Lizabeth Scott

Lizabeth Scott
Lizabeth Scott, 1947
Born	Emma Matzo (1922-09-29) September 29, 1922 Scranton, Pennsylvania, US
Other names	Elizabeth Scott
Alma mater	Alvienne School of the Theatre
Occupation(s)	Actress, singer, model
Years active	1942–1972
Political party	Republican
Signature

Lizabeth Scott (born September 29, 1922) is a American film actress, known for her deep voice and smoky sensual looks. After performing the Sabina role in the first Broadway and Boston stage productions of The Skin of Our Teeth, she emerged internationally in such films as The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck, Dead Reckoning (1947) with Humphrey Bogart, Desert Fury (1948) with John Hodiak, and Too Late for Tears (1949) with Don DeFore. No other actress has appeared in more film noir.

Early life

She was born Emma Matzo in Scranton, Pennsylvania, oldest of six children born to John Matzo (1895–1968) and Mary Matzo (1899–1981). The 1940 US Census listed the parents' birthplace as Austria (then Austria-Hungary). Reference works, public records and newspaper articles have given conflicting accounts of the ethnic origins of her parents. For example, historian Paul R. Magocsi described her parents as Rusyns. However, in a video interview, Scott described herself as Russian. Her family lived in the Pine Brook section of Scranton, where John Matzo owned Matzo Market, a grocery store on Capouse Avenue. Scott has described her father as a "lifelong Republican," which influenced her own capitalistic views. The family was immersed in all things cultural, especially music. This love of music would influence Scott's voice.

Scott's famous accent and diction began in first grade. Her parents sent her to weekly lessons at a local elocution school, held in "the living room of a Victorian house, where a Grande Dame would preside..." As a result, Scott lost the Northeast Pennsylvania English spoken in the Scranton area. Scott's trademark broad "A" is characteristic of Mid-Atlantic English, which blends elements of US and British English. It was often used on stage and Hollywood films from the 1930s to the 1960s. However, Scott has attributed the depth of her voice to heredity as a younger sister, a New York model, had a similarly deep voice. In addition, Scott was given piano and singing lessons. As a young girl, working in her father's store, she dreamed of being a journalist, then an opera singer and finally an actress. At the age of 11, she was the Fairy Godmother in a pantomime play, Cinderella, at summer camp. As a young girl, Scott described herself as "rebellious and outspoken," despite her mother telling her to subdue her emotions and "be a lady." When asked what was the best advice she was given, Scott replied, "I don't know, but I sure didn't take it." However, Scott mentioned adolescent favorites such as Ralph Waldo Emerson's Essays as having the greatest influence on her and Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past as her favorite book of all time.

Scott attended Marywood Seminary, a local Catholic girls' school. After graduating, she spent the summer working at May Desmond's stock company in Lake Ariel, New York. She attended Marywood College (now Marywood University), but quit after six months. "I never wanted to finish college because of the feeling I had...that life was very short and there were so many more important aspects of life to be explored." Mary Matzo wanted her daughter to become a journalist. But Scott said she would either become a stage actress—or a nun. Her mother relented. In 1941, with her father's help, the 18-year old Scott moved to the Ferguson Residence for Girls, a boarding house for students of the arts, in New York City. Scott attended the Alvienne School of the Theatre in the Grand Opera House on 8th Avenue and 23rd Street. During this time, Scott studied Maxwell Anderson's Mary of Scotland, a play about Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I, from which she derived the stage name "Elizabeth Scott." She would later drop the "E" from Elizabeth.

Debut

Early in 1942, a 19-year old Scott was one of several hundred women who auditioned for the road company of Hellzapoppin. She was chosen by John "Ole" Olsen and Harold "Chic" Johnson, the stars of the original Broadway production. Landing her first professional job, Scott became "a chorus girl and sketch player" who toured 63 cities across America. Her salary was $50 a week. Scott returned to New York, where she joined the 52nd Street Stock Company Theatre, a summer stock company on the then equivalent of off-Broadway. Eventually, she starred as Sadie Thompson in John Colton's play Rain. Though no drama critic reviewed the play, a press agent for new actresses, Joe Russell, known locally as "The Man who meets the Greyhound Bus," persuaded a producer with a problem to see it.

Michael Myerberg just moved an experimental production from New Haven, Connecticut to the Plymouth Theatre. Impressed by Scott's Sadie Thompson, he hired her as the understudy for Tallulah Bankhead, despite Bankhead's protests. Bankhead was the star of Thornton Wilder's then new play, The Skin of Our Teeth. Bankhead had previously signed a contract forbidding an understudy for the Sabina role, which Myerberg breached when hiring Scott—rumors of an affair between the married Myerberg and the new understudy were rife. Scott has said that her fondest memory is when Myerberg told her, "I love you." But the two would eventually part.

Bankhead's ill-concealed contempt for Myerberg, originating with the New Haven production, was now exacerbated. Previously, Bankhead controlled the production by not showing up for rehearsal. Now Myerberg could simply put Scott in Bankhead's place. Scott has acknowledged that Myerberg used her to keep Bankhead under control and that Bankhead was furious at the situation. Describing her own experience with Bankhead, Scott recalled, "She never spoke to me, except to bark out commands. Finally, one day, I'd had enough. I told her to say 'please,' and after that she did."

The rivalry between the two actresses is cited as an alternative to the Martina Lawrence origin of Mary Orr's short story, The Wisdom of Eve, the basis of the 1950 film All About Eve. Broadway legend had it that Bankhead was being victimized by Scott, who was supposedly the real-life Eve Harrington. Bankhead later accused Mary Orr of basing the protagonist Margo Channing on her, which Orr denied. But the wardrobe designer of All About Eve, Edith Head, said she dressed Bette Davis, who played Channing, on the understanding that Davis was suppose to look and act like Bankhead. However during the eight months Scott was understudy, she never had an opportunity to substitute for Bankhead, as Scott's presence guaranteed Bankhead's. Scott was cast as "Girl/Drum Majorette." Scott was 20 years old when the play opened. Though the play ran November 18, 1942–September 25, 1943, Scott left the production during Hopkins' tenure.

