- I'm a self-made man. I've done pretty well,
even if I say so myself. - He had magic on the screen. And I think it came from his eyes. He was terribly introverted, rather shy, kind of surprised at
having become an actor, not only an actor, but a star. And believe me, Alan was a star. - He owned Paramount. He was the biggest star we had on the lot, but he didn't have to appear
in the big, lavish productions. His personality, his popularity brought people into the theater. Oftentimes it wasn't the
picture, it was Alan Ladd's name. - It was not only the girls falling in love with this handsome figure, but it was also the men
identifying with him and saying, hey, this guy has gone through some of the things that I've gone through. I understand him, and I
feel that if he knew me, that he'd understand me. - You just sensed a
volcano inside this man, that was suppressed. You notice Alan in his
acting, didn't do a lot. But you sensed this
energy of whatever it was. I don't know if it was anger, if it was-- I don't know what it was. But it was in there, and
he kept it to himself. - The moment he was on the screen, with few words, he stood out. He had a strength on the screen
that told you he was a star. - He fascinated me, because
he had such a charming face. It wasn't the face of the sort
of people he played in film, you know, the tough, rough sort of guy. He was deceiving. - There was always a gentleness. That's one of the things
that you liked so much. He was warm and you knew that he himself was never going to start trouble. Somebody else started the
trouble, he finished it. - He was not a movie star in his mind. I don't think he felt like one, and he was very genuine about it, and very honest about
himself and his talent. I don't think he realized
what a good star, a big star he was. - If you look at a lot of his performances or knew him as a man, there
was a deep kind of sadness. He really wouldn't talk about
his mother and his past, because I think that was a very,
very painful thing for him. He was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He, at a very early age, migrated with his mother and stepfather out to Oklahoma and then on to California. And his mother, Ina
Raleigh, bought a house in what is now the San Fernando Valley. His mother was a troubled woman. He was her only child, and
really, her entire world, and was quite an obsession for her. - Alan grew up in such poverty, and he always had little side
jobs, little part-time jobs, sweeping out a candy store,
working in a grocery, and really didn't have a
lot of time for school. And then later, when he
got into high school, he found himself. He became very popular in high
school, was class president, and his life took on a
whole new meaning for him, and he began to blossom. - He was quite the star there. Where he really excelled
was in swimming and diving. His nickname was tiny. In high school, he got
his first taste of acting. The first production that he was in was a production of The Mikado. After high school, he
opened a hamburger stand, hamburger and hot dog
stand across the street from the high school
that was called Tiny's. It's odd that he was so proud of that, because years later he was so, kind of, embarrassed or self-conscious
about his height. But he loved to tell us
about this restaurant. One of his first jobs outside
of this restaurant was, he started as a grip. He used to tell stories about
how he'd sit up in the rafters and look down and say, you know, someday that's going to be me. Then he started studying
with a man named Ben Bard, and eventually was put
under contract to Universal for a very short period of
time, in fact, six months. He and Tyrone Power were actually in the same group together, and I think the studio
dropped both of them. - He met a young lady named Midge and her parents were not too
keen on her getting serious with this young man
who didn't seem to have any visible means of support. They took off for a
weekend and got married, and when they came back,
they didn't tell anyone. She went back to her
house with her family. Midge discovered herself
pregnant with Alan Ladd Junior, and they had to tell the families, and they got a tiny, little apartment, and his mother moved in with them. Ina had become an alcoholic, and at that time she was very difficult, causing great trouble in the family. One day she swallowed ant
paste in front of Alan and died in his arms. I don't think he quite
ever got over the feelings of guilt and betrayal and
regret from that incident. - When I got to know him, he was very touchy about
not talking about it, about his mother. - [David] He kept punching away at trying to make it in movies, and he was either told he
was too blond or too short and he would really never make it. - I remember doing the Higgins family. Alan and I were both
vying for the affection, if not love of Lois Ranson. Just before Christmas, I
remember we had a cast party at Republic Pictures. I remember he brought to the set, his very beautiful wife
and a little blond son, and I thought, what a nice guy. - He kept getting small parts
here and small parts there, but nothing of any substance. He finally retreated
to the world of radio. He had a very rich speaking voice. It was there that my
