Inger landed her first feature film Man on Fire after producer Sol Siegel saw her as a chambermaid in the 1956 Playhouse 90 production of Eloise. Sol inquired about Inger and discovered that she "was one terrific actress and she was under contract to my old studio, Paramount. So I gave her a test. I liked her. Then I discussed her with Bing. Unless we’re both lousy judges, this kid’s got what it takes to become a star—talent, personality, and beauty.”
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| Inger with Sol Siegel |
A movie produced by a major studio and starring Bing Crosby just three years after his Oscar-nominated role in The Country Girl? Being cast as Nina in Man on Fire was a plum role for a rookie film actress and Inger recognized it. Inger told reporters:
Naturally this is very exciting for my first movie. Bing’s very nice. He seems so relaxed it relaxes me. Right now I consider myself a very fortunate girl. I’m doing what I like best—acting. In Man on Fire I play a lawyer’s secretary who saves Bing Crosby from making a lot of mistakes. In the end we wind up together. It’s a good part, but the picture is basically a Crosby vehicle. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my young life playing opposite Bing. I hope I’m lucky enough to do it again.”
Filming on the drama began in December 1956, but poor Inger was struck with appendicitis after only two days on set. Hesitant around a star of Bing's stature, Inger quickly warmed to him after he showed her kindness following her appendectomy. Bing and the crew sent Inger a get-well card that read, "Don't linger, Inger." Inger recalled:
The first day of rehearsals I was so nervous I thought he’d fire me. Instead, he was very quiet. I found out later that Bing Crosby takes a good deal of knowing. He weighs things very carefully. He’s cautious. If he likes someone, he opens up. But this takes time. He’s extremely likable and an extremely fine actor. Essentially, he’s an instinctive actor who doesn’t realize how good he really is. He’s not impressed with himself at all. The one thing that bothers him in front of a camera is a lot of takes. He gets stale quickly. The first take is usually best for him. I’d been on the film two days when I had to go to the hospital for an appendectomy. When I came back, Bing greeted me like an old friend. We’d all have tea at 4 o’clock, just sit around and talk.
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Inger and Bing in a shot for
Parade Magazine, June 1957 |
Inger had married theatrical agent Anthony Soglio in summer 1955, but the couple was estranged before Inger began filming Man on Fire. Twenty-two year old Inger fell for fifty-three year old Bing and shared:
I’ve dated him several times, and for an actor he’s unusual. He doesn’t like to talk about himself. He’s extremely well-read and interested in more subjects than show business. He knows so much about politics, sports, painters and writers you wouldn’t believe it. He’s one of the most well-rounded gentlemen I’ve ever met. After you go out with Bing, you’re spoiled for young men of, say, 25 or 26.
When they were not busy calling Inger the "new Grace Kelly"—prompting Inger to respond "though they are complimentary, I hate comparisons...I'd rather be known as Inger Stevens."—or inserting items about her former Latin Quarter dancing career into gossip columns, the press was tracking the relationship of Inger and Bing.
In January 1957, Inger filed paperwork to officially separate from Anthony Soglio and would file for divorce in April. Inger and Bing would, as Erskine Johnson put it, "continue to costar after hours" through the spring. In early May, reporters noted that Bing was in love with Inger, but by May 7th Dorothy Kilgallen was sharing the following tidbit:
The Hollywood temperature-takers report Inger Stevens furious over Bing Crosby’s Las Vegas fling with Pat Sheehan. Inger was thought to have inherited the Groaner from Kathy Grant, and it may turn out that she also has inherited the same denouement.
On June 26, 1957, Inger, despite being sick, signed autographs for fans and confirmed that she was still dating her costar though neither had plans for marriage.
The film premiered in Los Angeles on July 5, 1957, and Inger received positive reviews for her performance as legal secretary Nina Wylie. Motion Picture Daily reported that the film had "power and dramatic impact" and that Inger had "more than a promise of future greatness." Photoplay noted "lovely Inger Stevens" and "sensitive acting." Variety praised Inger as "another newcomer who should be heard from in the future. She is particularly appealing as she nurses Crosby through his vicious and embittered moods."
