THE SCREEN SPECTATOR - September 2024
DEATH AT A DINNER PARTY
Tucked away along a narrow residential road in Los Angeles, behind a gated driveway, stands an elegant Georgian Revival-style mansion. Framed by majestic California sycamores and oaks, the estate is gracefully set back from the street amid a sweeping green lawn and meticulously manicured box hedges. This home exudes the charm and sophistication of old Hollywood. Built in 1937, this house at 139 N. Saltair Avenues was commissioned by the celebrated American opera star Grace Moore and designed by the esteemed African-American architect Paul R. Williams.
Though largely forgotten today, Moore was one of America's most beloved stars in the 1930s, a versatile talent who excelled on stage, as well as in recording, radio, and film. After two unsuccessful films in 1930, she returned to Hollywood in 1934, where her operatic musicals under contract with Columbia Pictures won over audiences in both the U.S. and Europe. By 1938, however, the relentless demands of Hollywood led Moore and her husband to abandon both their new home and the film industry, selling their estate to Tyrone Power and his wife, French actress Annabella.
Although Moore and her husband left Hollywood behind, their estate at 139 Saltair soon became a hub for a new wave of stars. The glamorous home, now owned by the Powers, would go on to host gatherings that attracted Hollywood’s elite. One such event took place on Sunday, May 19, 1946, when the garden at 139 Saltair welcomed a small, intimate gathering—a welcome party for Primula 'Primmie' Niven, the wife of actor David Niven, a new transplant to sunny Califiornia from England.
According to the papers and fan magazines, The Nivens had a particularly cinematic love story, one very much reminiscent of a classic romantic comedy. During an air raid in London in 1940, David accidentally jumped on Primmie and her small Pekingese dog in a trench. “Why the hell did you sit on my dog?'“Primmie reportedly asked, to which Niven replied, “Why the hell do you have a Pekingese in a trench?” They were married just two weeks later. C’est La Guerre
As lovely a tale as that air raid story is, it was most likely made up for publicity, as the two actually met while Niven was on military leave at a social event.
When World War II began, Niven—already a well-known supporting actor in films like The Prisoner of Zenda, The Dawn Patrol, and Wuthering Heights—returned to England to rejoin the British Army. Military service ran deep in the Niven family; his father had been killed in action during the Gallipoli campaign in 1915. Before his acting career, Niven fully intended to follow that tradition, attending Sandhurst Military Academy and serving as a second lieutenant in the British Army.
When she met David, Primmie, the granddaughter of a marquess on her mother’s side and the great-niece of Lord Rollo of Duncrub on her father’s side, was working for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). Often described as a true English rose—witty, beautiful, and a mainstay of the English social scene—Primmie's charm and grace were not lost on those around her. Michael Trubshaw, Niven's best man, fondly recalled, “She was kind, she was fun... I didn’t think he’d ever really met anyone like her... she was just the best sort of English girl of that period and one of the last of them; after the war, women stopped being like that. Primmie was England in the 1930s: country cottages and small children and all that gentle, lost world of the upper classes at home.”
“She was a glorious creature, rather aristocratic, but evidently terribly proud of [David], very much in love and always happy to let him be the star turn,” reflected friend and actor Peter Ustinov. “Primmie wanted no part of David’s limelight, and every time he told a story, she’d laugh uproariously, even though she must have heard it a dozen times.”
By 1946, the Nivens had two small children and six years of marriage under their belts, but the war and the challenges of long-distance living had kept them from establishing a peaceful existence. In late 1945, after his discharge from the British army, David returned to Hollywood leaving Primmie and his two small sons in England. Eventually, the three would pack their bags and join him in the early spring of 1946. Primmie was eager to embark on a new and exciting life in the United States with her film star husband. The cookout at the Saltair house was intended as a formal warm welcome to Primmie from Niven’s Hollywood circle
The event began with a poolside cookout, followed by casual conversation indoors. The guest list included Niven and Power's close circle of friends, Rex Harrison and his wife Lilli Palmer, Richard Greene and his wife Patricia Medina, fashion designer Oleg Cassini and his wife Gene Tierney, Cesar Romero, Power's close friend film editor J. Watson Webb, Major Arthur Little, and John McClain, a drama critic for the New York Sun.
