“If I Had to Do It Over Again”

Although in ill health, Hopkins is convinced to attend a film retrospective of Paramount’s sixtieth anniversary at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and a showing of The Story of Temple Drake. Also that month, she gives her last interview to historian and writer John Kobal. A few weeks later, she collapses in her hotel suite and is admitted to the Harkness Medical Center. Later, she returns to the Alrae Hotel, spending time with her sister, Ruby, and friend Becky Morehouse. She dies alone at the hotel, shortly before her seventieth birthday. The reactions from her friends and family are documented, recounting her funeral in New York and memorials in Bainbridge and Hollywood.

“Perfect Little Bitches”

This chapter documents the making of The Old Maid, the problems and difficulties encountered, and the deepening of the infamous Hopkins-Davis feud. When filming is completed, Hopkins flies to New York and has an affair with the German writer Carl Zuckmayer. Jack Warner casts Paul Muni in We Are Not Alone, but Muni refuses to accept Hopkins as his costar. Warner removes her from the film and a new property is brought to her attention, All This, and Heaven Too. Originally bought for Bette Davis, Hopkins wants it and threatens legal action, so Jack Warner assigns it to her. Critics call Hopkins’s performance in The Old Maid “magnetic” and the casting of Hopkins and Davis is compared to “steel striking steel.” Hopkins reads that Litvak and actress Ann Sheridan are having an affair. Despite her relationship with Carl Zuckmayer, she is furious. Hopkins flies to Reno and files for divorce. There, Hopkins reflects on Michael’s education and sends him to boarding school. In addition, her relationship with her mother is strained and her finances are low.

Tola

On her return to the United States, Hopkins meets Russian-born director Anatole Litvak. They become close, and she stars in his first American film, The Woman I Love. Her costar Paul Muni is bothered by Hopkins’s interference, and fights ensue. Hopkins buys the former estate of John Gilbert. Warner Bros. plans to make Jezebel, a part Hopkins wants, however, she is tricked into selling her rights and the role is given to Bette Davis. Discouraged, Hopkins returns to Goldwyn and makes Woman Chases Man. Polls claim that Hopkins is the number one choice to play Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind, but David O. Selznick has other plans. Hopkins moves into her new Tower Grove home. She elopes with Anatole Litvak and appears in Wine of Choice for the Theatre Guild, but it fails to meet her standards. She is devastated at the death of her ex-husband “Billy” Parker. After the funeral, she collapses and is admitted to the hospital.

Prologue

One fall afternoon in 1940, stage and screen actress Miriam Hopkins opened the door to her suite at New York’s Ambassador Hotel. Standing before her was a short young man wearing thick glasses, a threadbare corduroy jacket, and muddy riding boots. A southerner like herself, they had met once at the opening of her recent play ...

Angels Battle in Boston

Hopkins goes to New York for rehearsals in Battle with Angels, a play by first-time playwright Tennessee Williams. The play, however, is a failure, and the experience erodes Hopkins’s self-confidence, professionally and personally. She is offered several films before finally accepting the lead in A Gentleman after Dark. Hopkins accepts a role opposite Bette Davis in Old Acquaintance, a part that will bring Davis no end of problems.

Goldwyn

There are many disagreements with costar Edward G. Robinson on the set of Barbary Coast, her first picture for Sam Goldwyn. Hopkins makes These Three, the first of four films with the director William Wyler, and it is a critical success. She receives a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for Becky Sharp but is beaten out by Bette Davis. Hopkins sails to Europe, where she witnesses the militarization of the Continent, while making a film in England for producer, Alexander Korda.

Billy

Hopkins is cast in the Broadway play Excess Baggage. One day on the way to the theater, she witnesses a suicide. Convinced this is a message, she realizes life is short and divorces Brandon Peters and marries the writer she has become infatuated with, Austin “Billy” Parker. She and her new husband travel to Europe for their honeymoon, and on their return trip, Hopkins gets news of her uncle Dixie’s death, which profoundly affects her. With no offers on Broadway, Hopkins returns to Rochester to work with George Cukor and meets her future nemesis, Bette Davis, for the first time. Back in New York, questions are raised about her divorce to Parker. Hopkins appears in a short talking film for Paramount, which attracts the attention of producer Mack Sennett, who offers her a contract that she ultimately refuses. Instead, she appears in several plays before accepting a role in one in England that runs a few months.

Epilogue

MIRIAM HOPKINS advised her niece, Margot Welch, when she started as an actress, that there were five things a young person needed for a successful acting career: talent, training, good luck, persistence, and heart (or guts). Margot asked which one was the most important. “Heart,” Miriam told her. “If you have that, anything is possible.”...

Sutton Place

During the run of Jezebel, Hopkins buys the Sutton Place townhouse of the late literary agent Elisabeth Marbury. While it is remodeled, she returns to Hollywood to make She Loves Me Not, with Bing Crosby and Kitty Carlisle, who relates the kind treatment Hopkins showed her during the making of the film. With one more film owed before her Paramount contract expires, the studio loans Hopkins to RKO to make The Richest Girl in the World. She is hired to play Becky Sharp in the first full-length Technicolor film, and then she signs a four-year contract with producer Samuel Goldwyn. Hopkins hears from her father for the first time in twenty-five years, and her rocky relationship with her mother and her sister’s emotional problems are examined. Hopkins is introduced to, and develops a close friendship with, writer Gertrude Stein, who helps her start a collection of classic paintings. Problems plague the production of Becky Sharp.

Of Paramount Importance

Miriam is cast in the hit play Lysistrata, and Paramount producer Walter Wanger offers her a contract. Her first picture is Fast and Loose, but she doubts that films are for her. Actress Nancy Carroll teaches her how to work before the camera. Going into rehearsals for Lee Shubert’s His Majesty’s Car, she has a breakdown. Hopkins’s grandmother dies during rehearsals for Anatol, but she cannot attend the funeral in Georgia, infuriating her mother. Hopkins is making good money and brings her mother to New York. Paramount signs her to do The Smiling Lieutenant for Ernst Lubitsch. Her husband’s screenplay, Honor Among Lovers, attracts RKO and he is offered a Hollywood contract. The couple’s lack of commitment creates a strain and they separate before Billy leaves for California. The Smiling Lieutenant is a hit for Hopkins. Paramount closes the Astoria Studios, and she will make her next film in Hollywood. The evening before she leaves, Bennett Cerf gives her a wild going away party.