Show lOE The Salt Lake Tribune 3 1987 Sunday May Joseph Cotten: Courtly competence at core of long career By Charles Champlin Los Angeles Times Writer PALM SPRINGS Calif — Courtliness is not a staple American commodity even in those Eastern Seaboard fastnesses from Boston to Richmond where it might once have been said to flourish But it has been just that rare prize of a handsome courtliness that has given Joseph Cotton his long and pleasing career Cotten was born and raised in Petersburg Va where his family has ancient ties and the origins explain a charm good deal about his His is a courtliness that has alternated with a nice ambiguity between heroism and smooth villainy between quiet strength and fateful weakness The- - persisting core of Cotten’s work has been an elegant and unobtrusive craftsmanship that emphasized the role that Cotten was playing rather than the fact that Cotten was playing it Not often has an important Hollywood personality of Cotten’s generation been so deferential to the material itself from “Citizen Kane” td “Shadow of a Doubt” “The Third Mart” "Portrait of Jennie” and beyond In a tradition more British than American he has been the working actor: Have tux will travel He has done everything from “Petuha” to “The Abominable Dr Phibes” occasionally lending his particular dignity to some very thin texts indeed Now at the age of 82 he has written Joseph Cotten: An Autobiography k subtitle with the “Vanity Will Get You Somewhere” (Mercury House San Francisco $1795 272 pp) It is written with whait we can call predictable urbanity and amusement and far more affection and gratitude than anger In what is its major intention I feel sure it is a love poem to his wife Patricia Medina whom he married in 1960 They now live in a bright and airy hduse walled and gated The Cottens are new to this house but they have lived in Palm Springs for several yeafs He practices sculpture weaving strips of heavy metal into graceful shades with fanciful names like “The Soft Dollar” and “The Eccentric low-keye- d tongue-in-chee- Pound” What Cotten does not ignore but does not stress except to give courage to others is that the physical fates have been unkind to him in recent years and have set him a rugged test of character Ten years ago an operation to remove some nodules from his vocal cords forced him to go without speaking for six weeks: a chore for anyone a special agony for an actor who lives by his voice He communicated with his wife by writing her notes and she observed later that a listener at the door would have assumed that a crazy woman lived there alone talking to herself all the while Cotten had recovered from the surgery when in June 1981 he suffered a massive stroke that left him speechless for several months and with no real encouragement from the doctors that he would ever regain speech But after many months a word came back and he notes with some delight that it was an expletive singularly appropriate to the frustration he felt at being without words He has been at speech therapy intensively ever since and although he occasionally still has trouble with the odd word or construction he is again the witty conversationalist he always was even though he is temporarily forced to whisper because of recent surgery to remove some recurrent but nodules Central to Cotten’s courtliness is his modesty His career began shakily and he was at one point all too aware of his “lack of ability hereinafter softly referred to as my limitations” But there was comfort in not being alone: “Without the natural physical endurance of youth with its blessed ignorance its lofty arrogance and vanity strong enough to be mistaken for graciousness all actors would end their careers early” Those were his young days in Manhattan when he was already friendly with Orson Welles in whose Mercury Theater he would soon be a leading figure But before then Welles told him: “You’re lucky to be tall and thin and have curly hair You can also move about the stage without running into the furniture But these are fringe assets and I’m afraid you’ll never make it as an actor” Then after enumerating Cotten’s other liabilities including the traces of his Virginia accent and a lack of training in the classics Welles said “But as a star I think you might well hit the jackpot” Cotten had atterided the Hickman School of Expression in Washington but had landed in Miami selling ads for the Miami Herald and making potato salad as a commercial sideline before he invaded New York Today Selznick's