| TENNESSEE AND THE ROMAN MUSE
By Franco D'Alessandro
"I
was always in awe of Anna Magnani... She never exhibited any lack of
self-assurance… and she looked right into the eyes of whomever she
confronted, and during that golden time in which we were the dearest of
friends I never heard a false word fall from her mouth."
-Tennessee Williams, 'Memoirs'.
Perhaps
it is easier to believe in magic when the setting is a city as
enchanting as Rome. Perhaps, too, we no longer live in a time and place
where a writer can set out to meet an actress that so completely
captivates him, unfettered by the managers, agents and handlers that
accompany many of today's not-so-bright stars. And that such a meeting
would result in a remarkable friendship which would endure two decades
and inspire three theatrical master-works, is almost unimaginable in
today's contrived and calculated world of artless entertainment. But
there was magic in the air in the winter of 1949 as Tennessee Williams
arrived in Rome for preparations of the Italian production of "A
Streetcar Named Desire." Williams was desperately seeking a woman he
had tried in vain for three years to contact by mail and telegram. A
woman he would call upon friends and acquaintances -from Gore Vidal to
Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio deSica-to arrange a meeting with. A
woman of whom he once said: "It is not often I am profoundly moved by a
performance on the screen, but this woman, Anna Magnani, has sunken the
claws into my heart... I feel inspired, perhaps compelled to write a
play for her" (T.W.'s diary entry 1947). The play would eventually
become "The Rose Tattoo". The inspiration would not stop there, in the
end both "The Rose Tattoo" and "Orpheus Descending" were inspired by
and written expressly for La Magnani, and "Sweet Bird of Youth" would
have its roots in Williams' fascination with the great actress. Their
lives and careers paralleled one other, from anonymity to world fame to
abandoned legends; they were inextricably linked in heart, mind and
art.
In a way it makes
sense that two of this century's greatest contributors to the theater
would come to embody the classical paradigm of the artist and the muse.
At a time when Italy and the United States of America were recovering
from a war that held them as mortal enemies, Anna and Tennessee would
come to symbolize the enduring love affair between those two countries.
'Exiles' would be Williams' preferred expression of his kinship for
Magnani, though Magnani was partial to the word 'avantisti' (ahead of
the times). Their individual approach to leading non-traditional lives
was as different as the cultures from which they hailed. Williams,
whose penchant for creating scenes in public places and pushing the
limits, was contrasted by Magnani's cool, effortless romanissima way of
life. Magnani provided a loving and stern maternal figure who
understood the mind of a theatrical genius and also appreciated his
often intense and erratic disposition. It was not Tennessee's drinking
or flamboyance that would raise Magnani's ire, nor his melancholy or
paranoia. Not even his philandering perturbed Magnani. Except in
context of his love for -and lack of monogamous devotion to- his
longtime companion Frank Merlo, to whom Anna was also very close.
Betrayal was the only thing Magnani would not tolerate. Whenever
Tennessee verged on such transgressions, it was Anna who would pounce,
lion-like, on the great writer. Over the years Magnani herself was on
the receiving end of some of Tennessee's verbal indiscretions -in
particular his choice words to the press regarding her participation in
the incommensurate and mawkish "Secret of Santa Vittoria". She did not
indulge him as many of his closest peers and associates. A woman all
too familiar with the frailty of man's fidelity, her great capacity for
compassion ran anemic in the face of voluntary betrayal or as Tennessee
referred to it as 'a deliberate act of cruelty'. Anna inspired simply
by living her life the way she did, purely, bravely, and relentlessly.
The exhilarating spring and summer nights on Magnani's terrace with its
stunning panoramic view of the eternal city was the backdrop of this
inspiration for Williams in the 1950's. Tennessee was keen on spending
spring and summer in Italy and he was completely enchanted by la bella
Roma and its most famous resident. He once wrote: "it is a city that
Anna seems to preside over, not like a queen but rather a goddess."
Their friendship, born out of a deep appreciation and a complex
understanding for one another as artists as well as human beings, was
forged on that terrace above the Piazza Minerva over looking the
Pantheon where the two talked and confided for hours on end for over
twenty years. It is no wonder that the characters of Serafina in "The
Rose Tattoo" and Lady in "Orpheus Descending" are mesmerizingly close
to the Anna Magnani we were only vaguely allowed to see in real life.
They were facets of her deeply rich and alluring personality.
Born
in Rome, Magnani was raised by her grandmother who eventually sent her
to an acting conservatory where she sang and played the piano. The
world never knew this side to Anna Magnani. In the post war era and
boom of neo-realist cinema it was simple and effective to have her
known as a 'non-actor' and as an 'earthy peasant woman'. The truth
could not have been more different. A Romana di Roma, Magnani was
hardly a peasant girl. She was a street-smart kid with a solid
education and a passion for the theater. In American newspapers and
cinema magazines however, the complex life of this woman was reduced to
a caricature. There is an insightful and intriguing irony when we note
that Anna Magnani lived so far from the conventions of the society and
culture that loved and adored her. Magnani was clearly a woman well
ahead of her time and she lived her life completely on her own terms.
She alone raised her son, Luca, who was stricken with polio at age two,
and had the boldness to give him the last name Magnani. Anna also
demanded equality on the set with her directors and off the set with
friends and lovers. It was the fierce determination and assertiveness,
which helped to create the awe that surrounded the name Anna Magnani,
and Tennessee Williams was one of the few who was allowed to see her
tender, vulnerable side. Tennessee was intrigued by her complexity and
was inspired by her determination, yet there was something that set her
apart from Tallulah Bankhead, Bette Davis, and Elizabeth Taylor. What
could it have been that Williams first saw in that heartbreaking scene
in Rossellini's "Roma: Citta` Aperta" / "Open City"? Passione. An
Italian characteristic that Anna deemed a Roman virtue. As Tennessee
was drawn to her, his work began to change. This artist/muse
relationship -born of the ancient Greek paradigm-can be credited with a
particular evolution in the work of Tennessee Williams.
