Jean and Otto Preminger/Jane in New York (Jean and Jane Episode 2)

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Jean Seberg made her first two films, Saint Joan and Bonjour Tristesse, for director Otto Preminger, a tyrannical svengali character whose methods would traumatize Jean for the rest of her life and career. No wonder she rebelled against this bad dad figure by marrying a handsome French opportunist. Meanwhile, Jane Fonda moves to New York, joins the Actors Studio, takes up with her own hyper-controlling male partner, and tries to define herself as something other than Henry Fonda’s daughter.

Jean Seberg and Otto Preminger, c. late 1950's

Jean Seberg in Bonjour Tristesse, 1958

Jane Fonda in a stage production of There Was A Little Girl, 1960

Jane Fonda and Rod Taylor in Sunday in New York, 1963

SHOW NOTES:  

Sources:

Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman by Patricia Bosworth

My Life So Far by Jane Fonda

The World and Its Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger by Chris Fujiwara

Played Out: The Jean Seberg Story by David Richards

Preminger: An Autobiography by Otto Preminger

“Two Saint Joans, Old and New” by L.R. Swainson, The Age, February 12, 1957

Photo of Otto Preminger kissing Seberg from Los Angeles Times, October 22, 1956

Music:

All of the music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro and outro, is from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca. Outro song: “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson. Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode: “Meet Me In Queens 1, 2 and 3” by Örjan Karlsson, “By the Lake in the Evening” by Franz Gordon, “Be Still” by Johannes Bornlöf, “Widows Dance” by Håkan Eriksson, “Musique A La Carte 01” by John Åhlin, “Weekly” by Martin Gauffin, “Swing Manouche 05” by John Åhlin, “Old Time Action 2” by Gunnar Johnsén, “Cadillac Quiff Boys 1” by Victor Olsson, “Hot Rod Rebels 5” by Victor Olsson, “Hippies On A Bus 1” by Martin Landh, “It Takes Four” by Niklas Ahlstrom, “Readers Do You Read” by Chris Zabriskie.

Sponsors:

This episode is sponsored by Blue Apron, Naturebox and Squarespace.

Credits:

This episode was edited by Sam Dingman, and produced by Karina Longworth with the assistance of Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.

Barbara Loden (Dead Blondes Episode 12)

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Barbara Loden won a Tony Award for playing a character based on Marilyn Monroe in Arthur Miller’s After the Fall. Like Marilyn, Barbara was a beauty with no pedigree who fled a hopeless upbringing in search of the fulfillment of fame. Like Marilyn, Loden found some measure of security as the mistress (and eventual wife) of a powerful man, in Loden’s case Elia Kazan. But instead of satisfying her, her small taste of fame and her relationship with Kazan left Barbara Loden wanting more, which would lead her to write, direct and star in a groundbreaking independent movie of her own.

Author Arthur Miller, Barbara Loden and Jason Robards Jr., After the Fall, 1964

Barbara Loden and Elia Kazan, 1969

Barbara Loden, writer-director-star of Wanda

Show notes:

Sources:

I wrote about the restoration of Wanda for the LA Weekly in 2011. Though I did additional research for this episode, I incorporated some text and research from that earlier piece here.

Other sources:

Elia Kazan, A Life by Elia Kazan

Suite for Barbara Loden by Nathalie Leger

Elia Kazan: The Cinema of an American Outsider by Brian Neve

The Mommie Dearest Diary: Carol Ann Tells All by Rutanya Alda

“Conversation on Wanda by Barbara Loden” by Marguerite Duras and Elia Kazan

“The Lonely Female Taxi Driver: Barbara Loden's Wanda” by Jacqueline Valencia

Barbara Loden clippings files, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Credits:

This episode was edited by Sam Dingman, and produced by Karina Longworth with the assistance of Lindsey D. Schoenholtz. Our logo was designed by Teddy Blanks.