Summer of '55. I'm not quite 21 yet, but have now advanced to become a second assistant to the renowned New York photographer Richard Avedon. Although I had not yet handled a major job by myself, somehow the boss decided to take me along on this assignment, with no other assistants. Why I don't know, as I nearly screwed up royally, but more of that later.
The job was a dream for all concerned. We were to travel to San Francisco, spend nearly a week there taking exactly one photo, then meet with the movie director Stanley Donen and travel with him to the Hearst Castle at San Simeon where they would discuss making a musical loosely (very loosely) based on Avedon's photo career. My role was to drive, to keep the client away from the boss, and to do the technical work of making it all happen.
I flew out before them, carrying a monster 8 x 10 camera, film, lights, stands, and other stuff. This was before jets, and the only flight I could get was to Burbank, from which I took a bus to LAX and another piston plane to San Francisco. Along the way, just before the crack of dawn and flying over either Nevada or New Mexico, I was startled by a blinding flash of light of greater intensity than I had ever known. For a moment I thought that the sun had exploded, but then the pilot announced that we had just witnessed an atomic bomb test. Wow!
Checking in at the Fairmont Hotel, I just dumped everything in the room without checking it first. Big mistake.
The next few days were spent "acclimating" ourselves to the city by riding cable cars and eating at places like the Blue Fox. Every night I entertained the client by being his drinking companion at all the pubs in town. Did I mention that he was a lush? We even hit what was probably the original Trader Vic's.
Finally, the day for shooting. The assignment was for a photo of Dave Brubeck and his quartet with the model Suzy Parker for a joint promotion by Helena Rubinstein cosmetics and Columbia Records. His new record, Jazz Red Hot and Cool, was given away with a purchase of both the lipstick and nail polish of the same name. It was shot at the hungry i, a hip nightclub. Photo above, from left: Me, Avedon, Brubeck, and Susy.
Now about that monumental screwup. Being young and stupid, I neglected to check the equipment and just left it in the hotel room. When I arrived at the hungry i a few hours before the rest, I began setting up and noticed that the the rear of the huge 8 x 10 camera was smashed in. In near panic, I checked the Yellow Pages for a camera repair place, hurried to it, and pleaded with the guy to do it immediately. He took pity on me, and I was back at the club with everything ready — and no one was the wiser. The photo, right was used as both the cosmetic ad and the album cover.
Now about the movie. Paramount Pictures wanted to do a musical inspired by Avedon's career, to star Audrey Hepburn as a model and Fred Astaire as the fashion photographer, called Dick Avery in the film. Stanley Donen was to direct Funny Face, as it was called, but there were details to work out first. Since Avedon was closely associated with the Hearst Corporation, he wangled an invitation to use the Hearst Castle at San Simeon for the conference. William Randolph Hearst was already dead, and the family only occasionally used the place, and in 1957 gave it to the State of California for use as a tourist attraction.
I drove the whole party, Avedon and his wife Evie plus Donen and his wife, all crowded into a rented convertible, along the coastal road with a detour through the Monterey Peninsula. The estate, about the size of an entire county, looked like a scene right out of Citizen Kane. This 1941 film by Orson Welles was, of course, all about Hearst, who threatened to sue and succeeded in having the film banned. In fact, it went unseen until the late 50s. Stanley Donen was extremely curious about it and thought that there might, perversely, be a copy in the castle's movie theater. So we snuck into the projection booth and searched but, alas, no such luck. Photo above is in the castle. From the left: Avedon, me, and Mrs. Donen. Photo on left is of the outdoor pool.
The movie got made the next year, and was released in 1957. While I was in Army Basic Training, I received a letter from the studio inviting me to a private screening in New York, but the only way I could do that was to go AWOL, so I declined. I finally saw it on TV a few years later, and now have it on DVD. An entertaining flick, but any resemblance between the story and the real events was, as they say, purely coincidental. From San Simeon I drove them to Bel Air, then stayed a short while in Beverly Hills before returning to New York.
NEW:
Photography's Golden Age ended long ago but remains very much alive in my memory. From 1952 through 1965 I assisted Avedon during his most creative period, and do I ever have the stories to tell! Now, at the end of 2015, is the time to reveal all, while I'm still alive and kicking. Tales of personalities, motivations, intrigues, and even the fine details of how it was all done.
What I need to make this a reality is a co-conspirator to aid in getting the whole, true, uncensored story published -- either as a book, an e-book, or even a documentary.
Anyone interested? Leave a comment and I'll get back to you.
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seeing Funny Face...3 times in a row....changed my life for many years...an d got my fixated on not only moving to NY but I HAD TO WORK FOR AVEDON....and I did too. More later when we get together...Harris
Posted by: Harris Radin | October 06, 2007 at 01:43 PM