The movie is rare because Bing's character never sings. Bing said:
It was my own idea. I figured if I couldn’t get away without singing in this picture, I never could. There’s really no reason for a song. The character is not an entertainer; he owns a small manufacturing company. I always figured before that I was a crooner and people expected me to sing when they saw one of my pictures. But I don’t think anybody’s going to run out of the theater and demand their money back if they don't get a song out of me. I think it destroys some of the illusion of a dramatic picture if you throw in songs. The Country Girl would have been better without them.
In the film, Earl (Bing Crosby) struggles to cope during a custody battle over son Ted (Malcolm Brodrick) with his ex-wife Gwen (Mary Fickett). Earl is still bitter about Gwen leaving him for his former friend Bryan (Richard Eastham). As Nina, Inger serves as Earl's right hand woman and voice of reason throughout the picture. Though Earl is slow to recognize it, the devoted Nina is also deeply in love with him. My favorite scene comes early in the film and finds Earl and Nina sitting at a bar.
Earl: You're the first lawyer I've ever seen with a dimple.
Nina: I'm not really a lawyer. I graduated from law school, but that's all.
Earl: How old are you?
Nina: 25.
Earl: You're very honest
Nina: In that case, I'm 27.
Earl: I would've thought you were younger.
Nina: Why don't you keep on thinking it?
Earl: Been a long time since I was 27.
Nina: I've looked at your passport. You're pretty old, Mr. Carlton.
Earl: If you're going to start talking to me like that you better call me Earl.
Nina: I have been calling you Earl for a long time now...when I think about you.
Earl: Why should you think about me?
Nina: You're one of our best clients, aren't you?
Earl: Ah, I guess that's good enough reason.
Nina: I'm glad I thought of it.
A few moments later...
Nina: Mind if I ask you a very personal question that's really none of my business but I'd certainly like to know?
Earl: What?
Nina: Why don't you ever go out? You know, women?
Earl: Oh, I'm not the type. I don't think I'd know what to say. Women don't like me very much. I'm kind of awkward, I guess.
Nina: Clumsy's the word. Have some more sugar.
Earl: I say something to make you mad?
Nina: Goodness, no. Why should I be mad?
Earl: I don't know. I just kinda got the idea you were...where were we?
Nina: The subject was romance and we were beating it to death with a stick.
And though the subject was romance with Inger and Bing away from the camera, it was not to last. By October 1957, Bing made a surprise announcement that he'd married Kathryn Grant, a young actress he'd dated seriously before meeting Inger. In fact, both Inger and Kathy were featured in Photoplay's "Favorite Coming Stars of 1958".
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| Favorite Coming Stars of 1958 |
Later, Inger would reflect on her relationship with Bing, saying, "He was basically a cold man who trusted no one...he treated women like second class citizens except when he wanted her...In all things he came first." Though the relationship and her feelings about the man soured, the press was incorrect when they assumed the romance with Bing led to Inger's 1959 suicide attempt. In reality, it was a failed romance with leading man Harry Belafonte that shattered Inger so completely that she tried to end her life.
Always a professional, Inger worked with Bing on ABC's Wide World of Entertainment in 1964. By that time, Inger was the star of The Farmer's Daughter and Bing was giving a sitcom of his own a shot. (The Bing Crosby Show only survived one season.) Kathryn Grant would remain married to Bing until his death in 1977. Unfortunately, Man on Fire has yet to be released commercially on DVD and is not currently available to view online.
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Inger and Bing on ABC's Wide World
of Entertainment, 1964. |
Sources:
All photos are my own scans.
“Bing’s New Leading Lady.” The Gazette. June 16, 1957.
“Hollywood’s Nicest Rebel.” Fairbury Daily News. June 9, 1958.
“Bing and Ing.” Fort Worth Star-Telegram. June 12, 1957.
“Bing Alter Shy?” Scranton Times. May 7, 1957.
“Young Inger Stevens Goes Places Fast in Hollywood.” Lancaster New Era. February 15, 1957.
“Bing’s A Rooter for Inger Stevens.” The San Francisco Examiner. May 5, 1957.
“Around Hollywood.” Medford Mail Tribune. January 14, 1957.
“Broadway.” Des Moines Register. January 3, 1957.
“Inger Stevens, Actress, Goes Under Surgery.” Citizen News. December 10, 1965.
“Not One Song for Bing in His Latest Picture.” December 29. 1956.
"Tower Ticker.” Chicago Tribune. June 27, 1957.
"Man on Fire." Motion Picture Daily. June 1957.
"Man on Fire." Photoplay. June 1957.
