Suspense Upgrades

1957-12-22 Bridgeport CT Post


1957-12-22 Eugene OR Guard


1957-12-22 Los Angeles CA Times


1957-12-22 Miami FL News


1957-12-22 Tampa Bay FL Times

1956-11-22 Pittsburgh PA Press


1956-11-26 Baltimore MD Sun
A positive review... there were many


The Official 1958 Evelyn Rudie Paper Doll Book!

To the Editor:

Anita Gates, repeating a now familiar tale, writes that Kay Thompson hated the 1956 Playhouse 90 adaptation of her book Eloise so much "that she vowed that neither movies nor television would ever put their filthy hands on her precious Eloise again" [A Suite and the City: Eloise's New York, April 27].

Here's what really happened. Kay, who wrote the Playhouse 90 version herself and appeared in it as a hotel guest, was also supposed to do the voice of Eloise. Since it was a live show, the little girl playing the part would cover her mouth or turn her head away when she had a line. Kay would crawl near the camera and speak in the direction of the microphone. This was choreographed and practiced for three weeks.

At 1 a.m. the day of the broadcast, the girl's parents got a call from the producer, Martin Manulis. He and the director, John Frankenheimer, had been going around and around all night. "It just doesn't work," he said. "Do you think your daughter can speak the lines herself?"

There was a dry run that morning, and the little girl did fine (as she would that night). No sooner was the dry run finished than Kay appeared on the set with a cadre of lawyers and piles of new contracts. No reruns, no sequels, no marketing, in her lifetime. The little girl's representatives had to agree that while she could say in her publicity materials that she had played Eloise, she could never say that she was Eloise. "I am Eloise," Kay said bluntly. ''No one else. Ever. Not as long as I live."

Kay was a fabulous woman, an incredibly talented entertainer and an icon for little girls who grew up to be the liberated teenagers of the 60's and 70's. She was kind-hearted, a good friend and an amazing shopping partner. She loved the cast of that Playhouse 90 production, couldn't speak highly enough of Frankenheimer, was excited by the new songs and choreography she had created and charmed by the little girl she had befriended. She came to her just before airtime and said: "You cannot imagine how difficult this is for me. I love you so much. But I am Eloise. I can't help it."

I loved Kay Thompson dearly -- from the moment I auditioned for her and was selected to play Eloise. The publicity trip to New York was my first plane ride, 11 1/2 hours with horrible turbulence. As the stewardesses opened the doors and the photographers began shooting, I had to throw up. Kay turned me around, held open her handbag and said, "In here!" We were best buddies from then on.

EVELYN RUDIE
Santa Monica, Calif.

The writer is co-artistic director of the Santa Monica Playhouse.

1959-01-03 Los Angeles CA Evening Citizen News


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He was no Schubert, but he did write the sort of songs which get in one's head and stay there despite one's efforts to get them out.