mother actually heard him doing a performance of a young boy aged 18 who aged until they were 80 years old, and she thought, well, my goodness, this is a fine actor and
a good character actor. And she called up the radio station. - Sue Carol had been a very well-known young actress in town, appearing mostly in collegiate pictures. When she decided to become an agent, she looked around for talent. And the number one client became a man that she heard one night
playing in a radio drama. - Either it was love at first sight or client at first sight,
I'm not sure which, but she talked to him about
restarting his film career, and he was at first quite
reluctant because, he said, you know, I did that for, like, 10 years, and I got so much rejection. And I think because he was
a little smitten with her, he finally agreed, and said,
all right, I'll give it a try. - [Dmytryk] I was making
a two-week musical with Edith Fellows, who
was a rising young star. - Nice going. Quite a voice, hasn't she? - Just a voice, it will
never amount to anything. I'll go and tell her to stop. - No, let her practice. I got to get back to the office anyway. I'll pick you up about eight
for the Fleetwood Bridge party. Gosh honey, I wish you'd let me tell them. - No, not yet. - We needed a second lead
in the picture, a male, and Sue Carol was selling me
some actor, I don't know whom, and I didn't like him, and she said, well, I've got somebody
waiting out in the car, do you mind if I bring him in? So she brought him in,
and it was Alan Ladd. He looked good, and he sounded good, and I said, "Does he got a tuxedo?" And she said, "Yes, he has". So I hired him. I found out later that
he didn't have a tuxedo, they had to rent one. - He was very shy, very sweet. And he was a gentleman. Sometimes I felt that he
might be a little insecure. - I'm crazy about you, Marian. I only realized it when I got away. Please, Marian, don't leave now. Tell him you're not going. - But, John, you don't understand. I wasn't going with Mr. Niles. - You weren't? - No, I was going to the
job in San Francisco. They sent for me. - Then who was? - I am, John. I'm going with Philip. - Oh, you, you meant her. I got things a little mixed up. - It was a sweet little film. And he was wonderful in it. I remember that about once an hour, he used to go to the
phone and call Sue Carol. - Apparently my father became
quite an obsession for her. And I've also had studio executives say that your mother used to go
and sit in people's offices and pitch your father, and if they rejected him,
she'd sit there and cry. So, I mean, with that kind of an agent, no wonder he became a success. - He had done some
singing in school musicals and there were things called soundies. Soundies were like jukeboxes. You put the quarter in, and you
not only got a sound record, but you got the visual with it. And he did one of those, singing, with the Rio Rita all-girl orchestra. ♪ I look at you and a
trumpet plays so sweet ♪ ♪ I look at you and a
drum begins to beat ♪ ♪ I touch your hand and the
whole darn band begins to play ♪ ♪ And then my poor old heart
starts in to swing and sway ♪ - Susie herself told me
that on one occasion, that she actually darkened his
blond hair with shoe polish, because what they were looking for was the typical hero of yesterday's films, the dark-haired man. - Frank Tuttle directed
"This Gun For Hire" and he said, "It's great,
I want to test you." and he called about a
week later, and he says, "I got to make another test, Tony". He says, "They want to go against type "with some blonde-hair kid". They tested him. The studio said, we're
going to go with him. I didn't get the test at all. - They wanted an unknown,
and Sue was determined that that unknown was
going to be Alan Ladd, because she knew that picture
would make him a star. - So you're a Copper's girl. - Who told you that? - He was here looking for you. And he'd better stay away from me. - [Announcer] Veronica Lake,
who burst on the screen like a blonde bombshell a year ago. Alan Ladd, this year's amazing new star, who's dynamite with a gun or a girl. Together they blast all screen traditions in "This Gun For Hire". - Still want that stuff from Gates? - Of course I do. - Help me out of here,
and I'll get it for you. Or was that hot air last night? That flag-waving? Okay, I'll shoot it out with them, and I hope your Copper
gets the first slug! - He was so intent on
everything that he did. And he was a perfectionist. And that came off on the screen. That, coupled with his
natural talent as an actor, was just magnificent to
watch and to see it develop. I think every big star has
a certain individual quality that they have, whether it's
Jimmy Cagney or Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, Bogart. Alan Ladd had his own
very distinct qualities. - Come on, I know you're not asleep. - You talking to me? What do you want? - My five bucks. It was the only one I had
and one corner was torn off. Now, look, don't make
me call the conductor. Hand it over and we'll forget it. - I'm no pickpocket. I got to find somebody in L.A. I'm short of cash, or I
wouldn't have taken it. - [Lyles] He had a very
