1 00:00:02,759 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Welcome fans of movie history and true crime to Hollywood Land, 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,240 Speaker 1: where we are once again headed back into our archive 3 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: of stories to bring you this episode on John Houston. 4 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: John Houston was a titan of American cinema, a screenwriter, 5 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: an actor, and a director who made such classic films 6 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:23,800 Speaker 1: as The Maltese Falcon, The Treasurer of the Sierra Madre, 7 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: Keith Largo, The African Queen, Fat City, Prizzi's Honor, and 8 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: so many more. He was the key figure in a 9 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: Hollywood family as well. His father was the actor Walter Houston, 10 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: and his daughter, of course, is Angelica Houston. John Houston 11 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: was both a maverick and an outlier in Hollywood. He 12 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,600 Speaker 1: had a reputation as a wild one, as stubborn and tough, 13 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,559 Speaker 1: a toughness that shone through on the set of The 14 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: African Queen in Africa, where the entire crew suffered from dysentery. 15 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: The entire crew except that is for John Houston and 16 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 1: his star Humphrey Bogart, because, as they claimed, they spent 17 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: the entire sh shoot drinking whiskey instead of drinking the water. 18 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: Water is important once again. A little over twenty years later, 19 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy four, when John Houston found himself in 20 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: front of the camera, this time portraying the wealthy businessman 21 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:18,399 Speaker 1: Noah Cross in Chinatown, the Roman Polanski detective Noir, set 22 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: during the Water Wars of nineteen thirties Los Angeles. I 23 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: hope you join me again here on Friday when I 24 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: discussed Chinatown in detail in a new installment of the 25 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,679 Speaker 1: Screening Room. But before then, don't forget to check out 26 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:33,679 Speaker 1: the rap party on Wednesday, and of course this episode 27 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: right now here on John Houston. 28 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 2: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 29 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:43,680 Speaker 3: Please check the show notes for more information. 30 00:01:45,080 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 4: Hollywood Land is a production of Double Elvis. The stories 31 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:08,639 Speaker 4: about director John Houston are insane. He was made an 32 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 4: honorary lieutenant in the Mexican Army. He was nearly shot 33 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 4: during a poker game. It was challenged to a duel 34 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 4: in broad daylight. While driving his car down Sunset Boulevard, 35 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 4: he hit and killed a woman who stepped into the road. 36 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,919 Speaker 4: He went to London to lay low, but soon found 37 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 4: himself with no job, no money, and no prospects, and 38 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 4: no choice but to live on the streets and beg 39 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 4: for change. All of this happened though long before John 40 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:41,919 Speaker 4: Houston made great films, classic films, films full of adventures, suspense, 41 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 4: and most importantly, great storytelling. Unlike that clip, I played 42 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 4: a few at the top of the show that wasn't 43 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 4: from a great film, that was a fair use sample 44 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,520 Speaker 4: from the Library of Congress of the Bandade Pallisia de 45 00:02:55,639 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 4: Mexico performing Viva Mexico in nineteen oh seven. I played 46 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 4: you that clip because I can't afford the rights to 47 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,359 Speaker 4: a clip from George Kacora's Dinner at Eight. And why 48 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 4: would I play you that specific slice of pre Code Cheese? 49 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:13,959 Speaker 4: Could I afford it? Because that was the number one 50 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,639 Speaker 4: movie in America on September twenty fifth, nineteen thirty three, 51 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 4: And that was the day that John Houston's life was 52 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 4: changed forever when he struck and killed a pedestrian in 53 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 4: the middle of Hollywood. On this episode, the Mexican Army 54 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 4: Poker Games and Duels, a fatal car accident, pre Code 55 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 4: Cheese and John Houston. I'm Jake Brennan, and this is 56 00:03:39,320 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 4: Hollywood Land. Las Colettis looked like paradise, a beach of 57 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 4: pristine white sand, deep blue ocean. On one side, Emerald 58 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 4: Green Jungle on the other. But even paradise comes with 59 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:16,280 Speaker 4: a few caveats. It hadn't rained months and there was 60 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 4: no running water, and the only way to access this 61 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 4: beach was by boat, who was a solid day's trip 62 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 4: from anywhere, and that suited John Houston just fine. Had 63 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 4: for about ten years living here on the idyllic edge 64 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 4: of nowhere. Was the kind of adventurous lifestyle you'd find 65 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 4: in a classic Hollywood movie like The treasurer of the 66 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 4: Sierra Madre, Key Largo, or the African Queen movies that 67 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 4: are all time Hall of Famers movies that made John 68 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 4: Houston one of the most successful screenwriters and directors of 69 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 4: the twentieth century. Las Colettis was also a potentially dangerous 70 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 4: locale for a man of John Houston's advanced age and 71 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:00,760 Speaker 4: poor health. It was nineteen eighty five. He was seventy 72 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 4: nine years old. His emphysimo was bad, so bad that 73 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:07,720 Speaker 4: every step he took felt like he'd run a marathon. 74 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 4: But John Houston was tough as hell, and the idea 75 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 4: of being far from civilization in the case of an 76 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:18,359 Speaker 4: emergency it didn't FaZe him. Shit. His own father, the 77 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,160 Speaker 4: actor Walter Houston had a heart attack smack dab in 78 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 4: the middle of civilization at the Beverly Hills Hotel for Christs, 79 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 4: as he was dead before the ambulance ever got there. 