Beau Geste 1939 Directed by William A. Wellman Paramount B/W

Susan and Ray Milland

This was really Susan’s breakthrough film after 6 bit parts in “B” movies at Warner Bros. Even so, she had only 3 very sedate scenes. She once summed it up as “I waved goodbye to the boys at the beginning and waved hello to them at the end”.

The film was lifted almost verbatim from the 1926 silent film with Gary Cooper playing the Ronald Colman role and Robert Preston and Ray Milland as the other Geste boys. But it was Brian Donlevy’s performance as the sadistic Sgt. Markoff that stole the show.

Note : The Paramount publicity department happily portrayed Susan as “the personal discovery of William Wellman” when actually it was Wellman who told studio execs that “She’ll never get anywhere with that bump on her nose.” Susan’s pert nose remained unscathed.

Adam had Four Sons 1941 Directed by Gregory Ratoff Columbia B/W

Susan confronts Ingrid Bergman

Ben Medford, Susan’s agent, knew that all Susan needed was the right part and this role as Adam’s vicious daughter-in-law Hester Stoddard was it. All he had to do was get her past Harry Cohn, head of Columbia Studios. You see, Harry expected “certain favors” for giving choice parts to up-and-coming actresses and Susan wouldn’t play that game! But she did have an ace up her sleeve…good friend and gossip maven Louella Parsons. Louella knew all the pressure points for studio heads and Susan got the part.

Playing the lead role as the governess who fell in love with Warner Baxter’s Adam was no other than Ingrid Bergman. And she was under David O. Selnick’s protection…and didn’t have to sleep with Harry either. Poor Harry! No perks at all. (Hedda Hopper called him a man “you had to stand in line to hate”).

Reap the Wild Wind 1942 Directed by Cecil B. De Mille Paramount Color

Susan Hayward as Drusilla Alston

Susan played it sweet but not cloying as the demure cousin of sea-going salvager Paulette Goddard . Her flaming hair was at its best in Technicolor. The action scenes were shared by Ray Milland, John Wayne, Raymond Massey and Robert Preston. But their thunder was stolen by a very large octopus.

Underscored by the haunting melody of Victor Young’s theme song, Susan was allowed one of the screen’s most dramatic death scenes. Unaware that the ship was being sent to the bottom by her lover’s evil brother, she stands preening herself in the shawl her lover gave her while the camera lingered on her every move.

Susan was on her way up.

The Forest Rangers 1942 Directed by George Marshall Paramount Color

"What do you mean..your wife?"

Susan and Paulette meet again on the silver screen and put Fred MacMurray right in the middle of a holocaust! But it was the story about Susan’s spunk in a crisis that would make news on that set.

Director George Marshall recalls that the scene called for both Paulette and Susan to run through fire. The special effects crew told them it would be safe but Paulette balked at every take causing endless delays. She was just too scared to move. Susan went to him and whispered “Get the cameras going” and went over to reassure her co-star. When she got the signal, she grabbed Paulette’s hand and said “For God’s sake, stop being such a baby” and pulled her through the scene. No one reported what Paulette said to her on the other side! Ironically it was Susan’s character that was supposed to be scared.

Note: By the way, do you remember the song from this movie? It made a big hit. and everyone was singing it. It was a Loesser-Lilly tune called “I’ve got Spurs that Jingle, Jangle, Jingle”!

The Hairy Ape 1944 Directed by Alfred Santell United Artists B/W

Bill Bendix, Susan and John Loder

In this case, a strong Eugene O’Neill play was gutted to conform to studio formats. Time said: “Deprived of his bitter social implications and his tragic ending, the stoker becomes a not very convincing sailor ashore. William Bendix’ natural good temper shines fatally through his industrious soot-and-greasepaint toughness. Susan Hayward was much tougher, more convincing; in fact, Hollywood ’s ablest bitch player.”

Susan was making this film when she met Jess Barker at the Hollywood Canteen. The canteen was created by Bette Davis and John Garfield as a place for lonely servicemen to spend an evening being catered to by their favorite movie stars. Susan usually opened with “Anyone here from Brooklyn? ” and brought the house down!

Note: Actor Earl Holliman said of it: “I always wanted to be a movie actor…but I lied about my age and joined the Navy. The next thing I know, there I was, a 15-year-old dancing with Joan Crawford and Susan Hayward!”

Canyon Passage 1940 Directed by Jacques Tourneur Universal Color

Susan and escort Dana Andrews

This was Susan’s first picture under her personal contract with independent producer Walter Wanger, a definite step up in her career. Universal Studios opened up their backlot for the first time to allow independents to film their pictures and agreed to package and release them under the Universal banner.

Susan, now married and the mother of twin boys, was ready and willing to take on this “man’s picture” and make it her own. The storyline was about a girl traveling to Oregon to be with her fiancé (Brian Donlevy) but falls in love with her escort (Dana Andrews) along the way. Hoagy Carmichael is also along with his music and humor so you have a romantic movie that ages very well. This one is a keeper.

Note: Hoagy Carmichael got an Oscar nomination for his “Ole Buttermilk Sky”.

Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman 1947 Directed by Stuart Heisler Universal-International B/W

She doesn't like what she sees

No female star of that era had landed a meatier role than Susan Hayward with the role of a neglected, ex-singer, wife of a popular crooner (played by Lee Bowman), who hits the bottle and almost self-destructs. And, for the first time, Susan felt so secure on the set and at home in her own skin that it was evident to everyone there.

The story was based on the Bing Crosby – Dixie Lee marriage but given the proverbial happy ending. In fact, Dixie Lee died at 40 from cervical cancer complicated by acute alcoholism. Her four sons also had the disease and two committed suicide.

