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15. The Lion's Roar, the Baby's Cry
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15 The Lion’s Roar, the Baby’s Cry 1927 The roar of the lion came quietly in the form of telegrams from Louis B. Mayer and Nicholas Schenck ordering Mae back to Hollywood—or else! Or else what? Mae had always called the shots; she had always gotten her way when she felt threatened or when her back was against the wall. She’d never been afraid of the big guys in the front office. This time, Mae didn’t lash back. When she crossed the Atlantic in mid-November, Mae Murray never intended to return to MGM. After Valencia, Mae later said she had promised David Mdivani, who did not approve of his scantily clad wife on screen making cinema love to other men, that she would leave the movies and focus solely on him and their family. While his pride might have been bruised over his wife making the living, he had little problem spending the money she made from the profession or forking over her fortune for his clan’s debts. When the Mdivanis arrived on the continent, Mae made every effort to leave her trail cold; the studio, however, tracked her down through her Parisian bankers. “A barrage of cables has never before or since been received by one girl who had run away from her job,” Mae wrote. The first telegram, by Mayer himself, read, “Preparations are ready for you to proceed at once. Will expect you to return by return boat. Pictures are sold and must be delivered to exhibitors.” Before she could get to the end, David snatched the paper from her hand and threw them into the trash. Another warning came from Nicholas Schenck. “The only thing for you to do is to come back and work according to your signed agreement,” 190 Mae Murray he said in a telegram. “Otherwise you will suffer large losses and ruin your reputation.” “What did I care?” Mae later wrote. “I was in love and loved. What else could be so important? I was going to proceed to do the only things David wanted me to do. I had made my decision and nothing could make me think of doing anything else. David and I were not to be disturbed in our fairyland.”1 Foolishly, Mae went about spending money like royalty, giving little thought to the ruthless Mayer, who could hold a grudge like no one in Hollywood , especially when it came to inconsiderate or misbehaving contract players. On Wednesday, December 15, the Mdivanis sailed from Cherbourg to New York on the S.S. Olympic. On the ship’s passenger manifest, Mae was listed as Princess Mae Mdivani, a housewife; David, it was recorded, worked as an engineer.2 By the time the couple reached New York, where they planned to spend the holidays, Mae’s latest film, Valencia, was just reaching theaters. Walking down Broadway one frigid afternoon, the Mdivanis ducked into a theater to catch a matinee of her latest picture. Mae left in tears. “Damn them!” she sobbed. “They’re trying to ruin me.”3 While the New York Times was favorable to Mae’s “accustomed grace and charm,” the majority of the critics panned the film. “Very poor,” noted Harrison’s Reports. “It is, in fact, one of the worst Mae Murray pictures that have ever been released. It may safely be considered as an insult to the intelligence of picture-goers.” The Film Daily concluded, “Buchowetzki has been content to let her (Mae) ‘be herself’ and that is not Mae Murray at her best.”4 After the first of the year, Mae and MGM came to a mutual agreement to go their separate ways. Six months previously, Mae had retained attorney Nathan Burkan to investigate the possibility of canceling her contract. She initially objected to alleged favoritism Louis B. Mayer had for a number of stars whom he had under personal contract, particularly Roy D’Arcy, one of Mae’s primary irritations. She was also dismayed over the “lack of originality” in the film projects being assigned to her. When she stepped off the train in Los Angeles in midJanuary 1927, Mae had a warning for Hollywood. If the industry could [54.172.162.78] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 06:25 GMT) The Lion’s Roar, the Baby’s Cry 191 ensure that she would be offered original material and projects that suited her screen persona, she would remain in Hollywood. If not, she would accept offers...