Sitting Pretty: The Life and Times of Clifton Webb

Chapter 12. Stars and Stripes Forever

206 5 C H a P t e r 1 2 Stars and Stripes Forever As charming as Dreamboat was, it was not a blockbuster. Webb’s next two films were. Stars and Stripes Forever and Titanic were big box office hits. By this time Webb was a huge moneymaker for Fox. In his memoir, Robert Wagner spoke of Webb’s status: “At Fox, the elite circle was presided over by Clifton Webb. I worked with Clifton on Stars and Stripes Forever, then Titanic, and I was invited into his group. Clifton’s friends included people like Noel Coward, and Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder’s partner, who never got much credit from anyone, especially Billy. Charlie was a kind, well-educated, very bright gay man who was fairly deep in the closet.” Zanuck had a tough time getting the rights to the Sousa story. It took five years of complicated negotiations before Fox was able to get moving on the film. Zanuck paid one hundred thousand dollars for the rights and assigned Lamar Trotti to write the screenplay. It would be Trotti’s last job. He died of a heart attack on August 28, 1952. The film was released in December of that year. Zanuck gave Trotti the title of the film and told him it would be shot in Technicolor and that he wanted Trotti’s tradition of throat-lumping Americana prevalent throughout the script. Trotti delivered. Shortly after its release, Howard Thompson of the New York Times interviewed Webb about his role as John Philip Sousa: “When I first heard about the project I thought . . . well, what on earth is there about John Philip Sousa? I had only seen photos of him, this short fellow with a bushy beard and a baton. The man not only hadn’t an iota of humor but no private life. Anyway, we did some careful research, and we compromised on the beard business and we had a wonderful script by Lamar Trotti. I showed the picture recently to Artur Rubinstein and Cole Porter, S TA R S A N D S T R I P E S F O R E V E R 207 two great friends of mine, and Artur told me Sousa was the best-known American composer in Europe.” Webb must have enjoyed being able to dance and sing in this film. Albeit the dancing and singing are meager, we at least get to hear Webb’s singing voice. As Sousa, he is supposed to want to compose ballads to show people he can do more than just marches. Ruth Hussey, as Sousa’s wife, plays the piano while he intones the ballad “My Love Is a Weeping Willow.” Actually this tune is taken from Sousa’s Semper Fidelis, with words by Ken Darby. Nevertheless, we hear a surprisingly deep singing voice by Webb, indicating that he, indeed, must have had a voice for opera at one time. Stars and Stripes Forever was based on John Philip Sousa’s book, Marching Along. However, like most movie biopics, many liberties were taken, such as the fictional character of Sousa’s protégé William Little, played by Robert Wagner. The story really doesn’t matter. What matters is the evocation of an era and the stirring music of Sousa. Knowing of Webb’s fondness for opera and musical theatre, columnist Grady Johnson asked, “Do you like band music?” Webb deftly replied, “I never liked it until I saw it. There’s something about marching musicians that stirs me.” There was much of Webb’s reasoning in Trotti’s and director Henry Koster’s handling of the film. It is filled with uniformed band members smartly marching, playing Sousa’s music. 12.1. robert Wagner and Clifton Webb, circa 1952. Courtesy of the robert Wagner Collection. S TA R S A N D S T R I P E S F O R E V E R 208 Columnist Wood Soanes had this to say about Clifton Webb’s portrayal of Sousa: “At first blush the somewhat effete and suave Webb would not seem to be an ideal choice for the robust John Philip Sousa any more than he was for the rugged father in Cheaper by the Dozen. But after he has played his first few scenes it is difficult to imagine any player more suitable for the role.” Louella Parsons was quite taken with Webb’s portrayal...