Walter Huston — I Won't Live in Hollywood (1936) 🇺🇸
"I refuse to live in Hollywood because it is the most idiotic place in the world in which to life." Thus said Walter (Rain — Gabriel Over the White House — Night Court — Hell Below — The Prizefighter and the Lady — Rhodes — Dodsworth on stage and screen) Huston to me.
He added, "I refuse to live in Hollywood because I do not want to be known as a 'motion picture actor.' An actor, yes — I hope. Not a 'Hollywood personality' tagged and labeled and trade-marked and card-indexed.
"I refuse to live in Hollywood because I don't want money. I mean it. Not Big Money. Of course," said Mr. Huston, a twinkle in his deep-set, kindly eyes, a twist of his tolerant mouth, "I'm rather glad that screen players are taxed as they are. If they were not I might, being human, succumb to the terrific sums which are paid here in Hollywood. But the taxes are exorbitant and I am able to withstand the temptation — and save my soul.
"I say I don't want money. I've never envied poor Dodsworth. I'm not accustomed to the luxury standard. I've seen more grief than good come out of it. I'm fifty-two years old. I'm happily married. A giddy whirl and a giddy girl no longer invite me. I have built for myself and my family the kind of a home I want — in the San Bernardino mountains between Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake. I have put into this home every dream I ever dreamed of home-building... So much more important," smiled the man who played Rhodes, The Empire Builder, "than empire building!
"I live life there (when I have the chance) as I have dreamt it should be lived, tranquilly, close to the natural sources. My wife, Nan Sunderland, who played with me for the three-year run of Dodsworth, you know — she loves it, too. We are away from the crowds. We have acres of great pine trees, which seem to touch the real stars at night. From my front porch I can sit and rock and smoke and look 7,000 feet down into the valley of San Bernardino. We have a swimming pool and a tennis court. We have dogs and flowers and books. I do a great deal of my own gardening. I love it so much that, to tell you the truth, I've had flood lights installed so that I can do some gardening at night if I've been working all day. I often get up at four in the morning when I'm working and drive into Hollywood in my flivver and back again that same night. So much more content am I to be at home than to remain in Hollywood. I can stretch and grow up there. I can renew myself. I have time to think... and feel...
"Yes, I've got what I want... the comforts of the average successful man. I want those comforts, of course. I want security more than anything else in the world. You're writing about a man, you know," said Mr. Huston, that shrewd and kindly twinkle in his eyes, "you're writing about a man who is no Robert Taylor. You're describing a man who has passed the 'fitful fevers of youth.' And knows it. And I don't think I'd get security in Hollywood. Too hectic. A gold-rush town. Ninety per cent of the population are either striving frantically to get a contract or striving frantically to get out of one.
"As for the money — if that's what you want of Hollywood — you get into the stellar brackets and you get less than you would get if you did less work, were less 'important.' That doesn't make sense to me.
"I refuse to live in Hollywood because I'm an egotist. And because in Hollywood individual effort means next to nothing. Here's what I mean: If I play in a picture which is a tremendous box-office success and even though my performance has been flat, even though I have 'walked through the part' (I never have, but for the sake of argument —) I get the same amount of money, either salary or flat sum as I would have got had I broken my heart to give the most tremendous performance in me. On the other hand if the picture is a box-office flop and I have broken my heart to give my very best, I still get the same amount of money, no more, no less.
"And so, if money is all you care for, it doesn't matter a damn what you do, d'you see? But what I do matters to me. It's about all that matters. Pictures are a sure thing for the actor before he ever begins — financially. They are anything but sure — artistically. I am a day laborer at heart, I guess. I care more for individual effort and its reward than I care for huge chunks of 'unearned income.' I want to earn my money for a job well done. I want to be 'docked' if I shirk on the job.
"When we played Dodsworth on the stage we got, Mrs. Huston and I, a percentage of the profits. And so every person who filed into the theatres to see us meant something to us. Meant not only the satisfaction of the actor but also the satisfaction of the business man. Each occupied seat meant so many more pennies in the Hustons' Penny Savings Bank. Each satisfied customer meant good word-of-mouth advertising. If the actors in Hollywood were paid on a percentage basis they'd darn well do their best, each and every one of them, to make each picture a success. If they just get their salaries as they do, whether or no — well, we're all human, you know.
"I think, since you want me to describe myself to the fans, honestly," said Walter Huston, "I'd call myself a business man with a real passion for his business. And my business is acting. And if I can do a good job I expect to be compensated for that job and if I do a poor job I expect to lose on it.
"I refuse to live in Hollywood because I have 'convictions of acting.' I have a passion for doing certain and definite roles. I also have a conviction about refusing unsuitable parts. And if I did not have these convictions I would be merely selling a face and a personality labeled 'Huston.' I have, now, a passion for doing Othello on the stage. I'm going to New York to produce and to play in Othello. I'll be there, no doubt, when this article appears. But the majority of Hollywood actors do not share my conviction. It's like this: a certain actor will be mentioned for a certain part. If he happens to be around he gets the part and does it. But if he doesn't happen to be around anyone of ten other actors will do. Nobody seems to care very terribly. I care — very terribly.
