Life Imitates Art: The "sleep cure" Jennifer undergoes in the book (being anesthetized for a week in order to drastically lose weight) was purely fiction when the book was published, and the dangerous conditions involved made it impossible to carry out in real life. (Neely also loses weight in a similar way, taking "dolls" to sleep whenever she gets too hungry) Then the Sleeping Beauty Diet appeared, with users taking sleeping pills whenever they had an appetite to "sleep the pounds off," which is also considered dangerous by professionals.note As your body needs a healthy amount of sleep to function, sleeping too much can ironically cause weight gain, too.
Sleeper Hit: No one was expecting the book to be such a success. A lot of its subject matter had not been tackled with such detail - particularly the sex and lesbianism - and it ended up selling thirty million copies.
What Could Have Been: Neely and Helen never interacted in the first draft of the book. Jacqueline Susann's editor felt that readers would want to see the two characters "lock horns", so they created the scene where Neely confronts Helen in the bathroom.
Write What You Know: The novel and its movie adaptation are loosely based on novelist Jacqueline Susann's experience as an actress from the late 1930s to the late 1950s.
The film adaptation:
Actor-Shared Background: Disturbingly enough, Patty Duke had literally just come out of a psychiatric facility for problems with bipolar disorder when she was cast as Neely. She had also been forced to take pills in her child star days, although thankfully had not become addicted to them.
Approval of God: In the 90s, a company called Theatre-A-Go-Go had to pay the rent and had two weeks to prepare — so they did a cheap stage version of the film this time as a comedy. It turned into a runaway hit, even going Off-Broadway for a while. Both Lee Grant and Barbara Parkins went to see it and loved it. The latter claims she burst out laughing at their version of the final scene; Anne crawling to the edge of the stage and getting water thrown in her face to represent the ocean.
Cast the Runner-Up: Barbara Parkins was keen on playing Neely O'Hara, viewed as the most demanding part, and then considered Jennifer North the next best role. Her screen test however convinced them to offer her the role of Ann instead.
Original screenwriter Harlan Ellison had his name removed from the credits because he vehemently disagreed with the tacked-on "happy" Adaptational Alternate Ending that the studio insisted upon inserting as a last-minute script change. However, he was associated with it and another film about Hollywood sleaze, The Oscar, where his name was not removed, and got razzed about both of them for the rest of his life.
Sharon Tate wasn't keen on either the book or the finished film. She later stated that she thought the story was terrible, but knew the buzz around it bestseller status would ensure good publicity for her career.
While she was still on the film, Judy Garland thought "I'll Plant My Own Tree" was a ridiculous song.
Creator's Apathy: Patty Duke admits to checking out early on in production once she saw where the film was headed, and putting no effort into her performance.
"At first I thought I was being really good and serious in the role. I wasn't. I gave up early on. I gave up on the character and participating once I saw the way they were headed with handling production."
Gay Panic: Censorship issues at the time prevented some of the more risque elements from the book being adapted, such as Jennifer's experimentation with lesbianism and Ted Casablanca's homosexuality.
The three lead actresses, Barbara Parkins, Patty Duke and Sharon Tate, became exceptionally close and the former two were bridesmaids in the latter's wedding.
Patty Duke and Barbara Parkins also befriended Judy Garland, as they were huge fans, and she too was excited to work with them. Despite only shooting one scene with her, Barbara would later call her one of her favourite people she'd worked with.
Mark Robson had a very combative relationship with all his actresses, particularly singling out Sharon Tate for his harsh treatment. Patty Duke hated working with him and, years later, after his death, still called him "a mean son of a bitch". He would reportedly demean her with comments like "you might have been able to do that when you had your own show, but we're really working here".
Susan Hayward reportedly had a difficult relationship with the cast and crew, and her clashes with Duke became part of the dramatic tension between their characters. Others have disputed this, saying that she was merely "professional", and simply may not have endeared herself to the director by insisting that Judy Garland still be paid her agreed-upon fee before signing on to replace her. Patty Duke also said she was still recovering from the death of her husband, meaning she was distant. There was also bad blood between them when filming the Helen/Neely fight, as the choreography had to be shortened on the spot, and a miscommunication led to Susan hitting her head, with Mark Robson later suggestion Patty had tried to do it on purpose.
When Judy Garland was still on the film, Mark Robson had her call time as 8 in the morning but would not film her scenes until 4 - according to Patty Duke - knowing that it would annoy her.
Lee Grant took the role of Miriam because she needed the money, having only just come off the Hollywood blacklist after twelve years, and also with a daughter to support.