Susan got top billing and her first Oscar nomination.

A Special Gift

Tulsa 1949 Directed by Stuart Heisler Eagle-Lion Color

Success or just a hard day?

This was the last film for Susan before hitching her wagon to Darryl Zanuck and 20 th Century Fox. Her role as feisty Cherokee Lansing was right up her alley but the script was weak and what resulted was a melodramatic Western with no bite.

It was her fourth outing with Robert Preston and her second with director Stuart Heisler who directed her in “Smash-up: The Story of a Woman”. Later that year she would win another Oscar nomination for “My Foolish Heart” but the Best Actress award was still just beyond her grasp.

With A Song in My Heart 1952 Directed by Walter Lang 20 th Century Fox Color

Susan as Jane Froman

Susan was now the First Lady of 20 th Century Fox. Darryl Zanuck called her his “ twelve- million dollar baby” because that was what she was worth to him in 1952.

Jane Froman, one of the most popular singers of the late 1930s and early 1940s, was on a USO tour when her plane crashed. She survived with the help of the plane’s pilot but her legs were severely injured. Her fight to save those legs was the heart of the movie. Froman herself recorded 26 songs for the picture while Susan worked to capture her movements, techniques and gestures. The supporting cast were excellent…David Wayne as her husband, Rory Calhoun as the pilot, Thelma Ritter as Clancy, her nurse and a very young Robert Wagner as a very young soldier.

It was another Oscar nod for Susan and another disappointment. Shirley Booth got the gold for “Come Back, Little Sheba”.

Demetrius and the Gladiators 1954 Directed by Delmer Daves 20 th Century Fox Color

Victor Mature and Susan Hayward

A sequel to “The Robe” but with more sex and gore and less impact. It opened with the last frames of its predecessor. Susan played the wicked Messalina, wife of Claudius but hot on the trail of Demetrius (Victor Mature). However, true to studio form but in spite of historical fact, she repents and promises to be a good wife to Claudius, now the emperor.

Back home things were heating up…the divorce from Jess Barker turned ugly and a brief but intimate affair with Howard Hughes fizzled. Not only was Susan’s personal life a wreck, her position at Fox had now been usurped by Marilyn Monroe.

Soldier of Fortune 1955 Directed by Edward Dmytryk 20 th Century Fox Color

Gable finally meets Hayward

When told his leading lady would be Susan Hayward, Gable’s retort was “Who?” although 10 years before he tried unsuccessfully to catch her eye at a party. But he remembered it as soon as he saw that ravishing red hair. What he didn’t know was that Susan was very myopic and couldn’t see things clearly further than a few feet in front of her!

But their scenes would not all be done together. A bitter custody battle kept Susan stateside with her twin sons so her scenes were shot here and meshed with Gable’s shots later. No matter, both Clark and Susan had already been deserted by the script!

I’ll Cry Tomorrow 1955 Directed by Daniel Mann MGM Color

Susan and Jo Van Fleet

This script was based on Lillian Roth’s best selling autobiography (written with Gerold Frank and Mike Connolly). Susan went directly to the studio head, Dore Schary, asking for the job and Lillian Roth herself backed her up.

It was a demanding role..the woman she portrayed as a twitching, ranting, drunk was not only alive but sometimes in the studio (Lillian was technical advisor on the film). But Susan gave it all she had and later gave credit for her superb performance to director Daniel Mann. Moreover, Susan sang for this film in a deep, soft contralto voice that took everyone by surprise.

The film won Susan her fourth Oscar nomination and..you guessed it, no gold again. It went to Anna Magnani for “Rose Tattoo”.

Note: But the gossips had a field day.when Susan cold-cocked Jill Jarmyn in Don (Red) Barry’s apartment. The girls both claimed they had gone there for a cup of coffee even though Susan had been in her pajamas when Jill arrived. They settled out of court but it led Marlene Dietrich to comment “ That Barry must make good coffee!”.

The Conqueror 1956 Directed by Dick Powell RKO Color

Susan and Leo Gordon

Maybe it was just the bad dialogue but the words he spoke didn’t roll off John Wayne’s tongue as easily as “Hey, Pilgrim..”. And red-haired Susan playing a Tartar princess?….Well, as she put it “It looked like some wild Irishman had stopped off on the road to old Cathay !” The picture financed by Howard Hughes was a disaster, and the mogul pulled it out of circulation. Later, however, in his paranoid years, he watched the movie almost every night.

But the movie proved lethal to many of its cast and crew. Of the 220 of them exposed to the radioactivity in the Utah desert for 13 weeks, 91 of them got cancer later and 46 died from it. They also trucked 60 tons of that sand back to Hollywood for retakes. Actor Pedro Almendariz, on learning he had terminal kidney cancer, committed suicide. Others who died included the director Dick Powell, Agnes Moorehead, Ted De Corsia, John Wayne, and of course, Susan in 1975.

I Want To Live 1958 Directed by Robert Wise United Artists Color

Susan as Barbara Graham

If producer Walter Wanger hadn’t gone to jail, Susan may never have been able to play this role…and finally get her Oscar!

Wanger, in prison for shooting wife Joan Bennett’s agent, became fascinated with the California penal system and the case of Barbara Graham in particular. The agent, Jennngs Lang, survived and Wanger was released in 4 months but the story took over 3 years to research and write. By that time Graham had been executed in the San Quentin gas chamber.

Wanger insisted on Susan Hayward to play “Bloody Babs” as she was being called at the time. Graham was accused of murder because she was present at the killing of an elderly widow.Susan believed that Barbara was innocent but never soft-soaped her character.

On April 5 th, 1959 Susan Hayward finally got the Academy of Motion Pictures Best Actress Award for her performance.