80 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:31,919 Speaker 4: Fuck proximity and fuck Beverly Hills. John Houston may have 81 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:34,880 Speaker 4: worked in the Hollywood system, but he avoided the Hollywood 82 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:39,719 Speaker 4: social system. Like the plague, America was no better. The 83 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 4: anti communist hysteria of the mid century was absolute stupidity 84 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,159 Speaker 4: to John Houston. He revoked his citizenship, He shot his 85 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,600 Speaker 4: films in France and Africa, took up residency in Ireland, 86 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:54,279 Speaker 4: and now here on the Mexican coast. He'd take peace 87 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 4: and quiet over an ego and greed any day. And 88 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:00,160 Speaker 4: when it came down to it, when the reverend the 89 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:02,920 Speaker 4: road and the shit at the fan, it didn't matter 90 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:03,640 Speaker 4: where you were. 91 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 3: On the map. 92 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 4: To John Houston's estimation, all that mattered was luck both kinds. 93 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 4: Mexico had good luck in spades. It was good to 94 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:15,920 Speaker 4: him now and when he knew would be the last 95 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:18,240 Speaker 4: years of his life, And it was good to him 96 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 4: nearly sixty years earlier, four hundred miles due east, all 97 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:27,600 Speaker 4: the way to Mexico City, in nineteen twenty six, John 98 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,719 Speaker 4: Houston was twenty years old. The money had long since 99 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,479 Speaker 4: run out, but he had everything else. He needed a 100 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:36,360 Speaker 4: roof over his head, three square meals a day, the 101 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 4: best horses at his disposal, the best women too, all 102 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 4: because the colonel liked him. In fact, there wasn't a 103 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 4: soldier in the Mexican army that didn't like him. And 104 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,280 Speaker 4: what wasn't the like about this big, tall, gregarious American 105 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 4: who was drunk on adventure gambling women in Masa Vesa. 106 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 4: He fit right in this larger than life gringo south 107 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 4: of the border. With five hundred dollars from his father 108 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 4: and in order from the doctor to take it easy. 109 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 4: That ear infection of his had developed into something nasty, 110 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,599 Speaker 4: this being nineteen twenty six and all before antibiotics and 111 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 4: the subsequent surgery on his job needed time to heal, 112 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 4: so John Houston took it easy like it was his 113 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 4: fucking job. But once his body was healthy and the 114 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 4: money was gone, John Houston Siesta mosed on toward its 115 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 4: inevitable conclusion, which meant he needed to get a real job. 116 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 4: He could follow in his old man's footsteps and try 117 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 4: his hand as showbiz. Being the son of Walter Houston 118 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 4: did have its perks, but the Colonel didn't want him 119 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 4: to go. The colonel wanted to continue to give the 120 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 4: American private horse dressage lessons. If money was an issue, 121 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 4: the lessons would be free from now on, and John 122 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,840 Speaker 4: Houston didn't want another man's pity or his money. He 123 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 4: politely declined, but there was no way he could decline. 124 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 4: The next carre at the colonel dangled an honorary commission 125 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 4: in the Mexican Army, and so John Houston, twenty years old, 126 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 4: jobless and penniless, became a temporary lieutenant in the Mexican 127 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 4: Armed Forces. He rode horses with high ranking colonels and generals, 128 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 4: men who had fought. 129 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:09,600 Speaker 2: Their way through the Revolution and lived to. 130 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 3: Tell the tale. 131 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 4: They drove fancy pierce arrows to the center of town 132 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 4: and fucked with down on their luck peasants while passing 133 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 4: open bottles of champagne amongst themselves. 134 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 2: And they laughed as they stumbled into pools. 135 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 4: Filled with naked women, and behind the closed doors of 136 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 4: local brothels. They bit down hard on fragrant cigars and 137 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 4: played poker tonight. The pot was muy grande coins and 138 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,599 Speaker 4: paper money flooded the table, large bills printed with the 139 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:38,079 Speaker 4: face of the local bureaucrat's mistress. The cards were dealt, 140 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 4: the players showed their hands, but the game wasn't over 141 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:44,400 Speaker 4: just yet. There was one more step. Just because you 142 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 4: had the best cards didn't necessarily mean you get to 143 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:49,319 Speaker 4: walk away with all the cash. The lights in the 144 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 4: room were suddenly switched off. Someone cocked a pistol and 145 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:55,440 Speaker 4: tossed it into the air. It was thrown hard enough 146 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:57,559 Speaker 4: that it hit the ceiling and the gun went off. 147 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:00,320 Speaker 4: There was a flash of bright white out of a 148 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 4: bullet entering something or someone, and then the lights came 149 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 4: back on. At that point, either you collected what was 150 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:09,439 Speaker 4: owed to you, you antied up for the next round, 151 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 4: or you were dead. John Houston looked himself over, no blood, 152 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 4: no bullet holes. He was still alive. 153 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 3: He was lucky. 