Would Hollywood stars dare put their toe in the water and depart from their gravy train of the "big screen?" There are always enterprising souls willing to do such a thing. Let's consider the cliche "think outside the box." While overused, it's most apt describing the approach of people like the late Loretta Young.
Young was surely on the standard Hollywood gravy train. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in "The Farmer's Daughter," a 1947 production. Post-WWII affluence was swelling. Technology performed one of its periodic miracles as it brought "moving pictures" right into our homes. My home was in St. Paul MN: my preschool years of 1955-60. We were affluent enough to have a TV. It had a maroon-colored cabinet. I was entranced as surely my whole generation of boomers was.
The effect on us was probably not gauged well enough by our parents. Our parents were so thankful that the Depression and WWII were behind them, they just viewed with bemused fascination this new device called a "TV." They could compartmentalize, to separate the put-on world of TV from the greater reality. They were more capable than us kids of treating TV as an idle curiosity, not something to really take to heart.
A cultural observer has noted that the boomers were the first generation to be "marketed to." Let's not underestimate this. TV was the all-powerful conduit. The entertainment programming was shaped by how well it could complement advertising messages. Certain "memes" had to get traction. Us kids, not being stupid, developed a rather hard edge of cynicism as we could surely look past the veneer of innocence and see the marketing. As evidence of this, I need only to cite Mad Magazine.
The same cultural observer - I'll note that he wrote the book "The End of Victory Culture" - pointed to the massive irony of us kids wanting to poke fun at the very symbols of affluence that our parents had given us. If you wish to lecture on "being spoiled," go ahead.
Thinking on your feet, yes
Young was the consummate professional who had no qualms seeking to adapt. TV? It was an opportunity, plain and simple. Learn the ropes. Learn the craft. A new frontier awaits, like what we saw with the unveiling of digital. Which change was more profound? The dawn of TV or the dawn of the Internet? They were most surely different.
The Internet fragments and expands in never-ending directions. While far-reaching, it can be complicated to a degree that can limit enthusiasm. TV in our homes was surely a miracle and partly because of simplicity: there was an on-off button and channel selector (knob). Tech challenges were essentially nil. Remember the "vert" and "horiz" buttons? That's about as complicated as it got. "TV sets" as we called them could break down like anything. But the basic operating modes could be handled by children.
And unlike online where content restrictions are so futile - porn actually flourishes - TV over its first several decades could be kept in quite rigid constraints. You might say laughably rigid. Wasn't that amazing? I suppose it was pressure from advertisers to keep entertainment wholesome lest the pillars of our society dissolve? Well, what's happening now?
I remember Loretta Young vividly from the '50s. I was born midway through the decade. Her dramatic anthology series had been on for two years already. These were the times as depicted in the great movie "My Favorite Year." We see all the spontaneity and experimentation that characterized the early heady days of the medium. So far from the "stuffiness" and rigid norms of Hollywood. Young had surely been groomed in the "big screen" template. She was a child star in silent films. She took on the name "Loretta Young" for her 1928 performance in "The Whip Woman" (wow).
Speaking of templates, Young fell into the one of Hollywood stars with less than stable family/married lives. As a kid I would have been turned off to know that. What I didn't know wasn't going to hurt me, I guess. I just saw this magnificently glamorous woman beaming from the TV screen. Without a doubt she "connected." Seeing re-runs years later, her anthology show almost seemed to have a surreal quality. It seemed directionless much of the time, as if the producers were simply mesmerized by doing TV. "Hey, people will be watching this in their living rooms." Mercy.
Young's signature entrance, attire
The Young show started out as "Letter to Loretta" and later became "The Loretta Young Show." Oh, I remember her trademark entrance! A kid from that time could not forget: Loretta coming through a living room door in high-fashion evening gowns! We saw her again at the end of the episode where she might recite a Bible verse or famous quote.
Young came to realize that her "nightgown" entrances were going to become dated. So strongly did she feel concern about this, she took legal action to keep the intro's and concluding segments from re-appearing years later.
What a shame: my generation saw that footage as defining - why the concern? Well, I'm reminded of Tom Selleck of all people, but let me explain: "Fox and Friends" did a segment a while back that had reason to show a brief scene from Selleck's "Magnum P.I." The problem? Then-sex symbol Selleck was wearing very tight-fitting shorts! It was totally in fashion when current. I remember wearing genitals-restricting clothing myself from the time - ouch! - and the "Fox and Friends" cast found actual amusement in the old clip. Today, clothes can be loose as heck and nobody cares. Great new reality, eh?
As for Loretta's nightgown, my who'd really care? Today Selleck does commercials for "reverse mortgages" aimed at seniors!
Co-star crossed quite the line
Young has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for her TV pursuits and the other for motion pictures. A review of her unsteady personal life won't be shared in full here - too involved - but let's not overlook the notoriety or scandal of her tortured pregnancy with Clark Gable! Young and Gable had starred together in the 1935 "Call of the Wild," a new version of which came to theaters a year or so ago (with CGI for the dog in fact). Well, the '35 version was less sophisticated but it was surely a vehicle for Young and Gable. And not only that, Young became pregnant by Gable during filming.
Young was 22 years old, Gable 34! Gable was married. Get what I mean about Hollywood types and notoriety? Today, Young would assuredly have Gable over a barrel. Instead she was a trooper and decided to protect both their careers. She chose to hide the pregnancy. The child would be presented as adopted. Young went on "vacation" as the pregnancy advanced. She gave birth to daughter Judith on November 6, 1935. Judith went into an orphanage as the ruse continued. There she was for 19 months, then she emerged as "adopted," and when Young married Tom Lewis, Judith took the "Lewis" last name.
Hollywood was not fooled - the truth was generally known. Young would claim at age 85 that Gable raped her. She apparently needed a revelation from the unlikely vehicle of Larry King's talk show! It was about date rape. Hollywood performers years earlier must have been naive, or Young certainly was. A discussion on King's show made her circumstances seem clear to Young. She previously felt guilty about her failure to fend off Gable's advances. Seems absurd but maybe not for a less-enlightened time.
Ah, there's a million stories in the naked city.
Us kids could not have dreamt of such human failings and scandal as we sat transfixed in front of our TV sets. The Loretta Young show opened our eyes to the new medium and was only a preview of the universe of offerings to come.
Loretta Young, RIP. She left us in 2000. Wear your nightgown in heaven, Loretta. It looks super on you.
As a supplement to this blog post, I have a podcast available for you to listen to. It delves into TV of a bygone time, the days when Loretta Young and others developed the medium. The episode is on my "Morris Mojo" podcast. Thanks so much for reading and listening. Here's the podcast link:
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/A-complement-to-my-blog-post-about-Loretta-Young--old-TV-efsp5i
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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