Photos from Lehmann’s experience with Hollywood can be found below. This photo is a publicity shot that MGM arranged.
You can see clips of Lehmann singing from the movie on YouTube.
When I (Gary Hickling) was preparing the interview for my 85th Lehmann Birthday radio program, I suggested that Lehmann describe her Hollywood adventure. She firmly rejected the idea.
I was able to interview André Previn, who as a teenager worked on the musical aspects of the movie. Here’s what he said:
To summarize Lehmann’s experience, you can read what Beaumont Glass wrote:
At MGM, Lotte was as excited as a child at the circus, as in this letter to her dear friend Edward Ziegler of the Met:
…And so I always dreamed about acting, dreams flavored with resignation, not with hope. Now comes a fulfillment! This role is really a very interesting one. The singing is very much a side issue. But the part is warm and human and quite effective…. I play a Jewish grandmother, not exactly a “glamour girl.” But my adopted grandchild is the charming little Margaret O’Brien…. We have rented a house in Beverly Hills because I have to be there for three months. Next week the “shooting” starts. I am as excited as if I were a beginner on the stage. By the way, first they wanted to give me a month of training—they treated me slightly like a feeble-minded prima donna. Thank heaven after my test (which was a great success) nobody talked any more about “training” me. The camera man said that I could not fool him. Now I have talked enough about me—but you must understand that I am so filled to the brim with this excitement about the movie that I just cannot talk about anything else. It will not surprise you when I tell you that they will hate me soon, because I have too many ideas….
The title of the film was Big City. Lotte played a character part opposite Margaret O’Brien, the famous child-star. Danny Thomas, the popular comedian, was given a straight dramatic role as Lotte’s son. George Murphy and Robert Preston were also starred. Every now and then the film shows up on late-night television.
Several opportunities to sing had been written into the script for Lotte, and the songs were later released in a record album. There was the Brahms “Lullaby” and a vocal version of Schumann’s piano piece, “Träumerei” (about as close to lieder as Hollywood was likely to come in those days), also “The Kerry Dance,” and, as part of a grand finale that was later partly cut, “God Bless America,” which Lotte sang with all her famous fervor.
Gwendolyn Koldofsky [her accompanist] recalls having seen Big City in a Los Angeles movie theatre. It was just an ordinary showing, one of many “continuous performances.” She was astonished and delighted that the audience broke into applause after each of Lotte’s numbers.
Lotte described to Bruno Walter how she felt about her new experience:
A real acting role, without music, has always, always been my dream. I wanted to test myself, to see whether I am a true “actress” or whether I can only act when I am borne along by the music. All singers have failed—you remember that as an actress even Gutheil [Marie Gutheil-Schoder] was good only in opera. So the chance to play a real character role in the film was a temptation I couldn’t resist. The part was actually written for Ethel Barrymore—the singing was only added after Pasternak decided to give the part to a singer. I must say, I enjoyed the whole thing immensely. Every profession has its shadow side. The eternal waiting around is naturally dreadful—and the purely mechanical process of being photographed from various angles is not very enjoyable. But all the preliminary work with the director (Norman Taurog) was very satisfying artistically. He allowed me complete freedom. It is curious: not for a moment did I feel at all strange in front of the camera. And if the movie public will like me as well as the people at MGM seem to do, then I may have a career in front of me…. Not bad for a woman of sixty.
After seeing herself on the screen, Lotte was decidedly less enthusiastic:
I saw “my” film and found myself ghastly. I look so absolutely convincing as an old grandmother that I get nauseated when I see myself. Funny, that a woman finds it so hard to let go…. If I ever have to look at more movies of me (though I have every intention never to admire myself again), I will have to learn the art of resignation….
Here’s a link to some of the music second “takes” from Big City.