The identity of the boy is just a guess. He doesn't look like either of Charlie's sons. Vidor himself only had daughters but his third wife, Betty, had a son by a previous marriage. If this is Robert, he would be killed in action during WWII.
August 6, 2014
Charlie & Paulette with King Vidor, his wife, Betty Hill, and stepson, Robert, by the Chaplin pool, c.1936
The identity of the boy is just a guess. He doesn't look like either of Charlie's sons. Vidor himself only had daughters but his third wife, Betty, had a son by a previous marriage. If this is Robert, he would be killed in action during WWII.
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How do you know what I am reading out here in SF? I just finished "A Cast of Killers" about Vidor's search for the real killer in the William Desmond Taylor case. Just last night! I read in the book notes that Betty Hill died of anorexia in 1977, having separated from Vidor a few years before that. It's unclear if it was really because he had renewed a relationship with actress Colleen Moore (I was kind of suspicious about that whole storyline in this weird book) or just that their relationship had run it's course. After some 35 years of an on again, off again marriage.
ReplyDeleteI just recently saw a picture of KV with Colleen Moore taken sometime later in their lives & the caption said something about King and his favorite companion (or something to that effect).
DeleteI didn't know Betty Hill died of anorexia. How sad.
That book sounds quite interesting.
it was strange - it was written by a guy who had access to King Vidor's files and he said he found this black binder buried in the garage of some office he had on his property (KV) and King's notes said he would not publish what he found out until after everyone was dead, because what he found was so explosive. Well, the book is written from a Vidor point of view (he had already passed) and it's tone is strange. You probably saw the photo of King and Colleen at his ranch, she is holding a small camera and they are in coats - it's from 69 or 70. This was supposedly when he reunited with his "great love" from the 1920's and she was helping with his investigation. There is a website dedicated to de-bunking some of the information King unearthed in his investigation about the WDT murder, so I don't know what to believe. It's well worth reading though!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that's the picture I saw. I didn't know about Vidor's search for the real WDT killer. I looked up the book on Amazon and it said he was researching the murder for a film. I would like to have seen that film.
DeleteI did a lot of reading on the Taylorology site when I first got into Chaplin. It was a great place to read articles you couldn't find anywhere else--it still is.
I can send it to you if you really want to read it - I am done with it for now.
DeleteOh, that's not necessary but thanks for offering. There are copies available on Amazon for a penny!
DeleteOne penny??? I was gipped!! I think I spent $2 on mine.
DeleteWith shipping it's still $4 on Amazon though
DeleteAlso, Betty gets short shrift in this book, the author makes her out to be a tense shrew of a woman who was angry at Vidor and his meeting with Colleen again was supposedly the last straw. I didn't buy it.
ReplyDeleteI watched an old DVD of The Women again this week. I was impressed with Paulette instructing 'Mary' that 'we women can't just be the high school sweetheart. We gotta be a girlfriend and a wife, and a nursemaid, and a pal etc. Then she admonished Mary for leaving her husband in defenseless in the 'claws' of that she-wolf or whatever it was. I could imagine that she used the same code of behavior with CC.
ReplyDeleteTanned and outdoor sporty without makeup and with that perfect skin, she reminds me of a photo of young Georgia Hale with tennis racket.