Mark Griffin by A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life, Films of Vincente Minnelli Read Free Book Online Page A

producer and his reluctant star, there was at least one colleague who thought otherwise. “Natwick told me that she thought Lucille had never succumbed to Arthur,” Hilary Knight reveals. “Lucille’s mother was always with them, even on the set . . . always protecting her baby from Arthur.” 6

    “ABSORBED . . . DIRECTOR VINCENTE MINNELLI studies the script of Yolanda and the Thief , oblivious of the cameraman snapping his picture,” read the caption accompanying a publicity photo of Minnelli on the set of
his latest production. The rare glimpse of Judy Garland’s husband engrossed in his work was officially approved by Hollywood’s Advertising Advisory Council on June 25, 1945, just ten days after the much-discussed Minnelli-Garland nuptials had taken place at Judy’s mother’s house in Beverly Hills. It was an intimate ceremony with none of the customary Hollywood hoopla that usually attended a celebrity wedding, though MGM was well represented—by Arthur Freed, publicity chief Howard Strickling, and even Louis B. Mayer, who gave the bride away.

    Vincente and Judy’s wedding day, June 15, 1945. Best man Ira Gershwin, Minnelli, Garland, Louis B. Mayer (who gave the bride away), and studio publicist Betty Asher (Judy’s maid of honor) pose for photographers. The ceremony took place at Judy’s mother’s house in Beverly Hills. PHOTO COURTESY OF PHOTOFEST
    Now that Vincente was married to one of MGM’s most important assets, the studio would carefully scrutinize any images of him that would be seen by the public. If Minnelli was not exactly the kind of strapping All American Boy that Judy’s legions of fans would have envisioned her blissfully wed to, at least the studio could filter out any questionable examples of Vincente’s “artistic flair.” After all, it was one thing for Minnelli to go full tilt flamboyant with a Ziegfeld Follies production number, but altogether another matter for him to appear in public bedecked in a turban as he escorted Judy and their friend Joan Blondell to dinner at Romanoff’s. Vincente and Judy’s friends were happy that the two had formed such a close, supportive bond. And many hoped that mild-mannered Vincente might have a calming influence on his high-spirited wife. But even so, they couldn’t help but wonder . . . What kind of marriage was it exactly?

    “I admired him before I ever played in one of his pictures,” Garland said of her director-husband. Judy told Hedda Hopper: “He’s one of the hardest working people I’ve ever seen. Players like him. They feel he’s giving his best, so that brings out their best, too.” PHOTO COURTESY OF PHOTOFEST
    The gossip ran the gamut: Garland was attempting to “fix” Minnelli—as in “all he needs is the love of a good woman to make things right.” Or the union was a studio-arranged marriage of convenience that would allow both partners the freedom to pursue extramarital affairs (both heterosexual and homosexual). The more cynically minded observers believed that Minnelli, for all his gentlemanly ways, was a shrewd opportunist hitching his wagon to the studio’s brightest star. But maybe it was the most improbable scenario of all that contained the real truth: Two extravagantly talented, sensitive people turned to one another seeking sanctuary from their intensely pressured lives. What’s more, each could complete the other’s fantasy. “I remember Vincente saying about Judy, ‘She is a great actress and a great star and I will direct her in important parts,’” recalls singer Margaret Whiting, who had befriended Garland years earlier. “I mean, it was obvious that he was interested in her as a director, but I just don’t know what that marriage was all about.” 7
    In later years, Vincente would describe his New York honeymoon with Judy as a blissful summer idyll complete with heartwarming episodes that might have been deleted sequences from The Clock . Three months in Manhattan and away from the