Bacall in Beverly Hills

This 1957 publicity shot shows actress Lauren Bacall, just about to take a dip in the Beverly Hills Hotel swimming pool. From the accompanying publicity blurb:

POOLSIDE GLAMOUR…Lauren Bacall bows as a bathing beauty wearing a swim suit for the first time on the screen in MGM’s “Designing Woman” and co-star Gregory Peck gives his whole-hearted approval. He’s the sportswriter in the romantic comedy and she’s the New York fashion ace. Dolores Gray is the girl who throws a few curves into their romance. Vincente Minnelli directs with Studio Head Dore Schary as producer. Screenwriter George Wells is Schary’s associate on the film.



Apparently the story takes place in Beverly Hills with Peck’s character (Mike) there to cover a golf tournament. He meets Marilla Brown Hagen (Bacall) poolside after a bender the night before and mistakes her for a hooker. Bacall a hooker?!? Grace Kelly was the original choice for the film, but Bacall gunned hard for it. As she recalled later:

“I fought for that part; I wanted it badly. I took a lower salary, I did everything. Grace Kelly said, ‘I’ll never forgive you for playing that part. It was written for me.’ She got the prince, I got the part.”

The American Film Institute website tells a slightly different story:

July and August 1955 Hollywood Reporter news items state that Grace Kelly and James Stewart were originally considered for the film, but, according to modern sources, when Kelly refused the part due to her recent marriage, Stewart also declined the production. A March 13, 1956 Hollywood Reporter news item states that Cyd Charisse was then slated to star in the film, but was replaced by Bacall. According to a July 30, 1956 Hollywood Reporter news item, Peck completed the deal to star in the film with Bacall in return for the loan of M-G-M star Ava Gardner to appear in his own independent production “Thieves' Market”; however, that film was never made.

Another vintage angle of the Beverly Hills Hotel pool:



…and a more recent shot from December 2001, including yours truly, lost among the pool chairs.



An exterior view of the hotel from 2018:



See more Beverly Hills Hotel photos at my main website.