There was one wonderful scene, not in the book, that Casey wrote. It contained scraps of things from the book, but it became one of the finest love scenes l ever saw in any film. It takes place on a Halloween night in a country inn. The Duc has come down from Paris to see the children. They are seated around the fireplace, and Henrietta reveals a small piece of her past.

During the making of All This, and Heaven Too, Charlie Einfeld, who was the head of publicity for Warners in New York, was making one of his periodic visits to the West Coast.

I liked him enormously and he liked me. In my mind, if not theirs, I knew All This, and Heaven Too was a major film, so I discussed with him the idea of roadshowing it. He liked the idea, which made it possible to give the film the length it needed. He began to speak of it as ”ATAHT.” Gone With the Wind had been ”GWTW” and Charlie wanted to cash in on that. Ours was more euphonic and Charlie Brackett said, ”ATAHT”–it’s the most lovely sound I’ve ever heard.”

“All This, and Heaven Too” is airing Feb. 21 on TCM.

Previously by James Curtis:

James Curtis’ interview with Dick Lane Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

James Curtis’ interview with Jules White Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

James Curtis’ interview with David Lewis Part 1 | Part 2

Continue reading →

When we were ready to start the script, Casey, his wife Audrey, and I went to the Phoenix Biltmore to get away for a few days and start conferences on the script. But we had only been there three or four days when Casey was called back to Burbank. His current film, The Old Maid, needed some work. Still, we had started to form the script and we knew we had a problem — how to frame the story. We were eliminating the last half of the book — the New England story — but we wanted to give a suggestion of what happened to Henriette after Paris. The book opened on a night boat from England, where Henriette had been governess to a family. Henry Field, the minister from America whom she finally married, is on the boat, and she is very cool to him; she is on her way to her new job with the de Praslin family. Much of her background is then revealed in a scene with her grand- father in Paris. We learn of her illegitimacy and that her grandfather is anti-aristocracy. Indeed, he disowns her when he learns of where she is to become governess. From then on the book is a straight narrative of her adventures and eventual downfall.

By the time we again took up work on All This, and Heaven Too, Casey had come up with a frame: a girls’ school in Boston where Henriette has come to teach. The spoiled girls have caught wind of the old scandal and begin taunting her with it. Henriette wants to quit but is induced to stay and tell her story to her pupils, leaving it for them to decide her fate. The story itself is then told in flashback, returning to the school after her narration. By this time Henry Field has joined the group and one gets a sense of the new life that awaits Henriette. It solved many of the story problems we faced.

Previously by James Curtis:

James Curtis’ interview with Dick Lane Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

James Curtis’ interview with Jules White, Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

James Curtis interview with David Lewis, Part 1

Continue reading →