stone face at times, and he had a voice that just went with it. And he had such command on the screen. The camera fell in love with him. - He really had a lot of sensitivity. I don't think he knew it
himself, but he really did. And it showed in his personal
relationships with people, it showed on the screen, even though he was the mean
or the tough or the whatever, he was sensitive. And there was a great
gentleness about him. - This is good luck. Cats bring you luck. Yeah, it's hungry. Ain't got nothing for you, tabby. - You like cats, don't you? - Yeah, they're on their own. They don't need anybody. - Well, this one could do with a friend. So could you. - You're trying to make me go soft. Well, you can save your oil,
I don't go soft for anybody. - [Henry] Alan Ladd was
teamed with Veronica Lake because she had been cast
in "This Gun For Hire" before he was cast. She actually got better billing,
but Ladd really took hold. The public absolutely loved him, and they liked him very
much with Veronica. Black and white was
marvelous for film noir. Dark shadows, lots of rather
gritty, hard-boiled talk. Film noir is a walk on the tough side. They were at that time known as the couple for this type of film. - [Lyles] Before that picture came out, Alan Ladd's picture was
in all the movie magazines and all over the newspapers. And he became one of our
biggest and most important stars with that one picture. - When Alan met Sue Carol, they were both married at the time, and they rather had to hide their feelings for each other for a while. She was married to a screenwriter, and she had a daughter named Carol Lee. Finally, they went ahead, each of them, and got their divorces and
decided to get married. Paramount absolutely had a fit. Their first big-time star
that they'd had in many years was going to get married to Sue Carol, who was quite a bit older than Ladd, right after the first big hit film. They felt the fans would
not like this at all. But Alan knew that she was
absolutely right for him. And he sent word back
to the studio, and said, I'll do anything that you ask
me to do for stardom's sake, but I won't give up Sue Carol. - [Announcer] "The glass key,"
Paramount's fast-moving story of two tough guys and a beautiful girl who gives them the fight of their lives. It's a battle of the sexes
starring Brian Donlevy. And a battle to death between
Alan Ladd and William Bendix. Alan Ladd, a killer in more ways than one. Pitting their male wits and strengths against little miss dynamite
herself, Veronica Lake. - Get out of my way, you cheap crook. - When they got in front of the camera, those two, quiet, blond people just had such tremendous
chemistry together. It was magic. - [Announcer] He's very much
wanted by Veronica Lake. - You've never seen me before tonight. - Every guy's seen you before, somewhere. The trick is to find you. You've got the wrong lipstick on, mister. - Alan Ladd came across as someone who didn't trust people,
certainly didn't trust women. But I think perhaps,
women saw a kind of heat under all that cold. They saw something smoldering there, and they would, I think, go to the films and sort of think of themselves
as straightening him out. - I was on a picture
called "And Now Tomorrow," with Loretta Young. Alan was on the set. The assistant came over and said, "Tony, Mr. Ladd would like
to see you in his dressing". I walked in, and he said, "You don't remember me, do you?" Now, this is Alan talking. I said no. He said, "You remember a kid in Pasadena "auditioning right next to you?" I said, "Oh yeah, right". That was in 1933. They were having auditions
at Pasadena Playhouse. My dad drove me up, we arrived there, sat next to each other, this little blond-headed kid and myself. I was a kid, too. Went to lunch, and this kid said, "I can't go, I don't have any money" and my dad said, "Okay, come
on, come on, come with us". And I hadn't seen Alan since then. In my mind, I didn't know him. He was the star of this picture. I didn't recognize him, it was Alan Ladd. From that time on, Alan
would throw me a script, and say, "Pick a part". the most loyal man in the world. And I did many, many pictures
with him, about 14 altogether. - I must have done five,
six pictures with him. And he had kind of a group
of us in that same condition, that every time he had
a picture we were in it. - In the evening, after the filming, you'd go to Alan's dressing room and you'd find the make-up people there, and the grips, and the electricians, and all of the below-the-line
people, the good guys, and if you wanted to meet
your friend you'd say, "Hey, I'll see you at 7:30
over in Alan's dressing room". You'd go there, and sure enough
everybody would be there. He enjoyed being Alan Ladd, the guy on the lot that everybody adored. He was a family man, and that's
why I respect him so much. He loved his family, his children, and no matter how busy he was, he would try to find time to be with them. - I really didn't know, until
I was about 13 years old, that either of my parents
had ever been married before. And they both had children
from other marriages. My mother had Carol Lee, and
my brother's mother was Midge. As far as I knew, both
my sister and my brother were my full sister and my full brother. But that was Hollywood in those days. It was felt, within
