Better Than a Dream: An Interview With Betty Comden
By Mark Griffin
It happens every time, doesn't it? You're remote controlling your way
through live reports from the Gaza Strip, denture commercials, MTV's The Real World and dysfunctionals in
leopard prints hurling chairs at one other on some ill-mannered "talk"
show. Suddenly, you catch a glimpse of Gene Kelly hugging a lamppost
and gleefully getting drenched in one very memorable movie downpour. If
insider trading scandals and ozone erosion suddenly seem a lot less
crucial, you've got a living legend named Betty Comden to thank.
From On the Town (1944) to On the Twentieth Century (1978),
Comden and longtime collaborator Adolph Green (who died last October)
were more dependable than neon for illuminating the Great White Way. If
a Broadway marquee boasted "Book and Lyrics by Comden and Green,"
audiences were virtually assured a night to remember in the theatre. In
Hollywood, their creative track record is equally impressive: The Band Wagon, Good News, Auntie Mame,
Bells Are Ringing and some obscure art house favorite called Singin' In the Rain.
In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in Comden and
Green's staggering musical accomplishments. A new generation of
admirers has emerged thanks in part to the release of many restored
soundtracks and original cast albums from such specialty labels as
Turner Classic Movies Music/Rhino Handmade and DRG Records. As of late,
Comden has been busy adding accolades to an already remarkable resume,
including being named the recipient of the 50th Anniversary Creative
Arts Award at the prestigious Kaufman Center Honors ceremonies in New
York.
On an unusually warm April afternoon, Comden welcomed me to her home on
Manhattan's upper west side. Beneath an exquisite Chagall and an
authentic Matisse, we discussed Comden's awesome array of stage and
screen triumphs, the resurrection of the Hollywood musical and life
after Adolph.
FSM: Because you've had such a
diverse career in the performing arts -- lyricist, screenwriter,
performer -- I'm curious to know what your original ambitions were?
Betty Comden: I think way back
I wanted to be an actress and I went to a school at NYU called The
Department of Dramatic Arts and I got a regular four-year degree. We
had all the subjects like the humanities, languages and history but
along with that also acting, make-up and voice... A fellow that was in
my classes there knew Adolph and he knew me and he thought we'd get
along. So, he asked for Adolph to come down to NYU to meet me. We just
got along well and later, when we started looking for work as actors,
we'd go into the theatre district and go from office to office, finding
out if there was any casting or if we could get a job. None of us ever
got a job that way, I think very few people did but that's what people
did in those days.
FSM: The Revuers was the name
of the now legendary theatre troupe that Comden and Green and Judy
Holliday were all involved with. How did your act become a featured
attraction at the Village Vanguard?
BC: Judy Holliday [then Judith
Tuvim] was walking in the Village and it was raining and she went into
this doorway to get out of the rain and it happened to be the Village
Vanguard. Judy met the owner of the place, Max Gordon and he said he
wanted to change the kind of entertainment they were offering. Gordon
used to have various Village characters get up and recite their poetry.
There was a man named Max Bodenheim who was quite well known as a
Village poet and there was another little man named Joe Gould who was
writing an oral history of the theatre. I remember sometimes when they
were reading, people threw money. The Vanguard was a very simple place.
It had no bar, no liquor license and no phone...Max said to Judy, "I
thought I'd like to have some young people come down and do shows. Do
you know any?" Judy said, "Yes!" because she knew Adolph from the
summer before. They had met at an adult camp somewhere. So, they knew
each other slightly and I knew Adolph and that's how it all came
together.
FSM: Your first Broadway show,
On the Town, was an innovative
stage success. However, when M-G-M released their film version in 1949,
the material had been substantially altered. Why change something that
worked so well?
BC: It was simply that they
thought the score was too high brow, which is totally ridiculous. They
didn't think the audience would respond to it. So, we had to write a
whole other score with Roger Edens, who was a very wonderful man. I
mean, imagine throwing out the [Leonard] Bernstein score? We never got
over that. It's a picture I don't like to see because of that.
FSM: You mentioned Roger Edens,
an unsung hero in terms of the evolution of the M-G-M musical. A lot of
people are unaware of his considerable contributions to the sound of
Metro. In the beginning, he was primarily brought onboard as a vocal
arranger?
BC: He was originally, I think,
just that. Then he became sort of in charge of music for Arthur Freed
musicals and he was sometimes a composer. He was also a man who had
helped to train Judy Garland. He was her vocal coach and then he was
associate producer on a couple of movies. Then, finally, he did a
wonderful movie that he produced himself, Funny Face [Paramount, 1957].
FSM: Another stupendous talent
in M-G-M's Music Department was a man many consider a genius, Conrad
Salinger.
BC: Oh, well, he was an
orchestral arranger. Very brilliant. The M-G-M Musical Department was
extraordinary. They had Salinger, Lennie Hayton, Johnny Green, Andre
Previn and Saul Chaplin. I think we brought Saul over to M-G-M, he'd
been with Columbia and did all sorts of stuff but he became part of
M-G-M.
FSM: Was there ever an Arthur
Freed or M-G-M project that Comden and Green were assigned to that they
turned down?
BC: No, I think whatever came
up, we did. We were happy with most of it. I mean, they all turned out
to be wonderful movies. The Band
Wagon was directed by Vincente Minnelli. No, we didn't hate our
assignments. When we got over the fact that we were supposed to be
these sophisticated New Yorkers, we got there and they gave us Good News (1947) to do. That was
puzzling, to say the least, but we got into it and it turned out to be
good.
FSM: Where did the idea for Bells Are Ringing (1956) come from?
Was there a real Susanswerphone?
BC: Yes! There was! I didn't
have an answering service and I asked Adolph what his service was like
and he said, "I don't know. Let's find out where it is!" We found out
it was just around the corner from where he lived on East 53rd Street.
We pictured that it would be this sort of shiny, stainless steel place
with rows and rows of telephones and girls sitting at them. Instead, it
was this terrible ramshackle building, down a couple of little cellar
steps and it was really depressing as hell. We walked into this
incredibly messy room that was unpainted and peeling and in the middle
of it sat this one very fat lady at a switchboard saying, "Gloria
Vanderbilt's residence!" We looked at each other and said, "Here's an
idea for a show!" We knew we wanted to write a show for Judy Holliday.
It's not that she said "Yes!" as soon as she heard we were doing it.
She wanted to see whether she liked the book, naturally, she was a very
smart girl. She approved it and we went ahead.
For the full story see FSM Vol. 8,
No. 7...
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