Rise to fame

Hal Wallis

The continuing feud between Myerberg and Bankhead worsened her ulcer, leading her to not renew her contract. Anticipating Bankhead's move, Myerberg suddenly signed Miriam Hopkins in March. Caught off-guard, Scott would eventually quit in disappointment. Bankhead's final zinger to Scott was "You be as good as she (Hopkins) is." For a brief period Scott understudied for Hopkins. While Scott liked Hopkins much more than Bankhead, she was still disappointed about being passed over for the Sabina role, ignoring the fact that her real purpose on the production was to keep Bankhead "in her corner." Before quitting, Scott replaced Hopkins for one night only. When Scott finally went on stage as Sabina, she was surprised by both the approval and fascination of the audience. Her replacement as Sabina understudy was another future femme fatale, 19-year old Gloria Hallward, soon to be known as Gloria Grahame. Similarly to Scott-Bankhead, Grahame never substituted for Hopkins, either.

Scott returned to her drama studies and some fashion modeling. Meanwhile, Irving Hoffman, a New York press agent and columnist for The Hollywood Reporter, had befriended Scott and tried to introduce her to helpful people. On September 29, 1943, Hoffman held a birthday party at the Stork Club—Scott had turned 21. A Warner Brothers film producer, Hal Wallis, happened to be there while on his biannual visits to Broadway. Hoffman introduced Scott to Wallis, who arranged for an interview the following day. When Scott returned home, however, she found a telegram offering her the lead for the Boston run of The Skin of Our Teeth. Miriam Hopkins was ill. Scott sent Wallis her apologies, canceling the interview. Scott recalled "On the train up to Boston, to replace Miss Hopkins, I decided I needed to make the name more of an attention-grabber. And that's when I decided to drop the 'E' from Elizabeth."

California

Lizabeth Scott in You Came Along.

Hopkins recovered in two weeks and Scott was back in New York. Scott returned to modeling. Later that year, a photographic spread of Scott in Harper's Bazaar was seen by film agent Charles Feldman. He admired the fashion poses and telegraphed Scott, inviting her to Los Angeles and stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel, all expenses paid.

On March 2, 1944, when Casablanca (1942) won the Best Picture Award at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Casablanca's producer, Hal Wallis, rose to accept the Academy Award, but the Warner family prevented him leaving the aisle of seats. Instead, the studio head, Jack Warner, accepted the award, while Wallis looked on helplessly. This incident would change the focus of Scott's career from stage to screen actress. During that same month, Scott made a five-day trip to Los Angeles and stayed at the hotel, where she was forgotten by Feldman for 10 days.

After reaching Feldman on the telephone, Scott was given a test script. Being a stage actress, Scott knew nothing about screen acting. Her first screen test was at Universal, then at William Goetz's International Pictures. She was rejected by both studios. Then she tested at Warner Brothers. But this time around, Wallis' sister, Minna Wallis, arranged for film director Fritz Lang to coach Scott. However, when Jack Warner saw the screen test, he also rejected Scott, who recalled that years later, when she attended parties at Warner's house, he never once mentioned ever seeing the test. Hal Wallis, still at Warner, saw the test in a separate screening and recognized her potential. In a meeting Wallis told Scott, "If I could, I would put you under contract." But she did not believe him. She thought him as powerful as Warner.

Unknown to Scott, years of infighting between Jack Warner and Wallis were about to climax. Under acrimonious circumstances, Wallis left Warner Brothers for Paramount Pictures. On the day that Scott was scheduled to leave for New York, she read in Variety that Wallis was at Paramount. But she spent several months in New York before Feldman telegraphed her in August—Wallis wanted to sign her to a contract. Later that fall, Scott tested for Love Letters (1945) and the role of Susan in The Affairs of Susan (1945), but was cast in neither.

At the age of 22, Scott's film debut was in You Came Along (1945) opposite Robert Cummings. Originally conceived as a Barbara Stanwyck vehicle, Ayn Rand's script concerns an Army Air Force officer, Bob Collins, who tries to hide his fatal medical condition from his handler, Ivy Hotchkiss (Scott), a US Treasury PR flack, whom Bob just met during a war bond drive. They become romantically involved, agreeing it's "just fun up in the air." Then Ivy finds out the truth and makes a fateful decision to make the most of the little time they have together. Production ran February 6–April 6, 1945. During the shooting of You Came Along, Hal Wallis showed Scott's screen test to Hollywood columnist Bob Thomas. Wallis said: "Notice how her eyes are alive and sparkling...Once in a while she reads a line too fast, but direction will cure that. That voice makes her intriguing." Almost four months before the release of Scott's first film, Thomas' March 16, 1945 column was the first to make a comparison between Lauren Bacall and Scott. The Thomas meme would continue to haunt Scott's reputation into the 21st century.

Despite Scott's initial difficulties with Cummings, she soon gained his respect with her performance and force of personality. After shooting, Cummings even went out of his way to quench rumors that he would never work with Scott again. However, Scott never made any headway with the director, John Farrow. Farrow lobbied for Teresa Wright and when he did not get her, he made his displeasure known to Scott throughout the shoot. You Came Along, remains, however, one of Scott's favorite films. The film premiered in Los Angeles on August 2, 1945.

Paramount years

The Threat

Martha Ivers

Lizabeth Scott in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.

In September 1945, Paramount public relations dubbed Scott "The Threat," which derived from a critic's description of Scott: "She's the Threat, to the Body, the Voice and the Look." Marie McDonald (The Body), Frank Sinatra (The Voice) and Lauren Bacall (The Look) were supposed to be threatened by Scott's arrival on the Hollywood scene. However, McDonald's measurements were 36½-22½-35 and 5'6", versus Scott's 34-24-34 and 5'7". Nor was Scott permitted to actually sing in her films, invariably being dubbed by singers like Trudy Stevens. Scott herself never cared for the moniker, though she found "meanie" roles easier to play. The moniker proved prophetic with Barbara Stanwyck, who, in a letter, objected about Scott's top billing in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946): "I will not be co-starred with any other person other than a recognized male or female star." Lawyers for Wallis and Stanwyck hashed it out. Eventually, the final billing ran Stanwyck, Van Heflin and Scott at the top, with newcomer Kirk Douglas in second place. But Wallis' interest in promoting Scott was obsessive. The AFI page on Martha Ivers notes: "Director Lewis Milestone is quoted in an article in the Los Angeles Sun Mirror on 8 Dec 1946 as having said that he would never make another picture with producer Hal Wallis because Wallis wanted to reshoot scenes in this film for more close-ups of Lizabeth Scott; Milestone reportedly told Wallis to shoot them himself—which he did." Scott later recalled how strange it was to be in a film with Stanwyck and only have one brief scene together, where the entire dialog consisted of greetings. Production ran October 2–early December 1945. It was released September 13, 1946.