"I care about all the details of my work. On the stage I plan or collaborate in planning every set, every detail of every costume. I supervise and select every member of the cast. On the screen I don't know, half the time, what I am to do or to say, what scene is to be shot when, how it is to be done until I step onto the set in the morning. If I were to do many pictures I would make it an absolute condition that I sit in on the script, have my say about the story, the director, the cast.
"You've got to love the work you do," said Mr. Huston. "I wish I could broadcast this message to every professional man in the world. It's the only commandment. You've got to love the work you do — and I can't love anything unless it is mine.
"Then, I refuse to live in Hollywood because it is a postman's holiday for those who work here and live here, too. I know. I've gone out of an evening in Hollywood and it's usually been to a premiere and shop talk goes on faster and more furiously than in the studios themselves. Or I've dined at the home of a Hollywood friend and met there, nine times out of ten, producers and directors and fellow actors and actresses and what do they talk about? You guess!
"I refuse to live in Hollywood because I will NOT be labeled. I will not be a factor}' product. And Hollywood is a factory turning out personalities in mass production. There are a few real actors here. a few fine actors, but the majority of them are 'popular appeals,' sold to the public because of a certain eternal smile or set of tricks which never vary, world without end. I expect indignant protests to follow this rash statement. Let 'em come, my shoulders are broad and my conviction honest. In every picture these factory-made personalities play one part over and over again — themselves. The title of the picture changes. The name of the 'character' portrayed varies. But the actor remains unchangeable in a part which is also, intrinsically, the same — conceived to exhibit the especial bag of tricks for which that personality is 'known.' And even though." laughed Mr. Huston, though his grave, gray eyes were serious, "even though the more I worked on Rhodes the more I got
to look like Ramsay MacDonald. I'd rather look like Ramsay MacDonald than like Walter Huston forever!
"I am not A Personality. I don't want to be one. I am an actor, I hope. What does that fellow Huston matter? I want to be as many different persons and personalities as my range permits. And everyone's range is limited to some extent. That's why I wouldn't stay in Hollywood where there are no limits known.
"I refuse to live in Hollywood because I might grow vain — self-conscious. I might not be able to stand too much back-slapping, too much florid publicity, too much pointing out and saying: 'Look, there's Walter Huston!' I won't give many interviews and when I do give them they must be honest and thoughtful as I am trying to make this. Otherwise, being human, I might begin to romanticize myself, to think of myself as a devil of a fellow, a sad dog. I might forget that we are all giants in the limelight but pygmies in the lamplight. And if I did that I'd be gone.
"Nor do I consider it necessary for the actor to live in Hollywood. Perhaps if you are a youngster, a new-comer, it might help you to be seen at the night spots frequented by producers and directors. I know it would be a waste of time for me. If I have not sufficiently impressed myself on the producer-consciousness by this time so that they will think of me when a part I should do comes up — then it is too late to begin now.
'After all, the job we turn in is all that really matters. It's the same with any craft or profession, isn't it? If a writer delivers a sound and salable piece of work it doesn't really matter a damn whether he is young or old, fat or thin, gives parties or doesn't give them, lives in a shanty or a chalet. It's the job that tells the tale. That's my credo. And I think it would save a great many people in many walks of life many heartaches and much money if they would get this through their heads."
"Is there anything," I asked Mr. Huston, "is there anything on earth or in Hollywood which could induce you to give up the stage and live here and work here for the rest of your life?"
"Nothing," said Walter Huston, "absolutely nothing."
"Suppose they offered you simply fabulous sums, 'tax free'?"
"No," said Mr. Huston.
"Suppose they swore to you that you should do only the parts you want to do, could have full say about script, cast, everything?"
"No," said Mr. Huston.
He added, "There is no sum of money in the world, no inducement of any sort that would make me stay in Hollywood. I might make one or two pictures a year under the conditions you mention last — but that's all I would do and only under those conditions.
"You see, I love the theatre. It's like the love of one woman. If a man loves one woman he remains true to that one woman, if he really loves her. I really love the theatre. I love it so sincerely that I even love the inconveniences. They mean more to me than all the lush comforts of Hollywood.
"I love one night stands and being face to face with my audience. I love catching trains in the dead of night. I love the bodily sound of applause. Of course I get a certain satisfaction out of seeing a finished picture, too. It means something to be able to see yourself on the screen, be your own audience and critic. You can't actually see yourself on the stage. But you can see yourself reflected in the living, breathing, upturned faces of your audiences. And that," said Mr. Huston in his deep, rich voice, "that is the only way in which' the actor should see himself — as the character he plays reflected in the responsive faces of those who come to see him as that character. To be applauded as Walter Huston or Clark Gable or Gary Cooper makes only for self-satisfaction. And only the character he plays should satisfy the actor."
