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a cash payment. It was put to Beaumont that Levin could not “arrange theatre bookings in America, may lose his director, choreographer, as well as other important production personnel. It is further complicated because Harrison is so anxious for a holiday during August that there is some danger that he will agree to continue in the show from September on if [you] will give him the holiday he seeks.”88 Just over a week later, Levin spoke to Laurie Evans on the phone and clarified his position in a letter written immediately afterwards: “Here it is: I am perfectly willing to fly to London if there is a reasonable chance of coming to a deal with Beaumont … I am willing to take part in any Byzantine charade whatever, if a satisfactory solution can be found … I assure you that if the amount can be agreed upon, I will recompense Rex’s company for the payment to Beaumont. I think Beaumont is entitled to receive what can reasonably be anticipated as the loss occasioned by closing. If, after your talk with him and with Rex, it makes sense for me to come over, I’ll do so at once.”89 Evidently, Levin was optimistic about the outcome of this deal, for the very same day he wrote to Beaton: “It looks to me as if everything will work out on the rehearsal date—the middle of November—so the time element and conflicts should all be smoothed out.”90 Levin also reported that “Alan and Fritz will certainly be in London in about a month” and that “Alan is preparing a rough scenic layout and I am sure we will send it out within the week.”

Yet the frenzy was far from over, as a series of telegrams between Levin and Evans on July 12 and 13 prove. First Levin asked Evans desperately: “HAVE YOU ANY NEWS? LAST WORD I HAVE IS THAT BEAUMONT WILL DO NOTHING. CAN YOU GIVE US ANY HOPE?” Evans replied that the situation was unchanged but that he was hopeful of a satisfactory outcome that week. The next day Levin replied that he would come to London when the moment was propitious, and that Lerner would come in a couple of weeks’ time if Evans thought it helpful. Later on July 13, Evans wired back to say that Beaumont would not discuss a closing date but that he was negotiating for Harrison to have the right to give notice after the gross of the play had dropped below £1,700 for two consecutive weeks. On July 15, Levin wrote to Evans to agree to this, “though, of course, it does not solve our problem. Nothing is a final solution except the fixing of a date when Rex can leave Bell, Book and Candle.”91 Levin also enclosed a letter that he had written to Beaumont to say that he intended to come to London between August 12 and 15 in the hope of meeting him; the timing was important because while starring in Bell, Harrison was also directing a play called Nina, which was due to open early in August (though it was eventually brought forward to July 27).92 Levin wrote another letter to Evans the same day, reiterating his intention expressed to Beaumont that it would be better to arrive after Nina had opened and requesting that Evans book hotel rooms for him, Lerner, and Loewe.93 On July 18, the producer answered Evans’s letter, stating that since Nina was opening on July 27, the team might as well come to London on August 5 as planned since “Time is important to all of us.” Levin asked him again to call Lillian Aza and calm her down. “She is concerned about a starting date for Holloway, and I must say, with some justification. She should have a signed contract by now, but how can I give her one?”94 Aza herself received a letter from Levin sent on July 18, in which he stated his plan to come to London on August 5 and bring Holloway’s contract with him: “I know this is difficult for you—it is difficult for me also,” he said. “I don’t know what else I possibly can do.”95

Although the next day Levin informed Evans that he had made reservations to leave New York for London on August 6, on July 28 Levin wired him to postpone the trip.96 In the meantime, Levin had received word from Beaumont that he would be happy to have a meeting, but that his responsibility was to protect everyone associated with Bell, Book and Candle.97 Evans informed Levin that Harrison was leaving London on August 7 for a two-week vacation and suggested delaying the Pygmalion trip until August 21, but Levin was initially reluctant.98 However, on July 28 Levin sent Evans a telegram cancelling the trip and the hotel rooms.99

Curiously, another leading British actor, John Gielgud, sent a letter to his friend Hugh Wheeler that same day, in which he stated: “Oliver Smith rang from N.Y., would I like to do Higgins in the musical of Pygmalion as Rex is now problematical. I remain flattered but refuse to be rushed.”100 It is difficult to know how serious an offer this was, since the plans of Lerner, Loewe, and Levin still revolved around Harrison’s presence in London, and Smith was only the designer (albeit a sometime co-producer of other Levin projects); it is possible, perhaps, that Levin was tentatively exploring names other than Harrison if the latter continued to be unavailable.

LEVIN VS. BEAUMONT

August 1955

Harrison continued to dominate the producer’s activities in August. On the first day of the month, Levin cabled Evans to tell him that he was trying to work out a deal with MGM for a film project they were hiring Harrison to do. It was possible that MGM could give Levin a lever for removing Harrison from Bell, Book and Candle and setting a rehearsal date for Pygmalion. “However,” continued Levin, “we [are] concerned [about] his doing [a] film and immediately begin[ning] rehearsals