the publicity machines, that the fact that either
of them were married before would taint my father's
career in some way, and god forbid they had children that old. - [Caruso] Many times,
in photographic layouts, Alan wouldn't have his son,
he was not in the picture. Always the two younger
kids that he had with Sue. And Sue's daughter, Carol Lee, she was around there, she lived there, but she was not in the layouts. - [Jackson] So in sustaining
the image in the magazines and of course they were very,
very powerful and influential, the past might well be forgotten, and the present might well be fabricated, to make sure that there was a future. - [David] The publicity
machines at the studios played to the hands of
the magazines of the day, which were Photoplay, Modern
Screen, and Silver Screen. They wanted their stars to be very pure. They didn't want to know
about stars' problems, they didn't want stars
to actually be human. They wanted them to be stars. - I think because kind of
his very humble beginnings, he felt that at any moment it could be all taken away from him. Over the years, he had
been told so many times that he was too short, too blond, and he developed a set of insecurities that people that knew him
just couldn't understand. - Alan was a leading man,
and he was 5'7" or 5'8". In those days, there was
more movie magazines out, and they showed the actors and major stars stripped to the waist
and told their height, and they would lie about
how tall the actor was, they were the so-called idols. - Before casting, before they would even
come in for an interview, they had a mark on the wall
on a pole, you know, 5'10". And if you were taller than
5'10", you didn't work with him. - You couldn't say to Alan, "Well, there's Jimmy Cagney,
there's Humphrey Bogart, "they're shorter than you". At that particular time,
when casting people were looking for future stars, I attended a few of those
casting sessions or meetings. If you were over a certain height, they didn't even want to talk to you. - [Caruso] He wanted to be
always bigger than the women, and that's why he always
had smaller women. Except that sometimes he
didn't have a smaller woman, and he had to go on a box, on a plank. - Not with me, because I was
a lot shorter than he was, and I think that delighted him, you know. - The first time I met him we did our wardrobe tests together. It was a costume picture. I think we said good morning, I don't think we said anything else. I had on a long, full skirt, and I just kicked my shoes
off and stood beside him. And he looked at me. He didn't say thank you,
he mouthed "thank you". - Alan was a very uncommunicative man. I couldn't say I ever
really got to know him. I don't know that anybody did. If Alan had ambitions to go beyond the stereotype leading man
that he was so good at, I don't know. He never talked about it, he never complained about
the roles he was playing. - Alan was the hero, but he
wasn't the type of a hero that was constantly beating up the heavy. In those days, an actor or actress was pretty much identified
with a specific type of role. And studios looked for
those type of stories or had them written for,
tailor made for those actors, whether it was Robert Taylor
or Clark Gable or Alan Ladd. - [Narrator] Yes, it's an Alan Ladd you've never seen before, as the most feared man in all the west. Quiet-spoken, deadly whispering Smith, whose blazing guns kept
the railroad rolling along a thousand danger-filled
miles of the wild frontier. - All right, Segrove, get moving, haul that load out of here. - Segrove, if you move those mules, I'll shoot 'em between the traces. - Alan never played any of the
roles where he was a seducer. I think one of the things Sue, his agent and then his wife, and I think one of the
things Sue felt, as an agent, that Alan shouldn't do is
play those type of roles where you're seducing the heroine. - [Announcer] Brenda Marshall as Marian, the girl who waited too
long for the man she loved. - Early this morning at
Tower W. Rebstock's outfit held up number seven. Made off with a lot of money. The worst part of it
is they killed a guard. - Do you think Murray had any part in it? - I wish I could say no. - [Announcer] It's Ladd, hitting
a new high for excitement, as the thundering conflicts
of a great action novel plunging into one thrilling
adventure after another. - Dad very often played the
loner in a lot of movies, in "Whispering Smith," and "Branded," and even in "The Great Gatsby," which is one of our family favorites. It hasn't been seen very often. But he was very effective with that, and I think that part of
that came from the fact that I think he felt that he
was quite a loner as a child, you know, and an outsider. And that's probably, a lot of that, is what made him so kind
of interesting as an actor, because of that internal
life that he carried around. - You never know what can happen in a war. Besides, I don't want to
come to you empty-handed. After I get back, I'll take
whatever's coming to me from that legacy and
I'll start a business. With you to work for, there isn't a thing in
the world that I can't do. - Of course, but I want
to be your wife now. - I want to be your
