I'm wondering how Minnelli got the little girl who played Jennifer Jones' daughter to cry so vehemently whenever her mother held her. She was too young to be directed to do that, and the crying was too real to be an act anyway...
shareThe book, "Portrait Of Jennifer", explains how Jones got the baby to pretty much hate the sight of her. Jennifer was one moment very sweet and motherly to the baby, playing along with her when the child played with her favorite toy. Then all of a sudden, Jennifer would snatch the toy from the baby and walk away with it. Later, she would give the toy back, and be all sweetness and light--then she would snatch the toy and walk away with it again! Very soon, the baby saw Jennifer as the mean lady who took her toys away. I watched Madame Bovary again recently, and I had to laugh a little at their scenes together, especially when Jennifer would walk up behind the child and said "Hi, Berthe!"--just seeing Jennifer's face was all it took to get the poor little thing to start screaming, lol.
Yeah, they're dead; they're--all messed up!
Thanks (and yikes!)...can't agree with the process, but it definitely worked.
shareDid you also notice in the final scene where she cries that the poor child can actually be understood saying things that are incongruous to the story? As she is crying she is saying something like "No. I want to go to the dressing room with Aunt...(somebody)" Poor thing. They terrorized her.
shareohhhhhh i wondered how they did that!
share