----- Original Message -----

From: Xbklyny

To: faywray@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2004 2:05 PM

Subject: [FayWray] Fay Wray and Clifford Odets

The famous leftist playwright - later screenweiter - Clifford Odets ,
in 1940 wrote a journal/diary which was later found among his papers
after he died in 1963. It was published by Grove Press in 1988 under
the title THE TIME IS RIPE.

In the journal. Odets discusses, in steamy detail, his passionate
affair with Fay Wray. Odets comes off as an egocentric, selfish,
hypocritical, and unfeeling bastard. (If this were the 19th century
some gentleman would have horsewhipped him for the way he treated her
and for putting the often heartrending details on paper.)
In fairness, he probably never thought his journal would see the
light of day.

Wray, in the journal, comes across as an even more appealing and
remarkable woman than she does in any of her movies. Highly
intelligent, passionate, fiercely loyal, mature, sensitive,
resilient, kind, courageous, and "womanly." (And as Odets mentions in
indescreet detail several times, dynamite in bed - "fireworks.")

Out of pure self absorbtion, Odets , after winning her affections, 
rejected her appeals for marriage - or some other permanent
relationship. In his journal Odets excuses his behavior by claiming
that she was too good for him and she desrved better. (About that he
was certainly right!!!)

When she became pregnant he seems to have only considered how that
would embarras him: he coldly encouraged her to have an (illegal)
abortion. Afterwards he was too much of a weasel to ask her outright
if she'd had the procedure - instead he just asked how she was
feeling and was relieved (for his own sake) when she said that now
she was fine.

In Wray's autobiography ON THE OTHER HAND, she is remarkaqbly
generous when discussing her relationship with Odets - no bitterness
or recrimination - also no mention of her pregnancy or how deeply she
must have been wounded by Odets's attitude.

Also in the journal we see how narrow minded and bigotted the
Communists and "fellow travelers" (like Odets) were in 1940.





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