Joseph Cotten’s ties to Virginia help explain 411 So West Temple US BEFORE CALL ' YOU BUY As VCR TV CAMCORDER We Sell the Best Service the Rest he says he thinks acting schools should be abolished on the grounds that theory is useless without practice and the only way an actor can perfect his craft is in front of audiences Welles and Cotten remained friends through thick and thin Once when Cotten and his wife were touring with a play Welles wired him and imperiously ordered him to come immediately to take a part in the film Welles was beginning One of Welles’ several unrealized schemes was to do a sequel to “The Magnificent Ambersons” a quarter-centur- y later “It would have been a wonderful idea” Cotten says “We could all have done it without makeup But Orson could never get the rights and then Aggie (Agnes Moore-head- ) was gone” “TAN YOUR HIDE” Cotten regretted politely and Welles wired again “Starting film Need you Understand me?” Cotten again and Welles wired regretted back "Never mind Hired another saw the film at last he noted that Welles had in fact NO TIME TO TAN? played the part himself “And” Cotten says in a cackling whisper (assuming that whispers can cackle) “he was half as good as I’d have been” Welles Cotten says had only one rule for actors and it was on a sign backstage at the Mercury Theater “No drinking in the theater except during Shakespeare” Welles’ notion Cotten says was that Shakespeare’s writing is so good that it does not make any difference what the actors are up to (No additional fees per visit) Full Set of Nail Tips Guaranteed against breakage!! Ask for Brenda Gift Certificates Available TEMPLEPress 65 S WEST Palace WEEKEND BREAKFAST BUFFET Includes am-11:3- am 0 Offer Good Until May 31 1987 — Discount Not Accumulative — Offer Not Valid on Mother's Day TO 9 No Closing Costs Discounted Prices from $79900 Flexible Down Payment Options Downtown Conveniences First-Clas- Amenities s mnrm American Towers has pulled out guarantee your complete satisfaction or your money back Right now you have everything to gain Below market linancing fixed rate (9Vi of 9 1 fixed also available) No closing costs Discounted prices from '$79 900 Flexible down payment options And the conveniences of up scale downtown living real privacy and security with first class amenities Right now you have nothing to loae For any reason and after 24 months we will buy back your American Towers suite at you r original purchase price Some conditions apply See Linda Wolcott of the Ramsey Group tor details Or call Youve or 467-668now 359-160got nothing to lose 44 West 300 South Open Saturday and Sunday Noon to 5 p m Weekdays 11 am to 6 p m or Nw 30-ye- office next to Chrittophereon Travel at 46 Watt 300 South Full Broker Participation RAMSEY GROUP nt 8 ijijBrtjgMjg American Toivars red&uon inn 1 I I Casino ©RlStffijS'jglSRi fifSUR IbSlb §IRV I I I I I 2065 Idaho Street Elko Nevada 89801 (702) 738-211- EFFECTIVE UNTIL MAY 15 1987 SPRINGTIME IS HER-E- I I I I and So Is Repairtime!! a Q Spring is the time of year you have many jobs to be done around the house that you’ve been putting off all winter long To find just the Experts you need to get those jobs done quickly and efficiently consult the daily NEED AN EXPERTSERVICE GUIDE & DIRECTORY in the Classified Section of this newspaper Here you’ll find an up to the minute directory of firms experienced in a wide range of skills that cover every job imaginable to enhance your property and the items in it! And Experts Er!l®7H0C© IT® EL®SE: all the stops to 49°° per person double occupancy plus tax KER °Q Fixed Rate 30-Ye- ar One night luxury accommodations Fun Pak with gaming drink and gift shop coupons per person One dollar off breakfast per person 3 00 in slot money Advance reservations required Must be 21 Add 600 per person for any FRI or SAT Nights E 744 East 400 South Location Only Sunday 8 2 DAYS1 NIGHT I I Ham Bacon Pastries Pancakes Sausage Hash Browns Scrambled Eggs Fresh Fruit am per person double occupancy plus tax Two nights luxury accommodations Prime Rib dinner for two Breakfast for two for 2 days $10 in gaming chips per person Fun Pak with gaming drink and gift shop coupons COUPON 0 1900 T PACKAGE 3 DAYS2 NIGHTS SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE TO WINNERS am-10:3- DRIVE-OU- 25°° 359-POS- T Arrow Square under Two Guys From Italy) Date Expiration 533-575- Saturday 8 Cotten’s dedication to the work was splendidly illustrated during a fire in 1961 The flames seemed about to crest out of Mandeville