Judy Garland initially accepted the role of Helen Lawson because she had ended up in debt and had to sell her house.
Patty Duke saw the role of Neely O'Hara as the most dynamic in the script, allowing her to act, sing and dance. When she learned that despite her preparations her vocals were dubbed for the film, she was furious. Recordings exist of her rendition of "It's Impossible", and she still contributed a cover of the theme, sung by Dionne Warwick in the finished film.
Margaret Whiting dubbed Susan Hayward for "I'll Plant My Own Tree". It is sung by soundalike Eileen Wilson on the soundtrack, as Margaret was under contract to a different label than 20th. Susan was able to sing, having done so successfully to a Best Actress nomination in With a Song in My Heart, but was not a regular singer and came on board too late to retrain her voice.
The Other Marty: Judy Garland was originally cast as Helen Lawson. This would have been her first film role in five years (the last being I Could Go On Singing, which was unsuccessful). She filmed wardrobe tests and recorded "I'll Plant My Own Tree". She was fired after one week due to her substance abuse issues. She was paid half of her promised fee and was allowed to keep her copper-colored sequined pant suit designed by Travilla. She later complained about the press coverage:
The studio hadn't even built the set yet, and the tabloids had me walking off it.
Playing Against Type: Patty Duke took the role of Neely O'Hara as an opportunity to transition into more adult roles in film.
Reality Subtext: Sharon Tate often struggled with being seen as just a pretty face instead of her talent, like her character Jennifer. In fact, in an interview, she stated that she was drawn to Jennifer for this reason.
Serendipity Writes the Plot: The book opens in a heatwave at the end of World War II, while the film opens in a snowfall. This is because producers were in a rush to get the film made and didn't want to wait for the warmer weather.
Stunt Casting: It was suggested that the casting of Judy Garland in the role of Helen Lawson was this - as she had not made a film in five years and being infamous for her struggles with drugs, alcohol and mental illness - and that the publicity surrounding the casting would be worth the replacing her they would eventually do.
Troubled Production: While the film was brought on in time and without any budget overruns, and grossed $50 million on only a $4 million budget, its reputation as an over-the-top mess has several factors; so much so that YouTuber Be Kind Rewind devoted a two part videoessay to it.
The problems started with conflicting visions from Darryl F Zanuck and his son Richard, both execs of 20th Century Fox, on what approach they should take to Jacqueline Susann's novel. The former felt that the book's setting beginning in the 1940s through to the 60s meant they should approach it as a classical "stylishly sexy" 1950s style drama, while the latter felt that it should be "hip" and more contemporary to match the changing sensibilities of the New Hollywood era. A lengthy script writing process followed, eventually landing at one combining two different versions, one written by Dorothy Kingsley and the other by Helen Deutsch. Both were experienced Hollywood screenwriters, having worked in films for decades, but perhaps not quite the right choices to deliver a contemporary story that spoke to the youth of the late 60s. Helen Deutsch eventually asked for her name to be taken off the film.
The movie's Frankenstein script resulted in oddities such as the story starting in the sixties and truncating the events that took two decades in the book, making it extremely vague how much time was actually passing in attempts to be contemporary - and yet having Neely's success montage obviously evoke the glossy musicals of the 40s that were fast falling out of style in the 60s, as well as Anne's modelling resembling Audrey Hepburn's Funny Face, a distinctly 50s aesthetic. The bizarre "I'll Plant My Own Tree" sequence, meant to be a highbrow Broadway number was staged with no other dancers and accompanied by a weird psychedelic glass ornament on the stage.
Director Mark Robson was wildly out of his depth, despite having transitioned from editing to directing successfully and even been nominated for Best Director twice. He would bizarrely have the actors perform takes set to a stopwatch and expect them to match the set time, even calling for cut in the middle of a take if they ran 'over'. He also never spent much time with the actors discussing the performances, prioritising angles and marks, which proved frustrating for Barbara Parkins - who had only done television and received little to no direction, to the point that filming Anne's climactic scene on the beach saw her having to swallow mouthfuls of filthy seawater for the sake of a shot of the pill bottle. He also proved unresponsive when the actors tried to make suggestions or pitch ideas for their scenes.
Robson seemed to have it in for Sharon Tate, and treated her horribly, with Patty Duke in her autobiography suspecting that he simply wanted to make "a pretty girl look stupid". He would also give her ridiculous direction, such as making her reshoot Jennifer walking downstairs with her heavy headdress on multiple times without offering any notes or feedback, or telling her which foot to start a scene on and which button to undo while saying a line. They also disagreed on their vision of Jennifer, with Sharon seeing her as a tragic figure with Hidden Depths (as she is in the book), and Robson trying to portray her as "a tramp", yelling at her to be made over to look "cheap" and show more cleavage. This had the effect that Sharon's distinctly late 60s aesthetic and persona were forced into a 1950s archetype that she didn't fit.
