Arthur Gene

Gene Arthur was born in Plattsburgh, New York , in a Protestant family, her parents are Joanna Augusta Nelson and Hubert Sidney Green. Her mother was the granddaughter of immigrants from Norway who settled in the American West. Gene had three brothers, all older than her: Donald Hubert (1891), Robert B. (1892) and Albert Sidney (1894). The Green family led a rather mobile lifestyle. From 1908 to 1915, they lived in Westbrook, Maine , at which time Father Jean worked as a photographer in Portland , at Lamson Studios. Then for a short time they lived in Jacksonville, Florida , Schenectady, New York . While at school, Gene and her family lived in Washington Heights , on 159th Street in Upper Manhattan . The family moved to New York in 1915, at the same time Gene had to drop out of school “for family reasons”. During World War I, Gene Arthur worked as a stenographer on Bond Street in Lower Manhattan , anticipating the characters she later played in the movie. Her father and brothers went to the front, and the youngest of the brothers, Albert, died of wounds received in battle.

Career in silent films

In the early 1920s, Gene Arthur worked as a model in New York, where she was found by employees of the 20th Century Fox studio . Arthur signs an annual contract with the studio, after which he makes his debut in the silent film directed by John Ford “Cameo Kirby” (1923). At that time, the studio was in search of new audience favorites, beautiful, dynamic and sexually attractive, in order to attract a young audience of the jazz era . In his first film, Arthur just appears in the image of a sort of frivolous flapper of those times. After a small role in the Cameo Kirby, Gene gets his first major role in the film “Temple of Venus” (1923), a plotless tale about a group of dancing nymphs. Dissatisfied with her acting skills, director Henry Otto already on the third day of filming replaces Arthur with actress Mary Philbin . Arthur had no choice but to agree with him: “There was no inner spark in me, I played like a mechanical doll, without a soul. I thought I was disgraced for life. ” She was ready to end her career and quit the film industry forever, but remained because of the signed contract. Conscious that she lacked preparation, Arthur began to take acting classes, which, she believed, would allow her to "get out into the people." To gain at least some fame, she starred as a fashion model for the Los Angeles model catalogs, and then - in the commercial of the Ensino nightclub. However, all this does not bring her tangible results.

That all changed one day when Arthur appeared on Action Pictures, a company producing films of category B. She managed to impress her owner, Lester F. Scott Jr., and he decided to take the risk - as a result, over the next couple of years, Arthur was involved in more than twenty Western films. Receiving a very modest fee - only $ 25 per picture, Arthur was very suffering from difficult working conditions. Filming was carried out, as a rule, in the same place, most often in the desert near Los Angeles, under the scorching sun. There was no drinking water, often even simple awnings were absent, under which one could hide from the sun's rays. In addition, these films often featured the most ordinary cowboys, rude and ignorant, used for "black work", so the young actress was not of any use to them professionally. These films were a great success in the Midwest, while Gene Arthur herself wasn’t particularly flashy. In addition to participating in Action Pictures, from 1924 to 1926, Arthur also starred in several independent westerns (eg Pharmacy Cowboy, 1925), as well as in westerns for Poverty Row. In addition, she performed a cameo role in Buster Keaton 's film "Seven Chances" (1925).

