Encyclopedia Page P
Parsons, Louella(8/6/1881-12/9/1972): The first gossip columnist in Hollywood, Parsons frequently attended parties and banquets where Norma, Irving Thalberg and other important Hollywood figures also gathered. Parsons came from Dixon, Illinois where she got her first newspaper job as the drama editor for Dixon Morning Star. She began her first movie gossip column in Chicago Record-Herald, then she came to Hollywood where she began a series of radio broadcasts and inside scoop columns about the private lives of Hollywood's most elite. Parsons published two memoirs and worked almost up until her death in 1972.
Parsons also attended the marriage of Irving Thalberg and Norma Shearer on September 29, 1927. She wrote the following about the small ceremony:
"Never has Norma Shearer looked lovelier. Many, many times she has been called upon to play the role of a bride, but yesterday she gave her most realistic performance. Her gown of soft ivory velvet was particularly becoming. The severity of the plain white was relieved by a yoke of hand-made point lace studded with pearls and an occasional rhinestone. Her veil, edged with lace, was thrown back from her face in soft, gathered folds instead of the conventional bridal cap. She carried a bridal bouquet of white and tinted lavender orchids with pale yellow roses. Pinned to the bodice of her dress was a diamond pin-the gift of the bridegroom."
Peron, Eva: Her favorite film was Marie Antoinette, and dyed her hair blonde after viewing Norma’s “Marie” look.
Pickford, Jack: Norma’s costar in 1925’s Walking up the Town. (See that entry for more Jack Pickford information.)
Pleasure Mad(1923, silent): Directed by Reginald Barker, stars Huntley Gordon, Mary Alden, and Norma. This was the first movie Norma made for Louis B. Mayer so it’s of major importance.
Powell, William(7/29/1892-3/5/1984): When John Barrymore’s drunken behavior on Romeo and Juliet (1937) got out of control, Thalberg wanted to replace him with Powell, but was refused.
(Note: Powell also plays the Lionel Barrymore character in 1953’s bland Free Soul remake titled, The Girl Who Had Everything.)
Power, Tyrone: After such odd candidates as Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Robert Montgomery, and Robert Taylor were considered for the role of Axel von Fersen in Marie Antoinette (1938), Norma demanded Power for the role. (Note: Many writers are quick to throw out Norma wanted him for only off-screen, sexual purposes. Whatever the case, it’s impossible to picture anyone who could have succeeded in the film more than Power.) In order to make the deal, Spencer Tracy was loaned to Fox Studios, Power’s home studio, for Stanley and Livingston.Around 1947, Norma wanted to produce the movie version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel about Irving Thalberg, The Last Tycoon. When Darryl Zanuck refused to loan out Power to MGM again, insisting that Marie Antoinette had reduced him to a minor player, the project was dropped.
Pretty Ladies(1926, silent): Stars Zasu Pitts, with Norma only in a cameo appearance. This was Norma’s third to last film she made with Monta Bell.(Note: Myrna Loy and Joan Crawford, credited as Lucille LeSueur, also have bit parts in the film.)
Pride and Prejudice(1940): Irving Thalberg purchased the rights to the successful Broadway play adaptation in 1936 for Norma. Jane Murfin wrote up the screen play, then Katharine Cornell revived Romeo and Juliet on Broadway, and Thalberg made that for Norma instead.
After completing 1939’s The Women, producer Hunt Stromberg suggested it to Mayer as Norma’s follow up. It was announced to the public that production would start in England at the end of September, but the War in Europe ended the decision. Mayer gave the part to Greer Garson without Norma’s knowledge, and the film was made on the MGM lot.
Private Lives(1931): Directed by Sidney Franklin, stars Norma and Robert Montgomery and is based on the play by Noel Coward. Appealing to only city audiences, Thalberg took the film’s $250,000 profit as more than acceptable. Montgomery said of the famous fight scene:We were engaging in a no-holds-barred fight scene and we were knocking each other around pretty hard. Norma could pack a mean left, and she got so carried away in her enthusiasm, her desire to give ‘em a show, that she knocked me into a screen and I landed flat on my derriere and went out cold. I remember her kneeling over me begging me to forgive her. It was a really nice way to “come to” and of course I did forgive her- But Louella Parsons was wrong when she claimed in print that we sealed our reconciliation with a kiss-it was a handshake, as I remember.
According to Complicated Women, Norma had planned to wear another revealing gown in Private Lives. However, after backlash from her Free Soul attire, Thalberg decided against it.