Tison Pugh - Truman Capote

TRUMAN CAPOTE

EDITED BY R. Barton Palmer and Matthew H. Bernstein

A Literary Life at the Movies Tison Pugh

Material quoted from Truman Capotes unpublished screenplays included with kind permission of the Truman Capote Literary Trust, Alan U. Schwartz, trustee.

2014 by the University of Georgia Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pugh, Tison.

Truman Capote : a literary life at the movies / Tison Pugh.
pages cm.(The south on screen)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8203-4668-7 (hardcover : alk. paper)

ISBN 0-8203-4668-3 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8203-4669-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 0-8203-4669-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Capote, Truman, 19241984Criticism and interpretation. 2. Capote, Truman, 19241984Film adaptations. I. Title.
PS3505.a59z835 2014
813.54dc23 2013037744

ISBN for digital edition: 978-0-8203-4709-7

British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

To David Dean

Truman Capote: A Literary Life at the Movies was born, like Capote himself, in Louisiana but, unlike Capote, in a high school classroom in Baton Rouge. I am indebted to my teacher, Mitch Billings, for his magnanimity of vision in assigning a yearlong series of reports on Capotes literature. The writing of this book was funded in part by the University of Central Floridas College of Arts and Humanities, the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President, and the Office of Research and Commercialization through the College of Arts and Humanities Research and Development Program. I deeply appreciate the support of Jos Fernndez, dean of UCFs College of Arts and Humanities, and Patrick Murphy, chair of the Department of English, and in particular the assistance of Nancy Stanlick, Kristin Wetherbee, Grace Nicholl, and Patricia Tierney. I would also like to thank Nicole Kristal, Shannon Salmon, Angela Jane Weisl, Bob Squillace, Nandini Sinha, Beth Techow, Jason Primm, Lilybeth Primm, and Annabelle Primm for their generous hospitality during research trips to Los Angeles and New York City, as well as Lisa Roney, for sharing food and good fellowship. Bruce Janz, director of the UCF Humanities and Digital Research Center, provided invaluable support and assistance. Warm welcomes were extended by the librarians and administrators of the Paley Media Center at both its Los Angeles and New York City branches, and in particular Richard Holbrook, senior librarian; the University of California, Los Angeles, Film and Television Archive, and in particular Mark Quigley, manager of the Research and Study Center; the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; and the New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Finally, I thank Barton Palmer and Matthew Bernstein, editors of the series The South on Screen, as well as the editorial, production, and administrative teams at the University of Georgia Press, including Walter Biggins, Jon Davies, Beth Snead, and Lisa Bayer, who supported this project throughout its development. Material from Truman Capotes unpublished screenplays is quoted with kind permission of the Truman Capote Literary Trust, Alan U. Schwartz, trustee.

To minimize the documentary apparatus of this book, the following abbreviations of Capotes works are used for in-text citations. Also, each chapters endnote citations are condensed; for complete documentation, consult the Works Cited section.

TRUMAN CAPOTE

1
Capote and the Cinema An Overview

Truman Capote once remarked, My primary thing is that Im a prose writer. I dont think film is the greatest living thing. In privileging his professional and artistic identity as an author of literary fiction, Capote diminishes the role of the cinema in his career, yet the truth of the matter is far more complex than a simple preference for his pen over film. For Capote truly lived in and through the movies. He avidly watched films throughout his life, publicly commenting on their merits and shortcomings, and the characters of his short stories and novels often see themselves and their dreams through a Hollywood lens. He wrote several screenplays, most notably Indiscretion of an American Wife (dir. Vittorio De Sica, 1953), Beat the Devil (dir. John Huston, 1953), and The Innocents (dir. Jack Clayton, 1961). Adaptations of his fiction, including Blake Edwardss beloved Breakfast at Tiffanys (1961) and Richard Brookss riveting In Cold Blood (1967) among numerous others, brought him wider fame and greater acclaim among readers. Additionally, he counted many Hollywood celebrities, producers, and directors as close friends, including Marilyn Monroe, David Selznick, Charlie Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart, and John Huston. Capote may have seen himself primarily as a fiction writer, but he lived his life as a celebrity, blurring the border between these ostensibly separate spheres of his career.

Never shy to express his opinions, Capote shared with friends his assessments of movies, and these miniature reviews evince his keen critical eye. He adjured John Malcolm Brinnin to let me warn you not to miss