In 1927, Arthur attracted attention by co-starring May Bush and Charles Delaney in the movie Hunter for Husbands . Then follows the role of beloved Monty Banks in Horseshoes (1927). The film brought a good box office, and for participating in it Arthur received an impressive fee, as much as $ 700. Director Richard Wallace , ignoring the request of the boss of the studio, Fox, to take a more experienced actress, argues Arthur for the main female role in the teen comedy "Poor Walnut" (1927). The Variety magazine, in its review of the film, does not particularly spare the actress: “Hollywood is filled with crowds of charming young girls who are upholstering at the thresholds of studios and passionately eager to appear on the screen. It seems strange that from all of them two completely flat actresses, Gene Arthur and Jane Winton, were chosen. None of them show real “presence” on the screen. To make them attractive - even with the most benevolent attitude of the camera, even from that side, even from this one - is simply unrealistic. Discouraged by the direction her career takes, Arthur felt a desire to take a break for a while, which she announces in an interview. She was very skeptical when she signed a contract for a role in the Warm Up (1928) studio at Famous Players-Lasky , starring Richard Dix . The “warm-up” , presented as the first sound film of the studio, received a wide response in the press, and Arthur herself was showered with praises for her role as the owner of the club. In Variety, they noted: "Dicks and Arthur are simply magnificent, despite the scarcity of material." While Screenland magazine wrote that Arthur is “one of the most charming young actresses that has ever worked with Dix. Gene is very charming, and her charm does not depend on who she portrays. She is a really good girl and she has talent. ” Following the success of Warm Up, Arthur signs a three-year contract with the studio, which will soon become known as Paramount Pictures . And begins to earn $ 150 a week.

Transition to a sound movie

With the advent of sound cinema in the late 1920s, Arthur was one of the few Paramount Pictures actresses who did not want to switch to sound films. Realizing that the general enthusiasm for sound is not a temporary stage, but for a long time, she contacted sound engineer Roy Pomeroy. Her unusual hoarse voice contributed to her studies at the Broadway Theater, and ultimately helped her become a sound screen star. The debut of the actress in the "talking" movie was the film "The Canary Killing Case" (1929), where she starred with William Powell and Louise Brooks . Upon seeing the film, Arthur was horrified; later she said that in those days she was “a very nasty actress ... she really wanted to become better, but ... the lack of experience and real school affected her.”

In the early years of sound cinema, Paramount was known for using experienced actors with good vocals and impressive merit in the past. Gene Arthur was not one of those, and so she had to fight for recognition. Her affair with executive producer David Selznick was in this sense worthless: Arthur was immediately visible, and in 1929 she was chosen as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars . After a silent western of category “B” “Sand Ladders” (1929), she played a major role in “Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu” (1929), earning approval from critics. Arthur becomes famous, she has to pose for photographers and give interviews - despite all her dislike of such things.

Thanks to Selznik, Arthur gets his best role at that time - in the film "Saturday Night Child" , next to the famous Clara Bow , who was then the sex symbol of Hollywood. The fact that of the two of them in the film is more visible Arthur, was undoubtedly for everyone; producer Edward Sutherland said: "Arthur was so good that we had to cut and cut the shot, otherwise all the success would go to her alone." Arthur later spoke of her work with Bowe: “She was very generous, not at all arrogant, nothing like that. She treated me wonderfully. ” The film was a moderate success, and The New York Times wrote: “ Saturday Night's Child would have remained an ordinary middle-aged man if it hadn't been for Gene Arthur, who plays her part as a malicious sister with great skill.”

After “Halfway to Paradise” (1929), which also featured the popular Charles Rogers (speaking of this film, Variety magazine noted that Gene’s career would have been much more successful if she tried to look sexier), Selznik claims the role of William Powell's wife in Streets of Fortune (1930). However, the director of the film, John Cromwell, the actress was not impressed, he advised Arthur to leave thoughts about Hollywood and return back to New York. By 1930, the novel of Gene Arthur and Selznik came to an end, and, accordingly, her position in Paramount was shaken. After several rather anemic engineering roles in medium-sized films, Gene Arthur made his debut in December 1930 in a small role on the Pasadena Playhouse, in the ten-day Spring Song show. Returning to Hollywood, Arthur realizes that her career is inexorably declining. She tries to change her image and repaints herself in a blonde - in the hope of winning a comparison with the more successful actress Mary Brian . However, these efforts were no longer needed, by mid-1931 her contract with Paramount was ending. They did not renew it, in particular, due to financial difficulties at the studio that arose due to the Great Depression .

