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No
true cinema trash classic is complete without a goofy title song.
Where Love Has Gone (1964) has a doozy of a theme song that
was actually nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar! Picturesque
vistas of San Francisco play out underneath the opening credits
while Jack Jones warbles, "They say love's gone when it goes,
and I'm naive I suppose."
Not
only is Where Love Has Gone based on the trashy bestseller
by Harold Robbins, but it was scripted by John Michael Hayes (Butterfield
8, 1960 and Harlow, 1965) and directed by Edward Dmytryk
(Walk on the Wild Side, 1962 and Bluebeard, 1972).
Hayes and Dmytryk also memorably adapted another Robbins novel,
The Carpetbaggers (1964).
If
all this weren't enough to convince you of its bad movie pedigree,
mere seconds into the story, petulant and pouty Joey Heatherton
murders a man in front of a shrieking Susan Hayward.
Architect
Luke Miller (Mike Connors) is in the middle of a presentation to
the Arizona planning commission when he receives word that his teenage
daughter Danielle (Heatherton) has just killed a man. Luke is picked
up at San Francisco airport by the family lawyer who fills him in
on what has happened. During a quarrel between his ex-wife Valerie
(Hayward) and her lover, Dani came to her mother's defense by stabbing
the man in the stomach with a sculptors chisel.
Everyone
gathers at the home of family matriarch Mrs. Hayden, played with
trademark mannerisms by Bette Davis. While sitting in what Newsweek
christened "the ugliest chair in Hollywood", Davis bemoans
that, "It is unthinkable that such a thing could happen in
the Hayden family. Somewhere along the line the world has lost all
its standards and all its tastes." When delivered by Davis
in her familiar clipped speech pattern, it becomes one of the movies
most quotable lines.
It's
clear that there is no love loss between Danielle's parents when
Luke tells Valerie that he "was invited in to help do the family
dirty laundry."
"And
why not," she answers, "So much of it is yours."
Upon
arrival at juvenile hall, the family is swamped by paparazzi and
Luke punches a reporter. "Daddy, don't let it make you angry,"
Dani whines, "I'm the criminal."
Viewers
at home may enjoy playing the Where Love Has Gone drinking
game. The rules are simple. Every time Heatherton whines to her
"Daddy", take a shot of your favorite liquor. This game
is guaranteed to have even the most experienced drinker flat on
his back by movie's end.
For
some strange reason, Dani has brought along her father's Congressional
Medal of Honor. "I always kept it with me." She gives
it to her father for safe keeping which prompts a flashback to the
day her war hero father and society sculptress mother met at an
art showing. After meeting Luke (he criticizes her Spirit of
Death sculpture), Valerie flirts with art dealer Sam Corwin,
who is played by a pre-Star Trek DeForest Kelley.
Davis
entertains Connors in her Nob Hill mansion with the express purpose
of marrying him off to her daughter. He is shocked by her proposal
and indigently tells Davis, "If you were younger I'd turn you
over my unrefined knee and spank your aristocratic behind."
Overhearing him berate her mother turns Hayward on. They begin a
whirlwind affair and soon marry. Connors receives his medal and
then returns to the service.
When
Valerie is nominated for a prestigious award, Mrs. Hayden uses her
power and wealth to secure the prize. She strikes a deal with Sam
Corwin to assure that she gets it. "Mrs. Hayden," he asks,
"Have you ever considered letting Valerie run her own life?"
"Only
in moments of weakness."
Time
passes in montage with wartime newspaper headlines superimposed
over images of Valerie hard at work on her sculpture. Though the
scope of the story covers decades and takes place in the post-war
era, no attempt has been made by the film makers to show any real
passage of time. None of the characters age, change their hair or
the style of their clothes. It's as if they live in a hermetically
sealed world that's firmly rooted in 1964.
Luke
returns home from the war (that's WWII not the Korean War)
and the "newlyweds" head to Hawaii for their honeymoon.
When they return, Mrs. Hayden presents them with a house that is
the epitome of mid-century modern design. Lest they forget who their
benefactor is, a gothic portrait of Davis hangs in the living room.
Mother-in-law also has an executive position ready for Luke in the
Hayden family business, but he has independent ideas of his own.
"Independence is utterly commendable," she tells him,
"after you've learned your lesson, come back to where you belong."
Though
his ideas for post-war housing are sound, under the influence of
Mrs. Hayden, no bank will lend Luke the start-up capital. To Valerie's
disappointment, he takes her mother's job offer. "I have to
do what must be done." He explains.
"You
mean what mother says what must be done." With that
creepy portrait watching over them, Valerie tells him that she's
pregnant. "The next time you see mother, ask her what she's
decided to name it." Baby Danielle is soon christened.
With
his own self-worth compromised, Luke turns to the bottle for comfort
with Connors giving a rather broad interpretation of alcoholism.
Valerie is fed up and declares her independence by smashing a framed
portrait of her husband in the fireplace and sleeping around. When
their rapidly deteriorating home life begins to affect her work,
Valerie goes on the attack, "You can't get what you want, you
don't like what you have, and you're wallowing in self-pity, booze,
and recriminations!"
Since
going back to her goodtime-gal ways, Sam Corwin begins to notice
a change in her art. "Now the old Valerie Hayden is back…sculptor,
pagan, alley cat!"
When
Valerie moves into a separate bedroom, Luke tries to assert his
husbandly rights. She resists him at first, but then welcomes his
drunken advances, "You're not the first today, I'm just getting
warmed up."
