Chandler's two weeks in a state of permanent intoxication

[Joe Allonby]

Sometimes one little error jumps out and kinda ruins the whole effect
of the article. La Jolla is a suburb of San Diego, not Los Angeles.
The writer is publishing on an Irish website, so he might not know the
difference, but there definitely is one. What else did he get wrong?

On Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 7:32 AM, Heikki
Raudaskoski<hraudask at sun3.oulu.fi> wrote:
>
>
> "In January 1944, Paramount discovered that their biggest star, Alan Ladd,
> was due to be drafted to fight in Europe, and it was suddenly realised
> that there was no vehicle ready for release which would sustain his public
> image while he was away. The studio heads were delighted, therefore, when
> Chandler mentioned that he had some work on hand that might be suitable,
> which he called The Blue Dahlia. Casting began instantly. Veronica Lake
> was chosen to play opposite Ladd, and within weeks director George
> Marshall was rapidly catching up on the existing written screenplay.
> Pretty soon, there were only a few pages left to shoot, but the conclusion
> was nowhere in sight, and nobody - including Chandler himself - knew who
> would turn out to be the villain. Chandler had designated Buzz, a
> brain-damaged veteran who was subject to amnesiac blackouts, for this
> fateful place, but the U.S. army vetoed the idea, not wanting to suggest
> to Joe Q. Public that the returning wartime heroes were anything other
> than cerebrally solid citizens. Panic ensued. The nervous heads of
> production promised Ray a five thousand dollar bonus if he finished on
> time. He was affronted by the offer: he had every intention of completing
> his assigned and paid-for task. This insulting bribe, in the opinion of
> his producer and friend John Houseman, shattered his self-confidence, and
> he withdrew from the project in despair and rage. The next day however, he
> decided there was only one way he could finish the script: drunk.
>
> So it came about that Chandler spent two weeks in a state of permanent
> intoxication, lounging about his house, now idly working on a couple of
> pages of script, then lightly dozing for a couple of hours, maintaining
> his optimum level of drunkenness with continual sips of bourbon, not
> eating but receiving regular vitamin jabs from a specially-commissioned
> doctor. All this required two limousines, six secretaries, and a direct
> telephone line to the studio open day and night...."
>
> http://iol.ie/~galfilm/filmwest/31chand.htm
>
>