154 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:21,680 Speaker 4: That kind of luck makes a guy cocky, It massages 155 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 4: your ego, makes you feel invincible. That kind of luck 156 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 4: eventually gets tested, and after a year of Mexico, young 157 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:37,440 Speaker 4: John Houston began to push his luck. He arrived at 158 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 4: the agreed upon spot early. He leaned against the tree 159 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:43,560 Speaker 4: along the Paseo de la Reforma, a street in the 160 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:46,960 Speaker 4: heart of Mexico City. The pistol was cold. 161 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:47,240 Speaker 3: In his hand. 162 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 4: He craned his neck around the tree to look for 163 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 4: the man who was on. 164 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:52,800 Speaker 3: His way to kill him. 165 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 4: But John Houston wasn't planning on dying today. John Houston 166 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 4: had other plans. He was going to beat the at 167 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 4: his own game. He looked at the watch on his wrist. 168 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 4: Any minute now, VanderBurg would come walking up just as planned. 169 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:10,840 Speaker 4: He would approach the building where they'd agreed to meet 170 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,440 Speaker 4: for an old fashioned duel. But John would have the 171 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,320 Speaker 4: upper hand because Vanderburgh had no idea that John was 172 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:19,160 Speaker 4: waiting to ambush him, and at just the right moment, 173 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,200 Speaker 4: John would jump out from behind this tree and shoot, 174 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:25,319 Speaker 4: aim for the legs, shoot to wound, not to kill. 175 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 4: He didn't need Vanderburgh's blood on his hands. Alfonse to 176 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 4: Vanderburgh was a South African count who claimed he once 177 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 4: seduced to Mata Hari, the Dutch dancer who doubled as 178 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:38,559 Speaker 4: a spy for the Germans, over the Spanish border into France, 179 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:42,080 Speaker 4: where she was executed. John Houston suspected it was just 180 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 4: a lot of hot air Vanderburgh had hot air to spare. 181 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 4: He was especially fond of hitting on the wife of 182 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 4: one of John's American friends living in Mexico City. She 183 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 4: was afraid to mention it to her husband for fear 184 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:56,320 Speaker 4: that he would blame her for the unwanted attention. She 185 00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:00,320 Speaker 4: asked John to intervene. John pulled Vanderburgh aside him a 186 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 4: cup of shit and grow the fuck up. And that 187 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 4: pissed Vanderburgh off to no end. His pride was wounded. 188 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 4: And if John Houston thought he could get away talk 189 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 4: into account like that, like hell you would, they'd settle 190 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:15,560 Speaker 4: it like gentlemen with guns. John Houston looked at his 191 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:22,680 Speaker 4: watch again. His pulse quickened. Wait were those footsteps? Yes, footsteps, 192 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:27,760 Speaker 4: VanderBurg was approaching. John tightened his fingers around the pistol's grip. 193 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:31,080 Speaker 4: He raised it, closed one eye and stared down the 194 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 4: long barrel with the other eye to straighten his aim. 195 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:37,280 Speaker 4: The footsteps got louder. John wrapped his finger around the trigger. 196 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:39,920 Speaker 4: The footsteps round in the corner of the building. The 197 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:43,320 Speaker 4: man came into view. But it wasn't VanderBurg. It wasn't 198 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 4: even a man. It was John Houston's mother, she'd heard 199 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:50,960 Speaker 4: about the whole thing. Her son, a so called soldier 200 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 4: in the Mexican Army, fucking off for months on end, 201 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:57,960 Speaker 4: engaged in some ridiculous contest to the death. No way, 202 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:01,840 Speaker 4: not her boy, She wasn't him. She dragged his ass 203 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 4: home before Vanderberg even showed his face, and John Houston's 204 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 4: adventure was over, but his thirst for adventure could never 205 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 4: be quenched. Back in the United States and no longer 206 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:46,280 Speaker 4: an honorary member of the Mexican Army, John Houston attempted 207 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:50,600 Speaker 4: to settle into consistency and routine. He wrote articles for 208 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 4: the New York Daily Graphic, which wasn't The Times, but 209 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 4: it was a paycheck and it allowed him to tell stories, 210 00:12:57,040 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 4: which came naturally thanks to his father. 211 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:00,560 Speaker 2: He wrote a. 212 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 4: Script for a Hollywood movie, and he married his high 213 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 4: school sweetheart, Dorothy. But settling down wasn't in John Houston's 214 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:10,960 Speaker 4: blood ever since he was a child. He lived like 215 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,320 Speaker 4: a nomad, dressing rooms and hotel rooms one town to 216 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 4: the next, one separated parent to the other. Then the 217 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 4: lifestyle he cultivated during his year long stint to Mexico 218 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 4: was still coursing in his veins. He was restless. He 219 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:29,640 Speaker 4: craved adventure, real adventure. Sometimes that adventure was a couple 220 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:33,360 Speaker 4: of martinis in a drive down the Sunset Strip. Sometimes 221 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:36,640 Speaker 4: that adventure ended in a car wreck. The first time 222 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 4: he hit a parked car and spent the night in jail. 223 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:43,960 Speaker 4: The second time he hit a tree fast. His passenger, 224 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:48,360 Speaker 4: the actress Zita Johan, was thrown forward. On impact, her 225 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 4: face ate the windshield, and this accident made the papers 226 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 4: because Zita Johan was in a movie with Boris Karlov, 227 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:57,559 Speaker 4: and thus was way more famous than the guy behind 228 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:01,480 Speaker 4: the wheel, John Houston. Houston was just the drunk son 229 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 4: of a famous actor who. 230 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:03,679 Speaker 2: Made a bad choice. 