Oleg Cassini recalled that the party “was an intimate gathering yet formal, as most every evening was, the men in black tie, the women in evening gowns.”
Later, the crowd moved from around the pool to inside, the group chatted, drank cocktails and played charades, but as the night wore on, they became bored and sought new entertainment. It was Cesar Romero who suggested a childhood game called Sardines, a variation of hide-and-seek played in the dark. One player, designated as 'it,' counts while the others hide. Instead of tagging them, 'it' joins the hidden players upon finding them. As more are found, they all squeeze into the same hiding spot, like sardines in a can.
Party games like sardines and charades were a staple for those who preferred staying in over venturing to nightclubs. As Rex Harrison recalled, “The whole crowd used to meet for drinks and dinner parties on Saturday evenings, where the adults enjoyed playing games like charades.”
“The problem was,” Cassini elaborated in his autobiography In My Own Fashion, “that everyone was in the same line of work, a very insular business. They worked very hard, all the successful ones, and there wasn’t time to know much beyond industry gossip. And so, when conversation waned, we often engaged in party games, especially at smaller dinners: charades, hide-and-seek, anything to pass the time.”
The Saltair house was not ideally suited for a game like Sardines. With its large, open rooms and sparse furniture, it lacked the nooks, hideaways, tight spaces, and cluttered areas where players could easily conceal themselves. The wide layout of the Saltair mansion created a disadvantage for participants, and the steps leading down into the living room further complicated the game. Moreover, the presence of an unlocked door that opened onto a steep flight of stairs leading to the basement made it dangerous.
As the lights went out and everyone dispersed, what began as innocent amusement quickly turned tragic. Rex Harrison recalled hearing “a sickening series of thuds,” which filled him with dread. It was Cesar Romero, familiar with the home’s layout, who immediately suspected what had happened. Romero headed straight for the cellar and turned on the lights, discovering Primmie unconscious at the bottom of the stairs. She had unknowingly opened the wrong door in the dark and tumbled down a steep flight of stairs into the basement.
Oleg Cassini’s account of the evening spans several pages in his autobiography, and although parts of it contradict the memories of other guests, he vividly sets the scene. “I was selected to be ‘it’ and began counting to one hundred while the others hid. It was during this process that I heard a thud but didn't think anything of it... until I began my search for the others and heard moaning. I found a door, opened it, and almost lost my balance. It led to a lower level, a garage-like area with a cement floor, but the first step was very tricky, greater than expected. The moaning was distinct now and sounded serious. I couldn't find the lights and called for Tyrone. He came immediately, and there, fallen in a heap at the foot of the cement staircase, was Primula Niven. She appeared to be semiconscious; there was some blood on her temple.”
Patricia Medina remembered, “I was upstairs with Tyrone Power when we heard the thud. Ty turned on the lights, and we rushed downstairs to find Primmie lying unconscious at the bottom of the stairs.” Harrison later recalled, “I just knew someone had fallen down the stairs. Primmie had gone through the wrong door. It was the door to the cellar, and she had stepped forward into empty air. She went all the way down. A terrible, ghastly tragedy.”
Lilli Palmer, quoted in a newspaper article the following day, remembered that Primmie, not Cassini, was ‘it.’ “Mrs. Niven was ‘it,’ she was groping around for a closet door in the dark. Apparently, she found the door leading to the basement and crashed down the steps.”
Primmie was brought upstairs. Annabella and Lilli Palmer moved swiftly, tending to her by cradling her head and mopping it with icy water until a doctor arrived.
“She was taken to the living room,” recalled Harrison. “David was deathly white—in shock. He was clearly distressed, but he somehow remained outwardly calm. Perhaps it was his military training. He said to me, ‘If anything happens to her, I think it will be the end of me; I really do.’ I poured him a brandy while Lilli sat on the floor cradling Primmie’s head.”