Canyon and sweep west to the Castellammare section of Pacific Palisades where the Cottens lived then All the homeowners were under Fire Department orders to pack their cars and be ready to flee There was smoke ash and high anxiety in the air but Patricia Medina Cotten remembers her husband walking purposefully downstairs with his dinner jacket and accouterments “We’ll be putting up in a motel you won’t need that" she cried “Of course I will” Joe Cotten said “I’m wearing it in a TV scene tomorrow" The wind changed the fire did not arrive and he did the scene In Information and applications are available at Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum 300 N Main St Phone 9 Final date to accept applications May 12th 5:00 pm Full Line Buffet May 24 I 18-2- 364-650- 5 WE BEAT PR1CESI co-ho- GET 'EM NOW AT NORTHEASTERN NEVADA'S IN THE HEART OF FINEST HOTELCASINO NEVADA'S GOLD COUNTRY See us for the fastest tan in the West! Limited Annual Memberships Now Available Pay as little as $2750 per month (Across from Salt well-temper- BARGAINS THE NAILING POST ac- tor” When Cotten In his early days in New York Cotten was a reader for Paramount writing synopses and analyses and then did some writing for radio Great chunks of his manuscript were edited out including a lot of material about his family' “It was 600 pages before I got to Orson” Cotten says The excised material might make a fine second volume After years of being taken far granted thanks to that courtly and competence of his Cotten is getting some of the recognition he has long since earned The a bookJames Stewarts will signing for Cotten in Beverly Hills on Thursday The Los Angeles County Museum of Art begins a month-lon- g retrospective of his films Friday and the American Film Institute begins a similar retrospective in Washington GETAWAY AT Date: May 16 1987 Place: Salt Palace Little Theater 5 Ages: Must have pioneer ancestor who entered valley before May 101869 ’ “Driving g again”) (Queen and two attendants to be chosen) r 0 low-keye- d charm He now lives in Palm Springs with his wife Patricia DAYS OF ’47 QUEEN CONTEST ! party-givin- home from David's parties required no headlights" Cotten says "The sun had always risen” In his preferences for material Cotten has been resolutely traditional “Is it fear of being thought shallow that causes playwrights to change the subject the minute the audience becomes involved particularly emotionally involved?” he asks in the book “What a pity our writers banished sentimentality to the hospital almost to the cemetery for so many years And give a rally blow a horn award a prize to Neil Simon who has to singlehandedly restored the stage and screen as a respectable r word that can be spoken by actors and heard by audiences without bringing blushes to the faces of either” Yet Cotten loved making the film of Edward Albee’s “A Delicate Balance" and says he loves the play The autobiography is clearly his own work and demonstrably the work of a man with a feeling for words Cotten had written some theater reviews while he was selling ads for the Miami Herald and what is not generally remembered he wrote for Welles the script of “Journey Into Fear” adapting the Eric Ambler novel (“He said there had been so many changes he could sell the book four-lette- 1 GADGETS Cotten speaks and writes like a man who has had a ringside seat at a wonderful show in which from time to time he has played a part To him David 0 Selznick was always “Boss" and Cotten writes of his perfectionist dedication with something like awe He also went in awe of the intensity of t Otter good lor IS suites sold of until May Jt 1987 and tor 000 suites from $1 good only Ciud'dnleed Boy Back it not tfaniteiabie 9 1b year f'ed financing annual par 9 centage rata 9 JO year toed ltnncng annual 06 rata 10 percentage (5) tOGAi HfXJMNo If NOtH you’re in the market for customers the Service Guide & DirectoryHome Improvements column in the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News is the best place to advertise professional help for home and personal needs You’ll find a variety of categories carpet cleaning remodeling landscaping drywall plus many more and at a price that’s sure to please your pocketbook Call today or come into our Counter at 143 So Main Street and let one of our Experts help you word your ad for maximum results! if REMEMBER Want Ads do more thiilgs for more people at a lower cost than any other form of Advertising! twanfradfe Utah advertisers outside the local area Dial TOLL FRtE |