They should have made it

As one visitor had suggested, I am blogging about Hedy Lamarr and Errol Flynn and the project they should have made together, if other things (whatever they were) hadn’t happened. Around 1943/1944, Errol Flynn spotted his eyes on Hedy as his leading lady for his upcoming technicolor movie William Tell. The movie never came into production due to financial problems. I mourn that fact. Think of the gorgeousness of both in a technicolor! Hedy liked Errol very much in real life and had thought of him as a talented writer whose parties never got boring (now she was not a party person at all, so that’s something!). Here’s what Errol wrote about Hedy in his autobiography My wicked wicked ways, when he and his friend David Niven were invited to Hedy’s house.

they would have made a gorgeous movie couple, don't you think?

One night Niven and I were invited to the house of Hedy Lamarr. She was married to John Loder at the time. Reginald Gardiner and his delightful Russian wife were there, and a few others.

It chances that I think Hedy to be one of the most underestimated actresses, one who has not been lucky enough to get the most desirable roles. I have seen her do a few brilliant things. I always thought she had great talent, and as far as classical beauty is concerned you could not then, nor perhaps even now, find anyone to top Lamarr. Probably one of the most beautiful women of our day. Naturally, I wanted to meet her — and subsequently I would want her to play the female lead in my Italian fiasco, William Tell.

As we waited for Hedy to enter her living room, David kept prodding me to expect by far the most ravishing creature.

David whispered as she glided in, “By God, she’s beautiful, even without the jewels.”

“Quiet!”

He wasn’t quiet. “See if she will tell you what she told me about how she had to save herself in getting out of Austria.”

Hedy Lamarr as the lady of William Tell? hmm why not?

Now, with Niven prodding me, I didn’t know how to get around her to ask her to tell me about her private life, but it sounded intriguing when David repeated, “See if she will talk about the night she couldn’t stand it any more and made a gateaway.”

Hedy and I talked for a while. I started leading up to it in a diplomatic way and finally got out the words, “Where is Mandel now?” At which from this beautiful creature, came the growl, “That sonofabitch!” She spat and walked off.

As for the completeness of my mourning out of pity, I’ll blog about the films Hedy should have had the chances to make (and many of them turned into quite a success) but for one reason or another, didn’t.