Not sure where to begin here, so I’ll just jump into it . . .
About a year ago I stumbled across a movie called “To Olivia.” I was intrigued when I read the description. This was a movie about Roald Dahl and Patricia Neal, or more specifically about the death of their young daughter, Olivia. The movie would be a peek inside a relationship that I had often wondered about.
Though I generally enjoy reading an occasional biography or autobiography about actors and or authors, and enjoy biopics or documentaries about the more famous ones, here would be something special—to me at least.
Oh, not that I have any connection to these people. It’s not that. It’s just that this couple is one of several that I have been curious about. It is always intriguing to me when I see a couple where each of the individuals appear to be so completely opposite in nature, in character. I think, how on earth did these two individuals get together? Furthermore, how do they make it work? And of course, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Aside from Roald Dahl and Patricia Neal, there are two other couples that I’ve always wondered about. There was the marriage of Mel Brooks (think Spaceballs, Young Frankenstein, and Blazing Saddles) and the actress Anne Bancroft, which was a lifelong relationship as far as I know. And then there was the marriage of actress Faye Dunaway to Peter Wolf (Peter Wolf being the zany lead singer of The J. Geils Band), which I believe lasted about five years.
So here it was, my chance to get a peek at these people, this odd couple, Roald Dahl and Patricia Neal—though technically the peek would only be of actors playing the couple, portraying a small portion of the couple’s life as they lived through the tragedy of losing their young daughter. But still, I was curious. And hey, perhaps there would be insight as to how the author Dahl works–I always love this sort of thing.
I don’t actually remember when I found out that Roald Dahl and Patricia Neal were, or had been a couple. But I was surprised. I vaguely remembered Patricia Neal from the movie, “In Harm’s Way,” where I believe she might have been the love interest of John Wayne. I was still very young when I watched the movie on TV and remember the actress as a gravelly voiced, sturdy, no nonsense character. She played a sort of “battle-axe” of a woman in the movie. That term might seem a little harsh, but that was my perception. Later, I had seen her in the movie “Hud,” with Paul Newman. Though “Hud” was the earlier movie, I didn’t see it until later. And there Patricia Neal was, standing at the kitchen window, looking tired and weary, looking out at Newman. She had the same gravelly, smoker’s voice that I remembered, and she still seemed old to me. Of course, I was probably in my early teens when I saw the film. So, yeah, she seemed old. And at that time, I had no clue that there was anyone in the world named Roald Dahl.
While most people know Roald Dahl from his children’s books, James and the Giant Peach, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or any of several other titles, I, to this day, have never read any of his children’s books. I do remember the movie “Willy Wonka” (based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) being released when I was a child, but I never had any interest in it at the time. And I had no idea who had written a book, or that there even had been a book behind the movie.
Nope. My first experience, or introduction to Roald Dahl was when I was standing in Barnes and Noble in the ‘90s and picked up a book titled, The Roald Dahl Omnibus. I read two stories in the book right there in the store: “The Landlady,” and then “Lamb to the Slaughter.” I was hooked. I had to buy the book. These stories were right up my alley. “Lamb to the Slaughter” is about a lady who kills her husband by conking him over the head with a frozen leg of lamb. She then proceeds to cook the leg of lamb in the oven and then feeds it to the detectives who come to investigate her husband’s murder. The detectives eat the murder weapon, the evidence. This was very Hitchcockian, and in fact had been an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Many of Dahl’s odd short stories were filmed for that show, apparently.
One of my favorite, oddball and creepy Dahl stories is “Man from the South.” The filmed version of the story (again, an Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode) can be watched on You Tube. The episode stars Steve McQueen and McQueen’s then wife, Neile Adams. Peter Lorre stars as the man from the south. The story, which I very much encourage you to read, along with watching the filmed version, revolves around this strange gentleman (Lorre) talking a young man (McQueen) into a weird bet. What is the wager? Well, if the young man’s lighter lights consistently for ten consecutive tries the young man wins the older man’s Cadillac (in the story it’s a Cadillac, but in the filmed episode it is a new convertible of some kind). And what happens if the young man’s lighter fails to light? Well, the older gentleman gets to chop off the young man’s little finger of his left hand. Creepy, huh? Creepy and entertaining. Though I have to admit, Colette’s short story “The Hand” probably creeped me out more when I read that—mainly because I’m not sure how she meant the story to read, was her intent to be creepy? Not sure, as so far it is the only story of hers I’ve ever read. At least I knew the intent with the Dahl story. Dahl’s story was intended to be chillingly entertaining.
There was another filming of “Man from the South,” again for Hitchcock, in the mid-eighties that is also available on You Tube, but the McQueen/Lorre version from 1960 is much better.
So, anyway, here I was, noticing this movie, “To Olivia,” and wondering whether the movie would shed any light on why or how these two totally disparate characters—this respectable actress, and this quirky author—got together. And so I watched the movie.
“To Olivia” is a good, touching, melancholy film. It mainly deals with the traumatic event of the loss of young Olivia, and how the family dealt with the trauma and loss. The film is based on the book (or part of the book) Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life, by Stephen Michael Shearer. The film was well done. The only thing that was odd was watching actors playing the real people. Dahl was probably less of a problem because there, as far as I know, isn’t a lot of film of the actual person around. Neal was well done, the actress who played her kind of had the raspy voice down, and a lot of the mannerisms. Neal had a good bit of gravity about her that I would imagine would be difficult for any actress to convey properly. The actress who played her did a good job, however.