The February 1946 issue of Popular Photography served up a "capsule psychological analysis" of Scott by photographer Philippe Halsman, which repeated the usual unfavorable comparisons to Bankhead and Bacall, as well as a new moniker, "the menace." Halsman did the Life photograph of Bacall that her moniker, "The Look," derived from. Before Scott became famous, both she and Halsman lived on West 67th Street in New York City, where her all dressed-in-black appearance would frighten Halsman when she took walks in the neighborhood. In June 1946 Scott would gain the distinction of being the first Hollywood star to visit Britain since the end of the Second World War. She was there to attend the London premiere of Martha Ivers and a promotional tour through the country. In Liverpool and Manchester she was met by massive crowds. Her appeal was now truly international.

Wallis would continue to cast Scott in film noir thrillers, as Scott's sensuality and deep voice lent itself to the genre. Film historian Eddie Muller has noted that no other actress has appeared in so many noir films, with almost three-quarters of her 22 films qualifying. Like the later Elizabeth Taylor, Scott was one of those rare actresses that needed little makeup beyond lipstick. In Scranton, classmates would make fun of her naturally dark brows and blonde hair, thinking it dyed. As an adult, Scott's appearance was so striking that Dorothy Kilgallen described Scott as "wheat-haired." While Scott was still in Britain, shooting began on a new noir that Scott would join when she returned—Dead Reckoning (1947).

Dead Reckoning

The smoky blonde actress was initially compared to Bacall because of a slight facial resemblance, pin-curl bobbed hair and contralto voice, even more so after she starred with Bacall's husband, Humphrey Bogart, in Dead Reckoning, where Bogart's character, Murdock, calls Dusty (Scott) the "Cinderella with the husky voice." Columbia originally intended Rita Hayworth for the role, who was busy with The Lady from Shanghai (1947). Then attention turned to Bacall, who also refused. When the film reviews finally came out, they revealed that most critics never caught the differences in the accent, diction and timbre of Scott and Bacall. Bacall's accent is pre-WW2, upper-middle-class New York metropolitan, often mistaken for Mid-Atlantic due to the broad "A" and non-rhotic pronunciation of words containing "R." Despite Scott's "breathy theatricality" and Bacall's "mannered toughness," when Bacall did the voice-over for a 1990s cat food commercial, some people thought it was Scott.

At the age of 25, Scott's billing and portrait were equal to Bogart's on the film's lobby posters and in advertisements. Most often portrayed in publicity stills was the Jean Louis gown-and-glove outfit worn in the nightclub scene, the most iconic gown Scott worn in her entire film career (see infobox). Designed with little front and no back, Louis called it his 1948 "umbilicalar model." Dead Reckoning would be the first of many femme fatale roles for Scott. In September 1946, a Motion Picture Herald poll of exhibitors voted her the seventh-most promising "star of tomorrow." Production ran 10 June–4 September 1946. It premiered in New York the week of 23 January, 1947. In the following year, contrary to general expectations, Bacall herself approved of the casting of Scott in Dead Reckoning.

Other films

1940s

Arthur Kennedy with Lizabeth Scott in Too Late for Tears.

Possibly Scott's most famous film, Desert Fury (1947) was the second noir filmed in color. It starred John Hodiak, Burt Lancaster, Wendell Corey and Mary Astor. Astor played Fritzi Haller, a casino and bordello owner, who runs the corrupt town of Chuckawalla. Haller controls both the local judge and sheriff. Scott played Fritzi's 19-year old daughter, Paula, who, on her expulsion from still another private school, returns home. She falls for gangster Eddie Bendix (Hodiak), and faces a great deal of opposition from everyone else. Generally panned by critics when it first appeared, it has been gaining critical praise and understanding in the passing years. Even the once ridiculed high-fashion clothes of Scott's—by Edith Head with the colors the Southwest in mind—play a role in the continued fascination with the film. Originally, Hal Wallis hired Ramona Stewart, a 23-year old graduate from the University of Southern California, to write the screenplay, which was based on her unpublished Desert Town (1946), a coming-of-age novel bought by Wallis before its serialization in Collier's. But Wallis later hired Robert Rossen to write the script that was used. Another 23-year old, Betsy Drake, was originally cast as Paula, but failed the screen test and was replaced by Scott (who was 24 at the time). Much of the shooting was done on location in Cottonwood, Arizona. The male lead, John Hodiak, previously starred with Tallulah Bankhead in Lifeboat (1944). Also, his wife Anne Baxter would play the role of Eve Harrington in All About Eve. Later in 1947 Scott would briefly reappear with Burt Lancaster in a spoof William Tell sketch in Variety Girl.

In January 1948, Scott again starred with Lancaster, Corey and Douglas in Wallis' I Walk Alone (1948), a noirish story of betrayal and vengeance. Scott is Kay Lawrence, a torch singer who befriends a convict (Lancaster), back in New York after 14 years in prison to collect a debt from Kay's ex-boyfriend, played by Douglas. Both the Lancaster and Douglas characters compete for Scott's affections. But there was far more drama behind the scenes than in the film itself, originally titled Deadlock. The Kay Lawrence role was originally intended to be Kristine Miller's breakout role. But Scott, ever competitive with all actresses, grabbed role for herself. Miller later recalled, “(Wallis) planned to star me in 'I Walk Alone.' He tested me with Burt; it was a wonderful test. But then Lizabeth Scott decided she wanted the role, and Lizabeth got whatever she wanted—from Hal Wallis! (Laughs) So, I got the second part instead.” Miller never became a big star. Douglas, while working with Lancaster on the film, noted: "Lizabeth Scott played the girl we were involved with in the movie. In real life she was involved with Hal Wallis. This was a problem. Very often, she'd be in his office for a long time, emerge teary-eyed, and be difficult to work with for the rest of the day."