husband, but the right way. I want to make your family proud of me. - Yes, but, all right,
darling, whatever you say. Whatever you want. - Trust me, Daisy, please trust me. - Yes, Jay, always. - That character of Gatsby was Alan Ladd. The poverty-stricken childhood, that need for security,
that need for recognition. All of that came out
in the role of Gatsby. (phone ringing) - That phone. - Let it ring. I fired all the servants
last night, everybody. I'm through with all this, Nick, I'm through four-flushing, trying to be something that I'm not. A gentleman. - You're a gentleman, a real one. - [Jackson] In those days, image had to be protected at all costs. You could never admit that
there may be some failing in your personality, some,
some sign of any weakness. - [Jackson] At home, I thought Alan was very severe with his children. They were young at the time, and I can remember on occasion his being very tough on David. And it kind of hurt, because
David was very little and Alan was very strict. It wasn't a big, long harangue, but it was a very sharp rebuke. And yet he was so full
of love for his kids, and I'm sure for Sue, and
for the rest of us, but, you know, some people
just can't express it. - It actually used to
scare the hell out of me. You know, because you'd hear him yell from one corner of the house to the other if you'd ever find something, if he'd find something that
you did wrong, you know. It was suddenly, "David!" and I'd come running, or
I'd go hide somewhere. But there was a sense of
he wanted his children to have good manners and
to have a good upbringing. - [Announcer] This is Shane, gunfighter. The role Alan Ladd was born to play. Van Heflin portrays the homesteader. Jean Arthur is his woman, who took Shane into
her home and her heart. Brandon de Wilde as the boy
who found a new idol in Shane and an irresistible fascination in the deadly glint of his gun. - You've lived too long. Your kind of days are over. - My days? What about yours, gunfighter? - The difference is I know it. - [Announcer] Out of the elemental forces that drove this man, George Stevens has created a
motion picture masterpiece. - Shane! Come back, Shane! - "Shane" was the pinnacle
of my father's career. He was Shane. He was so warm and so
terrific in that role. You could see behind his eyes
so much that was going on. And the warmth, I think, came through in his relationship to Brandon de Wilde. - Hello, boy. You were watching me down there
quite a spell, weren't you? - Yes, I was. - You know, I like a man who
watches things go on around. It means he'll make his mark some day. - When you get into the
strata of a George Stevens, George is going to make his movie. And he did some stuff with Alan that let Alan achieve more as an actor, and get more out of himself than he had ever before that time. Most of the time, Alan
could not show love, but in this movie he loved that boy as a love for his own children. Shane didn't need to say much. You knew about the
relationship with Jean Arthur, though it never happened. - He was a very silent man. I'll never forget, he used
to sit and go through scripts and take out lines. You know, he'd say, "I
don't want to say that," or he'd give it to another actor, whereas other actors were
going, "I'll say that". Dad felt that, you know,
less said was stronger, and that if it came from within and came out through your eyes, that was where an actor
really made an impact. - I gotta be going on. - Why, Shane? - A man has to be what he is, Joey. Can't break the mold. I tried it, and it didn't work for me. - We want you, Shane. - Joey, there's no living with a killing. There's no going back for me. Right and wrong is a brand. The brand sticks. There's no going back. - I wonder whether Susie
made a mistake or two. I don't know. He was offered the role of Rick in Giant. - I was there when George
Stevens met with him on Giant. And he begged Alan, this was after Shane, for Alan to play the role
that Jimmy Dean played. Sue said no, that she felt
Alan would be more of a heavy, and he should never be a
heavy in any of his pictures. Alan was a creature of habit, and Alan was content with Paramount, Alan loved his house,
Alan loved the ranch, Alan didn't like to travel, he lived to have his friends
around him at his home, and he felt Paramount was his home. - [David] They bought a ranch in an area called hidden valley, and that really became the place where my father was the happiest. And he began to ride his horses, and live the life of a cowboy wannabe. It was always paradise being
there with him, as a family. I think for all of the children, those were our fondest
memories of being a family, was being there at the ranch. - [Caruso] Every weekend
we'd be out at the ranch, when he wasn't working, and
he would get on the tractor and show me how he could drive a furrow. - Alan Ladd was a big star at the time. I mean, everybody loved him. I don't know anyone who
was jealous of Alan Ladd, I don't know anyone who
didn't love Alan Ladd. A crew member would walk down the street of the Paramount lot, "Hi, how are you?" They loved the man. He had the common touch. - Alan Ladd's whole life was
here with us at Paramount. He felt very secure with us. He had made a lot of pictures for us, they'd all been very successful. "Shane" was made just before he left, the biggest picture that he made, one of the biggest pictures
