Oscar Profile #112: Jerry Wald

Born September 16, 1911, the son of a dry goods salesman, Jerry Wald began his career in show business as a radio columnist for The New York Evening Graphic in 1929 at the age of 18, while completing his schooling in journalism. Writing for crooner Russ Columbia and other radio stars led to writing short features for RKO in the mid-1930s. Moving to Warner Bros., Wald wrote the screenplays for such popular films as The Roaring Twenties; Brother Orchid; They Drive by Night; Out of the Fog and The Hard Way. He met and married model Connie Polan on Christmas Day, 1941, theirs becoming one of Hollywood’s happiest marriages.

Promoted to producer, Wald oversaw the production of many of Warner Bros.’ biggest hits of the 1940s including Mildred Pierce; Key Largo and Johnny Belinda, receiving the Thalberg at the 1948 Oscars, the year the latter two films won Oscars for their female stars, Jane Wyman and Claire Trevor, respectively.

In the early 1950s Wald produced The Blue Veil for RKO; Queen Bee and The Eddy Duchin Story for Columbia among other films before moving to Twentieth Century-Fox where he had his greatest success.

At Fox, the always busy Wald had terrific success with such films as An Affair to Remember; No Down Payment; Peyton Place (securing Wald an Oscar nomination for Best Picture); In Love and War; The Long, Hot Summer; The Best of Everything; Beloved Infidel; The Story on Page One; Sons and Lovers (another Oscar nomination for Best Picture for Wald); Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation; Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man and The Stripper, the latter two films released after Wald’s untimely death of a heart attack on July 13, 1962 at the age of 50.

Wald’s story doesn’t end with his death. Early in his marriage to his wife Connie, the couple became the go-to hosts of Hollywood royalty, entertaining the likes of Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Errol Flynn, Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Mae West, Maurice Chevalier, Gore Vidal, Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, who became Connie’s best friend. After his passing, Mrs. Wald continued to entertain the top names in the business who flocked to the cozy Beverly Hills home she lived in for seventy years. Among her new friends were Harrison Ford, Angelica Huston, Joan Didion, Dominick Dunne, Diane Keaton and Woody Allen. She also entertained three generations of Goldwyns. In later years her son Andrew helped with the famed Wald dinners.

When she died on November 10, 2012 the age of 96, Mrs. Wald left Andrew with these words: “‘No flowers, no services — and don’t cancel Thanksgiving.” Nancy Reagan was the first to say she’d be there.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

JOHNNY BELINDA (1948), directed by Jean Negulesco

Legend has it that Warner Bros. studio head, Jack Warner was convinced Wald’s purchase of the screen rights to the play on which the film is based was a waste of money until the film became a huge hit garnering twelve Oscar nominations. Beautifully photographed and scored, as well as performed by Jane Wyman , Lew Ayres, Charles Bickford and Agnes Moorehead, this was one of the rare films to be nominated for acting awards in all four categories. The best thing about is Wyman’s luminous Oscar winning performance as a self-reliant deaf mute rape victim.

THE BLUE VEIL (1952), directed by Curtis Bernhardt

Wyman’s favorite of all her films, and another beautiful filmed soap opera made something more thanks to Wald’s exemplary production values and a strong supporting cast including Charles Laughton, Joan Blondell, Agnes Moorehead and Natalie Wood. The film about a World War I widow who loses her own child shortly after birth and spends the remainder of her life caring for other people’s children has become the most sought after film not available in any home video format except for horrid bootleg copies taken from a 1980 Los Angeles TV broadcast. Rights to the film are owned by the estate of Francois Campaux, the author of the 1942 French film, who for their own reasons have refused all requests for distribution of the film after Campaux’s death in 1983. Wyman owned a pristine 16mm print of the film that could serve as the basis for a legitimate DVD release if the rights issues are ever resolved.

PEYTON PLACE (1957), directed by Mark Robson

The classy production values that were the hallmark of Wald’s films are in full evidence in this beautifully cleaned up version of Grace Metalious’ notorious 1956 novel about sex in small town America. With the novel’s sales second only to the Bible, the film’s success was assured, allowing Wald to lavish more money on the project than Fox might otherwise have allowed. The beautifully crafted finished product resulted in nine Oscar nominations including a rare five acting nods for Lana Turner, Arthur Kennedy, Russ Tamblyn, Hope Lange and Diane Varsi with other actors including Lloyd Nolan, Betty Field and Mildred Dunnock receiving high praise as well. Wald was cited in the Best Picture nomination as the film’s producer for the first time.

SONS AND LOVERS (1960), directed by Jack Cardiff

With the success of Peyton Place, much of Wald’s subsequent films delved further into territory that gnawed at the Hollywood Production Code, none more so than this exquisite film version of D.H. Lawrence’s novel about the sexual awakenings of a sensitive young man with an insensitive father and smothering mother. Once again the production values couldn’t be more pristine as the film is helmed by one of filmdom’s most gifted cinematographers., Jack Cardiff who photographed Black Narcissus and The African Queen among others. According to Trevor Howard and Wendy Hiller, who turn in powerhouse performances as Dean Stockwell’s parents, the actors directed themselves while Jack Cardiff concentrated on the look of the film. If so, all the actors including Mary Ure and Heather Sears as Stockwell’s conquests would have made fine directors themselves. Wald received his second Best Picture Oscar nomination as the film’s producer.

THE STRIPPER (1963, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner

Wald’s last film is the screen version of William Inge’s A Loss of Roses, about a failed actress/magician’s assistant who sinks to performing in a seedy strip club to make ends meet. The film is one of the last examples of fine black-and-white cinematography and features a beautifully modulated performance by Joanne Woodward in the quite misleading title role, originally intended for Marilyn Monroe. The film also features good performances by Richard Beymer as Woodward’s landlady’s son who is infatuated with her and frequent Wald player Claire Trevor as the nasty landlady.