Afterward, Scott was cast in Easy Living (1949), shot early July–mid-August 1948, but was released Oct 8, 1949. Victor Mature starred as football player Pete Wilson, who faces a dilemma that could end his marriage—and his life. Scott played Liza "Lize" Wilson, a social climbing interior decorator, who might leave Pete if he quits football and loses his lucrative income. Though Lucille Ball was originally cast as Wilson's wife, Scott once again grabbed the leading role. Ball was in career slump at the time and had to take the secondary role meant for Scott. The original ending has Ball's character getting Pete, but was changed to an ambiguous Pete staying with Lize.

Later in August 1948, Scott starred in Pitfall (1948) with Dick Powell, Jane Wyatt and Raymond Burr. Director André de Toth explained his reasons for casting Mona: "I wanted Lizabeth Scott. I didn’t want some blonde with big tits. You had to believe that this girl was real. Even if I took one of these over-sexed types who could not act, it would change how the Powell character is drawn into the affair. Remember the point of the script was that he’s just a middle-level insurance investigator. He’s tired of his job, spending time in his little office with a drab secretary. So I could have made a different picture, with a prettier girl than Lizabeth Scott, and told the story of that girl, her problems; but that wasn’t this movie. That would make it phony, if you cast it with Marilyn Monroe, a type like that. I needed somebody real." In post-war Los Angeles, the Powell character is seduced by the very woman (Scott) he is supposed to be investigating. He competes for her affection with a voyeuristic detective (Burr). Soon everyone is enmeshed in a murderous, five-way relationship. The Burr character blackmails Scott to model various outfits in a private "fashion show," echoing Hal Wallis' own obsession with Scott's image in film and advertisements. In real life, Wallis would insist that publicity stills of Scott be retouched, that the price of clothes modeled by Scott not be mentioned in print. Price was no object to a true star. This idée fixe was especially echoed by the fashion parade in Desert Fury.

Walter Winchell, in his June 9 "On Broadway" column, repeated a rumor of Scott's impending marriage to Mortimer Hall, CEO and president of radio station KLAC and son of Dorothy Schiff, publisher of the New York Post. But the two would later break up. Hall would eventually marry Ruth Roman, divorce, pursue actress Rosemarie Bowe—who looked similar to Scott—then marry Diana Lynn, Scott's future Paid in Full co-star.

During late January, 1949, Scott quit the production of RKO's The Big Steal (1949) after three days. According to Scott's replacement, Jane Greer, Scott was concerned about being associated with the leading man, Robert Mitchum, who at the time was incarcerated at the local honor farm for a marijuana conviction. It was also later alleged that Hal Wallis was supposedly responsible for Scott's bowing out. Yet, Scott would star with Mitchum in a RKO film two years later. During this same period, the press would report rumors of Scott's stage fright, an aliment common to actors. Scott herself has admitted to this, explaining her absence during premieres of her films.

In July 1949, Scott returned to the stage in the title role of Philip Yordan's play, Anna Lucasta, at the McCarter Theatre, Princeton, New Jersey." Almost simultaneously, a film shot the previous year was released. Scott starred as the ultimate femme fatale in Too Late for Tears, with Don DeFore, Dan Duryea, Arthur Kennedy and Kristine Miller. The story again takes place in post-war Los Angeles, where the facade of a typical married couple is shattered when someone by mistake throws $60,000 into their car. In an effort to keep the money, the wife, Jane Palmer (Scott), leaves a trail of bodies to the very end. This traditional black-and-white noir is widely considered Scott's best film and performance, eliciting praise even from the traditionally hostile New York Times. 64 years after the Times review, a film historian has noted the film's staying power: "Too Late for Tears is a relatively 'unknown and unseen' noir and deserves this recognition, especially for its storyline, acting and the incredible performance of Lizabeth Scott in the femme fatale role." Though shooting took place mid-September to mid-October 1948 at Republic Pictures, the film was released July 8, 1949. During the shooting of a scene where Scott screams at Duryea, she accidentally broke a blood vessel.

Lizabeth Scott in Paid in Full.

At the end of 1948, Scott shifted dramatic gears in Paid in Full. Mousy Jane Langley (Scott), a department store illustrator, allows younger sister Nancy (Diana Lynn), a beautiful store model, to marry Bill Prentice (Robert Cummings), despite Jane's love for him. A few years later, Jane has an argument with Nancy, who catches Jane and Bill having an affair. Distraught, Jane backs up her car and accidentally kills the Prentices' child. The Prentices then divorce. Jane eventually marries Bill herself and gets pregnant, despite warnings from all around. Before Jane dies after giving birth, she gives the baby to her sister. Hal Wallis first read about the real-life story by Dr. Frederick M. Loomis in Reader's Digest on a flight to London. In a film reminiscent of Stella Dallas (1937) and Mildred Pierce (1945), both Cummings and the original screenwriter, Robert Rossen, were out of their depth. Rossen had to be replaced—but the film succeeded surprisingly well. The makeup department, however, was not entirely successful in toning down Scott's looks, in contrast to the supposedly more glamorous sister. Also, Scott deliberately chose clothes to enhance her figure. There was reportedly a "scene stealing" competition between Scott and Lynn on the set. Production ran mid-October–late November 1948. The film would be released March 1950.

Finally, Scott decided to legalize her stage name. Having been known professionally as "Lizabeth Scott" for almost seven years, a judge granted on Wednesday, September 14, 1949, a request to legally change Emma Matzo to Lizabeth Scott, who was 15 days from her 28th birthday. In November, Scott returned to the stage: "Lizabeth Scott, out of movies for the winter, opened at the East Hartford, Conn. theater in Anna Lucasta."

1950s

1950 would see Scott act in four films. In a continuing effort to escape her femme fatale typecasting, Scott would play another self-sacrificing, soap opera-like role before reverting to film noir. In The Company She Keeps (1951), she played a parole officer who gives up her boyfriend to a convict, played by Jane Greer. Similarly to Paid in Full, critics were generally unconvinced that the male lead character (Dennis O'Keefe) would choose the less attractive female costar over Scott. Production ran early March–early April 1950. It was released Jan 6, 1951.

Scott again played a torch singer in Dark City (1950). Her boyfriend, Danny Haley (Charlton Heston) is a bookie who is the apparent target of a vengeful brother of a dead man that Haley swindled. Production ran April 5–May 12, 1950. It was released October 1950.

