At one point in my career, while directing Miriam Hopkins I became infatuated with the soft Southern talk of the Georgia queen. One evening we had a dinner engagement which was known only by the two of use. Miss Hopkins told me she had been sent a new script by Ernst Lubitsch with the request that she give an answer on the following day. She asked if I would help her decide whether she should play the part. She read straight through, and we were both elated with Miriam’s part and with the sharp humor of the story. As Miriam read the final lines on the last page of the manuscript, her eyes fell on a scribbled notation at the bottom of the page. It read: “King—Any little changes you would like, I will be happy to make them. Ernst.” The Lubitsch touch had exploded our secret world.
King Vidor
I believe Mr. Vidor is speaking of his own film, The Stranger’s Return, and the film Miss Hopkins did shortly after with Ernst Lubitsch would have been, Design for Living.
I second the sentiment in that last photo!