It
was not until Tennessee fell in love with Rome and his subsequent
friendship with Magnani that the female characters in his plays began
to blossom into fiery, sensuous women. The women who inhabit the world
of Williams' plays from his first endeavors into playwriting in the
1930's through his more sophisticated early plays "Not About
Nightingales", "Summer and Smoke", "The Glass Menagerie", and to some
degree "A Streetcar Named Desire" are all Southern women who are
sexually detached -if not repressed- and clearly dominated and made
victims by the men in their lives. No doubt influenced by his own
insular world set in the conservative Christian South of Mississippi.
On board the Andrea Doria coming to the US
to film The Rose Tattoo, September 1954.
In
his plays after 1950 the woman are passionate, complicated,
self-assured, prepossessed, and sexually vital. Tennessee Williams
would become known for his complex female characters that were imbued
with a dimension, texture, and eroticism, not yet seen on the American
stage. It is not a coincidence that after his friendship with Magnani
one begins to see a major shift in the character-ization of the
Williams women. With the Williams/Magnani alliance we see a very
different kind of woman inhabiting the infinitely rich and poetic plays
Tennessee Williams gave the world. Though Magnani clearly inspired the
characters of "The Rose Tattoo" (Serafina and Rosa), "Orpheus
Descending" (Lady and Carol), and "Sweet Bird of Youth" (The Princess
and Heavenly), further examination reveals reflections of her in Maggie
in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and Maxine in "Night of the Iguana". If it
is accepted that artists are inspired by their muses, then it is a
likely conclusion that it was La Magnani who inspired Tennessee to
create many of these (now iconic) female characters, who today have
their rightful place in the pantheon of World Theater.
While
Magnani did not realize the role of Serafina on the Broadway stage as
Tennessee had dreamed, she went on to star in the film adaptation of
"The Rose Tattoo", directed by Daniel Mann and co-starring Burt
Lancaster. In March of 1956 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences would award Anna Magnani an Oscar® as Best Actress for her
performance. The film was an enormous international box office success
with Magnani winning countless international awards.
Four years later, in 1960, Magnani starred in the film adaptation of
"Orpheus Descending" entitled "The Fugitive Kind", directed by Sydney
Lumet and co-starring Marlon Brando and Joanne Woodward, and for which
Magnani would receive many awards including the 1960 Foreign Press
Association's Golden Globe for Best Actress. While separately both had
been at the top of their respective fields for over a decade, together,
with two films in just five years, Tennessee and Anna had conquered the
world. There were even more plans for collaboration but various issues
arose at this time -both personal and professional- that prevented
Magnani from doing the Broadway productions and the films of "Sweet
Bird" and "Night of The Iguana". Yet the two of them continued to meet
up for their famous Roman nights, in which (along with dining and
drinking) they would plan to work together again and support each
other's creativity. The relationship between Williams and Magnani was
truly synergistic: contrasting and complementary. Their friendship
endured the well-known tests of time, which, in the treacherous and
disposable world of Hollywood, is all too rare.
On location in Milton, NY for the filming of
The Fugitive Kind, July 1959.
As
the two entered their 60's, it was a bitter irony that Anna and
Tennessee would be revered internationally yet discarded by their
native countries. Much of the 1960's and the 1970's would find Williams
cruelly savaged by critics and vilified by homophobic editorialists and
politicians. As early as 1960 the parts normally reserved for Magnani
would start to go to Sophia Loren and throughout that decade most of
the roles offered her were beneath her talent. Meanwhile in 1963
Williams had buried his lover Frank Merlo, and was having increasing
difficulty getting his new plays produced. In a time of personal and
professional turbulence the two artists would take refuge in the
sanctuary of Anna's majestic roof-top terrace. As the 1970's began both
Tennessee and Anna were feeling the sting of rejection and
disappointment. The indomitable Magnani returned to where her career
had started -the theater. She was triumphant on the European stage in
sold-out productions of "Medea" and the acclaimed Zeffirelli production
of Giuseppe Verga's "La Lupa". Magnani was doing some of her greatest
work and yet the great film roles eluded her. Appropriately her last
film appearance would be an intriguing cameo as herself in Fellini's
"Roma".
Although Anna and
Tennessee continued to work on various projects and the two planned to
collaborate again, time was not on Anna's side. Magnani died at age 65
of pancreatic cancer in September 1973. Anna's death, at a time when so
many of Williams' friends were dying, was in many ways a coup de grace
for the sensitive playwright. This loss left him so emotionally
devastated he was unable to attend Magnani's burial ceremony, which
shut down the entire city of Rome. To this day many people wonder why
Tennessee sent twenty dozen roses to her funeral. The answer is simple;
alle venti (at 20:00) - 8o'clock was the designated meeting time on
Magnani's terrace for conversations, cocktails and confessions. That
magical, inspirational place that overlooked the city that had captured
Tennessee's heart. "Ci vediamo alle venti"or "see you at 8", was how
the two signed their telegrams and letters and often ended their late
night Roman meetings with a date for the next evening. And this is why
Tennessee Williams sent twenty dozen roses to the woman, friend and
muse who forever would embody the "Rose" in one of his most acclaimed
plays. The muse never really dies, like the goddess of Rome that
Williams first likened Anna Magnani to, her spirit endures forever.
***********
© 2004 Franco D'Alessandro
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