Great report! Thanks for sharing! made me wish I had been there, too
Richard Del Belso
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2010 17:34:49 -0800
From: neiljawor...@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: [MOPO] OT: Luise Rainer, 100, speaking in London earlier today
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Hi all
So, for those who are interested.....
I just got back from seeing newly-minted centenarian, Ms Luise Rainer, talk for
90 minutes at London's National Theatre (to Sir Christopher Frayling).
Unusually, although perhaps characteristically, Rainer had decided in advance
that she intended to only take questions from the audience (although Frayling
did a great job of posing interesting follow-up questions and kept things
moving along).
The 'Viennese Teardrop' was on fantastic, fun, combative form, happily killing
off rumours that she was in any way Thalberg's protege ("I hardly knew him! He
met me at a party!') and downplaying her role in getting Brecht out of Nazi
Germany ('He was already in Sweden!').
The Brecht story was one of the best anecdotes. Apparently Luise thought he
was a genius and so happily signed an affidavit to speed his entry into the
States. Brecht was so grateful and enchanted by Rainer that he wrote The
Caucasion Chalk Circle for her. When Frayling asked Rainer why she had never
appeared in this or any other Brecht plays, she laughed and said it was because
after she met Brecht she realised she couldn't stand him!
Rainer was also fascinating on the subject of her two Oscars, claiming that -
for a newly-arrived foreigner to the US from Europe - these awards didn't
really mean that much. Rainer says that director Max Reinhardt running up to
her after a rehearsal to say 'Rainer, how did you do that?!' meant more to her
than any Oscar.
Rainer was also very interesting on her 'genius' husband Clifford Odets, who
tried to, but could not, get her interested in politics: 'I know the difference
between good and bad, rich and poor. But when he gave me Marx's book I read
three pages and gave it back.'
The best anecdote was about Rainer and Odets' honeymoon in Mexico. Odets
religiously wrote at night (and slept during the day) and so it came to pass
that, on their wedding night, his double oscar-winning bride was banished
downstairs to the hotel bar. Here, she fell in with a large group of
vacationing midgets who were drunk and who decided to revere the 'giant' Rainer
as their God. They claimed that they had a miniature version of Rainer in
their ranks which they proudly introduced to the actress. Rainer fled to the
beach, where she stumbled across Odets. Thrilled to see him, she tried to leap
into his arms, but he ducked out of the way fearing injury and she ended up in
a heap on the sand.
The evening ended with Frayling asking Rainer why she doesn't wear a watch (she
never has). Rainer told him she doesn't need one. When Frayling asked her how
she knows what time it is, she looked at him as if he was an idiot, 'Instinct!"
she announced, "Instinct and intuition!"
Rainer received a standing ovation at the end and was completely at ease and
animated throughout. What an absolute pleasure to have a front row seat to
such an event. I hope the NT will release a transcript to compensate for my
sketchy memory.
Apologies to MOPOers for who this is way, way OT!
Best to you all
Neil
PS I just remembered that, when she was asked for her memories of her favourite
leading men, Rainer told the audience that her favourite was not who they might
think.
With everyone suitably intrigued and waiting to hear who it was, Rainer threw
her hands into the air with exasperation and announced that she had forgotten
his name. She then flashed her eyes at the audience and shouted 'Give me a
chance! I am a hundred you know!" Cue uproar and once the laughter had
subsided, she announced that she HAD now remembered and that it was Melvyn
Douglas.
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