Broadway and Columbia Pictures

In late 1931, Arthur returned to New York, where a Broadway agent helped her get a role in the adaptation of Lysistrata , which was staged at the Riviera Theater on January 24, 1932. A few months later, she played in the Broadway production of Foreign Affairs (eng. Foreign Affairs) , next to Dorothy Guiche and Osgood Perkins . Despite the success and good performance of the genie, the performance was closed after 23 shows. Although the critics were impressed. Then she got a role in the play The Man Who Reclaimed His Head (eng. The Man Who Reclaimed His Head) , which premiered on September 8, 1932, at the Broadhurst Theater. The performance received negative reviews, which is why it had to be closed. After that, Arthur goes to California to rest, but instead gets there his first movie role in two years in the film "Mary Holmes Past" (1933), the company "RKO Pictures" .

Returning to Broadway, Gene Arthur continued to appear in small plays that did not have much success. However, critics continued to praise her, noting that Arthur was gaining more and more self-confidence. Comparing her career in Hollywood and New York, Arthur said:

The performance “The Curtain Rises” was on the Broadway stage from October to December 1933, and Arthur was the center of attention in it. With good press reviews, Arthur returns to Hollywood, where she immediately rained down on offers that she rejected - until she met with the boss of Columbia Pictures . Arthur agreed to participate in the film "Whirlpool" (1934) immediately, and already in the process of filming she was offered a long-term contract that guaranteed her and her family reliable financial support. Thus, on February 14, 1934, Arthur associates his fate with Columbia Pictures for a five-year term.

In 1935, the 34-year-old Arthur starred with Edward G. Robinson in the gangster comedy “ The Whole City Says ” (1935), after which her popularity began to grow markedly. Here Arthur for the first time played an independent girl "with a golden heart" - this way her whole career will then be associated with this. She enjoyed filming and working together with Robinson - he later wrote in her autobiography that "he was delighted to meet and work with Arthur." By the time the film was released, Arthur from a natural brunette again turned into a blonde. And later she kept this image all the time. Her next films - “Party Wires” (1935), “Public Hero No. 1” (1935) and “If You Could Cook” (1935) were not as successful as “The Whole City Speaks,” but the actress brought positive reviews. One of the critics wrote about her work in the last of them: "It is incredible how easy it is to slide from the role of a charming comedian to a romantic beauty." Now, after her fame increased, Arthur could agree on concessions from Harry Cohn - such as, for example, the choice of script, director, and the right to act in other film studios.

The turning point in Arthur’s career occurred when she was chosen by director Frank Capra for the filming of Mr. Deeds Moves to the City . Capra saw her in Whirlpool (1934) and then persuaded Kohn and Columbia Pictures to sign a contract with Arthur - for the role of a journalist who falls in love with a millionaire. Colleagues recalled that while shooting was taking place, Arthur was worried that the film would turn out unsuccessful. However, Mr. Deeds has gained both critical acclaim and international fame. In 1936, Arthur earned $ 199,000 - more than the president of the United States himself. Along with fame, there was an annoying attention from the press - which Arthur was terribly annoying. She preferred not to go to official events, usual at that time in Hollywood, it was extremely difficult for her to give an interview. She was called the American Greta Garbo - since Garbo was known for her phenomenal retreat. The Movie Classic magazine in 1937 wrote: “There was no chance to interview Garbo or even just greet her on behalf of the press, because she was absolutely elusive - unlike her other stellar colleagues. Gene Arthur is now very reminiscent of her. "

