his orange juice through the store window.
Recommend Recommended by 3 Readers
8 .
CrocodileChuck
Sydney, Australia
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
Mr CavettWhen are you going to recount your experience with Miles Davis on your show?
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers
9 .
J. Peter Smith
Vero Beach, FL
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
Cavett-San: Great story! But did you get him to go on your show? I'm beginning to think that you are as much a "fan" as a the best of them! Peter Kelley
Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers
10 .
H. Uman
Pittsburg, KS
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
More, please.
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers
11 .
RWeber
Park Slope
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
Horses? In 'Sands of Iwo Jima'??? About your memory & its recall ability ...
Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers
12 .
Rand Careaga
Oakland CA
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
From you, DC, I believe it. Wonderful story. You're one of the reasons I'll be following the NYT behind the paywall next year.
Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers
13 .
Rick Umbaugh
California
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
What makes people think that he couldn't read or appreaciate good writing. Actors are Actors, after all. I got to meet him as well when I was in LA. Great guy.
Recommend Recommended by 2 Readers
14 .
timothyhowe
dc
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
cant really think of anything to say but, wow.ive always thought he must have been a nice man and quite a bit smarter than his "cultured" critics wanted us to believe.
Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers
15 .
Ch. Larson
Switzerland
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
Great story, Pilgrim.
Recommend Recommended by 2 Readers
16 .
RT Castleberry
Houston, TX
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
There are no horses in Sands of Iwo Jima and no chaps, well worn Stetson or Old West in The Shootist. (that the mythic "Old West" is over is the point of the movie). So, despite the "charm" of the story, I have no idea what the HELL Cavett is talking about. And it appears he doesn't either.
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers
17 .
tomasyalba
Seattle
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
In answer to the question in your antepenultimate paragraph: yes, please, Mr. Cavett! We're interested!
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers
18 .
Adrian
near Seattle
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
Of course Allen was spot-on.
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers
19 .
Steve F
Redmond WA
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
Oh sure: I'll vote for “Edward Bulwer-Lytton: Man and Boy”, then go hide in an undisclosed location.Pure deliciousness. Thank you.
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers
20 .
Richard
Hampton Roads, Va
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
Cool story. I never met this Wayne (though I did get to meet Wayne & Shuster and Wayne Gretzky), but my friend Andy's dad was Duke's lawyer. And that is how I came to spend our nation's Bicentennial day in John Wayne's dugout seats back of home plate at Dodger Stadium watching a ballgame. We felt very patriotic!
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers
21 .
James
Internet
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
As I grew up, John Wayne was an "American Icon." THE American Icon. Followed by Jimmy Stewart and Glenn Ford. Then the others.As an adult I came to realize he was just an actor. Good as an actor, brilliant in his niche. John Wayne.Thanks for the view of his other side--I needed that.
Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers
22 .
crl4lunch
Napa Valley
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
Great story, DC. More please.
Recommend Recommended by 0 Readers
23 .
susan brown
maine
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
The Shootist is one of my favorite movies. Good and bad , and all shades of grey. There has never been another Hollywood personality to match John Wayne. The man was truly one-of-a-kind. Thanks for the story, though I don't know why you had to sully it, by dropping a name like Woody Allen in the same story with a real man like John Wayne.
Recommend Recommended by 3 Readers
24 .
ajsajs
San Francisco Bay area
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
Thanks very much for showing this side of the man, not the cowboy, Dick. Like an iceberg showing only an eighth of his true depth, his iconic work hid so much. He had the self-honesty to know, as much as he apparently admired Coward's work, he wouldn't be allowed by his "admiring public" to break free into such different material. I'm reminded of poor Peter Lorre, whose heart was set on Shakespeare. Even though classically trained, he could not break free of his own stereotype.I'm sure he must be every bit as awesome as you described him in your encounter. The people who knew him or acted with him all seem to say similar things; Maureen O'Hara, Katherine Hepburn, Lauren Bacall.
Recommend Recommended by 3 Readers
25 .
Phil
Chicago
January 23rd, 2010
7:40 am
Q: There is a good bit more to this encounter, including a life-and-limb incident. Interested? Or would you rather have a piece on “Edward Bulwer-Lytton: Man and Boy”?A: Both!
Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers
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