Cassini remembered, “A doctor was called; he came quickly. He took her pulse and looked into her eyes. You must imagine the rest of us gathered around in our evening clothes, quietly watching, stunned. Niven perhaps was the calmest of all, in his classic British manner. ‘She’ll be alright,’ David kept saying as if to reassure us. ‘Don’t worry, she’ll be alright.’”
Sometime after ten that evening, Primmie was placed in an ambulance with David Niven by her side and taken to Santa Monica Hospital. Meanwhile, the rest of the party remained at the Saltair house, anxious and hopeful for a phone call from Niven that would bring good news. Instead of calling, Niven later returned to the house and informed his worried friends that Primmie had suffered a severe concussion. He reassured them there was no cause for concern, relaying the doctors’ advice that she should remain completely still and in darkness for a few days to recover.
Reassured that his wife would make a full recovery, Niven returned to work the following day on the film The Magnificent Doll, an ahistorical tale of Aaron Burr's relationship with Ginger Rogers' Dolley Madison. However, he soon received devastating news - Primmie’s condition had taken a turn for the worse. The doctors discovered a blood clot in her brain, necessitating immediate surgery. Tragically, Primmie died at 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 21. She was just twenty-five years old.
The heartbreaking loss sent shockwaves through Hollywood and Niven’s close circle of friends. Rex Harrison reflected on the emotional toll it took on Niven: “He was never the same after that. Even when he married again, he never got over Primmie. He always loved her.”
The funeral of Primula Rollo Niven was held on May 22 at All Saints Episcopal Church. Niven arrived flanked by Clark Gable, Rex Harrison, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and John McClain. Also in attendance were Tyrone Power, Annabella, Oleg Cassini, Gene Tierney, Cesar Romero, Norma Shearer, Myrna Loy, Robert Coleman, and Herbert Marshall.
For the funeral, David Niven penned a brief message that was read to the gathered mourners by the Rev. J. Herbert Smith,“She has given me two little boys and complete happiness,I am infinitely lucky. She always longed to come to California after the war and share my life here. They were the happiest six weeks of her life. I am quite certain that she would like you to know that the main reason for her happiness was the great sweetness and kindness of all of you, my friends, toward her.”
Following the tragedy, the Powers hosted no more Sunday parties and padlocked the basement door.
SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Cassini, Oleg. In My Own Fashion: An Autobiography. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987.
Munn, Michael. David Niven: The Man Behind the Balloon. London: Aurum Press, 2014.
Tierney, Gene, with Mickey Herskowitz. Self Portrait: Gene Tierney. Berkeley: 1979.
Wapshott, Nicholas. Rex Harrison: A Biography. London: Chatto & Windus, 1991.
Guiles, Fred Lawrence. Tyrone Power: The Last Idol. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1979.
Film Star's Wife Dies of Injuries Received in Fall
Paul R. Williams and the Tyrone Power Residence
David Niven’s first wife, Primmie Niven, 1918-1946
New to the Blu-Ray/DVD SHELF
The Angels Wash Their Faces (1939)
While 1939 is hailed as one of the greatest years in film, it certainly had its share of turkeys, and this one is a prime example. What can I say? It’s utterly bonkers—but in the best way possible. With increasingly absurd stakes, the Dead End Kids, aided by Ann Sheridan and Ronald Reagan, take on a rogues’ gallery of corrupt officials, insurance fraudsters, and murderers, all in the name of justice. Is it plausible? Not at all. Is it fun? Absolutely.
click here to indulge in the madness and get your copy of ANGELS WASH THEIR FACES
The Story of Temple Drake (1933)
“Steeped in southern-gothic shadows by influential cinematographer Karl Struss and shot through with moral ambiguity, The Story of Temple Drake is a harrowing vision of sin and salvation that boasts an astonishing lead performance from the fiery Hopkins, whose passage through the stations of terror, trauma, and redemption is a true tour de force of screen acting.”