And certainly, I reflected, Walter Huston doesn't talk for the sake of talking. His deeds confirm his words. For it has been three years since he made a picture in America. And offers have come to him from every major studio in Hollywood. It took a great deal of time and all of Mr. Goldwyn's powers of persuasion to induce him to do Dodsworth for the screen. His last Hollywood picture, prior to Dodsworth, was "The Prizefighter and the Lady." And in the intervening three years he has made one picture for Gaumont-British in England, "Rhodes." The rest of the time he has been touring the key cities and the tank towns with the stage presentation of Dodworth.
He was saying, in his easy way: "I wasn't born to the Hollywood luxury standard, I guess. I'm a plain man with plain ways... and a sneaking, strong desire to 'dress up,' to 'play-act.' One of the reasons why I want to do Othello is because I can have my fill of gorgeous costumes and color and lavish make-up.
"I was born in Toronto, Ontario, on April 6, 1884. And for the first eighteen years of my life I was just a plain, gangling kid doing whatever other youngsters of my age did. I went to public school, helped with the chores at home, put on my 'Sunday best,' got ten hours sleep every night, ate plain food and dreamed of being a cowboy, an Indian, a Canadian Mounted Policeman, a locomotive engineer and, occasionally, an actor. I should have known that what I really wanted was to be an actor. For all my other ambitions were really dramatic and playing parts, too. I never, you'll note, wanted to be a bank clerk or a business man or anything that would take me out of the limelight.
"When I was eighteen I left a good home for the amazing experience of acting in a traveling road show. It was terrible and I loved it. I loved the hard work and the hard-working people and being stranded and sleeping in railway hotels. I loved the smell of grease-paint. I loved the cabbages and onions and ripe tomatoes and hisses and applause. It's a rich broth. I hit New York eventually and got a part in Convict Stripes, a very meller 'meller' written by Hal Reid, father of the late Wallace Reid. After that I toured the country with a company playing The Sign of the Cross. I knew then that it was me for the stage forever. We love best the thing for which we suffer and starve, sacrifice, cuss out and worship.
"But my public didn't seem to reciprocate my love. It was blandly unrequited. And as I had to eat I dug around and discovered that there was at least a living to be had in other work. I went to Nevada and to Missouri as a water and electrical engineer. Then I became city engineer in St. Louis. I was doing all right as an engineer by day, and by night I wrote vaudeville sketches for myself. And finally, in 1909, I got myself and my act put on and if I do say so, it was something of a wow. In no time at all I was headlining and for the next fifteen years vaudeville was my bread and butter, my home, my work. I wrote all of my own acts which may account for the fact that I still think the writer is the all-important fellow, in the movies as well as on the stage. After all, I wouldn't be doing Dodsworth now if Sinclair Lewis hadn't done him first.
"Our the point in all this is to show you that I've always worked and worked hard and more for the joy of working than for financial reward. If I gave up hard work I'd feel like I was retiring. Hollywood would be retirement for me. / shall never retire. Costumes and grease-paint and footlights will create illusions for me long after the camera has foresworn me. The brevity of the Hollywood star's life is due to a fact I've mentioned before — he sells his face and his personality which fade with time. He doesn't often enough sell his ability which mellows with time. A few years and the fashions in faces change. The old personality becomes outmoded and is put up in the attic as hoop-skirts and ear-bobs and bustles and other 'period styles' are discarded. Because once a screen actor is through, my friend, he is through...
"Once a screen star is through," smiled Mr. Huston, a little sadly, "you can't sell him for pumpkin seed. Which is another reason for my refusing to live in Hollywood — I don't like attics. And so, I shall remain on the stage. Now and again, if and when the part that is for me turns up I'll be glad to come to Hollywood and do it. But I refuse to live in Hollywood. I'll be in it now and then, never of it..." And after awhile Mr. Huston was called to the set again to rejoin Mrs. (Ruth Chatterton) Dodsworth. And I went away. And I thought how I would tell you that the man who gave you Rhodes and so many others is just about the nicest, kindliest, realist man I ever knew. I thought how I'd try to explain to you how in a "Who cares?" era he really cares about the thing he does and the way he does it. I thought I'd try to say, without being florid or sensational (two things he would detest) that we all have a choice of serving God and Mammon — and that Walter Huston makes his choice when he says "I refuse to live in Hollywood."
This is the house that Huston built up in the San Bernardino Mountains to get away from Hollywood. It has a swimming pool, tennis court and great pine trees which seem to touch the real stars at night
Ross Alexander and Anne Nagel are another Hollywood couple who just went off and said their "I do's".
Collection: Motion Picture Magazine, December 1936