Stroheim

12. Queen Kelly

12 Quttn )Ktlly although ~trohtim's artistic connection to The Wedding March had virtually terminated by August 1927, he was not a free agent. He remained under contract to his angry producer, Pat Powers, to make another picture, with an option for two more. In no way did Powers want to use Stroheim again, but he would not allow him to work for any other "of the half dozen companies who are seeking his services as director, writer, or actor," said Hollywood Filmograph. 1 A generally smart operator, Powers could not understand how he had been so hoodwinked by the extravagant and irresponsible director . Feeling betrayed and facing miles of film that could not possibly become a single feature, he refused to release Stroheim from his commitment. While idle but still legally constrained, Stroheim worked unofficially on a script of The Tempest, which dealt with the Russian aristocrats being brought down by equally arrogant revolutionaries. Lewis Milestone planned to direct this vehicle, starringJohn Barrymore, for United Artists. Eventually, it was directed by Sam Taylor, and its story credit was given to C. Gardiner Sullivan.This tale ofa "poor dragoon and a proud princess in the last long calm before the red tempest of terror," as an opening title puts it, has many Stroheimian elements. A nasty officer (Ulrich Haupt, in a sneering portrayal that has many of Mirko's mannerisms in The Merry Widow) puts out his cigarette on the back of a soldier's neck. After the revolution, the soldier retaliates by 273 274 STROHEIM burning the officer with a cigar! George Fawcett, who played Nicki's father in The VJtdding March, is a Russian general.The aristocratic heroine (Camilla Horn) is perversely bitchy and, in one scene, whips the Barrymore character.There are other touches reminiscent ofStroheim, besides the hateful acts of the villain, which remind one of his Hun portrayals: in one scene, when the heroine is bathing naked, her clothing is taken away; in another episode, the hero passes by a nude statue and salutes it. Although Barrymore acts his role with his usual skill and panache, he is much too classy to be wholly believable as a peasant.The film is otherwise well done, but it lacks the directorial touches that would have made it memorable.The collapse of the old regime and the victory ofan unsavory proletariat was a theme close to that ofMerry-GoRound and The VJtdding March and would certainly have intrigued Stroheim ifhe had been allowed to direct The Tempest. While Stroheim was embroiled with the problems of editing The VJtdding March and squabbling with Powers, another confident Irishman, Joseph P. Kennedy, now entered his life. A relative novice in the movies , Kennedy had become entranced with Gloria Swanson, the famous star who left Paramount in 1926 to become an independent producer for United Artists. Considering himself incapable of bad judgment, Kennedy began to arrange her life both personally and financially. Besides bedding Gloria, he convinced her to form Gloria Productions , which he and his associates would manage. He claimed that under his brilliant guidance they would earn a great deal of money. His overwhelming desire was to make an "important" film, not only for her but for himself, because he wanted to be known as the world's greatest producer. For his initial project, he needed a good script and a gifted director. The undoubted skills of the presently unemployed Stroheim appeared to meet his needs. As Swanson wrote in her autobiography , Kennedy "was anxious to enter the temple of art in the company of an acknowledged genius."2 And soon, like Powers, he succumbed to the seductive Stroheim. Swanson had recently made TIle Love ofSunya (1927), which did fairly well at the box office, and then had embarked on Sadie Thompson (1928), which Kennedy assured her would fail. In fact, it proved to be a great financial success, the first instance ofKennedy's poor but consistent judgment. Raoul Walsh not only starred in Sadie Thompson but Queen Kelly 275 directed it as well, and his strong guidance gave new life to Swanson's career. Kennedy now hoped that Stroheim could enhance it further by making a success like The Merry Widow. Swanson, however, had her reservations. She asked Kennedy whether Stroheim, with his "growing reputation for being an undisciplined spendthrift, a hopeless egotist , and a temperamental perfectionist," was a good choice. Kennedy assured her, "I can handle...