After
an evening at the bars, Luke comes home to find his wife with one
of her tricks. "You're not a woman, you're a disease!"
Hayward
then berates him in a barrage of acting, "You're no hero, you're
a drunk! A drunk! A DRUNK!" Mother Hayden suggests that her
daughter get a divorce, and what mother wants, mother gets. Once
the divorce is granted, the story moves back into present day.
When
Luke visits Dani at the juvenile detention center, he comes to realize
that his daughter isn't a little girl anymore. Under Valerie's guidance
she's become a teenage hell cat. "There are a lot of things
you don't know Daddy." Heatherton purrs. When he asks about
the murder, Dani breaks down. "I'm ashamed for you to see me
like this," she cries, "Oh Daddy, what's the matter with
me? I love all the wrong people and I hate all the right ones…I'm
a freak."
After
a physical exam, it's revealed that Dani is no longer a virgin.
All evidence points to Rick, Valerie's lover. During her session
with a psychologist Dani refuses to incriminate the man she killed.
"I don't wanna be helped, I am sick of being helped! I wanna
be punished for what I did. I wanna pay for it."
When
a blackmail plot involving incriminating love letters written by
both Valerie and Dani surfaces, Luke can't believe that his daughter
could do such a thing. Mrs. Hayden has a much more realistic view
of her granddaughter, "She is her mother all over again. Do
I need to tell you what Valerie was capable of at fifteen?"
To
keep them from being read, Valerie buys the letters and destroys
them. When she mentions the notes to her daughter, Dani assures
her that she won't tell a soul, "I won't say anything; otherwise
somebody is liable to guess what really happened when Ricky was
killed. I don't want that and I don't think you do either."
The
sparks fly between Hayward and Davis in a bitchy battle of words.
The campy tone of Hayes' script crackles when Mrs. Hayden calls
Valerie an unfit mother. "You have made it publicly obvious
that you have only one concept of love…a vile and a sinful
one."
"When
you're dying of thirst, you'll drink from a mud hole."
"You
have devoted your life to mud and filth."
"Only
to get even with you." When threatened with loss of custody,
Valerie vows, "If it's the last thing I do, I'll see that Dani
stays in jail rather than go with you. You'll never get her! NEVER!"
The
only way to battle her mother is to team up with her ex-husband.
Valerie and Luke tearfully rehash their old issues and mistakes.
She begs for another chance to make their family work, he wisely
says no.
At
Dani's court hearing, just as the judge is about to decide her fate,
Luke begins to ask questions. He theorizes that it was Valerie who
killed Rick and Dani is covering for her mother. Valerie is touched
by his attempt to get to the truth because it proves how much he
loves Dani.
In
a lengthy monologue Valerie reveals the truth. Dani attempted to
get even with her by stealing her lover. "He became our battlefield."
Valerie goes on to say that on the night of the murder she and Rick
had decided to marry. When they told Dani, "She thought I was
taking away one more thing that she loved and she went wild. She
picked up the sculptors chisel…and then Rick stepped in front
of me and got what I should have gotten," she confesses, "because
Dani was trying to kill me. That's what happened that night."
Distraught
and tearful, she rushes from the courtroom and gets into her convertible.
Overwrought theme music accompanies her as she drives past several
San Francisco landmarks. Arriving at her Pacific Heights home, she
dashes inside and dramatically destroys her mother's portrait. She
then runs into her studio, picks up a chisel, and stabs herself…twice!
Luke
comforts Dani at the funeral. As she is shipped off to reform school,
Heatherton gets in one last pout, "Daddy, I wish I could start
all over again and undo everything."
Maybe
in the sequel. Watch out ladies, because this reform school girl
is on her way.
Harold
Robbins was known for the roman a clef aspects of his novels. Where
Love Has Gone was loosely based on the Lana Turner/Johnny Stopanato
murder case. During the trial, Turner gave a tearful account of
the incident, which some have called her greatest performance. It
was a performance that inspired the finale of Where Love Has
Gone.
Screenwriter
John Michael Hayes stays remarkably true to the novel. He wisely
excised an inconsequential mob subplot, but interestingly enough,
changed the books happy ending to a tragic one. In the original
novel, after the trial (the shocking revelation remained the same)
Luke went back to Chicago to a wife and newborn baby. He is given
another chance for a happy family life. The film version's melodramatic
death drive through San Francisco and Valerie's suicide may have
been imposed by the production code. She'd have to pay the ultimate
price for her sins.
After
the production had wrapped, the producers decided to tweak the ending.
They contacted Bette Davis and asked her to shoot a new scene for
Mrs. Hayden. She would go insane. Davis thought the suggestion was
ridiculous and refused. The producers threatened legal action but
Davis got her way and the ending remained as is.
It
was no secret that Davis and Hayward loathed one another. Different
sources give different reasons for their feud. Was it because Davis
resented playing Hayward's mother (she was only ten years older
than Hayward) or was it because Hayward was insecure about sharing
the screen with a star like Davis? It's difficult to say, but by
Davis's own account, after her last scene with Hayward, she ripped
off her gray wig and threw it in Hayward's face. With a hearty "Fuck
you," she walked away from her co-star and was finished with
the production.
After
the box office success of The Carpetbaggers, producer Joseph
E. Levine hoped for a repeat performance with Where Love Has
Gone. But even with it's salacious content, audiences just weren't
interested. Despite this minor setback, Levine continued to mine
the trashy riches of Robbins' novels.
Thank
you Joseph E. Levine, from bad movie lovers everywhere.
CCT
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