- Ava Gardner, The Sun Also Rises, 1957. There are two main characters in Ernest Hemingway’s first novel. He wrote it in 1925. They took forever to reach the screen. They are part of the post-WWI “lost generation.” Jake Barnes is impotent. Lady Ashley is a nymphomaniac. Words, said Hollywood censors, “not proper for screen presentation.” Ann Harding first won the rights in 1934 to co-star Leslie Howard. She sold out in 1944 to Constance Bennett, who quit before finding her Jake. By 1949, the couple were Montgomery Clift- Margaret Sheridan. Dewey Martin was a ‘52 Jake. There followed Gregory Peck-Jennifer Jones, Robert Stack-Dana Wynter – ultimately Tyrone Power-Jennifer Jones – she split for another Papa Hemingway heroine, Catherine Barkley, A Farewell to Arms. Ava Gardner took over only to be replaced by Susan Hayward (rivals in Papa’s Snows of Kilimanjaro, 1952) Hemingway insisted Ava was Brett and no one else. And the offensive words? Producer Darry F Zanuck promised they would be un-uttered. He (half) lied. Impotent was spoken, as a doctor explained his war wounds to Jake. And Brett, well, she was no longer a nympho, just a lush. Papa’s review? “It’s pretty disappointing and that’s being gracious.”
Birth year: 1931Death year: 2011Other name: Casting Calls: 1