Towards the end of The Asphalt Jungle (1950), when a successful heist is turning into a huge disaster, the criminal genius with child-molesting tendencies, Doc Riedenschneider, decides to flee to Mexico. On the way, he stops at a diner, where he happens to see a young girl dancing to the jukebox.
He figures: what’s the rush, anyway? The fleeing can wait awhile; she’s just his type (you get the impression his type is fairly broad, although, to be frank, a little age restricted). He gives her a roll of quarters so she can keep dancing while he sits on his stool and watches her, salivating quietly to himself.
Oh, the foolish, weak, perverted man! Doesn’t he know that the police are closing in? Can’t he see the two shadowy cops that have appeared at the window behind the girl or see their eyes peering through the gaps in the blinds? Is the twinset-wearing temptress so fixating that he’s forgotten that he’ll spend the rest of his life in jail if he’s caught?
Of course she is -- he’s a Jewish criminal mastermind; they’re notoriously crazy for the innocent, young American girl children.
The actress who was chosen to play the girl who would so befuddle Doc Riedenschneider was Helene Stanley. I came across a story about her that I’m not entirely sure of, but which other people seem to think is true. Apparently, in 1945, the executives of MGM held a meeting to decide which of two new actresses to make into a star. This appears to have been how things were done in the old Hollywood. Perhaps it’s how things are done in the new Hollywood, too; I wouldn’t know. The board was split, and Helene Stanley lost by only one vote to Jane Powell, who spent the next decade starring in big-budget MGM films while Helene was given minor and uncredited parts in small movies. It’s a very neat story, but it doesn’t make any sense. Why would MGM operate such an all-or-nothing system? If a starlet is a potential star, wouldn’t it be wasteful to consign her to bit parts just because another starlet happened to win a vote in a boardroom?
In any case, this role in The Asphalt Jungle was to be Helene’s last for MGM, who weren’t renewing her contract. I can’t help but wonder if she knew, dancing for Doc Riedenschneider on the set of the diner, that this was it -- that, at the age of 19, having come so close to making it in Hollywood, she was about to be dumped by her studio. Perhaps I’m romanticising the situation but, when I watch the scene, it seems as if she does. There’s certainly an odd quality to her performance.
In the picture above, her expression is exactly what you’d expect her character’s to be -- she's a high school kid out with her friends, enjoying the music and the attention of every man in the place. She’s having a great time. However, elsewhere in the scene, there’s something about her expression that doesn’t quite fit. Look:
She’s a good deal less than gleeful. She looks preoccupied, not quite in the right place. And look at her face when she jumps in the air, supposedly for joy:
What’s on her mind? Is there a letter in her dressing room that she’s been putting off opening all day? Did her agent leave a message on her service to call him and she’s trying to work out what it was about his tone of voice that made her stomach tighten?
Maybe I’m reading too much into it, like I said. But just look at her face in this picture and ask if that’s a vivacious, carefree teenager putting on a show for the hell of it, or a girl with some trouble on her mind:
Who knows? I could be completely wrong. Perhaps it’s just that she’d put her back out in rehearsals and all that jumping around was killing her.
She never got a major role in a film and quit movie acting in 1954. She’s remembered partly because she was (briefly) married to Johnny Stompanato, the gangster, but mostly because animators at Disney, who used live-action film as the basis for their cartoons, used her as a motion-model for Cinderella (which came out the same year as The Asphalt Jungle) and Sleeping Beauty.
-- Sources: www.IMDB.com, www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com
Interesting. Apparently Huston was a bit of a sadist and a possible rapist so perhaps her anus was sore. Have you heard of George Hodel? He was a close friend of Huston's since childhood. Hodel's son, Steve - a retired LAPD Detective, wrote the book 'Black Dahlia Avenger' that alleges his father murdered and mutilated Elizabeth Short. On page 204 Steve's half sister Tamar Hodel is quoted as saying that John Huston tried to rape her when she was 11 (around the time when George first started to molest her). The Hodel house was was notorious for all-night Hollywood cocaine-sex parties that Houston apparently attended throughout the late 1940's.
Lawrence Grobel's book, The Hustons has the following quote: "When Milius asked him (Huston) what was the best part of being a director John answered him in one word, 'Sadism'.... When Milius asked John about women, John's advice was, "Be anything they want. Mold to their caress. Tell them anything. Just fuck 'em! Fuck 'em all!" (page 611).
Posted by: c | November 23, 2009 at 12:56 AM
Hi. Interesting stuff -- Id heard of Hustons somewhat unpleasant side, but not in such detail... Its interesting that you mention Steve Hodel, as I came across him while researching a bit-part actor called Charles Wagenheim, who was murdered in 1979. Hodel investigated the case, as I think he mentions in that Black Dahlia book (I read an extract online). In the end, I decided that Wagenheim was just a little too famous for this blog (more of a character actor than an unsung extra), so I never wrote about him. Interesting to see Hodel crop up in connection with another bit-part actor. Also, Liz Short was an aspiring actress before she was killed, wasnt she? I wonder how many other crimes involving the lowest end of Hollywood this guy was involved in -- it could make a good story!
Posted by: diarmid mogg | November 23, 2009 at 02:34 PM
From what I've read of the Hodel book Ms. Short was an aspiring actress who had not yet landed a part before she was murdered. Some allege she was a prostitute which (based on Hodel's book at least) seems unlikely.
RE: You wonder how many Hollywood crimes George Hodel was involved in. Well, for what it's worth, according to the evidence and arguments outlined in both of his son's books George Hodel was not only the Black Dahlia Avenger, but also the Zodiac Killer, Chicago's Lipstick Murderer and the perpetrator of several other miscellaneous murders around LA. Intriguing to say the least.
On a semi-related note, have you heard or seen the documentary, Girl 27? Seems like it may appeal to your interests. The documentary investigates a 7 decade old rape case involving Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio execs and an underage dancer, Patricia Douglas who was hired with 120 other young girls to entertain MGM salesmen at a stag party in 1937.
Posted by: c | November 27, 2009 at 07:38 PM
Yes, Ive seen Girl 27 -- a wonderful story, with a slightly less than wonderful treatment. I found the director-guy a little annoying, but the stuff he managed to find out was really interesting, and he seemed to bring some sort of happiness to Patricia. Theres a lot of impressive work in the film -- excellent detective work!
Posted by: diarmid mogg | November 30, 2009 at 02:48 PM