DVD SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • High-definition digital restoration • New program featuring a conversation between cinematographer John Bailey and Matt Severson, director of the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, about the film’s visual style, along with archival materials relating to its production • New program with critic Imogen Sara Smith about the complexity of the film and its central performance by Miriam Hopkins • New interview with critic Mick LaSalle about the film, censorship, and the Production Code • PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien
See for yourself why Miriam Hopkins was one of the pre-Code era's most daring stars.
click here to get a copy of THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE
Luckily, there’s a great streaming version of the film and you can watch it here➡️ THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE
NEW TO THE BOOKSHELF
Mary C. McCall Jr. - The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Most Powerful Screenwriter by J.E. Smyth
“A screenwriter, novelist, labor leader, Hollywood insider, and feminist, Mary C. McCall Jr. was one of the film industry’s most powerful figures in the 1940s and early 1950s. She was elected the first woman president of the Screen Writers Guild after leading the fight to unionize the industry’s writers and secured the first contract guaranteeing a minimum wage, credit protection, and pay raises. Her advocacy was not welcomed by all: To screenwriters McCall was an “avenging goddess,” but to studio heads she was, in the words of one Hollywood executive, “the meanest bitch in town.” And after a clash with the mogul Howard Hughes in the blacklist-era 1950s, she disappeared from the pages of Hollywood history.”
I haven’t gotten to this one yet, but I ordered it today after a reminder. I can’t wait to dive in! Thanks, Shaun!!! get your copy here
Moguls: The Lives and Times of Hollywood Film Pioneers Nicholas and Joseph Schenck by Michael Benson and Craig Singer
I don’t believe the Schenk brothers have been the primary focus of a biography. I could be mistaken, but while researching my Anti-Nazi Films video, I struggled to find information on Nicolas Schenk beyond newspaper articles and scattered references in other biographies and books about MGM's history.
“Groundbreaking pioneers of the Hollywood Dream Factory, Joseph and Nicholas Schenck may not have been household names like the Warner brothers or Louis B. Mayer, but they were infinitely more powerful, influential—and ruthless. A pair of Russian immigrants with giant ambitions, the Schencks turned their small nickelodeon business in New York’s Bowery into a partnership with Loew’s movie theaters and a controlling interest in three major studios: MGM, 20th Century Fox, and United Artists. They painted the silver screen silver, laid the foundations for the all-powerful studio system, and ruled a global movie empire from their Gatsby-sized mansions on the East and West coasts. The Schencks had become moguls.”
Pick a Gold Digger
I stumbled upon this little gem in the 1933 Motion Picture Herald. Warner Brothers was incredibly confident in the massive hit potential of Gold Diggers of 1933, encouraging motion picture exhibitors to reach out for advice on how to best advertise the film. Included in this call to action was a ballot for theater owners to vote for their six favorite Gold Diggers from a lineup of eighteen. The top six would be recreated for life-size lobby displays.
“Here are eighteen of the most beautiful poses of the hundreds of stunning beauties who appear in “Gold Diggers”. Six of them must be selected for use for life size cut-out lobby easels, marquee hangers etc. WHICH SIX DO YOU ADVISE US TO USE? Indicate your choice on the coupon below and mail to us.”
I’m not sure who the lucky six were, but if I find out, I’ll let you know!
FILM STARS INVADE CITY
Found this fun Pathé film covering the spectacular events surrounding the premiere of Dodge City. Fifty thousand visitors and two hundred film actors “invaded” Dodge City, Kansas, for the premiere of the 1939 Warner Brothers western starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Ann Sheridan, and Bruce Cabot. In the end, all the hoopla was worth it—Dodge City became Warner's most profitable film of 1939.
Let’s Do Lunch
Here’s a close up look at the menus from some of classic Hollywood’s biggest studios.
Check out more menus at Vintage Menu Art
Check out the blog ONCE UPON A SCREEN for some great images from classic Hollywood’s studio dining rooms
and finally. . .
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Terrific post. Watching Niven on 70s chat shows, it strikes me how nervous he is... there's far more to Niven than meets the eye...
The Schencks are often portrayed as antagonistic figures in other Hollywood biographies, but "Moguls" likely will make them more multi-dimensional.