In Two of a Kind (1951), Scott played Brandy Kirby, a grifter who seduces a gambler, Lefty Farrell (Edmond O'Brien) into impersonating the long-lost son of a rich couple. Production ran 10 October–November 2, 1950. It was released July 1951. Much of the shooting was done on location at Malibu, California.

Red Mountain (1952) is a western set in the 1860s, starring Alan Ladd, who played a Confederate army officer seeking to make a last stand against the Union. Arthur Kennedy rejoined Scott as one of her two love interests. Scott injured her knee during a stunt in which she jumped off a 12-foot ledge—she injured herself on the fourth try. She had to be flown out from the New Mexico shooting location. Production ran October 25-early December 1950. It was released May 1952.

In April 1951, Scott accompanied a group of actors on a ten-day junket through South America. The group included Joan Fontaine, Patricia Neal, Ricardo Montalban and Wendell Corey. One of the four plane engines went out as they were flying out of Rio de Janeiro. The plane had to return to the airport.

Scott yet again returned to her torch singer role in The Racket (1951). Irene Hayes (Scott) in caught up in a struggle between a big city police captain (Robert Mitchum) and a local crime boss (Robert Ryan). Production ran April 9–May 14, 1951. It was released November 1951.

Scott returned to Britain in October 1951 to film Stolen Face (1952), a noir that presages Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) by several years. Paul Henreid is Dr. Philip Ritter, a London plastic surgeon, who upon losing the love of an American concert pianist, Alice Brent (Scott), recreates her face on a disfigured female criminal. They marry with disastrous results when Alice returns to England. Hal Wallis and Scott were breaking the then current Hollywood blacklist by allowing Henreid to be the leading man. Henreid was forced to seek work in Europe till hired by Alfred Hitchcock to direct the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television series. Scott would later star in an anti-McCarthyism noir, with results to be compounded with a future visit to Cannes, France. Shooting took place late October–early December 1951 at Riverside Studios, London.

Scott's stage fright was worsening. During the October 19, 1952 live broadcast of the Colgate Comedy Hour, Scott reportedly hid in her dressing-room, until the host taunted her to face the audience. In April 1953, Scott appeared in Scared Stiff, with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Scott played an heiress that inherits a haunted castle on Mystery Island off the coast of Cuba. Though Scott would recall fond memories of working on the set in the years ahead, at the time of filming she found it trying. Scott found Lewis' impersonations of her offensive, while a jealous Hal Wallis instructed the director, George Marshall, not to let the romantic scenes between Scott and Martin get too steamy. As Wallis' future wife Martha Hyer would later note, "Hal Wallis was a very possessive man." Despite Scott's best efforts, including making excuses for Lewis' behavior to the press, most of her scenes ended up on the cutting room floor. The original Paramount project was a spoof on Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945). Scott was to play a psychiatrist and Martin and Lewis were to be her patients. The name of the proposed film was Dream Puss.

That December, Scott appeared in Bad for Each Other (1953), set in her home state of Pennsylvania. In a story reminiscent of John O'Hara's Gibbsville saga, Scott is a Main Line divorcee, Helen Curtis, who tries to dominate a poor but idealistic physician, Tom Owen (Charlton Heston). Owen is a former Army doctor, who wishes to live in his coal-mining community and help the impoverished patients, but Helen tries to lure him into her jeweled world, instead. This film would be Scott's last as a Paramount contractee. In February 1954, Hal Wallis and Scott parted ways. Scott was now a freelancer.

In Scott's most overtly politically-themed film, Silver Lode (1954), she returned to the Western noir of Desert Fury, only in a traditional 19th century setting. Scott is a would-be bride, whose groom, Dan Ballard (John Payne), is the target of a lynch mob on their wedding day. As the loyal fiancée, Scott is unwavering in facing volatile public opinion, fueled by the fear that Ballard is someone other than he appears. Dan Duryea was cast as a villain named McCarty, a thinly veiled stand-in for Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. One of the actors, Frank Sully, who played the town's telegrapher, often appeared in the FBI's COMPIC (Communist Infiltration-Motion Picture Industry) files. Shooting took place late December 1953–mid-January 1954 at Republic Studios. When released the critical response to the film itself was muted as the film appeared immediately after the Army–McCarthy hearings.

In April 1954, Scott would attend the Cannes Film Festival, where she would pose wading barefoot in fountains and surf for photographers. Though she would immediately leave for London after the festival, her visit to Cannes would have unforeseen consequences, in which she would face her own crisis of public opinion. Later that month it was announced that she would be the host of High Adventure (1957–1958), a travelogue television series for CBS, but she never appeared in it.

While Scott was signed to Paramount, she was often on loan to other studios, as was the standard practice during the studio system era. She worked with half of the eight major studios during the Golden Age of film. As a result, almost half her output and several of her best known films were with studios other than Paramount.

Critical reception

Though the public response to Scott was generally favorable during the Paramount years, the film critics were less so, repeating unfavorable comparisons with Lauren Bacall and Tallulah Bankhead, which began with Bob Thomas' comment on Scott's screen test: "Her throaty voice may well make Lauren Bacall sound like a mezzo soprano." The most prominent critic of the era, Bosley Crowther of the New York Times, was uniformly negative. When Crowther gave a bad review of When You Came Along, Scott recalled, "Being very young and naiive at the time, I didn't know you weren't suppose to do such things, so I called him up and complained. I told him how hard everyone worked to make such a beautiful movie, and I couldn't understand how he could be so cruel. I must say he took it awfully well, and was very kind to me."

With the revival of interest in film noir, beginning in the 1980s, Scott's reputation has increased among critics.

Radio

During the Golden Age of Radio, Scott would reprise her film roles in abridged radio versions. Typical were her appearances on Lux Radio Theatre: You Came Along with Van Johnson in the Cummings role (July 1, 1946) and I Walk Alone (May 24, 1948). One notable radio performance was the Molle Mystery Theatre episode, Female Of The Species (June 7, 1946). Scott was also a guest host on Family Theater.

