I would agree that Pickford and Ford worked hard to conceal their true nature, especially Ford. Mayer not so much - he was just constantly shifting emotional tactics to get what he wanted in a given circumstance. And Lubitsch - I know, I know, you haven't read it - wasn't like that at all. He was th...

]Good Morning, Mr. E. Thanks very much for all your generous answers to our questions. In your book "The Speed of Sound: Hollywood and the Talkie Revolution" you mention that there was some disagreement among those who were there when The Jazz Singer was made regarding Al Jolson 's ad libb...

Hi Mr. Eyman, I noticed you had written a book on Bergman. I'm curious to know your thoughts on the Rossellini films, especially Europa 51 (1952) and Voyage to Italy (1953). Where would you rate these two in the scope of the rest of her work? I like the Rossellini films a great deal although they ob...

I'm a big Ernst Lubitsch fan and enjoyed your commentary on the "Trouble in Paradise" dvd and your biography of him, Laughter in Paradise . Since Lubitsch's films were concerned, in a very sophisticated way, with sex and money, as well as the numerous masks that people try to wear in publi...

Hello Mr. Eyman - I'm curious about the darker issues surrounding the relationship between Louis B. Mayer and Dore Schary. I realize that the "older man / younger man" subtext probably played a part, but were there deeper, more personal matters involved between the two men once Schary beca...

]Hi Mr E---I'm afraid the "three or four question" limit has been past but I have a very naughty habit of being oblivious to rules, so if you have the patience to answer just one more question I have the nerve to ask it: Tonight TCM is airing Ford's MARY OF SCOTLAND, a movie I haven't seen...

1) One thing that has pleasantly surprised me about Lubitsch's films is that "horror actors" like Lugosi ("Ninotchka") and Atwill ("To Be or Not to Be") show up and give nice comic performances. I guess I would have expected "royalty" like Lubitsch to disdain ...

Mr. Goodheart, True on both counts. Pickford screen tested for Life With Father, but WB chose Irene Dunne for what I would guess were commercial reasons. It was an expensive picture, they had borrowed William Powell from MGM, so they probably figured it made more sense to spend the extra money and h...

Every director has to use different approaches to reach different actors. John Wayne's attitude toward Ford was indicated by his nickname for him: "Pappy." For Wayne, Ford was a straight father figure, a tough, demanding father figure, the sort who never throws his arm around his kid and t...

I would agree that Pickford and Ford worked hard to conceal their true nature, especially Ford. Mayer not so much - he was just constantly shifting emotional tactics to get what he wanted in a given circumstance. And Lubitsch - I know, I know, you haven't read it - wasn't like that at all. He was th...