Paramount ever made, and certainly one of the most
prominent westerns ever made. - I believe that some of the roles Sue and Alan felt that he should be given, somebody else got. And when you start out
with a particular studio, they have you under contract, it's very difficult in the negotiations to get an additional amount of money. They were being wooed by
every major studio in town. And so Warners made them
one of the best offers, and they set up their
independent company there. They were among the first to
have an independent company. - When Alan left Paramount,
he lost his security blanket. This was his home, this
was where he grew up, and this is where his roots were. And when he left, he
went to another studio, where he didn't know the backlot people, he didn't know the crew, and he didn't know a lot
of the front office people. And I think when he left he might have made a
better deal financially, but I don't think it was a
better deal for Alan as a person. - [Announcer] It's Ladd,
in his most exciting role, as the rebel leader of
this rabble in chains whom the English king saved
from the hangman's noose to settle the wild frontier
of far-off Australia. Mason, as the master of their prison ship, a sea demon more ruthless
than Captain Bligh. And Patricia Medina as
the notorious actress, whose charms made her a marked woman, born to make trouble for men. Never did a ship carry
so explosive a cargo, as this beauty brings to
a head the bitter conflict between the captain who protected her and the rebel convict
she tried to protect. - Of course, you'd have to
give your pledge not to escape. I promised the captain you would do that. - What else did you promise him? If I am to be indebted to his fancy, I'd like to know how deeply. - I felt kind of maternal about him. I felt he kind of needed looking after, and yet he would have resented
it most awfully, I'm sure. But I felt that it was not
work he looked forward to, but when he came he was absolutely
first take, it was magic. - Of course you realize, Tallant, I never had the slightest intention of taking you back to London. - I do now. And as long as I'm gonna hang. - James and I did a lot alone together because we heard that Alan
had viruses, had the flu. I said, poor man, he's not very strong, he gets ill quite often. Well, apparently it wasn't that. Apparently he had a little
problem with alcohol, which I did not know about. It never manifested itself on the screen, never did on the set. - Alan, you never heard him in public say anything bad about anybody. He was cheerful and
polite in all situations. And there are times when
you need to do something to get it done, Sue was
the one that did it. She was there watching the
camera, watching the setups. I'm sure checking the scripts each day if there were rewrites. She was managing him and his career. I don't know that it made things at home always that much happy, because Alan was a man and here was a lady guiding him and his
career very successfully. - Sue was many people to him. Lover, mother, many things to him. It was a very unusual
relationship, but it was there. - Sue was with Alan all the time. At work she'd have to come on the set, and people said, well, maybe
she hangs around him too much. Well, that wasn't the truth. The truth was, he wanted her there, he needed her, he wanted her there. - [Jackson] Ladd himself feared nothing except travel by aircraft. He never, ever went in
an airplane, anywhere. So when the children would travel, and they would travel a lot, it would be by train across the country, and then it would be by
ship across the Atlantic. Because taxation in those days was something like 90% to 92%, they made films abroad. And as long as you kept moving, you didn't have to pay American taxes. - [David] Family became everything to him. I mean, there was nowhere that he went that we didn't all go, whether it was on location in Europe or on location in Arizona
or wherever it was, we went as a family, we went en masse. - [Henry] In 1954, Alan
Ladd and Marilyn Monroe were given the Photoplay award for being the two most popular
Hollywood stars in the world, and it came a year after
"Shane" was released. - It doesn't matter
whoever it is, you know, career-wise you have your ups and then there's a period
of time with every actor that they've been number one, like Alan was for 10 or
12 years, or whatever, and the audience changes. And some of those pictures that
he did weren't making money. And once that happens, our
town is a very cruel town. They want somebody else. It's the young this one,
or the young that one. And that had an effect on Alan. In our business, no
actor works continually. And that in-between time, it could be three, six,
eight, nine, 12 months. You can do just so much
athletics and so forth, and Alan was very physical at one time. The drinking was having an effect on him, so he wasn't exercising
as much as he should. And then he was embarrassed
when Sue told him he wasn't looking good,
and it bothered him. - In "Boy On A Dolphin" he had to play a doctor of archeology, not
particularly suited to Ladd. But he agreed to do it