Judy Garland was only on the film for ten days, with most people in the cast finding bringing her onto the film to be an exploitative publicity stunt, and she herself knew fully well that Neely O'Hara was a caricature of her, but she took the role because she needed the money and it would mean a potential comeback after a five year absence from films. Mark Robson immediately tormented her by setting her call time for 6:30 in the morning, but would not shoot her scenes until 4:30 in the afternoon, also not bothering to direct or debrief her on the day's work, getting assistants and intermediaries to do so. Barbara Parkins and Patty Duke spoke warmly of her enthusiasm for the role, and note that despite being anxious, she showed up on time and rehearsed meticulously, but her nerves saw her forgetting lines or saying them out of order, sending her into even more of a panic. On the third day of shooting, after more disrespect from the director, she locked herself in her dressing room and was subsequently fired. The press lied to say she had simply withdrawn from the role for "personal reasons", but she set the record straight in a series of articles detailing her life. The three lead actresses, all big fans of hers and excited to work with her, describe the Gut Punch on set when she was fired, and the mood following it on set as miserable.
Susan Hayward agreed to come out of retirement to replace Judy Garland, on the condition that she still be paid the fee she would have received had she completed the picture. While she had a working relationship with Mark Robson and avoided clashing with him the way the others did, but problems stemmed from her limited mobility as a result of a car accident in her youth that meant she couldn't do too much mad choreography for the "I'll Plant My Own Tree" sequence and while she had proved herself a singer in I'll Cry Tomorrow, she had been in retirement and didn't have time to retrain her voice, requiring them to dub her, and her lack of proficiency lip synching showed in the final product.
Few were more miserable on the film than Patty Duke, who had just come out of a psychiatric facility, and likewise was dealing with undiagnosed bipolar disorder. While cast on the basis of a very strong screen test, and doing extensive training in singing and dancing, she proved inexperienced in dealing with such a meaty role coming off lighter fare like The Patty Duke Show. Robson would either be absent for some of her big scenes, such as the one where Neely is being restrained in the hospital, meaning she got no direction, or else would merely push her to go over the top, resulted in an extremely hammy performance that she didn't realise was so big. She also hated him as a person for how mean he was on set, especially after an accident filming the Neely/Helen Cat Fight saw Susan Hayward getting injured, and him spreading rumours to the rest of the crew that she had tried to do it on purposenote The accident was caused by the choreography having to be shortened to accommodate Robson's stopwatch insistence.. She admitted that she checked out of the role after Judy Garland was fired. Not helping matters was her dealing with an ectopic pregnancy before the film's release, and she attended the premiere while still recovering; finding the film so terrible she was tempted to pretend to be sick and leave early.
The finished film didn't do much for the careers of the three lead actresses. Barbara Parkins had been hoping to transition to films, and went back to Peyton Place until it finished, eventually moving to London and retiring from acting altogether, paralleling Anne. Patty Duke was appalled at the film and ended up working in television, dealing with bipolar disorder until her diagnosis in the 80s lead to a second wind as an activist. Sharon Tate was able to make the transition to comedies like she had wished, but unfortunately would be murdered in 1969 before she could reach the heights expected of her. Judy Garland likewise would pass away of an overdose only the next year.
Underage Casting: While the movie doesn't cover two decades like the book, Neely at one point says she's 26. Patty Duke was only 20 when she played the role.
Wag the Director: A proposed idea for Helen's Hairstyle Malfunction was for her to appear to be losing her hair - suggesting she had ruined it by dyeing the greys repeatedly (this is in the book). Susan Hayward refused to wear a bald cap and they just had Helen with grey hair.
Barbra Streisand was the first choice for Neely O'Hara, but she turned it down in favour of appearing in the film version of Funny Girl. A wise move, considering she won an Oscar for it.
Raquel Welch was the first choice for Jennifer North, and at one point was announced as having accepted the role. But she was annoyed at her sex symbol status and feared playing a character only seen as "a body" would just cement her as a Ms. Fanservice in the eyes of the public. She tried to get cast as Neely, but the studio refused and suspended her.
appeared, with users taking sleeping pills whenever they had an appetite to "sleep the pounds off," which is also considered dangerous by professionals.note 