Interview - "Why Genevieve Tobin Has Never Married"

Tobin's love life is a fascination for me. Her One Hour with You and Pleasure Cruise are embodiments of free love that that seem to contradict Tobin's own experiences in the dating field. Though how far is still up for investigation.

This article, from Movie Classic, discusses the impossibly high standards Tobin has for a husband. This includes, "the virility of Clark Gable, the intelligence of Leslie Howard, the dignity of Clive Brook, and, if I may say so, the sheer nerve of James Cagney." I'm sure another few film bloggers I know would add an 'amen' to that.

But Tobin doesn't stop there. The man she wants should be 1. rich, 2. not a doctor, 3. not an actor less famous than her, 4. a church-goer (denomination unlisted), 5. be able to play golf, tennis, and polo, 6. read good books, 7. drink fine wine, 8. have traveled the world, 9. like kidneys, 10. hate eggplants, 11. drink champagne, 12. cook, 13. be a Garbo fan, 14. not eat before bed, 15. not read before bed, 16. not be a fortune hunter., 17. live in England, 18. tall, 19. dark, and 20. very strong. Not exactly aiming for lowest common denominator here.


There are nice little asides that reveal some stuff I didn't know. One is that Tobin plays the harp (!). Another is that she preferred pajamas over nightgowns-- more power to her, I suppose.

Another bit goes into the actress' appreciation for Garbo,

This part may be more revealing than the rest of it, since it speaks to a certain amount of standards and judiciousness. When Tobin admits later in the article that she's a snob, that should come as no surprise-- she has high taste and high expectations. It fits in perfectly. 

I also learned, besides George and Vivian, Tobin had another sibling, a brother whose name I have yet to discover. Interesting.

The last interesting bit is that she wanted two children. This never happened, so I wonder whether it was Keighley or something else that changed.

Speaking of whom, this article was published in mid-1932. Two years later and she'd meet her future husband.

Danny

Source

Hall, Gladys. (August 1932). "Why Genevieve Tobin Has Never Married." Movie Classic. p. 56, 81, 82.

Interview - Tobin Writes

 I've only really started to research Genevieve Tobin's life, and I'm already starting trying to figure out why. Don't get me wrong, I'm doing it because I want to do it. But what do I hope to learn from this? What is the narrative of this obscure woman's life?

Yesterday, I became fascinated with her marriage to William Keighley. Keighley is a character hard to read-- a stage actor turned film director from Philadelphia. He developed a British accent after working with a Shakespearean repertory company, and seems to have strived for much of his life for culture and class. This contrasted with the movies he's best remembered for, a number of typical Warner Brothers' films produced competently like Picture Snatcher, Dr. Monica, 'G' Men, and Each Dawn I Die.

Keighley also hosted Lux Radio Theatre from 1945 to 1955. I mention this because Radio Mirror featured a piece about him from April of 1945 called "I call him Keighley" -- a biographical piece written by none other than Genevieve Tobin.

I was pretty thrilled to find a piece that Tobin had written, and even more excited to see that it really touches on how and why she ended her career. You can read the piece if you want, and it contains a lot of interesting little bits.

There's a number of stories about Keighley that probably sounded a lot more romantic back then than they do now, such as telling his wife she was offered a part in a picture the same day it was beginning to shoot-- and while they were on an airplane.

There are a lot of other interesting details, too, such as Keighley and Tobin's around-the-world honeymoon in the late 30s. Interestingly, they stopped in Japan-- where I live-- and even visited the Buddha at Kamakura, which is pretty cool.

Anyway, just another piece to the puzzle.

Danny