Confidential

Rushmore's story

After being fired from the New York Journal-American in 1954, Howard Rushmore became the managing editor of a New York scandal magazine, Confidential. For Rushmore it was a return to his days as film critic of the communist Daily Worker, but on the opposing side. He was fired from the Worker in 1939 for giving a good review of Gone with the Wind (1939). Later in 1945 without divorcing his first wife, he married Frances McCoy, an ex-Powers model-cover girl and editor at the anti-communist Journal-American. After joining the Journal with McCoy's help, the former communist was reinvented by McCoy and her circle of friends—he began investigating the very industry that produced the films he once reviewed. He became a key witness in the House Un-American Activities Committee's 1947 hearings into communist influence in Hollywood. He testified against Edward G. Robinson, Charles Chaplin, Clifford Odets and Dalton Trumbo. Eventually, he would be seen dining with William F. Buckley and Roy Cohn at the Stork Club. Till the spring of 1953, he was director of research for Senator Joseph McCarthy. Most of the allegations made by McCarthy, as chairman of the 1953 televised Subcommittee on Investigations hearings held in New York, originated with Rushmore. Then he left McCarthy's inner circle for a brief return at the Journal-American. After criticizing his estranged friend, Roy Cohn, in print, Rushmore was fired from the paper. Then his old mentor, Walter Winchell, got him a job with Confidential.

In early 1955, several months after the Army–McCarthy hearings and premiere of Silver Lode, Rushmore wrote an exposé on Lizabeth Scott, a second-generation Republican and Catholic host of Family Theater. The publisher, Robert Harrison, was initially intrigued but skeptical. To verify some aspects of the story, he hired an out-of-work actress, Veronica "Ronnie" Quillan, to have luncheon with Scott. Quillan was to be bugged with a wristwatch microphone (Minifone) by the Hollywood Detective Agency. But the agency owner, H. L. Von Wittenburg, backed out and the plan never went through. He told Harrison over the telephone, "I think it stinks." Despite the lack of evidence, Confidential then sent a copy of the story to Scott herself.

What Scott read was that a police raid occurred on a Hollywood Hills bordello the previous autumn. The bordello was run in part by John Visciglia, a film studio accountant. The police found an address book with the names and telephone numbers of various people in the film industry, including two numbers allegedly belonging to Scott. However, "HO 2-0064" had a Hollywood "HO" prefix, while "BR 2-6111" belonged to the 20th Century Fox Research Library on 10201 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles. Scott lived in West Los Angeles from the late 1940s to at least 2012.

The article further stated that Scott spent her off-work hours with "Hollywood's weird society of baritone babes" (an euphemism for lesbians). The article also linked Scott's trip to Cannes to a Parisian woman named "Frede." "In one jaunt to Europe (Scott) headed straight for Paris and the left bank where she took up with Frede, the city's most notorious Lesbian queen and the operator of a night club devoted exclusively to entertaining deviates like herself." Frederique "Frede" Baule managed "Carroll's," an ordinary Paris nightclub open to the general public, featuring mainstream entertainers of the day like Eartha Kitt. One of the owners was Marlene Dietrich, who happened to be the subject of "The Untold Story of Marlene Dietrich" in the then current issue of Confidential.

Confidential would send the subjects of its stories copies as "buy-back" proposals. But instead of paying the magazine not to publish the article, Scott sued. "On July 25, 1955—two months before the issue's printed publication date, while the (Dietrich issue) was still on the stands, Jerry Giesler, Lizabeth's lawyer, instituted a $2.5 million libel suit."

Aftermath

In retaliation, Confidential published the Scott story in the next issue. It was published as "Lizabeth Scott's Name in the Call Girls' Call Book?" In November 1955, Scott again went to Britain to film The Weapon (1957). Though the shooting took place early November–early December 1955, the film was not released until 1956 in Britain and 1957 in the US.

Despite Giesler's reassurances to the press, the legal effort against Confidential would go nowhere. Since the magazine was domiciled in New York State, and Scott was a California resident who initiated the suit in her own state, the suit was stopped. "In March of 1956, Los Angeles Supreme Court judge Leon T. David granted the Confidential lawyers' motion to quash service of summons, on grounds that the magazine was not published in California." In the later 1957 Confidential libel trial involving over 200 Hollywood actors, Rushmore testified that the magazine knowingly published unverified allegations, despite the magazine's reputation for double-checking facts: "Some of the stories are true and some have nothing to back them up at all. Harrison many times overruled his libel attorneys and went ahead on something." Harrison allegedly told the attorneys, "I'd go out of business if I printed the kind of stuff you guys want." Ronnie Quillan herself testified at the same trial that she never verified the Scott story, thus not making the story "suit proof," but that Rushmore agreed to publish it anyway.

In the wake of the sensational revelations of the 1957 trial, Scott's case was forgotten by the media. Despite latter day claims that Scott's film career was ruined by the Confidential scandal, by the time the September 1955 issue of Confidential appeared, her career was entering its dormant phase. Scott began her career at a time when established actors were away at war, giving then unknowns as John Hodiak, Robert Walker, Dane Clark, Janice Paige and Scott a chance at stardom. When the old stars returned to the studio payrolls, the new stars declined. In addition, the rise of television and breakup of the studio system further curtailed film production. Film historians generally agree that Scott's career essentially peaked between 1947 and 1949. By February 1953 her stage fright was such that she even hid from friends. Scott did not renew her Paramount contract in February 1954, 18 months before "Lizabeth Scott's Name in the Call Girls' Call Book?" was published. Between the end of her contract and Rushmore's article, she turned down numerous scripts, including a part in Wallis' The Rose Tattoo (1955). But instead of reinventing herself as Bacall did, returning to Broadway, Scott choose another path. After completing Loving You in 1957, Elvis Presley's second film, Scott retired from the big screen and did not return to the stage. Later that year, she recorded her album, Lizabeth. In 1958, the author of "Lizabeth Scott's Name in the Call Girls' Call Book?" would shoot Frances McCoy and himself in a New York taxicab incident.

Music

After completing her final major film role, Scott signed a recording contract with Vik Records (a subsidiary of RCA Victor). Before recording, she was trained by two Hollywood voice teachers, Harriet Lee and Lillian Rosedale Goodman for two and half years. The final result was that Scott "has a vocal range of two octaves, A below C to High C."

