Inger Stevens on the Guide for the Married Man Cruise

Inger Stevens, Captain Riddelsdell and Sue Ane Langdon

In April 1967, Inger attended a screening of A Guide for the Married Man on the S.S. Canberra. The film's cast (including Robert Morse, Sue Ane Langdon and Inger) flew to Vancouver where the cruise set sail for San Francisco. The screening was held in the S.S. Canberra's 340 seat theater.

Reporter Dick Kleiner tagged along on the cruise to cover "the world's first seagoing premiere." Kleiner reported that actor Robert Morse danced and joked during the cruise and seemed to enjoy the fresh air. Morse's wife was ill with tuberculosis and he had been taking care of his three daughters while she was in the hospital. 

Inger wore a blue tunic and blue tights while costar Sue Ane Langdon reportedly wore her hair in "multicolored curls and fingernails to match." Inger and Sue Ane were talking about being typecast and Sue Ane joked that she should be cast as Pollyanna, not "the rotten girl." Inger said she was always cast as a sexpot. Inger reportedly told Sue Ane, "If I were casting you, I'd cast you as Pollyanna" to which Sue Ane humorously replied, "Thank you. And I'd cast you as a sexpot."

The two lovely ladies posed with Captain E.G.H. Riddelsdell, whom Kleiner compared to Captain Bligh in his manner of speaking. Captain Riddelsdell was very accommodating but did not like guests distracting his quartermaster at the wheel. There is a nice bit of information about the captain, who was in charge of the Canberra from 1966-1969. He had retired from service in 1965 prior to taking on this new role.

According to AFI Catalog of Feature Films, the film print remained on the ship following the event, staying onboard until SS Canberra reached Florida and allowing its passengers to enjoy the film.

I did not know that a sequel called A Guide for the Married Woman was proposed that same year. Wouldn't that have been wonderful if a sequel had featured Inger in the starring role? That would've been so much fun to see!  The sequel was scrapped until it took the form of a television movie starring Cybil Shepherd in 1978.

A Guide for the Married Man is a 1967 sex comedy directed by Gene Kelly and starring Walter Matthau, Inger Stevens and Robert Morse. It features tons of guest appearances by famous comedians such as Jack Benny and Lucille Ball. The DVD seems to be out of print at the moment and only available through used DVD sellers.

Here is the trailer (click here if the embedded video does not work)

Sources:

"A Guide for the Married Man." AFI Catalog of Feature Films.  https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/23744

"Canberra's Captains." http://www.sscanberra.com/appgmasters.htm

"E.G.H. Riddelsdell." https://uboat.net/allies/commanders/8627.html

Kleiner, Dick. "Sea-going Premiere Makes Movie Waves." Standard-Speaker. July 31, 1967.

Inger in May

I wanted to post a little update about additions I've made to the blog. I have spent the last several weeks joyfully immersed in Inger as much as time has allowed. I've been watching The Farmer's Daughter, browsing old newspaper articles on Inger online and reading William T. Patterson's biography on her for the third time. I had forgotten some interesting anecdotes and little facts that were in the biography and it was a joy to revisit.

Using Patterson's book and the newspaper interviews of Inger I have saved, I was able to create a detailed year-by-year timeline of Inger's life. I also added more information about Inger's hobbies and interests to the Facts/Timeline section. You can see the Facts/Timeline page by clicking here. I also updated the Quotes page here.

I know that Inger's untimely death often draws people into her story, but I hope that this blog will help people get acquainted with her fascinating life. The mystery and tragedy of her death is undeniable. Inger's lust for life, her integrity and the talent she shared with the world are all just as undeniable. With the anniversary of her death in April, I was feeling deeply emotional about the loss and wishing for what might have been. I'm so happy that I spent May revisiting her life and all of the fun, quirky elements of her personality. 

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by the blog since I started it last October! Many more posts to come and don't forget there are also the following pages on the blog:

Photos

Quotes

Facts/Timeline

Films, Shows and Plays

The Farmer's Daughter 1963-66

The Farmer's Daughter: Miss Cheese

The Farmer's Daughter
Season 1, Episode 9: Miss Cheese
Originally aired November 15, 1963

A young teenage girl named Penny wins a contest in Wisconsin and is named Miss Cheese. Her prize is a trip to Washington, D.C. and a chance to stay in the home of Congressman Morley.

Steven has a crush on Penny and chooses to break a date with his girlfriend and take Penny with him to a dance instead. Katy does not approve of Steve ditching his friend and tells him so. Katy talks to both Steven and Glen Morley about the rudeness of the act and how she feels Penny is manipulative, but neither Steven or his father listen.

Penny tells the family that she is delighted to be attending the dance if only she had a new dress and hairstyle, to which Katy sarcastically replies, "poor thing!" The rest of the family, however, are completely hoodwinked by the innocent looking ingenue and take her to town.

At the dress shop with Glen Morley, Penny chooses the most expensive dress. At the salon with Agatha Morley, Penny orders the works. Agatha says later:

I thought I was taking her. She took me and I mean took me! I'm afraid to look at the bill.

