The Shocking Miss Pilgrim: A Writer in Early Hollywood

8 The Troublemaker

Chapter 8 THE TROUBLEMAKER IN THE fALL Of 1926. I had a sudden and violent abdominal attack in the middle of the night. Doubled up with pain and not having a doctor of my own. I summoned Dr. James Reed. an orthopedic surgeon who ministered to the medical needs of half of filmdom. At Orthopedic Hospital. he diagnosed my distress as tubular reaction and indicated that an operation was the solution. Naturally. Iwas considerably upset because that meant I would not be able to bear children. To this day. I remain convinced that all I had was an old-fashioned bellyache. I was to learn later that the unprincipled Dr. Reed tended to operate whenever possible because that was where the money lay. But trusting him and in pain. I did not seek a second opinion. I slumbered blissfully under ether while the dextrous Dr. Reed removed my fallopian tubes. and. just for good measure. my perfectly healthy appendix. When I awoke. my room was a flower shop-so many flowers. in fact. that I sent some to other patients along with baskets of fruit. perfume . candy. and even books. I recall that Theodore Dreiser's American Tragedy, a bestseller then. was one of them. As I recuperated. I had a portable typewriter brought in and did some writing after a conference of sorts with Bob Leonard and f Hugh Herbert. who came to see me several times. There was a constant flow of visitors. mostly from the studio. Even a young man from the mailroom dropped in with a bouquet. It was all very touching. and I felt very special to receive so much affection from my colleagues. After ten days of pampered invalidism. I returned to the studio. 105 106 The Shocking Miss Pilgrim sans fallopian tubes and appendix. While I love children, I chose to regard the fact that I could never bear them as less than a major calamity . fortunately, the dear man I would marry felt the same way. The script of The Waning Sex was in production; and, as I watched some of the shooting, I could tell it was going to turn out to be a fine vehicle for Norma Shearer. She sparkled in the part because, as she told me, she could identify completely with the girl who had chosen a career in place of romance, only to find that the clinging vine methods of the "waning" sex are what gentlemen prefer. Bob Leonard, now blissfully married to his beloved Gertrude, achieved the ultimate in comedy. He knew how to exact the best performance from his actors -even from wooden Conrad Nagel. the leading man. E Hugh Herbert and Iwere working separately on other projects and hardly speaking. Then I did something extremely unwise. Eager to free myself from Harry Rapf, I went to Hunt Stromberg and asked to be assigned to his unit. How naive I was! How ignorant of studio politics! What I did was a very big no-no. Producers might steal from one another and stab each other in the back. but when it came to dealing with dissatisfied, unhappy writers, producers were fraternal brothers who stuck together-especially when some lowly writer challenged their sovereignty. I never was transferred to Stromberg's unit. and Harry Rapf never forgave me for requesting such a change. When it came time for my studio contract to be renewed, Harry Rapfaxed me for my presumption. "She's a talented writer," he conceded to his secretary, Madeleine Ruthvin (who was my friend), while dictating the fatal memo that would seal my fate at MGM. "But she's a troublemaker." Troublemaker! That was the worst assessment anybody could receive in those days in the picture business. A troublemaker was defined as anyone who defied (however unwittingly) the authority vested in executives and producers. The rumor spread like a contagious disease ; agents picked it up-along with directors, producers, and other writers. "Don't touch her. She's a troublemaker." And so frederica Sagor found herself out of a job. Initially, I was sure that Ruth Collier could find me another writing assignment. I liked her, and we were friends. But I quickly learned The Troublemaker 107 that her powers of persuasion were as limited as her contacts. A small agent, she did not have ready or easy access to executives, producers, or even directors. Casting directors, story departments, some editorsyes . But...