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184 5 C H a P t e r 1 1 A Top Box-Office Draw Clifton Webb knew that someday Darryl Zanuck would bring a script to him that would require him to put his dancing shoes back on. He had made the mistake of exhibiting his dancing ability at a few parties. These impromptu exhibitions seemed to prove that “there was still life in the old legs.” In November 1946 Webb received a letter from Zanuck with a script for a musical he wanted Webb to do. “It was called Dancing in the Dark. Zanuck had purchased the music by Arthur Schwartz from the revue The Bandwagon, in which Fred Astaire and his sister, Adele, starred in 1931. He asked if I’d consider doing it. He thought it a magnificent part. He’d be very grateful if I would consider it as he was short of product.” Zanuck asked Webb to read the script, stating that he thought it could be a “sensational starring role” for him. However, Zanuck said that due to a Technicolor commitment, he did not think they could hold the starting date beyond January. He asked if Webb could return to Hollywood, or if he had to stay with the play through the winter season. “He didn’t realize that I had a run of the play contract that had to run until the first of June, so I wired back that I had to stay. I wasn’t very anxious to do a dancing picture anyway. However, he sent me the script, which I thought was fairly good. So, I wired him that I would do it, but I couldn’t give him any idea when the play was going to close, as we were doing an enormous business at that time.” It was eventually arranged that Webb would do Dancing in the Dark. He was told to report in California on May 26. He was rather pleased to get word that he would be back in Hollywood. “I was getting tired and bored with the play, and suddenly during the matinee the thought flashed through my mind, ‘What am I doing all this hard work for? California and pictures is the best place for me.’” a t o P b o X - o f f i C e d r aw 185 Present Laughter closed March 15, 1947. As much as he enjoyed the stage, he had come to the realization that a play was much harder work than making a movie. He decided he needed a rest before reporting to the studio. “I was tired and weary from carrying the weight of the play on my shoulders. So, I decided to take a little holiday before going to California . I arranged through a great friend of mine, Mimi Brand, to take a couple of apartments in Del Rey Beach, which is just far enough away from Palm Beach to be safe. Terence Rattigan, the playwright [Oh Mistress Mine], along with Lynn and Alfred Lunt, Beatrice Lillie, Dorothy Dickson , and myself, all left for a holiday. For two weeks we had a madly amusing time.” Webb said he did not get much rest on this “vacation” but did have a “great deal of fun.” Before returning to New York, Webb and Mabelle went to Greenwich, where they started packing furniture to be put in storage. “I realized that my Greenwich life was over. The people that were instrumental in my building there were of the past, the Wimans were divorced, and Libby Holman was nothing but a memory. I decided there was no point in my holding on to the place any longer. I felt very sad when I saw everything being put in boxes and crates, as I had given a great deal of care and thought to the creating of my home. On May 6, 1947, when the last bag had been put in the station wagon, Mabelle and I drove off, and I never turned back.” Shortly after returning to Hollywood, Webb found that the picture industry had “gone into a great slump and all the studios became panicky . The story for Dancing in the Dark had been completely changed.” He found the title of the film was now Julie. On June 10, the movie was cancelled. Webb said, “I can’t say that I was too bitterly disappointed.” He then experienced a period of inactivity for which he was still getting paid. He said, “Although I was...

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