| Director Elia Kazan had spent some time looking for an actor to play the role of Cal Trask. He was going to make a film with John Steinbeck’s novel East of Eden. Paul Osborn, the script writer, saw Jimmy on The Immoralist and thought he might be good for Cal. He called Kazan and suggested it. Kazan called Jimmy and gave him an appointment for February 17th at his Warner Brother’s office in Manhattan. When he first saw Jimmy with bended shoulders, messy hair and an abandoned child look, he knew straight away that at last, he had found Cal. He wanted to make a test immediately. The dramatic and black-and-white scene was filmed at the Manhattan studio. It is being kept and shown at the Warner Brothers’ Museum in the University of Southern California. Jimmy wears overalls, plays a mournful tune on his own flute, puts the instrument down and talks. He didn’t know the novel or the script, but left Kazan astonished at how he composed the character with such intensity and innocence, never seen before on the screen On April 8, 1954, the Warner Brothers limousine stopped at 19 West 68th Street. Kazan waited in the car while Jimmy came out in time. He carried his belongings in paperbags. They were going to Hollywood. Jimmy was scared because he never had flown before. They got to Los Angeles the same day at 5:55 p.m. Jimmy was so pale for the required Cinemascope color that Kazan dispatched him to a ranch in Borrego Springs, three hours from Los Angeles. Some screen tests were made with the co-stars in which Jimmy delivered his magnetic personality. The whole “poison” of James Dean shows up and there’s never going to be an antidote to counteract it. The picture began shooting on May 27, 1954, in Mendocino, California, providing its little streets to portray 1917's Monterrey, according to the novel. There they filmed the outside shots and the scenes in Kate’s house. Jimmy stayed with the rest of the cast at the Posada Little River, 3 miles south of Mendocino, but the highway traffic noise bothered him, and Kazan moved Jimmy to a trailer beside his own on the set. Other versions of the story say that Kazan got worried about Jimmy’s night life and wanted to keep a closer watch on him. On June 4th the crew moved to Salinas for ten days of filming, shooting the scenes of the icehouse and all around Adam Trask’s farm. By the side of Highway 68 near Speekels, the unforgettable scene of Jimmy’s Cal Trask lying down in the beanfield was filmed. The carnival scene and inside shoots were captured at the Warner’s studios situated at 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank. Shooting ended August 9th. Jimmy wasn’t up to getting involved with the jet set of Hollywood. He was already a celebrity, though. He doesn’t look for interviews, seems rough, would go to a formal lunch wearing dirty jeans, muddy boots or no socks... “I came to Hollywood to act, not to charm society...” The legend had begun... In November he took part in two TV shows: CBS’s I’m a Fool, General Electric Theater, with a 17-year old Natalie Wood, and Run Like a Thief on NBC’s Philco TV Playhouse. On March 30th, he had appeared on a single show for CBS called The Little Woman, and on December 12th The Dark, Dark Hour for CBS was aired. They’re being stored by the UCLA Museum. Notes about Pier Angeli Ana Maria. Born in Cerdeña on June 19, 1932. The family moved to Roma. Two sisters, twin-Marisa and younger-Patrizia. Luigi Pierangelli, the father, civilian engineer. Enrica, the mother, encouraged her daughters to study acting and drama. Ana Maria got her first role at 18. In 1950, the father died and the family moved to the United States. Hollywood gets fascinated with her charm and beauty. In June 1954, during the filming of The Silver Chalice, she meets James Dean. Enrica was opposed to the romance. They are seen in photographs together on some occasions. The last time was September 29, 1954, during the premiere of A Star is Born, held at the Pantage Theater, Hollywood. The day after Jimmy flew to New York to do a TV show, Run Like a Thief. Three days later Pier announced her marriage with the popular Italian singer, Vic Damone. They married on November 24, 1954, at St. Timothy’s Church, Hollywood. It was Thanksgiving Day and Jimmy had dinner at Arthur Loew’s house in New York. This way, all the gossip about him roaring his motorbike outside the church was unfounded. She had a child, Perry Damone, and divorced in 1966. Ana Maria Pier Angeli died in Los Angeles on September 9, 1971, from an overdose of Phenobarbital. Jimmy came back to his little Central Park apartment. It was nice and bright but so untidy that you could think a tornado had struck it. In the fall he met the photographer Roy Shatt and from that season we inherited pictures of refined beauty. He became a friend of Roy’s friends, Barbara Glenn, Bill Gun, and Martin Landau. All of them were interested in learning photography. Jimmy bought a Bolex 16mm and started learning too: at Roy’s place, on the streets, on the roof at the Museum of Modern Art. Fortunately, very far away from the Hollywood jungle, he was enjoying in the delights of the commencing winter and waiting for the opening of East of Eden. His family asked him to come to Fairmount for Christmas but he declined. On December 29, 1954, they did the famous photo series of the torn sweater at Roy Shatt’s studio. Life Magazine turned them down even though Jimmy gave his best. But unfortunately for Life Magazine, they are now among the most expensive and rare pictures in cinema history. |
| Hollywood - Part One |
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