A psychologist might say that my life has been heavily, if not unduly, influenced by the movies. Born into a generation before the advent of television, and one still suffering the effects of the Great Depression, films were our main source of entertainment. Many of the movies of that era were romantic comedies with a simple plot: boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl, and they live happily ever after. My plays have some of the same qualities, being "poignant and funny," in the words of one theater critic. Could those early movies have left more of an impression than I thought?
In fact, I grew up on the movies. My earliest wish, as recorded by my mother in my baby book, was to be a "nice little girl like Shirley Temple." My most prized possession was a Shirley Temple doll. I longed for my straight-as-a-string hair to fall into ringlets like hers, but it never did. I took tap dancing lessons for years. They didn't get me into the movies but as readers of my novel, "Boardinghouse Stew," already know, I was dancing on the stage of a local theater (between the cowboy movies and cartoons on Saturday mornings) at the age of eleven. A year later Elizabeth Taylor became my idol, and I wanted to have my own horse like she did in "National Velvet." I got one, too, but not like her Thoroughbred. Mine came out of a roundup of wild Mustangs in Nevada.
As I grew older, my Hollywood idols became the handsome leading men of the day. In high school I had a huge crush on Clark Gable, as well as Tyrone Power and a few others. But it was not until some years later that I discovered the divine Louis Jourdan. The Best Picture of 1958 was the MGM musical, "Gigi," with Leslie Caron in the title role. Tame by today's standards but a bit shocking at the time, the movie is set in 19th Century Paris and based on the novel by Colette about an innocent young girl who is being trained for life as a courtesan. When Gigi tells Gaston (Louis Jourdan) that she knows she will have to go away with him -- and sleep in his bed! -- there were gasps and titters from theater audiences. I only remember thinking, And you're complaining? Are you nuts?
I defy anyone to name an actor who has ever looked better (or as good) in a tuxedo. Fred Astaire, who practically lived in "top hat, white tie and tails," was a great dancer but hardly a heartthrob. Cary Grant, Rex Harrison, William Holden and Yul Brynner (even without hair) all cut a handsome figure in evening clothes. But for a magical waltz around the dance floor at Maxim's, give me Louis Jourdan, s'il vous plait!
Although he received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and one Golden Globe nomination, Louis Jourdan's career never really took off in this country. He has been called the silver screen's most "wasted" actor. He himself once remarked that Hollywood made a "French cliche" of him. His best known movie, at least to American audiences, is probably "Gigi" but he had made several others before giving up on Hollywood and returning to his native France. The best of the lot, in my opinion, is "Letter From an Unknown Woman," in which he played a rakish concert pianist and Joan Fontaine's faithless lover. The story is rather depressing, but it was a starring role and represented a departure from the usual frothy ones, which must have been a relief to him. In others, like "The Paradine Case" and "The Swan," he was stuck with playing valets and fencing masters.
Unfortunately for him, he was typecast as the gorgeous, sophisticated and charming European at a time when American audiences preferred their idols to be more "manly," and ruggedly handsome, like John Wayne and Gary Cooper. By comparison, Louis Jourdan looked like a Greek statue.The truth is, he was just too gorgeous for most American tastes. There may even have been a homophobic suspicion attached to him because of his good looks, though he was by all accounts as straight as an arrow.
If he was treated badly by Hollywood Louis Jourdan seems to have proven, during a long and exemplary life, the truth of that old adage, "the best revenge is living well." Through the dark days of World War II, when his father was arrested by the Gestapo, he refused to make Nazi propaganda films and joined the French Resistance instead. Now, at the age of 90, he is still married to his childhood sweetheart, after 66 years! How many of our Hollywood stars could say as much?