231 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 4: This accident also eliminated another kind of adventure. John Houston 232 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 4: enjoyed seducing women who weren't his wife. Maybe Dorothy didn't 233 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 4: know what was going on, and maybe she simply turned 234 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 4: a blind eye. But when at last she walked in 235 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 4: on her husband with another woman, it broke her. John 236 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 4: Houston split with Dorothy hit him hard. He did love her, 237 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 4: but he also told himself he couldn't control himself when 238 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 4: it came to other women. He busied himself by drinking 239 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:33,320 Speaker 4: more and by digging into his latest gig writing a 240 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 4: screenplay for moving Mogul Daryl Zank, who had just left 241 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:41,280 Speaker 4: Warner Brothers to start his own production company, Twentieth Century Pictures. 242 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 4: But xanic didn't like John's script for a new movie 243 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 4: about P. T. 244 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:45,680 Speaker 2: Barnum. 245 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 4: In fact, Xanick hated it, so Xanik fired John Houston. 246 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 4: It was nineteen thirty three. John Houston had lost both 247 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 4: his wife and a major opportunity to write a major movie. 248 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:02,160 Speaker 4: He'd written somewhere a dozen outlines, treatments, and scripts for 249 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 4: Hollywood productions, but none of them led to a big payoff. Meanwhile, 250 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 4: his reputation as a drunken playboy was becoming fodder for 251 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 4: the papers. This wasn't Mexico. Good Luck didn't grow on 252 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:17,080 Speaker 4: palm trees. Bad Luck, on the other hand, it grew 253 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:22,880 Speaker 4: like mushrooms in the dark. Bad Luck was everywhere, especially 254 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 4: in the places you couldn't see. It, hid in the shadows, 255 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:30,040 Speaker 4: just a block or two down the road, waiting to pounce. 256 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 4: His hands were shaking. There was a commotion down the hall, 257 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:36,280 Speaker 4: near the room where they'd brought the girl. He tried 258 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:37,720 Speaker 4: to listen to see if he could tell what was 259 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 4: happening or whether she was alive or dead, But there's 260 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,680 Speaker 4: no use and there were too many sounds, too many voices. 261 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 4: And then there was one very loud voice right in 262 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 4: front of him, mister Houston. John Houston turned to face 263 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:52,600 Speaker 4: the detective sitting next to him in the hospital hallway. 264 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 4: Mister Houston, suppose you tell me about it again, the 265 00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:58,440 Speaker 4: whole thing, start from the beginning, and walk me. 266 00:15:58,360 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 2: Through it one more time. 267 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:02,520 Speaker 4: John Houston knew what the stick was trying to do. 268 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 4: He wanted to see if his story would change, But 269 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 4: this was no grift. He wasn't trying to pull anything. 270 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 4: So he did exactly what the detective asked, and he 271 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 4: told the story one more time. It was late, it 272 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 4: was dark. He was driving down Sunset. He was still 273 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 4: reeling from his split with Dorothy, still feeling sorry for 274 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,080 Speaker 4: himself for getting kicked off the Pete Barne and pictured 275 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,800 Speaker 4: by Darryl Sanek. Despite both of those things, however, he 276 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 4: was completely sober. As he continued down Sunset. John drove 277 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 4: deeper into Hollywood Proper. The traffic picked up a lot 278 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 4: of cars for a Monday night. He merged into the 279 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 4: right hand lane. He put his foot on the gas. 280 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 4: He was doing about thirty. The light at the intersection 281 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 4: at Gardener was green, and the woman came out of nowhere, 282 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 4: at least that's how it seemed. She stepped out from 283 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 4: between two part cars, obscured in the shadows. One moment 284 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:55,960 Speaker 4: she wasn't there, and the next she was caught in 285 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 4: the headlights. She was wearing blue jeans, and John panicked, 286 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,480 Speaker 4: slammed on the brakes. It all happened in a fraction. 287 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:05,199 Speaker 4: The second the front end of his car hit the 288 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 4: woman hard. Her body was thrown up onto the hood. 289 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:11,040 Speaker 4: She smacked the windshield and then flew over the car. 290 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 4: John watched her limp. 291 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 2: Body roll into the street. 292 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:16,159 Speaker 4: He put his car in park and ran into the 293 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,120 Speaker 4: road to his soundtrack with squealing tires and blaring horns. 294 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:23,920 Speaker 4: And the woman wasn't moving. The blood was everywhere. John 295 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 4: picked her up and carried her to his car. He 296 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:28,680 Speaker 4: laid her in the backseat and drove like a bat 297 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:29,360 Speaker 4: out of hell. 298 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 2: Here to the hospital. 299 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 4: The detective scribbled in a notepad as John Houston wrapped 300 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 4: up his story for the second time. It was the 301 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,680 Speaker 4: same exact story he told the first time. John knew 302 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,080 Speaker 4: he wasn't to blame that He wasn't at Faull, He 303 00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 4: wasn't drunk. He was going the speed limit and the 304 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:46,920 Speaker 4: light was green, and she came out of nowhere. But 305 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,960 Speaker 4: still he was driving that car. He did hit that woman, 306 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:54,919 Speaker 4: and now she was in the hospital, still unconscious, fighting 307 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 4: for her life. John Houston prayed that she would pull through. 