Free Alan Jay Lerner: A Lyricist's Letters by Dominic McHugh

screen rights to the show—Paramount wanted it as a Bing Crosby vehicle, while Warner Bros. saw it as perfect material for their leading lady, Doris Day—and in February it was announced that Louis B. Mayer had outbid his rivals. 11 Loewe then departed for Hollywood on March 24 to work with Lerner on the film, which was presumed to be going ahead; their work was broken in May and June when they returned to New York to hire and coach veteran Eddie Dowling to replace James Barton in the stage version of
Wagon
(as noted in the previous chapter). 12 But in the end, the show would take over a decade further to reach the screen, and without Loewe’s participation.
         February and March also saw Lerner enjoy success in the awards season for his screenplay for
An American in Paris
. On February 18, the Screen Writers Guild of America commended him in the category for the best screenplay for a musical, and the following month saw the ultimate accolade: the Oscar. 13 For all that Lerner is often thought of as a more talented lyricist than scriptwriter, his achievement in this landmark film (which won a total of seven Oscars), and in
Gigi
later in the decade, proves his ability for writing prose when dealing with the right (usually lyric-romantic) material. Buoyed up by the success of
Paris
, Lerner spent the summer of 1952 investing time in a series of ongoing film projects, including the long-awaited adaptation of
Huckleberry Finn
for Gene Kelly and Danny Kaye, as well as improving the book for the tour of
Paint Your Wagon
. Burl Ives, whom the
Times
described as “the troubadour of the ancient and romantic ballad,” was set to star in the tour, which was due to start in October, and it wasannounced that his part was to be drastically expanded. 14 Indicating Lerner’s insatiable appetite for movie work, yet another title was discussed in September, when Arthur Freed announced that plans were under way for a screen adaptation of David Belasco’s play
The Girl of the Golden West
, to be filmed on location and adapted by Lerner. 15 It would have been the fourth adaptation of the play for the screen. He didn’t always say yes, however. For instance, he turned down the opportunity to make a musical out of Ludwig Bemelmans’s 16 novel
Hotel Splendide
(1941), as the following letter to Sam Byrd, a producer acquaintance from the Lamb’s Club, reveals:
        
To Sam Byrd
         July 1, 1952
         Dear Sam:
         Please forgive the long period of silence. I was called suddenly back to California and upon my return found my father seriously ill. All is quiet and well now and I can start thinking again about writing.
             I have given
Hotel Splendide
a lot of thought. I think as you do that there is definitely a show there, but where it is, at the moment, I don’t know. As I told you, I am a very slow worker and I have to live with things a long time. I wouldn’t have the slightest idea when I would find the solution for this project. It might be next week and it might be two years from now. Consequently, rather than subject you to my intellectual vagaries, I feel I must regretfully withdraw from the venture. I will drop the book by at the club the beginning of the week.
             I do hope I haven’t held you up too long and I wish you all good luck and success.
             Thanks for thinking of me in the first place.
    Fondly,
    Alan
    Of note here is Lerner’s candid self-assessment about his slow progress as a writer and adapter, which frequently caused him to delay or abandon his plans.
         This period spelled the temporary end of the Lerner-Loewe collaboration, following a disagreement. Although Lerner, always eager to be politically involved, took time out in October to participate in a major Democratic rally at Madison Square Garden in order to boost Adlai Stevenson’s bid for the presidency of the United States, the remainder of the year was spent in developing movie