EDITORIAL   By Mary

Sorry this edition of the magazine dedicated to Ingrid is rather late. I went to Wales again! And it’s taken me this long to recover! More about my adventures in the midst of “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness” locations later.

Since the last edition appeared, several fans have set up new websites and they are very exciting and well worth visiting. Links to these can be found either on The Complete Ingrid Bergman Page or through our Yahoo club. Michelle’s site takes in Ingrid’s famous daughter, Isabella Rossellini, as well and she combines a tribute to mother and daughter beautifully.

Nicklas, a fan from Sweden, visited Fjallbacka and managed to take a boat out and photograph Dannholmen! Wow! Some of his photos appear in the Yahoo club galleries. If you look closely at one of the photos, you can see a full length statue of a beautiful woman – or an angel. It must be Ingrid. I would dearly love to know whether Lars Schmidt has had this statue sculpted recently and if it is indeed another tribute to Ingrid [the other being the bust on the plinth in The Ingrid Bergman Square in Fjallbacka]. Does anyone know anything about this statue on Dannholmen? If you do, please e-mail me. We all respect the fact that it’s a private island and, of course, would go no closer than Nicklas did. I just wish I could find out Mr Schmidt’s address: I think he would reply to a letter.

IT’S THAT FILM AGAIN!!!!!!

Ingrid just couldn’t get away from “Casablanca” and now it’s one of those films that’s always showing somewhere in the world, whatever the time of day or night may be where you are. It’s cropped up several times here on British television, especially as we now have cable and satellite to add to the BBC and ITV. Here are a few comments, which have appeared in the television listings:

“The movie that turns up in more lists of top ten films than any other gets better with each viewing, so adept is the direction, so engrossing the plot and so moving the performances.”

“You must remember this. Ingrid Bergman walks back into Humphrey Bogart’s bar and his life. A witty script, great performances and direction, plus elusive screen magic. It won three Oscars for best picture, director and screenplay.”

“As time goes by the fundamental things still apply to make Michael Curtiz’s wartime thriller a classic viewing experience. What are they? A script full of unforgettable lines, Bogie and Bergman cast perfectly to type, a roster of indelible supporting performances…The list is endless as the film’s appeal.”

“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, Ingrid Bergman had to walk into Humphrey Bogart’s, beginning a beautiful friendship with cinema audiences which endures to this day. A café full of memorable characters, two stars at the peak of their powers and a script full of quotable lines have made this film a Hollywood legend.”

“ ‘I came to Casaablanca for the waters’, says Rick. ‘What waters? We’re in the desert,’ says Renault. ‘I was misinformed,’says Rick. You must remember those classic lines, along with ‘Here’s looking at you, kid’, ‘Round up the usual suspect’ and the famously misquoted ‘Play it , Sam’. Along with Gone With The Wind and The Wizard of Oz, it sums up the myth of movie-making and, along with its perfect pairing of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, boasts a marvellous array of supporting characters. Although dismissed by one of its writers as just one of the 50 movies Warner Bros made that year, it was special then, winning the best picture Oscar, and always will be.

I think most of us would agree with those sentiments. Despite the fact that Ingrid doesn’t walk into the movie, and our hearts, until 19 minutes into the film, she then takes it over and is at her most heart-stoppingly beautiful, that, frankly I am not looking at anyone else for the rest of the film! But, yes, I do agree about the supporting cast and the witty script. Amazing, considering it was subject to constant changes and the ending was not decided upon. It was the right film at the right time in history.

THAT OTHER “GASLIGHT”  !!!!!

Guess what! The earlier version of “Gaslight” was shown on British television in June. How many Ingrid fans watched it? I didn’t! Here’s what the reviewer in the “Radio Times” had to say about it:

“Most viewers will be more familiar with George Cukor’s 1944 MGM remake than with this British National original, directed by Thorold Dickinson from the play by Patrick Hamilton. Diana Wynyard is streets behind Ingrid Bergman [who won an Oscar for her role as the terrorised wife in Cukor’s version], but despite its second-best status, this is stil a great story.”