308 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:00,360 Speaker 4: He waited for his father to show up and drive 309 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:04,400 Speaker 4: him home, drive him anywhere. But here minutes became hours, 310 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 4: and the hands of the clock in the wall moved slow. 311 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 4: A doctor emerged from the room down the hall. He 312 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,679 Speaker 4: delivered the news she couldn't be saved. Her injuries were 313 00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:19,080 Speaker 4: too severe. The woman was dead. The next morning, September 314 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:22,200 Speaker 4: twenty sixth, nineteen thirty three, the story hit the papers. 315 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:25,080 Speaker 4: John Houston an industry want to be hot on the 316 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:28,359 Speaker 4: heels of two drunken car accidents hit and killed Tosca Rullian. 317 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 4: Tosca was a dancer and the wife of actor Raoul Roulian, 318 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:36,720 Speaker 4: known in Hollywood as the Brazilian Valentino. John maintained his innocence. 319 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 4: A grand jury agreed. He was quickly exonerated. When Walter 320 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:43,359 Speaker 4: Houston worked as Hollywood connections to keep things on the 321 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:45,960 Speaker 4: down low. He appealed to Louis B. Mayor to make 322 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 4: sure the gossip calmnists were mum. He pleaded with Marion 323 00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:52,359 Speaker 4: Davies to convince William randolph Hurst, her not so secret 324 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:55,159 Speaker 4: lover and the most powerful media mogu in the world, 325 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,639 Speaker 4: to keep further stories out of the papers. Supposedly, the 326 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:01,200 Speaker 4: studio spent upwards of four four hundred grand to squash 327 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:05,920 Speaker 4: the story. But as William randolph Hurst himself once said, 328 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:10,040 Speaker 4: news is what people don't want you to print, Walter 329 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:13,520 Speaker 4: Houston's personal and private appeals to the scandal Baron's better 330 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:16,960 Speaker 4: nature may have had the opposite effect. Shortly after John 331 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,879 Speaker 4: Houston was exonerated, Herst's Examiner ran a story with the 332 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 4: headline why should auto murderers go free? In the article, 333 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 4: John was labeled as quote a menace to society unquote. 334 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:33,680 Speaker 4: To make matters worse, Raoul Ullian, widower of the woman 335 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:36,680 Speaker 4: who died in the accident, sued John for a quarter 336 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:40,200 Speaker 4: of a million dollars. John Houston needed to cool off. 337 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:41,880 Speaker 2: Hollywood was going. 338 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:42,640 Speaker 3: To smother him. 339 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:43,439 Speaker 2: He could feel it. 340 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 4: His divorce, his middling career, and now this was all 341 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,560 Speaker 4: too much. This was no adventure. This was a misadventure. 342 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:55,640 Speaker 4: This shit had consequences. He had to get away, go 343 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:59,359 Speaker 4: somewhere where he wasn't a known quantity, somewhere he could 344 00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:02,040 Speaker 4: start over again, just like he'd done in the past. 345 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,200 Speaker 4: And soon he got such an opportunity. But unlike the 346 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:08,879 Speaker 4: last time, it didn't come with five hundred dollars in 347 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 4: a one way ticket to Mexico. This time, John Houston 348 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 4: received a lifeline from the last person ever expected to 349 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:23,760 Speaker 4: hear from. 350 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 3: We'll be right back after this. 351 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:27,080 Speaker 2: We're we're where. 352 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:37,640 Speaker 4: John Houston's ex wife, Dorothy, was living in London when 353 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:38,920 Speaker 4: she heard about the accident. 354 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:40,720 Speaker 2: Back in Hollywood, she. 355 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:43,360 Speaker 4: Still had love for John, just like he did for her, 356 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:46,080 Speaker 4: even though the dissolution of their marriage led her to 357 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:48,200 Speaker 4: an increasingly dysfunctional. 358 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:48,840 Speaker 2: Relationship with the bottle. 359 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 4: She knew all about living under that microscope in la 360 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 4: how they only really focused on you when you were. 361 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 2: At your lowest. 362 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:58,640 Speaker 4: She knew about the need to get out when that 363 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,960 Speaker 4: microscope's lends pushed down on you. And she knew it 364 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 4: was John's turn to get out, and she knew she 365 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 4: could help. She went to Gomont British, a London film 366 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 4: production company, whose owner was friends with Walter and begged 367 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 4: them to give John Houston a job. Unlike Walter's plead 368 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:18,920 Speaker 4: to hears, this one actually paid off. Gaumont British offered 369 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:21,639 Speaker 4: John Houston a three month contract to write scripts for 370 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:24,919 Speaker 4: their movies. It paid three hundred dollars a week, more 371 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 4: than enough to rent the place in Chelsea and even 372 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:30,679 Speaker 4: start making payments on an MG sports car. Most importantly, 373 00:21:31,119 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 4: it took him far away from the bad scene that 374 00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:37,520 Speaker 4: was curdling back home. All things considered, it looked like 375 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 4: John Houston had been dealt a pretty good hand for 376 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 4: the first time in a long time. He was feeling 377 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:44,880 Speaker 4: so lucky that he bought a ticket in the Irish lottery, 378 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:47,679 Speaker 4: and but the handsome salary he was making was at 379 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:50,240 Speaker 4: least three times more than the British writers were getting paid. 380 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,639 Speaker 4: His co workers hated him for it. Same for the 381 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:57,160 Speaker 4: producers at the company, who didn't like John's cavalier American 382 00:21:57,240 --> 00:21:59,879 Speaker 4: style or his ideas even one than an up and 383 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:02,480 Speaker 4: the British director named Alfred Hitchcock thought. 