Scott recorded the album with Henri René and his orchestra in Hollywood on October 28, 29 and 30, 1957. The recordings were arranged by George Wyle and Henri René, while Herman Diaz, Jr. produced and directed. Simply titled Lizabeth, the 12 tracks are a mixture of torch songs and playful romantic ballads. The album includes Willow Weep For Me, Can't Get Out Of This Mood and Cole Porter's I'm In Love Again. The inner notes has an interview with Scott by columnist Earl Wilson, who writes in typical Wilsonian prose, "Liz, who's quite a blouseful, is a fan of Ralph Waldo Emerson, sleeps in the nude, loves deep-sea fishing...and adores sexy clothes."

Later years

Fiancé

Lizabeth Scott in Burke's Law.

The 1960s saw Scott continuing to guest-star on television, including a notable 1960 episode of Adventures in Paradise, "The Amazon," opposite Gardner McKay. Scott played the titular character, derived from a boyfriend's dialog: "She is a sleek, well-groomed tigress, a man-eating shark—an Amazon! She chews men up and spits them out." In Burke's Law "Who Killed Cable Roberts?" (1963), she camps it up as the ungrieving widow of a celebrity big game hunter in the Hemingway mode. Scott returned to Britain to film "The Luck of Harry Lime" (1965), an episode of The Third Man. But much of her private time was dedicated to classes at the University of Southern California. Scott began taking summer courses on philosophy and political science at USC back in 1950.

In May 1969, the future wedding of Scott to oil executive William Dugger of San Antonio, Texas was announced after a two-year engagement. He was formerly married to the actress Mara Lane, sister of Jocelyn Lane. During the 1960s, Dugger and Scott would appear as items in gossip columns—they were seen at the Kowloon restaurant in Los Angeles, in England attending a pheasant shoot, then dressing up for a cocktail party, or vacationing in Acapulco. Scott also visited Dugger's mother, sister and brother-in-law in San Antonio, while Dugger was down in South America inspecting family properties in Peru and Uruguay. In late 1969, musician Rexino Mondo was helping Scott decorate her fiance's mansion on Mulholland Drive before the wedding: "The urns were in place. Liz took my arm and guided me down a hall into a large room, then introduced me to her fiance, Texas oil baron William Lafayette Dugger, Jr. He was in his late forties, of medium build, good-looking, with dark hair, a warm personality, and a strong handshake." Dugger himself described Scott as "A misunderstood soul searching for love. Her outward appearance is just a shell." Dugger planned to make a film in Rome starring Scott, but suddenly died on August 8, 1969. A handwritten codicil to his will leaving half his estate to his fiancée was contested by Dugger's sister, Sarah Dugger Schwartz. The will was judged invalid in 1971.

Previous to Dugger, several books claimed Scott was a mistress of Hal Wallis, then married to actress Louise Fazenda. Wallis had a falling out with Scott around the time of Bad for Each Other, with recriminations on Wallis' part. After Scott freelanced for a few years, Wallis made an effort to revive the relationship by making Scott the leading lady opposite Presley, as it might be his last chance to star Scott in anything. After shooting was completed, Scott walked away film acting to try her hand at singing. The 14-year relationship that began at the Stork Club in 1943 came to an end. Allegedly, when asked what happened to the "E" in Scott's first name, Wallis replied, "It was lost along with her talent." Scott herself knew the relationship was over—only Wallis remained in denial. Scott avoided the symbiosis of Herbert Yates-Vera Ralston and returned to school. After Louise Fazenda's death in 1962, Wallis went into a depression and became a recluse before marrying Martha Hyer in 1966. In later life, he was reticent on the subject of Scott, despite an unjealous Hyer urging him to include Scott and his other mistresses in his autobiography. Though Casablanca was the film Wallis was most proud of, the ones he would repeatedly watch were those of Lizabeth Scott. Even during his second marriage, Wallis would continue to screen Scott at home, night after night.

In 1948 Scott was reportedly divorced from Russian Prince Stass Reed, whom she dated the previous year. Scott herself publicly disparaged former dates who tell all to the press. Once their date appears in the press, "...the man goes off (her) date list...'I think,' said Miss Scott, 'that gentlemen don't tell.'" But in the period between 1945 to the 1970s, the press reported Scott dating Stewart Granger, James Mason, Mortimer Hall, Richard Quine, Philip Cochran Herb Caen Anson Bond of the clothing store chain family, William Dozier, Seymour Bayer of the pharmaceutical family, Laurence Harvey and Burt Bacharach among scores of others. According to Bacharach: "She personified what I love about a woman, which is not too feminine but a little bit masculine. Just the strength and the coolness and the separation from the frilly woman who is always touching you and wanting something...I think Diane Keaton had that kind of quality.”

Nostalgia

Scott made her final film appearance in Pulp (1972), a nostalgic pastiche of noirs starring Michael Caine and Mickey Rooney. Scott plays a man-eating cougar, Princess Betty Cippola, who lives with the Beautiful People on Malta. One of her ex-husbands is Preston Gilbert (Rooney), an expatriate Hollywood actor. Gilbert hires a pulp writer, Mickey King (Caine), to ghost his autobiography, but murderous complications ensue. The director and screenwriting, Mike Hodges, spent a long time coaxing Scott out of retirement to fly to Malta for the shooting. Scott said that while she enjoyed the monochromic beauty of Malta, the humidity created physical challenges, such as puffing up her hair on the sets. Mike Hodges reported that both Mickey Rooney and Scott were challenging to work with while shooting. Rooney was overly energetic and had to be shot on rehearsal as he never repeated himself. Scott was equally as tiring as she "hadn't make a picture in 15 years and I had to really coax her into coming back." But Scott overcame her stage fright and Hodges was pleased with both Scott's and Rooney's performances.

Since then Scott has kept away from public view and declined most interview requests. From the 1970s on, she has reportedly been engaged in real estate development and volunteer work for various charities, such as Project HOPE.

She did, however, appear on stage at an American Film Institute tribute to Hal Wallis in 1987. In 2001, she was listed as one of the celebrity guests for the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special, which screened in the USA on CBS. She was photographed next to an image of herself on the poster for The Strange Love of Martha Ivers at the AMPAS Centennial Celebration for Barbara Stanwyck on 16 May 2007. She attended another screening of the film on June 28, 2010 as part of AMPAS's "Oscar Noir" series at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

In 2003, film historian Bernard F. Dick interviewed Scott for his biography of Hal Wallis. The results was an entire chapter titled "Morning Star." In the chapter, the author observed that during the interview, Scott (around 80 or 81) was still able to recite her opening monologue from The Skin of Our Teeth, which she had learned many decades earlier.