and it was in technicolor and they got to go to Greece. And it sounded wonderful on paper. But they had that demoralizing business of having to stand on a box or having his leading
lady stand in a hole, and that had to have a
very bad effect on the ego. And certainly it was a
traumatic experience for Ladd. - [Announcer] Here is the fabulous romance of the wild island girl and
the venturesome Americans searching for an amazing
treasure that lay buried for twice a thousand years
on the bottom of the seas. - Statue's gone, you're set
for the rest of your life. - I've not stolen. I've found, and what I have
found in the sea is mine. - [Henry] The director was
promoting his new discovery, Sophia Loren. Who was to be one of the
great international stars during the '50s. And certainly, she was going to take up a lot of screen time. I think he realized that the part wasn't going to amount to a great deal. - I had a movie that I had
wanted to make for some time called "The Proud Rebel,"
which was about a father who had come home from the civil war and found his home gone, his wife dead, and he was told that his
son was in an orphanage. And he went to the orphanage,
and he found the son, and the son couldn't speak. The movie required a big star, because it had all the
things of a western. The movie really was the boy's. I had offered it to two or three stars, and they all said, "Well,
it's the kid's picture." Then one day, I had a
secretary at that time, who came to me and she said, have you ever thought,
Alan Ladd's got a son, and I saw him in a little
tiny part in a movie called "The Proud Land", maybe they would be interested
in doing it together. - [Announcer] "Proud Rebel"
is a story of deep emotions. A story filled with love. The love of a father for his son, the love of a man for the only woman who understood his deep pride, the eternal love of a boy for his dog. Starring Alan Ladd as the
man whose stubborn pride could destroy even those he loved. - Whose dog is he, boy? - I told you, he was mine. - I want the boy to tell me. Whose is he? Talk up, boy. - He had a wonderful director,
a man named Michael Curtiz. Olivia de Havilland joined the team, who also gave Alan a
great deal of confidence. - Get away, Chandler. - Don't be a fool, guns
won't stop them, either. - They're not going to get my land. - Wait, let's try without guns. - [Announcer] And introducing the screen's newest young star, David Ladd. Only a real father and son
could capture such deep emotion. - Vance is gone, David. I sold him. I know, I know I lied to you. You can hate me. David! - [Goldwyn] Just think about this. You are a big star, and
Alan was a big star then, you had this kid who you adore and you don't want to mess it up. And I think he had real
insecurities about that. - [David] We shot in Utah. It was one of the strongest
memories in my life. It was a wonderful time and a wonderful sharing
between father and son. - This man has this frustration that's built up over the fact
that this kid can't speak. And the frustration builds in the man, and when Alan saw the script, he said, "We can't do that scene". Director said, "Why not?" He said, "'Cause I can't do that scene". He said, "I react, I don't
know, I don't do these stuff". Sue got in the act and said, "We're going to try and get the scene". She supported us. I think he was quite wonderful in it. - What do you want? What is it? What's wrong? What is it? I don't know what you want. If you'd only tell me! - Chandler! Chandler! - Curtiz had quite a
reputation of being a yeller and kind of a tough guy. Well, nothing could have
been further from the truth, but maybe part of that was
because dad was right there and was making sure that this director was not going to abuse his son. - I've heard stories about
how Alan drank on a movie. He never touched a drop
on the picture we did. Never touched a drop. He was so proud of his
relationship with his son, and he knew that anything
that would rattle that kid would upset him, and he wasn't
going to allow it to happen. - Johnny, look out! - Say it. You said it, say it again. Say it! You said it, say it again. You can do it. - Johnny, Johnny. - My movie with Alan Ladd
was "One Foot In Hell". This was 1959, and this
was a very, very sad time in Alan Ladd's life. He was having a battle,
and he wasn't winning. Alan Ladd himself as a youngster
was a fabulous athlete. And I think that kind of
confidence that he had in his own physical
abilities as a young man carried over into his career. I think he saw even more, the difference between what
he was able to do before and what he was no longer able to do. So I think the experience
was probably harmful to him. - They only person Alan
ever did anything to hurt was himself. We all loved him, we all tried to counsel
him as much as we could. - He was a beautiful man. He was well spoken. He was talented. And he was a movie star. But he never thought inside of himself that he was deserving of all this. And I really do believe that he felt that at a moment's notice,
it would all be gone, and people would find him out and discover that he was a fraud. It's not an uncommon thought
process for actors, even today. The difference is, in today's
