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HUSTON John

 

John Marcellus Huston.

 

Date of birth: August 5, 1906, Nevada, Missouri.

Date of death : August 28, 1987, Middletown, Rhode Island.

 

Son of actor Walter Huston. He was married to Evelyn Keyes.

Places of living :

50's : a house in Malibu Beach.

60's : a manor in St Cleran, Galway, Ireland.

 

Practise: director.

 

Portrait :

        

 

Story

Many of his movies were selected for the Academy Awards.

His first movie "The Maltese Falcon" (1941), immediately well received, was the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with Humphrey Bogart : "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1947),"Key Largo" (1948), "The African Queen" (1952).

His other movies :"The Roots of Heaven" (1958), "The Unforgiven"(1959), "Freud" (1962) "The Night of The Iguana" (1964), "The Man Who Would Be King" (1975), "Prizzi's Honor" (1985).

He had an obvious charm, did not conceal a kind of cruelty and seemed to have a wicked delight in the shooting difficulties.

He continued simultaneously an actor career, crowned with success and won a nomination to the Academy Awards for "The Cardinal" (1963); he was favorably noticed in "Chinatown" (1974) and in many other films. 

He proposed his first part to Marilyn in 1950 in "The Asphalt Jungle". In 1949 he had suggested her for "We Were Strangers" but the Columbia had refusesd to pay a screen-test.

Despite his reputation of hard director, Marilyn brought pleasant memories about the shooting of "The Asphalt Jungle", compared with other shootings. She considered him as a genius and appreciated the way he directed

her .

 

He appeared on the list established in 1955 of the directors with who she agreed to work with, but they only met again in 1960.

He sincerely appreciated the way she had coovered in 10 years, from the "simple blonde who well accepted the orders" until "the actress who expressed her all person, who needed to feel the things from inside before acting".

In addition to the fact that he was particularly fond of the game tables, he was an excellent rider, hence his interest for "The Misfits" (1961); before the shooting, he was in convalescence, having broken his leg during a game hunting .

 

The project of "The Misfits" had difficulties, notably the stormy separation of Marilyn and Arthur Miller, the 
tensions between Miller and Huston, the 10 days hospitalization of Marilyn for nervous breakdown, the significant cost overrun, the endless changes demanded by Huston and Marilyn, the oppressive heat prevailing on the set, in the desert, and the many dangerous scenes causing injuries to the stuntmen and the stand-ins (let alone the tribute payed by Clark Gable who did his own stunts and died from a heart attack less than 2 weeks after the end of the shooting).

Shooting

with Arthur Miller 

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with Clark Gable  

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with the crew 

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with Marilyn :
plane

                                              

white blouse 

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dinner 

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cherry dress 

                                                  
black dress

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with Montgomery Clift 

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casino 

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party for Huston's birthday, on August 5, 1960 

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publicity picture

                       

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alone

                                          

Several biographies about Marilyn declare that the threats that were overhanging the movie depended more on Huston's propensity to smoke, drink and gamble that Marilyn's one to swallow sedatives.

He often stayed near the game tables until 5.00 AM, loosing up to 20 0000$ in a night.

He was accused of having conspired with the doctors in order to dismiss Marilyn from the set, to make her having a week of convalescence in Los Angeles. Then he was accused of having spread the rumor about the fact she suffered from a nervous breakdown. In reality, the shooting stopped because of his huge gambling debts.

Even after the difficult experience of  "The Misfits", he had thought to bring together again Marilyn and Montgomery Clift in a a movie that would recount Freud's life (a movie which actually was made in 1962). Upon her analyst's advice, Marilyn refused.

He was the narrator in the documentary released in 1966 "The Legend of Marilyn Monroe".

 

Bibliography

"An Open Book", John Huston, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1980.

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