Even Secretary Cooper has been talked into purchasing a brand new evening bag for her. The family starts to realize that Katy may be right and Glen talks privately with his son, Steven. While Steven stares at a photograph of Miss Cheese, Glenn stumbles over his words as he tries to explain Penny's character:

Sometimes people appear to be something they're not...It's not so much what she's not as what she is.

As a last resort, Katy decides to have a girl-to-girl chat with Miss Cheese and uses flattery to get Penny to reveal her tricks to move up the ladder. Although young, Penny is essentially an experienced gold digger. Katy plants a seed that senators make much more money than congressmen and that the senator's son will be at the party that evening. 

Penny dances with the senator's son and completely ignores Steven at the party. Steven says that he has sure learned a lot about women and plans to apologize to his girlfriend. By the end of the episode, the calculating Penny has moved from the congressman's home to the senator's home and is now a personal guest at the White House!

Production Notes

In Eddie Foy, III's Day Out of Days Schedules, Miss Cheese is listed as Production # 3813 and the report was typed on July 26, 1963.

Schedule Days: 4
Producer: Peter Kortner
Director: William Russell
Associate Director: Herb Wallerstein

The cast rehearsed on July 29th and filmed July 30th through August 1st.

The character list for the shoot includes regulars Katy (Inger Stevens), Glen (William Windom), Cooper (Philip Coolidge), Steve (Mickey Sholdar), Danny (Rory O'Brien), and Agatha (Cathleen Nesbitt). All regulars reported for 1 day of rehearsal and 3 days of shooting.

Penny (Sherry Alberoni) was also present and working all 4 days. Guest stars Harry (Cliff Norton), Saleslady (Jean Engstrom), Charlie (Bob Cleaves in a role marked as silent) Boy (Tommy Leop), and Peter (Tim Mathison, also marked as a silent role) all worked just one day, with characters Harry and Charlie reporting on August 1st and the other guest stars reporting on July 30th.

My notes: The actors' names in this schedule are handwritten and my transcription of the names Tommy Leop and Tim Mathison may be mispelled as they are hard to read. Also, my summaries of episodes indeed skips to episode 9 this week, because I unfortunately do not own video copies of episodes 7 or 8 at this time.

Miniskirts and Movies

On April 10, 1967, Inger Stevens attended the 39th Academy Awards ceremony. The event was hosted by Bob Hope at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. I believe Mr. Hope hosted a whopping 19 Oscar ceremonies during his lifetime!

Inger bucked tradition of long evening gowns in favor of a minidress ensemble. She looked radiantly happy and absolutely gorgeous.

Inger at the Academy Awards. Photo by Gene Lester.

In The Farmer's Daughter Remembered, author William T. Patterson writes that Inger was asked to accept an award for the film Born Free if it should win at the ceremony that year. In preparation, Inger watched the film (and with friend Chris, waited in the theater until everyone had left because the film made her cry so much.)

Inger was interested in wearing something a little different to this year's ceremony and asked her friend and wardrobe designer Katy Theodore for advice. When Katy suggested a mini skirt, Inger answered that she could not wear a miniskirt, that she would be too afraid to go with something that untraditional. Katy told her to trust her, that the ensemble she would make for her would make her look and feel incredible; Inger reluctantly agreed.

Inger and Dick McKenzie at the ceremony.
Source: Flickr (kategabrielle)

Inger was a hit that evening and she did indeed look as incredible as Katy promised. Along with the minidress and cape, Inger wore silver stockings, white gloves and carried a matching purse. Although the cameramen loved Inger's look, the show's producers were worried about Inger coming on stage in the outfit. Born Free did not end up winning the award so their fears were not realized. Inger was not the only celebrity to test out the minidress look that night; Julie Christie also showed up in a miniskirt.

Inger at the Academy Awards.
Source: https://fanpix.famousfix.com/

Although it was a cold evening (reportedly only 45 degrees) and Inger later confided that although she enjoyed all the attention she ultimately felt uncomfortable in the dress, Inger glows in the photographs. Inger took an art dealer friend named Dick McKenzie as her escort and he looked quite handsome as well.

As a result of Inger and Julie Christie's short dresses and the controversy over the attention they received, the next year miniskirts were banned from the ceremony! Edith Head, famed designer and special advisor to the Academy, issued a formal ban on any attendees wearing miniskirts as she stated that even the nicest legs "look better when the kneecap is covered."

Inger at the 39th Academy Awards.
Source: Margaret HerrickLibrary Digital Collections.
http://digitalcollections.oscars.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15759coll9/id/1518

MPTV Images has a great photo of Inger at the Awards. Click here for that photo.

And Getty Images has my absolute favorite photo of Inger from that night. Inger is walking outside holding the program over her head and it looks like she is speaking to someone off camera. Click here for that photo.

Sources:
Patterson, William T. The Farmer's Daughter Remembered. 2000. p. 158-159.
Bader, Jenny Lyn. "Ideas & Treads; The Miniskirt as a National Security Threat." The New York Times. September 10, 2000.