There was a scene in “To Olivia” where Neal meets Paul Newman, to see about reading for the part she is to play in “Hud.” Or maybe she has gotten the part and is simply meeting Newman for the first time. This scene, comes off a little strange. To my mind, the actor playing the part of Newman had Newman coming across as a bit of an asshole. The scene has him shooting pool and he initially barely acknowledges Neal. Newman did have that flippant way about him, and could be abrupt and cold, apparently . . . and I suppose anyone playing Newman would have a difficult time of it. After all, there are a ton of Newman films out there. We are all far too familiar with the man and his mannerisms, etc. So, I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on the actor who played him in this film. I guess he did as well as anyone could do playing the part. I would definitely be hard pressed to think of anyone who could do a better job.
So some of the scenes were weird in the sense that we have actors playing real people who were actors playing parts in movies . . . So was this art imitating life imitating actors making art . . .? And, hey, in “To Olivia,” Neal still won the Oscar she had won in real life for her part in “Hud.” She still, once again, couldn’t be there to accept the award, however.
Ok, that was my stupid little joke. Forgive me.
In any case, I would encourage everyone to watch “To Olivia.” Or you can read the book, Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life. I have yet to read this book, but I did have a copy of Patricia Neal’s autobiography that I had picked up somewhere. So I read it and was absolutely blown away. Her autobiography is called As I Am. I cannot praise this book enough. You get it all! It was probably the most honest and gut-wrenching autobiography I have ever read in my life. Olivia’s death wasn’t the only tragedy. They had another child, a son whose pram got struck by an automobile, after his nanny pushed the pram off the curb into the street. His head got crushed (?) to some degree, leading to innumerable surgeries, etc. And Neal recounts her strokes, and the long road to recovery. There was a good bit of cruelty in the person of her author husband as he pushed her along the road to recovery. Dahl could apparently be a jerk to most people. There were times when she did love him. But Neal’s one true love turned out to be Gary Cooper.
In essence, Neal’s autobiography isn’t a “poor, poor, pitiful me,” story. It is a story of “I am determined to survive and overcome whatever traumas or trials life throws at me.” Even though I have quotes around the last sentence, the words aren’t specifically hers. That sentence simply sums up her book, her life.
As a side note, Neal does mention Paul Newman in her autobiography. She talks about being at the hotel where the actors are staying while shooting “Hud.” She talks about one afternoon sitting by the swimming pool beside him and she simply pours her heart out, honestly, talking about Dahl and all that is going on in her life, etc. She states that Newman sits there quietly, seemingly listening to her. After some time (as she describes the scene) Newman simply gets up, shakes his head and mumbles, “tough,” before walking off. She states that it was only hours or days later that she realized he had been in the character of Hud the whole time she had been pouring her heart out. She realized that he stayed in character the whole time the movie was being made, even when they weren’t on set. You’d have to have seen the movie to get the full gist of the character of Hud, to understand. Newman was a friend, long after the film. He congratulated her on her Oscar win, by telegram or phone (I forget which). And he visited Neal backstage when she was working on a film or play later on, bringing his wife (Joanne Woodward) to meet her.
So, anyway, in summation, let me just recommend “To Olivia” as a good film to watch if you want a glimpse into the life of two disparate characters (an author and an actress), as they deal with the trauma of losing a child.
If you have any interest in a closer look, I do highly recommend Neal’s autobiography, Patricia Neal: As I Am. And of course, you should definitely check out the story “Man from the South.” Or simply watch it on You Tube (the 1960s, Steve McQueen/Peter Lorre version).
I have yet to read the bio. Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life that led to the film “To Olivia,” but I probably will read it one day.
Maybe one day I’ll read Roald Dahl’s children’s books. Am I the only one who hasn’t read James and the Giant Peach?
In any case, I’ll continue to enjoy Dahl’s odd little creepy stories that are not at all for children. I’ll continue to wonder how Dahl could even have written the children’s stories. Then I’ll remember that I, too, write some odd and creepy stories, stories that span the spectrum. And yes, I could probably write a children’s story.
And I’ll also still wonder how two people of such opposite character, each strong and interesting in his or her own right become a couple. Guess I’ll just chalk it up to life being full of interesting and curious surprises all around, for each and every one of us.
Characters can be strange and wonderful creatures, whether they spring from an author’s imagination or surround us in the real world. Though I do admit, they are easier to deal with and are far less disruptive if they stay within the pages of a book. And don’t let me get started on the quirkiness of authors—other authors, I mean. (Smile)
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And here is an interesting (to me at least, and possibly to you) little fact or tidbit: Ian Fleming (creator of James Bond) wrote the children’s book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Who would have thought it? Of course, I’ve known that for years and still can’t fathom it. It cracks me up whenever I think about it. And guess who worked on the screenplay for the “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” movie? Roald Dahl, of course. I did just learn that from Neal’s autobiography, though there was only a line or two mentioning it. I always loved watching “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” as a child, I do confess! The theme song is playing in my head right now. I could start belting it out any second. Or maybe I’ll just hum the tune as I make my way downstairs to grab a bite to eat.