At the request of William Powell , Arthur starred in the film "Former Mrs. Bradford" (1936), the company "RKO Pictures" . At the end of it, Arthur hoped to go on vacation, but Harry Cohn immediately sent her to shoot two more films: Adventures in Mahatten (1936) and More Than a Secretary (1936). None of them attracted much attention. After that, again without interruption, she starred in a film by Cecil de Mill in "A Man from the Plain" (1936), the company "Paramount Pictures" . The role of Bedova Jane in this film, where she starred next to Gary Cooper, Arthur called her favorite role. After that, she starred in the typical role of the “poor girl” in Mitchell Leisen ’s eccentric comedy “Easy Life” (1937), in which Ray Milland also starred. Then, together with James Stuart, she performs in the comedy of Frank Capra "You Can't Take It With You" (1938). In 1939, this film received two Oscars - in the nominations "Best Film" and "Best Director". Gene Arthur was so convincing in him that she was included in the number of four final contenders for the role of Scarlett O'Hara (the role went to Vivien Leigh ) in Gone With the Wind . The producer of the film was David Selznik , with whom Arthur had a little romance in the late 1920s, when they both still worked in Paramount Pictures . In 1939, Arthur reunited with Frank Capra and James Stewart in the classic film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington . Here she again plays the “poor girl”, but this time her heroine teaches naive Mr. Smith various tricks that would help him realize some of his ambitious plans.

In 1939, Gene Arthur appears in a rather exotic dramatic film “Only Angels Have Wings,” directed by Howard Hawks. There she had a major role, and her partner was none other than Cary Grant . This was followed by two comedies by George Stevens, “The Conversation of the City” (1942, also paired with Cary Grant ) and “In Confinement, But Not Offense” (1943). For her work in the last of them, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress (lost to Jennifer Jones in Bernadette's Song ). Perhaps due to Arthur being out of favor with Harry Cohn's studio boss, her fee for Talking the City was only $ 50,000 - while her co-stars Cary Grant and Ronald Coleman received $ 100,000 each. Arthur left from Columbia Pictures before the mid-1940s. When she left the studio, Rita Hayworth took the place of the “ruling queen” of “Columbia Pictures”. Stevens spoke of Gene Arthur as "one of the greatest comedic actresses he had ever seen." And Frank Kapra said that Arthur is his favorite actress of all.

Late Career

Arthur “retired” in 1944 when her contract with Columbia Pictures expired. According to eyewitnesses, she ran through the streets of the studio with a cry: “I am free! I am free! ”For several years, she rejected all offers to withdraw, making only two exceptions. The first is for filming in Bill Wilder's film Foreign Romance (1948); in it, she played congressman and love rival Marlene Dietrich . The second is for the classic western western Shane (1953, dir. J. Stevens). “Shane” was Arthur’s last film for the big screen, and besides that, over the course of her career, he turned out to be the highest grossing.

After Arthur left the cinema, her performances in the theater became increasingly rare - due to her timidity, nervousness and self-doubt. Speaking about this, Capra, for example, said that on the set, between takes, she ran to the dressing room, where she cried and tried to cope with nausea, but when she appeared on the set, she performed all the scenes flawlessly. According to the biographical book Gene Arthur: An Actress That Nobody Knew (1997, author John Oller), Arthur had a stage fear that developed into a psychosomatic disorder . A vivid example of this was the case in 1945, when she was chosen for the main role in the play by Garson Kanin “Born Yesterday” . Anxiety and self-doubt overcame the actress, and she was forced to leave the play before the premiere, giving way to Judy Holiday .

A small victory over himself was the main role in the Broadway musical Peter Pan . Arthur in it played a boy who did not want to grow up - while she herself was almost 50 years old. In 1954, Gene Arthur was considered as a contender for the role of Joan of Arc in Bernard Shaw ’s play “Saint Joan” . However, due to a nervous breakdown and a conflict with director Harold Klurman, she had to leave the project.

After “Shane” and the production of “Peter Pan”, Arthur has not starred for 12 years. In 1965, she returned to the television screen, appearing in one of the episodes of the series “Smoke from the barrel” . In 1966, already extremely unoccupied, Arthur agreed to the role of lawyer Patricia Marshall in her own television show , The Jean Arthur Show . The show was broadcast on CBS and was closed after 12 episodes.