384 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:05,160 Speaker 2: Was pretty good. But Alfred Hitchcock. 385 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:07,760 Speaker 4: Didn't write Johnny Houston's checks, and he didn't look at 386 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:10,960 Speaker 4: gift horse in the mouth. If John Houston wanted to 387 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,640 Speaker 4: keep making three hundred dollars a week, he needed. 388 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:15,240 Speaker 2: To shut up and do what he was told. 389 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:19,360 Speaker 4: The problem was, shutting up really wasn't John Houston's thing, 390 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:22,720 Speaker 4: especially when someone else told him to do it. His 391 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:26,360 Speaker 4: response to his employer's warning was to put them on alert. 392 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,000 Speaker 4: Gaalmon British needed to start taking him more seriously, or 393 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:30,880 Speaker 4: else he'd just quit. 394 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:32,520 Speaker 2: It was a bold move. 395 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:36,639 Speaker 4: He was brave or stupid John wasn't quite sure. He 396 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:39,920 Speaker 4: soon found out there was a knock at the door 397 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 4: of the house he was renting. He was the postman. 398 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:46,160 Speaker 4: He handed John a registered letter. It was from Gaumon, British. 399 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:50,000 Speaker 4: He was fired immediately. He barely had much time to 400 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:52,159 Speaker 4: let the gravity of the situation sink in before he 401 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:54,679 Speaker 4: heard another knock at his front door. This time it 402 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:57,720 Speaker 4: was a telegram the Irish lottery the when he entered 403 00:22:57,760 --> 00:22:58,600 Speaker 4: weeks back. 404 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,520 Speaker 2: He won one hundred pounds. He needed the. 405 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:03,840 Speaker 4: Money, considering that he was out of a job and 406 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:07,280 Speaker 4: stuck in a foreign country. But Dorothy needed it more. 407 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:10,200 Speaker 4: She was a helpless drunk. She was in and out 408 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,439 Speaker 4: of the hospital, passing out with lit cigarettes burning holes 409 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:17,440 Speaker 4: through her clothes, and she could barely function. John wanted 410 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:19,000 Speaker 4: to help her like she had helped him in his 411 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 4: time of need, and the only way he could do 412 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:23,119 Speaker 4: that was to use his winnings to buy her a 413 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:25,400 Speaker 4: one way ticket back to la where her family could 414 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 4: take care of her. So John Houston put Dorothy on 415 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 4: a boat and watched as it sailed into the distance. 416 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 4: And once the boat disappeared into the horizon, he was 417 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:38,480 Speaker 4: officially left with no one. He had nothing, literally, not 418 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:41,240 Speaker 4: even a penny to his name. He lost his house, 419 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 4: he lost his car. He walked the streets of London 420 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:48,119 Speaker 4: in a daze. He wandered down the embankment and looked out. 421 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:48,959 Speaker 2: Over the River Thames. 422 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,920 Speaker 4: The sun was going down, the shadows were coming out, 423 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:55,679 Speaker 4: And this was the stuff dreams were made of. Not 424 00:23:55,840 --> 00:24:01,240 Speaker 4: good dreams, horrible, awful dreams, dreams where you see yourself 425 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:03,960 Speaker 4: living the rest of your life hand to mouth, dead, 426 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:07,520 Speaker 4: broke and far from home, riddled with shame and guilt. 427 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 4: You're a pariah, a menace to society. Your eyes are bloodshot, 428 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,200 Speaker 4: your skin's gone pale, and no one wants you. Hollywood 429 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 4: will never forgive you for what you did to that 430 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 4: girl with your car. Her husband won't either. Sure, the 431 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:23,400 Speaker 4: guy settled for less, for a measly five grand out 432 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:25,480 Speaker 4: of the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars lawsuit. But 433 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:28,399 Speaker 4: you don't have that kind of money. You can't settle 434 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:31,840 Speaker 4: your debts. You can't outrun them either. Debt collectors are 435 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:34,520 Speaker 4: good at their job, unlike you, and they'll find you 436 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,360 Speaker 4: no matter where you go, all the way across the Atlantic, 437 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 4: they'll track you down, and London will give you up 438 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:43,200 Speaker 4: the first chance it can. London can't forget you fast enough. 439 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:46,359 Speaker 4: You think you're a writer, an artist. You think you 440 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,520 Speaker 4: have one original thought in your brain. You've got nothing, 441 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:52,720 Speaker 4: nothing but hubris and pride. And your hubris failed you 442 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:54,800 Speaker 4: long ago, and your pride is keeping you tethered here 443 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:56,920 Speaker 4: at the bottom. Your pride won't let you take the 444 00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:59,359 Speaker 4: easy way out of this latest next fuck up. You 445 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:02,679 Speaker 4: are finished long before you even got a chance to start. 446 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 4: You're a failure. John Houston woke up in a cold sweat. 