Porter - Those Glamorous Gabors

THOSE GLAMOROUS GABORS

Bombshells from Budapest

There are guilty pleasures. Then there is the master of guilty pleasures, Darwin Porter. There is nothing like reading him for passing the hours. He is the Nietzsche of Naughtiness, the Goethe of Gossip, the Proust of Pop Culture. Porter knows all the nasty buzz anyone has ever heard whispered in dark bars, dim alleys, and confessional booths. And lovingly, precisely, and in as straightforward a manner as an oncoming train, his prose whacks you between the eyes with the greatest gossip since Kenneth Anger. Some would say better than Anger.

Alan W. Petrucelli

The Entertainment Report

Stage and Screen Examiner

Examiner.com

Prologue

Jolie

It was four oclock on a dull gray February afternoon in the Hungarian capital of Budapest. The year was 1924. Behind the wheel of her Mercedes, painted a battleship gray, Jolie Gabor was rolling down Andrassy t , known as The Fifth Avenue of Budapest.

In those days, only six ladies of Budapest owned and drove their own cars.

In the seat beside her sat her beloved daughtersnicknamed Magdika , age 9; Zsazsilka , 7; and Evika , 5.

Suddenly the sun broke through for the first time that day, adding at extra sparkle to Jolies diamonds. While getting dressed, shed told her beautiful daughters, These are my daytime diamonds. For the evening, I really dazzle. Thats when a woman should bring out the kings ransom stones.

She wanted to make a spectacular appearance that afternoon at tea. Both Jolie and her daughters wore scarlet-colored dresses that matched the upholstery of the Mercedes. The clothing had been designed by Jeanne Lanvin , who also designed matching gray coats for each of the Gabors , which duplicated the exact color of the vehicle itself.

The fashion-conscious Jolie preferred the French designer because she was celebrated for her mother-and-daughter outfits and exquisite robes de style, as well as for her modern and global approach to fashion . Before heading out, Jolie had also doused her daughter in the fragrance Arpge , which Lanvin had created in 1927. No female of any age should ever leave her domicile without the scent of Arpge , which Lanvin had created in 1927. That advice would be religiously observed by each of the Gabor sisters throughout the rest of their lives.

Arriving at the Caf Gerbeaud , the Gabors were greeted by a doorman in a puce-colored uniform. Starched, gloved, and beribboned, the daughters emerged first onto the sidewalk.

Franz Lutsky was the manager of the Caf Gerbeaud , on Vrsmarty tr , which had been founded in 1858 by Swiss confectioner Emile Gerbeaud . It was Jolies favorite rendezvous. He always reserved the best table for her. Privately he referred to her as This Magyar mother hen with her three beautiful spring chickens.

Although the caf was bustling at that time of day, nearly all of the patrons stopped to take note of the new customers making such a glamorous entrance.

Later, Magda would recall, Everything that mother did in those days was to teach us a lesson. That day at the caf, the lesson involved how to make an entrance. Her forever advice was, When you arrive in town, dont keep it a secret.

The Gabors were about to embark on a life so glamorous Jolie often said in later years, No one would believe it!

As designer Donald F. Reuter put it: The early lives of the Gabors is a fascinating tale that reads like a cross between Doctor Zhivago and Gypsy, with a generous sprinkling of Fiddler on the Roof and Auntie Mame thrown in for good measure.

With a grand flourish, the matre dhotel guided Jolie, followed by her three vonderful wimmen down the long railroad-style layout of the caf until they ar rived at one of the sitting areas, decorated in a tone of scarlet that matched their dresses. The aging waiter, who had been born in 1854, knew what to bring to table. The aromatic coffee had been dispensed from a cafetire whose perimeter was sheathed in hand-painted panels of Herend porcelainone of only three on Earth, and the confection he brought was the celebrated chocolate-and-marzipan royal torte. Its positively sinful, Jolie told her daughters. But a woman born into a mans world must be sinful to advance herself.

Away from her domineering husband, Vilmos Gabor, Jolie always seized the opportunity to lecture her daughters about the future roles theyd play.

Dahlinks , each of you will grow up to become a fabled Hungarian beauty. But you must never become a delicate porcelain figure. The blood of Attila the Hun flows through your veins, the blood of Genghis Khan. You were meant to conquer as the daughters of a once-great empire. Your homeland is a nation of powerful warriors and passionate lovers. Each of you will grow up to marry a kingor at least a prince.

A few months ago , in the lobby of the Ritz Hotel here in Budapest , I was stunned to encounter the handsome, charming, and very rich Prince of Waleswith his entourage parading through. Last week, I sent him a letter acknowledging our meeting , along with that gorgeous photograph of you, Zsa Zsa . I told him that you were growing more beautiful every day , and that in just a few years, youd be one of the most dazzling beauties of Europe, fit to sit on his throne as Queen of England when he becomes King.

Zsa Zsa wasnt embarrassed or intimated by Jolies behavior and point of view. In fact, she amplified her mothers idea with: I d be a queen and rule over all the British coloniesand Id also become the Empress of India.

Chapter Five

Hollywood Discovers Magyar Chic

ZSAZSA

Zsa Zsa had been so well received by the elite Hollywood colony at parties, shed quickly earned a reputation as a glamorous Hungarian social butterfly. She hoped to parlay that small acclaim into a movie contract with some film producer. Eva had managed to win a contract with Paramount, and Zsa Zsa felt she was far more flamboyant and ultimately more desirable than my mousy little sister.

She told Eva, With your paycheck about to be cut off, someone in this little rathole we inhabit has to bring home the cheese.

One bright, sunny morning, she woke up determined to storm the office of Alexander Korda , the producer and director who had returned to Hollywood in 1940. The year before, hed married screen beauty Merle Oberon, who had co-starred with Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights.

Born into a Hungarian Jewish family in 1893, Korda had first worked in Hollywood from 1926 to 1930, when it was making the transition from Silents to Talkies.

Before Zsa Zsa left Budapest for Hollywood, Vilmos , her father, had told her, Even if Jolie and I cant send you money because of the war, theres always your Uncle Korda to help you. The same Hungarian blood flows through his veins as through yours, and I know he will come to your rescue.

At the age of four, Zsa Zsa had been taken to London by Vilmos , where hed called on his old friend, Korda , during the period he was working in the British film industry.

In his office, Korda pronounced Zsa Zsa a real beauty. One day, when she s older, Ill make a big star out of her.

What he really wanted was a loan from Vilmos . Throughout his life, Korda was often in financial trouble, and he borrowed freely from friends and business associates. In a memoir, Zsa Zsa made the outrageous claim that Vilmos had lent Korda a million dollars, which had caused a serious rift between Jolie and her husband. There is no evidence that Vilmos ever possessed a million dollars, much less that that amount had been lent. He may have lent some money to Korda , but hardly that amount, which would have been a vast sum in those days.