Despite all the films she worked on, Scott's favorite is one she never appeared in—Doctor Zhivago (1965). Ever the non-conformist, she never stopped living Ralph Waldo Emerson's precept: "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." Lizabeth Scott has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to motion pictures at 1624 Vine Street in Hollywood.

Filmography

Titles in the public domain.*

No.	Title, US release year	Studio, producer	Director, screen-writer	Scott's role	Leading man	Costars
1	You Came Along* (1945)	Paramount, Hal Wallis	John Farrow, Ayn Rand	Ivy Hotchkiss	Major Bob Collins (Robert Cummings)	Don DeFore, Charles Drake
2	The Strange Love of Martha Ivers* (1946)	Hal Wallis Productions/ Paramount, Hal Wallis	Lewis Milestone, Robert Rossen	Toni Marachek	Sam Masterson (Van Heflin)	Barbara Stanwyck, Kirk Douglas
3	Dead Reckoning (1947)	Columbia, Sidney Biddell	John Cromwell, Steve Fisher	Coral "Dusty" Chandler	Captain Warren "Rip" Murdock (Humphrey Bogart)	Morris Carnovsky, William Prince
4	Desert Fury (1947)	Paramount, Hal Wallis	Lewis Allen, Robert Rossen	Paula Haller	Eddie Bendix (John Hodiak)	Burt Lancaster, Mary Astor, Wendell Corey
5	Variety Girl (1947)	Paramount, Daniel Dare	George Marshall, Monte Brice	Herself	Burt Lancaster	Mary Hatcher, Olga San Juan
6	I Walk Alone (1948)	Paramount, Hal Wallis	Byron Haskin, Charles Schnee	Kay Lawrence	Frankie Madison (Burt Lancaster)	Kirk Douglas
7	Pitfall* (1948)	United Artists, Samuel Bischoff	André De Toth, Karl Kamb	Mona Stevens	John Forbes (Dick Powell)	Jane Wyatt, Raymond Burr
8	Too Late for Tears* (1949)	United Artists, Hunt Stromberg	Byron Haskin, Roy Huggins	Jane Palmer	Don Blake/ Blanchard (Don DeFore)	Dan Duryea, Arthur Kennedy, Kristine Miller
9	Easy Living (1949)	RKO, Robert Sparks	Jacques Tourneur, Irwin Shaw	Liza "Lize" Wilson	Pete Wilson (Victor Mature)	Lucille Ball, Sonny Tufts
10	Paid in Full* (1950)	Paramount, Hal Wallis	William Dieterle, Robert Blees	Jane Langley	Bill Prentice (Robert Cummings)	Diana Lynn
11	Dark City (1950)	Paramount, Hal Wallis	William Dieterle, John Meredyth Lucas	Fran Garland	Danny Haley/ Richard Branton (Charlton Heston)	Viveca Lindfors, Dean Jagger
12	The Company She Keeps (1951)	RKO, John Houseman	John Cromwell, Ketti Frings	Joan	Larry Collins (Dennis O'Keefe)	Jane Greer
13	Two of a Kind (1951)	Columbia, William Dozier	Henry Levin, Lawrence Kimble	Brandy Kirby	Lefty Farrell (Edmund O'Brien)	Terry Moore
14	Red Mountain* (1951)	Paramount, Hal Wallis	William Dieterle, George W. George	Chris	Captain Brett Sherwood (Alan Ladd)	Arthur Kennedy, John Ireland
15	The Racket (1951)	RKO, Edmund Grainger	John Cromwell, William Wister Haines	Irene Hayes	Captain Thomas McQuigg (Robert Mitchum)	Robert Ryan, William Talman
16	Stolen Face (1952)	Hammer/ Lippert, Anthony Hinds	Terence Fisher, Martin Berkeley	Alice Brent, Lily Conover (after surgery)	Dr. Philip Ritter (Paul Henreid)	André Morell, Mary Mackenzie
17	Scared Stiff (1953)	Paramount, Hal Wallis	George Marshall, Herbert Baker	Mary Carroll	Larry Todd (Dean Martin)	Jerry Lewis, Carmen Miranda
18	Bad for Each Other (1953)	Columbia, William Fadiman	Irving Rapper, Irving Wallace	Helen Curtis	Tom Owen (Charlton Heston)	Dianne Foster
19	Silver Lode (1954)	RKO, Benedict Bogeaus	Allan Dwan, Karen DeWolf	Rose Evans	Dan Ballard (John Payne)	Dan Duryea, Dolores Moran
20	The Weapon (1957)	Republic, Irving H. Levin	Val Guest, Fred Freiberger	Elsa Jenner	Captain Mark Andrews (Steve Cochran)	Herbert Marshall
21	Loving You (1957)	Paramount, Hal Wallis	Hal Kanter, Herbert Baker	Glenda Markle	Deke Rivers (Elvis Presley)	Wendell Corey, Dolores Hart
22	Adventures in Paradise (TV series) The Amazon (1960)	20th Century Fox Television, Richard Goldstone	Joseph Lejtes, William Froug	Carla MacKinley	Adam Troy (Gardner McKay)	Claude Akins, Tom Drake
23	Burke's Law (TV series) Who Killed Cable Roberts?* (1963)	Four Star, Aaron Spelling	Jeffrey Hayden, Gwen Bagni	Mona Roberts	Captain Amos Burke (Gene Barry)	Paul Lynde, Mary Astor, Zsa Zsa Gabor
24	The Third Man (TV series) The Luck of Harry Lime (1965)	BBC, John Llewellyn Moxey	Paul Henreid, Gene Wang	Diane Masters	Harry Lime (Michael Rennie)	Jonathan Harris
25	Pulp (1972)	United Artists, Michael Klinger	Mike Hodges (both)	Princess Betty Cippola	Mickey King (Michael Caine)	Mickey Rooney

External links

• Lizabeth Scott 1996 Interview Part 1 of 8, Soapbox & Praeses Productions
• Lizabeth Scott at IMDb
• Lizabeth Scott at the Internet Broadway Database
• Lizabeth Scott at the Turner Classic Movies