447 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:09,480 Speaker 2: He looked out. 448 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:12,000 Speaker 4: Over the Thames and he squinted his eyes, and the 449 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,320 Speaker 4: sun was rising. His back was killing him. The bench 450 00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:18,200 Speaker 4: he'd slept on the last night didn't know favors. He 451 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:22,760 Speaker 4: was exhausted, hungry, starving, and he smelled like shit. And 452 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,600 Speaker 4: the worst part, though even worse than the humiliation of 453 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 4: living as a hobo in the embankment, was a realization 454 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:30,480 Speaker 4: that if he wanted all of it to end right now, 455 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:32,639 Speaker 4: if he wanted to go back to the way things were, 456 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:35,200 Speaker 4: if he wanted to be safely at home in Los Angeles, 457 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:37,200 Speaker 4: all he had to do was pick up a phone 458 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:42,239 Speaker 4: and call his father. That was fucking humiliating. Couldn't bring 459 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:44,879 Speaker 4: himself to do it. He wasn't about to go begging 460 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,520 Speaker 4: to Walter, which didn't mean he wasn't going to beg 461 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,560 Speaker 4: Soon the Embankment would come alive with people Hyde Park too, 462 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:54,719 Speaker 4: and when it did, John Houston would pull out one 463 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:56,639 Speaker 4: of the few things he still had on his person, 464 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:02,360 Speaker 4: a harmonica, and accompany Eddie while he's saying songs. Eddie 465 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,920 Speaker 4: Kahn was a Hollywood director who, just like John Houston, 466 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,040 Speaker 4: moved to London to make a movie, only to have 467 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:10,200 Speaker 4: the production company go tits up when he arrived. John 468 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:12,640 Speaker 4: and Eddie gravitated to each other and the way only 469 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:15,720 Speaker 4: the most desperate lost souls can. They got on like 470 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,280 Speaker 4: a house of fire that helped the John had once 471 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,439 Speaker 4: written dialogue for one of Eddie's movies. They played their 472 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,160 Speaker 4: songs like a couple of real cowpokes around a campfire. 473 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:28,119 Speaker 4: The Brits walking by that American shit up. Some of 474 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:30,479 Speaker 4: them even took pity on the duo. At the end 475 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:33,199 Speaker 4: of each day, John and Eddie pocketed enough change to 476 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 4: buy a few heart boiled eggs. 477 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:36,479 Speaker 2: Yeah, they were lucky. 478 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 4: That's what they were working on, manifesting their own good luck. 479 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:42,840 Speaker 4: That's why John Houston didn't pick up the phone and 480 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:45,600 Speaker 4: call his father. He wanted to earn this next lucky 481 00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:48,879 Speaker 4: streak on his own. First, he earned the coins and 482 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:51,199 Speaker 4: they piled up inside the hat on the ground at 483 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:53,119 Speaker 4: his feet. And then he ear in the trust of 484 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:56,600 Speaker 4: a mutual friend, a screenwriter who occasionally fed John and 485 00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:59,159 Speaker 4: Eddie and let them use the shower. And through that 486 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:02,359 Speaker 4: mutual friend, John heard about the opportunity to pitch a 487 00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:04,480 Speaker 4: treatment for a new British film set in the world 488 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:08,320 Speaker 4: of race cars. The studio needed to write in a director, 489 00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:10,359 Speaker 4: a couple of guys he could work fast and cheap. 490 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:14,240 Speaker 4: In this movie was what they called Quota Quickie, low cost, 491 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:17,040 Speaker 4: low quality picture that was made simply to compete with 492 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 4: the flood of American films in the domestic market. The 493 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:23,080 Speaker 4: recommendation by their mutual friend got John and Eddie the gig, 494 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,000 Speaker 4: But it wasn't just a gig. It was a way out, 495 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:29,480 Speaker 4: and it came with an advance of five hundred pounds. 496 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:33,480 Speaker 4: The racing movie Death Drives Through has a run time 497 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,240 Speaker 4: of barely an hour and is largely forgotten to history. 498 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:38,879 Speaker 4: But it's a thing that got John Houston back in 499 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:41,560 Speaker 4: the proverbial driver's seat after a year and a half 500 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:45,120 Speaker 4: of self imposed exile and destitution, and back to his. 501 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:46,000 Speaker 2: Home in the States. 502 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:50,520 Speaker 4: John Houston literally wrote himself out of the lowest moment 503 00:27:50,720 --> 00:28:12,919 Speaker 4: in his life. California, nineteen seventy three. The sound of 504 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,240 Speaker 4: hoofs galloping through a row of fragrant orange trees grew louder, 505 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 4: and the film crew watched from afar. A white horse 506 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:23,199 Speaker 4: appeared in the distance, and the rider was tall. He 507 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:25,920 Speaker 4: wore a white hat with a wide brim. He got 508 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,520 Speaker 4: closer and closer to set. As he did, the crew 509 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:31,520 Speaker 4: could hear him laughing and greeting the orchard workers in Spanish. 510 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 4: Everyone on set stopped what they were doing and stared. 511 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:40,120 Speaker 4: Roman Polanski stopped shouting directions. Jack Nicholson stood there with 512 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:43,239 Speaker 4: his nose taped up in his mouth hanging open. Just 513 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:47,200 Speaker 4: like everyone else. Jack was in awe, a titan was 514 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:52,280 Speaker 4: approaching a god on horseback. John Houston was certainly both 515 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:54,880 Speaker 4: of those things, to Jack and to Roman into every 516 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:58,280 Speaker 4: last grip and lowly production assistant standing in that Orange grove. 517 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 4: But John Houston was no actor. His father was the actor. 518 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,680 Speaker 4: John was the director, a director who accomplished what few 519 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 4: others had recovered from bottoming out in London in his 520 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:13,760 Speaker 4: twenties and clawed his way to the top of American 521 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:17,560 Speaker 4: cinemas pecking order, all while giving a defiant middle finger 522 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:20,920 Speaker 4: to Hollywood, and in the process he worked with the 523 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:25,720 Speaker 4: industry's biggest names, from Bogart to Brando Newman mc connery, 524 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:30,680 Speaker 4: Maryland to Liz and even Ava Gardner. Despite all of that, 525 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 4: John Houston once again needed money. He needed money because, 526 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:37,560 Speaker 4: at sixty seven, he still enjoyed the thrill the king 527 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:41,280 Speaker 4: was pressing his luck. In recent years, he racked up 528 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 4: gambling debts that were as imposing as his frame and personality. 