Lucille Ball v called Jean Arthur to invite Jean to come to Los Angeles and discuss starring in a Desilu pilot. Ms. Arthur after completing Shane was alway from filmed entertainment for 15 years. Her first project was a guest stint on "Gunsmoke", and you would never guess that Ms. Arthur had been away. Jean Arthur looked fantastic an gave a great performance.
I was a student studying the great Directors and developed Jean Arthur worked with the best: Billy Wilder, George Stevens, Howard Hawks, and Frank Capra. and her co stars Cary Grant, Marlene Dietrich, John Wayne, Rita Hayworth,
James Stewart and Ronald Colman were some of the great stars Jean Arthur worked with.
Ms. Arthur's films are considered classics: Mr. Deeds, Shane, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, A Foreign Affair, and her greatest performance was in Stevens The More The Merrier co starring Joel McCrea., Jean Arthur was nominated for an Oscar but lost to Jennifer Jones The Song Of Bernadette.
Ms. Arthur was a great star but also n introvert and never "promoted herself:" Read Joh Oller' s fine book on thus great star!
Lucille Ball who was a bit player during Ms. Arthurs great stardom became CEO of Desilu and tried to get Ms. Arthur to star in a Desilu pilot. of "Mrs Aris Goes Tp Pars"but the deal feel thru. Instead Dick Quine a great director of those great Kim Novak movies at Columbia Bell Book and Candle, Strangers When We Meet, among others. created a TV pilot called Mother Word a is Law Also starring a very fine actor Ron Harper. Ms .Arthur was given a great wardrobe by Nolan Miller and a great production by Universal. I liked the show but it was on too late at 10PM where most of Ms. Arthur's elderly fans went to bed . CBS gave up on this show too quickly. The TV show was renamed The Jean Arthur Show. I could have listened to Jean Arthur's voice forever. (Actresses of the Golden Era had distinctive voices: Kate Hepburn, Susan Hayward, Bette Davis)
Jean Arthur was a finalist in the hunt for s Scarlett O Hara and while no one could ever top Vivien Leigh, Jean Arthur would have been a very Interesting selection.
Ms. Arthur turned down Capra's It's A Wonderful Life, and walked out of Born Yesterday on Broadway which garnered the great Judy Holiday the Oscar! Ms. Arthur declined Steve McQueen's mom in Junior Bonner and the small role of the missionary in Ross Hunter's disastrous remake of Lost Horizon.
I am a big Hunter fan and he should have stuck with those e great lush love stories such as Imitation of Life (Lana Turner John Gavin) and Back Street (Susan Haywad and John Gavin)
I recommend The Jean Arthur Show