In 1967, Arthur tried to persuade him to return to Broadway, to play in the play "Mad Stephanie Blake" - in the role of an old maid, who falls into a hippie group. The writer William Goldman in his book "Season" describes the production as catastrophic, saying that in the end it had to be closed at the preview stage, as Arthur refused to continue to participate in it.

After that, Arthur began to teach dramatic art, first at Vassar College , and then at the North Carolina School of Art . During teaching in Vassar, she staged performances with students. If the students were replaying, she pointed to the tree that grew outside the rehearsal class window and said: “I want you to know what it means to be like a person. After all, a tree knows what it means to be like a tree. ”

Among her students in Vassar was a young Meryl Streep . Arthur immediately felt her talent and potential. After the performance, in which the strip took part, she noticed that she “looked just like a movie star”.

Living in North Carolina, Arthur once hit the front pages of newspapers. She was arrested and imprisoned on charges of illegally entering foreign territory. The fact was that Jin went into the neighbor’s yard to protect the dog, which she thought was being abused. Arthur loved animals and said that she trusted them more than people.

In 1975, the play “The First Monday of October” , about the first woman judge, was staged on Broadway. The role of the judge was written specifically for Arthur, however, due to the fear of the stage, she had to leave the play immediately, as soon as he was played in the Cleveland Play House theater. Further, this role was played by Jane Alexander .

After this incident, Arthur left the scene for good. She settled in a house off the coast in Carmel, California . Arthur stubbornly refused all interviews, her resistance was broken only once - by the author of a book about Frank Kapra. Arthur somehow admitted that she would rather cut her throat rather than agree to an interview again.

In the 1920s, Arthur had an affair with David Selznik - despite his marriage to Irene Mayer Selznik . Arthur worked with Selznik together at Paramount Pictures, and he helped her get many of the main roles.

In 1928, Arthur married a photographer Julian Anker, but a day later he was canceled. Arthur herself spoke of this candidate for husbands: “He looked like Abraham Lincoln , which is probably why I fell in love with him. Once we just walked, and he suggested that I get married. Our families were against this marriage, they shouted, even threatened. But, unfortunately, neither Julian nor I had enough money to live together. Therefore, our marriage lasted only one day. "

In 1932, Jean Arthur married Frank Ross , this marriage lasted much longer, ending in divorce in 1949. Arthur had no children from either the first or second marriage.

Gene Arthur died of heart failure on June 19, 1991, at the age of 90. Her body was cremated, and the ashes were scattered on the shore near Point Lobos, California.

• On February 8, 1960, the nominal star Jean Arthur was laid on the Hollywood Walk of Fame , its location is Hollywood Boulevard, 6331.
• Atrium Gene Arthur was donated by her to the Monterey Institute of International Studies .
• An alternative singer, Robbie Falx , in 1999, included in his collection “The Very Best of Robbie Fulks”, the song “Jean Arthur”. In this song, he notes the uniqueness of the personality and style of the actress.
• After her death, film critic Charles Champlin wrote in the Los Angeles Times :

• “This is a very stressful job - every day of your life looking the way you look on the screen”
• “I guess I became an actress because I didn’t want to be myself”
• “I'm not an adult, this is my opinion of myself. Except when I work on the set, I’m a shy, timid, shy and underdeveloped child ... and if I don’t have something in common with a person, I’m completely lost. I am drowning in my own silence. "
• “I hated my work for the lack of privacy in which curious journalists and their entire environment climb”
• “If people don’t like your work, then not a single picture in the world, or oceans of articles written about you, will make you popular.”
• “First, I played the roles of engineering and Western heroines, and then of Western heroines and engineering. This role diet has become similar to the uniform spinach diet. The studio did not trust me with other roles, because I did not have such an experience. And I did not see that someday they would give me the opportunity to gain such experience, because I could not achieve any other roles. It was a vicious circle. "

• Gene Arthur on the Internet Broadway Database
• Gene Arthur at KinoPoisk