Just for information: The stage play was entitled “Angel Street” and our version of “Gaslight” was released in Britain as “Murder in Thornton Square”.

OMAR SHARIF – DO WE BELIEVE ALL HE SAYS?

Um – here is one of Ingrid’s co-stars who is still alive, so he has to be careful what he says and, come to that, so do I ! Don’t want to be sued, even if it is in Ingrid’s defence. Recently in the short article “Teach Yourself Ingrid Bergman” the “Radio Times” had him listed as one of Ingrid’s lovers – we dealt with that in the last issue of Chronicle. Then, lo and behold, in June there appeared an interview with Mr Sharif in the “Daily Mail”. He mentioned several well-known actresses, but did not openly admit to having had affairs with any of them; it was the same with Ingrid. I quote from the interview:

“ We were in The Yellow Rolls-Royce and I fell madly in love with her. She wasn’t a young girl – she was in her early 40s, and I was in my early 30s. It was 1964. I used to take her greyhound racing”. He chuckles at the memory.

“We’d finish filming at 6 pm and I used to have a car waiting to rush us to Wembley or White City. They’d be flabberghasted to see Ingrid sitting watching the dogs. I was infatuated. She was flattered, I think. We had a flirtation. She was between marriages.”

The only interesting part of this little gem is the fact that Ingrid might have gone to watch greyhound racing with Omar, as she loved any new and different experience.

But….she was NOT in her early 40s. She was 49 in 1964. And he “thinks” she was flattered – I doubt if she was bothered one way or the other. Plus, Ingrid certainly was NOT between marriages, as she was happily married to Lars at the time and was, as it was May  and nearly summertime,longing to get back to Dannholmen with him.  So there!!!!!!!

SO JUST WHAT WERE THE ELMER AWARDS?  HERE IS DANIEL HENDLER’S E-MAIL TO ME:

The Elmer Award was an (intended) annual award to Hollywood stars, direct ors and producers, in recognition of the year's most notorious screen achievements and it was presented by Movie Radio Guide Magazine. Its first annual appearance was on February 1942, for noteworthy screen achievementes of 1941. The happy winners were:

Best Actor: Fredric March, for "One Foot in Heaven"
Best Actress: Ingrid Bergman, for "Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde", "Rage in Heaven" and "Adam Had Four Sons"
Best Direction: Sam Wood, for "Sergeant York"
Best Comedian: Bob Hope, for "Caught in the Draft" and "Nothing But the Truth"
Best Comedienne: Rosalind Russell, for all her 1941 released films
Best Character or Supporting Actor: Walter Huston, as the Devil in "All that Money Can Buy" and as father in "Swamp Water"
Best Character or Supporting Actress: Patricia Collinge, for "The Little Foxes"
Best Picture: "Sergeant York"

According to Elmer, all of 1941 released Ingrid Bergman films deserved her the award for Best Actress, thus, in a way, fulfilling Cary Grant's famous statement (some years later) affirming that Ingrid should have received an (Academy) Award every year, whether she made a film or not...

I don't know if this first presentation of Elmer Awards (quite an odd statuette and character to reward achievements in performing arts...) was followed by other ones, or it was just its first and only one ceremony. Anyway, it might have been the first award presented to Ingrid in America. Funny, isn't it?.

Concerning the statuette, I transcribe some paragraphs from page 1 of Movie Radio Guide Magazine on February 7, 1942:

"Meet Elmer: Elmer is a quaint, patriotic little fellow, born as a result of this publication's conviction that outstanding achievement in the filed of entertainment is more important than ever in time of war and should receive appropiate recognition.

Elmer does not consider himself in any way as significant or as important as the "Oscars" of the Academy, for which both Elmer and Movie Radio Guide have great respect. He is not a copy or a parody. He is simply an achievement award created by this publication to honor those who make important contributions to human happiness and welfare. He will be awarded annually for the "bests" in motion picture achievement, and on other occasions when the person and the cause are worthy.

