Gielgud, John. (1904–2000) [Beaton, Cecil. (1904–1980)]
Two Autograph Letters Signed to Cecil Beaton
Two exceptionally long and discursive letters from the British actor to the Academy Award-winning English stage and costume designer for films and theatre, containing a wealth of information about mutual friends, contemporary theatre performances, and more. Both letters signed "Love to you as ever, / John." Expected mailing folds, else in fine condition.The first letter (May 16th; 4 pp. on stationary from the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C.) dates to 1947, with Gielgud "so very busy with Lust for Love," which opened in D.C. on May 13 of that year. In part, "You know how it is doing two things at once, and I am also going to direct Medea for Judith [Anderson] in the autumn, and she chose last week of all moments to arrive in New York and insist on conferences and decisions." That production of Medea would run on Broadway from October 20th until May 15 of the following year, with Anderson winning the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play. A significant portion of the letter is dedicated to discussing High Summer, an upcoming play by playwright Terence Rattigan for which Beaton had agreed to do the set design. "I quite agree with you about the weakness of High Summer," Gielgud writes, "but Terry may improve it greatly...Anyhow, I am more than delighted to hear you can do it." Gielgud describes his idea for the set in great detail, even providing an illustration, and discusses a possible timeline for the production. "I must say I don't relish the prospect of the winter in London again– but having avoided two abroad, I can hardly complain." In a sense, Gielgud got his wish: there is no record to indicate that the discussed production ever became a reality, and High Summer wasn't produced until a 1972 episode of Armchair Theatre. A postscript recounts his experience the previous day visiting painter Pavel Tchelitchew, "trying to persuade him to do Medea for me - but he won't. He is slightly crazy now - but what an expressive imagination and sensibility - to hear him describe one of his dresses at a ball is almost like one of Saché Sitwell's best essays...he spends literally years painting skulls and skeletons with arteries, veins and circular obsessions that seem to me dangerously near the Nijinsky mad drawings, and though they are marvelously drawn and painted they are repulsively like medical diagrams on a doctor's wall."
The second letter, (December 14; 2 pp. on personal stationary) finds Gielgud "[j]ust back from my holiday in Portugal - what fun it was. The hats in Lisbon are outrageous, every woman looks as if she is going to take off at the slightest whisper of the propeller - how they would make you laugh." The rest of the letter concerns mutual friends and acquaintances, getting Beaton caught up on "the dirt and gossip" of their social circle. (19932)
Autograph Letter Theater