world, people can get help. People can get psychiatric help. People can check into
the Betty Ford clinic. People can go into a rehab center and go on talk shows and talk about it. - [Dmytryk] I made this picture,
which I consider his first, it may not have been. And I made his last picture. When it came time to make "Carpetbaggers," and he was cast for the part,
and we took a chance on him. What I didn't realize
was, that physically, he was coming to a close. It wasn't his picture, and this was the first time
that Alan, in 15 or 20 years, was playing a supporting role. He was brilliant in it. However, in hindsight,
should he have done the film? Probably not. - [Announcer] "The Carpetbaggers," bringing to unforgettable life the characters of the best-selling novel. Characters like Jonas Cord Junior, Rina Marlowe, Jennie Denton, Nevada Smith. The man who keeps Jonas'
secrets and Jonas' women. A quiet man with guts enough to kill. - I watched your meaness and your cruelty. I've seen you make men throw up with fear and women cry with misery and shame, but never until this moment have I judged the full measure
of your cruelty and madness. To put it bluntly, Jonas. I think you're crazy! - [Announcer] It is unlikely that you will experience in your lifetime all that you will see
in "The Carpetbaggers". - He worked very hard, I must say that, because it was a difficult picture to do, and I think he made it one
of his very best parts. - He got the good reviews in this film. Unfortunately, he did not
live to see those reviews. He was dead before the film was released. According to the coroner's report, it was a mixing of sedatives and alcohol, that was the cause of death. - My mother was a very giving person. And I'm sure that after my father died, she probably questioned herself as to whether she had done
everything she could to help him, or had she done too much to help him. And I don't think in the final analysis
there was a different road. The demons that my father
had were his demons. They weren't demons that
were created by anyone else, they were the things that were
unresolved in his own self. One of the most endearing
memories that I have of my father was the first time that
I took a trip on my own. I went with a group of friends to Hawaii. And my father and mother
took me to the airport, and right before I got on the airplane, my father said, "Come here, David" and I ran over to him, and
he put his arms around me and just hugged me for the longest time. And when I pulled back and looked at him, he had tears running down his eyes. And I got on that plane, and I'd never felt such a
sense of love for my father. And I sat down and I wrote a love letter, a love letter from a son to his father. - My wife and me were at
the Ladds' for dinner, it was just the four of us. And the doorbell rang
in the middle of dinner, and it was a special
delivery letter from David. And Alan loved this letter and used to show it to his friends. Alan was buried with that letter. - There are many reasons for my wishing that he was still here. And the basic one, that
he could see how well his children had flourished. You know, we hear over and
over again how difficult it is for the children of stars
to themselves succeed. But take a look at that family. There's the oldest son, Alan Ladd Junior, who has been president of Fox, chairman of the board of MGM, had his own Ladd company, has Oscars. There's David, who's been
head of production of MGM, and who's now producing independently. There's Carol Lee married to John Veitch. John, who's had some wonderful productions and a great career as head
of production at Columbia, the man that they've
known from the age of 22 when he was a war hero. They found him wounded,
of course, in a hospital. - Alana is like Sue in a way as far as Michael Jackson is concerned. She's with him in a lot of
meetings, and she's supportive, and she's helping him
in every way possible. - And the strange thing is, I met her when I was
working in a particular room in a particular building, the same room, same building where Sue Ladd met Alan Ladd. CBS radio. - The interesting thing
with both of my parents is that they were both only children. Together they created quite a family. There's four of us. And they've all had kids, as
have I, and all of a sudden, those children are all starting
to have their own children. It's quite remarkable, I mean, we all live within about a
three-mile radius of each other. We've always lived here,
and we're always together. - Alan Ladd was one of
the real movie heroes of my childhood. There was something about the man that was completely compelling to me. He was the true quiet man. There was a kindliness,
sort of, about the man, that even when he was a tough hero, that came through on the screen. - [Freeman] He was a
big, big star of his day. And I remember the Paramount lot, we had an awful lot of big stars. But he was certainly one
of the biggest of them all. - The image that I
remember most of my father was the image in "Shane," when he looks at Brandon de Wilde and he says, "Goodbye, Joey", and he just rides around that
corner and into the mountains. - Shane! Come back! - [David] And that music comes up, and I'll tell you, to this day, when that music comes up, it makes me cry.