Elmer is a likable little fellow, as his appearance denotes. He is the counterpart of the joy the great artists who will receive him have brought to the hearts of millions in this troublesome times. He is a patriot in the fullest sense of the word, since he is made of hydrocal, thus conserving vital metals for defense. Approximately ten inches high, mounted on a two-and-one-half inch pedestal, Elmer was designed by the Leon Schlesinger studios artists and their director, Robert Clampett, is being modeled in figurine by the famous young artist, Frank Irwin".

As I said before, I do not know if that first presentation of Elmer Awards was followed by other ones, or unfortunately it was the first and also the final one. Anyway, it is good to know that Ingrid was already recognized for her outstanding talent in three such different films like "Adam Had Four Sons", "Rage in Heaven" and "Dr.Jekyyl and Mr.Hyde", although, undoubtedly, the last one was better by far than the other two.

Well Mary, I hope that is enough, and not tooo much...Anyway, it is always my pleasure.

Best regards,

Daniel

NEWS OF THE FAMILY

Once again, not much about anyone except Isabella Rossellini. Isabella now has her own website  www.isabellarossellini.com which has been designed specifically to give details of her sophisticated cosmetics and perfume: “Manifesto”. She speaks on this website – and how much her voice reminds me of her mother! – telling us how the original eye/lip/cheek colours are intended to be blended as the wearer wishes and that they will stack, so that you can take the whole lot with you. The perfume, “Manifesto” is now widely available – I bought mine in Debenhams in Taunton! – but, in Britain, the cosmetics are still exclusive to Harvey Nichols. One page of the website is dedicated to giving details of store outlets, but that is still being constructed.

“Manifesto” is a delightful fragrance – quite sharp at first, but it develops to become sort of “homely”. I can see what Isabella meant when she said she wanted to combine the smells of Santa Marinella and Dannholmen.

As for Ingrid’s other children, we assume that Ms Pia Lindstrom is still busy as a television journalist and that Ingrid Rossellini continues her brilliant academic career as a professor in Italian Renaissance Literature, specialising in Petrarch. I would love more news of Robertino, but I  imagine him at his home in Monte Carlo and hope he is happy. Let’s hope he has a computer, is on line and reads about his beloved mother. Of one thing I am certain – Robertino adored his mother and she adored him.

OBITUARY:  LARRY ADLER

Cecil Lawrence Adler, who was born in Baltimore in 1914, died in London earlier this month [August 2001]. He first met Ingrid when they were in Europe in 1945, on a tour entertaining troups. They remained friends for the rest of Ingrid’s life. He played both the piano and the harmonica, though he learned to read music quite late in life, something he admitted to Ingrid when she asked him to write down the tune he had been playing and he was unable to do so [Donald Spoto, “Notorious”, 1997]. He visited Ingrid and Rossellini in Italy and , much later, was a visitor to her London home in Chelsea. Ingrid loved music and many of her friends were musicians [Artur Rubenstein and his wife were also visitors in Rome]. We pray that you are all enjoying discussing music in Heaven.

NEXT ISSUE: 

More about my visit to Wales. Sorry I had no room in this issue.

CHOICE OF POEM

From Ears In The Turrets Hear  by Dylan Thomas
Beyond this island bound
By a thin sea of flesh
And a bone coast,
The land lies out of sound
And the hills out of mind.
No birds or flying fish
Disturb this island’s rest.
Ears in this island hear
The wind pass like a fire,
Eyes in this island see
Ships anchor off the bay.
Shall I run to the ships
With the wind in my hair,
Or stay till the day I die
And welcome no sailor?
Ships, hold you poison or grapes?
Hands grumble on the door,
Ships anchor off the bay,
Rain beats the sand and slates.
Shall I let in the stranger,
Shall I welcome the sailor,
Or stay till the day I die?

 {Ingrid on Dannholmen in winter}

I hope you have enjoyed this issue of The Ingrid Chronicle.

Please do send contributions to future editions to me.

Thanks, as always, to Matt for space on The Complete Ingrid Bergman Page.

Mary

Mary@ingrid67.freeserve.co.uk