529 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:48,720 Speaker 4: He knew more debts were coming too. An impending split 530 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,080 Speaker 4: from his fifth wife put the herd on his wallet, 531 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,120 Speaker 4: so he took a role in Polanski's Chinatown as Noah Cross, 532 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:58,360 Speaker 4: one of the cinema's great villains, hiding in plain sight 533 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,960 Speaker 4: for a paycheck. But Chinatown was different from the other 534 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:05,719 Speaker 4: random movies he acted in. For one, it was clearly 535 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:09,560 Speaker 4: indebted to the film noirs of Hollywood's past, specifically to 536 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 4: the Maltese Falcon John Houston's own nineteen forty one directorial debut. 537 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:18,040 Speaker 4: It also gave him the chance to act alongside Jack Nicholson, 538 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 4: which many could fuck with the guy who was fucking 539 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:23,360 Speaker 4: his daughter do it with Angelica hanging out on set. 540 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:26,800 Speaker 4: John got a perverse kick out of making Jack squirm 541 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:29,200 Speaker 4: when the cameras rolled and he said, with that devil 542 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:32,160 Speaker 4: may care twinkle in his eye, are you sleeping with 543 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 4: my daughter? John had different feelings when it came to 544 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:38,840 Speaker 4: being in the presence of Roman Polanski. It was just 545 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:41,400 Speaker 4: a few years since Roman's wife, Sharon Tate and their 546 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 4: unborn child were brutally murdered by members of Charles Manson's cult, 547 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:47,800 Speaker 4: and was all you thought about when he saw Roman 548 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:50,520 Speaker 4: in the early seventies. It was the elephant that never 549 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:54,280 Speaker 4: left the room. Seeing Roman always got John thinking about 550 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 4: that awful massacre on Siello Drive. And every time John 551 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 4: thought about Siello Drive and Manson, he thought about Eloise Heart, 552 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:04,000 Speaker 4: one of his many on again. 553 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:05,240 Speaker 3: Off again lovers. 554 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:08,400 Speaker 4: Near the end of December nineteen sixty eight, when her 555 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:11,960 Speaker 4: daughter was home from college on Christmas break, Eloise Heart 556 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:14,280 Speaker 4: was awoken by the sound of a car idling outside 557 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:15,120 Speaker 4: her bedroom. 558 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:16,640 Speaker 2: The muffler rumbled low. 559 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:19,120 Speaker 4: She looked out the window and saw a black car 560 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,000 Speaker 4: in her driveway, park next to her daughter's car. A 561 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:25,800 Speaker 4: man shouted, let's go. Eloise saw him emerge from the 562 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:29,280 Speaker 4: darkness and jump into the isoline car. She heard the 563 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,440 Speaker 4: car's engine come to life. The black car appealed out 564 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:34,880 Speaker 4: of the driveway and the tail lights faded into the distance. 565 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:38,520 Speaker 4: Eloise's daughter was nowhere to be found at home. She 566 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 4: was in that car, and she'd been kidnapped. A few 567 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,600 Speaker 4: days later, her daughter's mutilated body was found about thirty 568 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,360 Speaker 4: feet off the side of the Mahon Drive down a ravine. 569 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:52,320 Speaker 4: Two black eyes, throat slit, stab wounds in her chest 570 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:55,840 Speaker 4: and neck, and the killer was never found. But there 571 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 4: were so many knife wounds so many deep knife wounds 572 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:02,360 Speaker 4: on her body, all helter skelter that. Almost a year later, 573 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:04,880 Speaker 4: when Charles Manson was arrested for his role in the 574 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:09,280 Speaker 4: Tate La Bianca murders, investigators couldn't help but draw similarities. 575 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:12,600 Speaker 4: It was never proven that the Manson family had anything 576 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:15,239 Speaker 4: to do with the death of Eloise Heart's daughter, but 577 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:17,560 Speaker 4: still he couldn't help but think of one when he 578 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:20,760 Speaker 4: thought of the other. It was a shitty hand, the 579 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:24,480 Speaker 4: worst fucking luck. Elouise Heart had to live with those 580 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:29,160 Speaker 4: cards Roman too. They put it all in perspective, But 581 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,480 Speaker 4: there are such things as different levels of bad luck. 582 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:38,120 Speaker 4: John Houston meanwhile, worked on manifesting his good luck, like 583 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:40,800 Speaker 4: taking acting jobs he wouldn't normally take in order to 584 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 4: keep himself in the black, and returning to that secluded 585 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:47,840 Speaker 4: slice of paradise along the Mexican coast in order to 586 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:51,760 Speaker 4: stay out of trouble. All along the jungle on one 587 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:55,320 Speaker 4: side and the ocean on the other. John Houston wasn't 588 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:58,960 Speaker 4: a failure or a success. He was just a man 589 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:02,520 Speaker 4: with a story to tell, a story that ought. 590 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:03,800 Speaker 2: To be in pictures. 591 00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:09,240 Speaker 4: I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Hollywood. 592 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:24,680 Speaker 5: Land, Hollywood Land was created by Years Truly and is 593 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:28,680 Speaker 5: produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Follow like, rate, and 594 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:31,240 Speaker 5: review hollywood Land wherever you get your podcasts, and get 595 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:32,600 Speaker 5: in touch with us on social. 596 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:33,920 Speaker 4: Media at double Elvis. 597 00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:36,440 Speaker 5: If you like hollywood Land, check out my other show, 598 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:39,240 Speaker 5: the award winning Disgraceland, which looks at the world of 599 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:41,400 Speaker 5: music through the lens of true crime. Just search for 600 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:43,800 Speaker 5: Disgraceland or wherever you get your podcasts. 601 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:50,920 Speaker 3: Good God, a Lot