“I want you to meet Fernando Lamas. He’s going to be in your movie.”
Fernando had a South American accent and turned out not only to be a charming man, but a very intelligent one. Once, when he appeared on The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson started to make fun of Fernando’s accent and Fernando stopped him.
“When someone has an accent,” he informed Carson, “it means he knows one more language than you do.”
The studio audience applauded.
I was on the set of Rich, Young and Pretty the first day of shooting. I had written the script with Dorothy Cooper, a wonderful contract writer. It was Vic Damone’s first movie and he was understandably nervous. The director was Norman Taurog, a tough old pro.
“All right. This is a take,” Taurog called out.
Vic Damone said nervously, “Excuse me, Mr. Taurog. Could I have a drink of water first?”
Norman Taurog glared at him and said, “No. Roll ’em!”
Rich, Young and Pretty began shooting.
The movie was a modest success at the box office. That same year I also wrote a musical comedy, Nancy Goes to Rio, starring Ann Sothern, Jane Powell, and Barry Sullivan. It was the story of a mother and daughter who fall in love with the same man. When I finished the screenplay, I wrote No Questions Asked, starring Barry Sullivan, Arlene Dahl, and George Murphy.
A studio executive had been on a flight to New York when he encountered Pug Wells, a stewardess who fascinated him. She was cheerful and effervescent, and when the executive started to question her about her life, he became even more fascinated. When he returned to the studio, he suggested to Dore that we make a movie based on her character. That was my next assignment.
I was working with Ruth Brooks Flippen, one of the top writers at the studio. The producer was Armand Deutsch, whom Dore had brought in from the east. Armand, or Ardie, as he was called, had no experience making movies, but Dore was very impressed with his intellect.
When I met Ardie, I liked him immediately. Instead of having the restrained attitude of many producers, Ardie was filled with enthusiasm.
I sat down to begin writing the screenplay. I decided to complicate the life of the Pug Wells character, not with one man, but with three. That gave me my title, Three Guys Named Mike.
When I showed Ardie the beginning of my screenplay, he was literally jumping up and down with excitement. The result was that I couldn’t wait to show him more. He was wonderful to work with. When I finished the screenplay, he said, “This is a great part for Jane Wyman.”
“And the men?”
“Van Johnson, Howard Keel, and Barry Sullivan. That’s my dream cast.”
Ardie got his dream cast. We started shooting in the spring of 1950, and the picture went well.
For reasons which now escape me, I decided I wanted to act in the movie. I spoke to Ardie about it.
“Fine,” he said. “What part do you want to play?”
“I haven’t written it yet,” I told him.
I knew how to write a part that could not be cut out of a movie. The secret was to play a character who was with the star when he or she was introduced. Since they could not cut out the entrance of the star, they could not cut out the character. I wrote myself a brief part as a gardener in the scene introducing Barry Sullivan.
The next day, at the dailies, when I saw my performance, I would have given any amount of money not to have done it. I was dreadful.
I was assigned to Just This Once, a lovely original idea by Max Trell. It was about a spendthrift who was living a high life running through his inheritance. The executor of his estate was so upset that he hired a conservator to control the man’s spending. The conservator happened to be a beautiful young woman.
When I finished this script, I thought it would be perfect for Cary Grant. The studio sent the script to Cary, and he turned it down.
Peter Lawford was cast, along with Janet Leigh and Lewis Stone, who had played Judge Hardy in the famous Andy Hardy series.