I'd Hate Myself in the Morning: A Memoir

by Ring Lardner Jr.

Ring Lardner, Jr.’s memoir is a pilgrimage through the American century. The son of an immensely popular and influential writer, Lardner grew up swaddled in material and cultural privilege. After a memorable visit to Moscow in 1934, he worked as a reporter in New York before leaving for Hollywood where he served a bizarre apprenticeship with David O. Selznick, and won, at the age of 28, an Academy Award for Woman of the Year, the first on-screen pairing of Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. In “irresistibly readable” pages (New Yorker), peopled by a cast including Carole Lombard, Louis B. Mayer, Dalton Trumbo, Marlene Dietrich, Otto Preminger, Darryl F. Zanuck, Bertolt Brecht, Bert Lahr, Robert Altman, and Muhammad Ali, Lardner recalls the strange existence of a contract screenwriter in the vanished age of the studio system—an existence made stranger by membership in the Hollywood branch of the American Communist Party. Lardner retraces the path that led him to a memorable confrontation with the House Un-American Activities Committee and thence to Federal prison and life on the Hollywood blacklist. One of the lucky few who were able to resume their careers, Lardner won his second Oscar for the screenplay to M.A.S.H. in 1970.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Politics, History, Memoir

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Ringgold Wilmer "Ring" Lardner, Jr. (August 19, 1915 – October 31, 2000) was a screenwriter who was blacklisted after the Second World War as one of the Hollywood Ten, screenwriters who were incarcerated for contempt of Congress after refusing to answer questions posed by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).

He won two Academy Awards for his screenplays—one before his imprisonment and blacklisting (for Woman of the Year in 1942), and one after (for M*A*S*H in 1970).[7] His book, The Lardners, My Family Remembered (ISBN 0-06-012517-9), is a source of information on his father.

Son of author Ring Lardner

Reviews

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written on his deathbed, Lardner looks back on a career largely as a Hollywood screenwriter involved in, including the M*A*S*H film. Largely this book reflects on the questioning that led to the title when Lardner appeared to the HUAC as one of the Hollywood Ten. He is open about the early appeal of socialism and even communism in the 30s. He has a brother James that fought and died in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade fighting fascism in Spain. Indeed, as with other memoirs, I see in the 20s through 30s much socialist though and activity in American was of the anti-fascist kind. While eventually disillusioned with communism through the realities of Stalinism, Lardner suffered personally from fascistic American government and commercial policies making for a cruel irony. Indeed, looking back as the "sole survivor" of The Ten, the confirmed atheist senses a resurgence in America through fundamentalist activism:

When I was young, I believed in the ability of people to organize themselves in their own interests but also in what seemed to me to be the larger interest of humanity. I thought we had at least the possibility of putting our fears and our superstitions behind us in the interests of creating a better world. When people ask me if I think we could ever end up with a new version of a Red scare-a nation wide purge of dissidents and a blacklist-my answer is usually no, not at least in exactly the same way. But perhaps nothing has surprised me more than the return of the irrational to our political and social life in the form of fundamentalist religious fervor.

[Chris Schaffer · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's some interesting stuff of course about growing up with a famous father and being a famous producer and being blacklisted. But it was dull, a lot of old time Hollywood names dropped, random facts, oddball musings. I imagine there are good books about the Hollywood Blacklisting that might be better reads. It's the kind of book that would've been better as a PBS special you start watching by chance on a Wednesday night.

[Kevin A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat uneven — in many ways the last thoughts of dying man. (He did, in fact, die before publication.) Lardner offers a mix of autobiography, politics, and justification for his past admittedly Stalinist worldview. (The rationalizations extend to his alcoholism.) His stories about the movie business, in both the old days and during the black list are the most interesting chapters.

[Tim Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important book to understand the Lardner family legacy -- it is critically flawed overall since it lacked an editor or ghostwriter to round off the embittered parts of this memoir. The chapters have not been given an apt conclusion; a customary table of contents nor an index were apparently not funded by "NATION Books" (the publishing arm of the left-progressive Magazine - internet platform). Some parts of this book excel though and the quite interesting selection of photography included between pages 118 - 119 are scrapbook-like : especially the memoir's shifting vantage points on his major accomplishments -- screenplays in the 1940s, work on the adaptation of a Korean war novel by pen name "Richard Hooker" which he submitted to visionary director Robert Altman that resulted in M*A*S*H (1970) feature film as well as his 1977 screenplay adapting Muhammad Ali's memoir/autobiography "The Greatest" into a feature film very much akin to the 1976 "Rocky" (Best Picture award winner). Lardner, Jr. won 2 Academy Awards for screenwriting (1943 - "Woman of the Year) and well as "M*A*S*H") He came out a survivor after handling the career murdering attacks of the HUAC in the early 1950s. He was jailed for 12 months due to a conviction for "Contempt of Congress" by not answering whether he was a member of the Communist Party. The son of Ring Lardner (famed Sportswriter - news columnist) deserved better than this 198-page memoir and you can find a different take on Ring Lardner, Jr. in the book about the "Hollywood Ten" titled _TENDER COMRADES_ (1997) by Patrick McGilligan. I give Lardner's unvarnished account a 3* out of 5.

[Fred Kohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because of my interest in the Hollywood blacklist, and from that standpoint it was rather disappointing. OTOH what I came to understand as the book went on that the author wasn't a Communist who happened to write screenplays, but rather a screenplay writier who happened to be a Communist. I think if my interest in old movies were a bit more than what it is, I could have given this five stars.

[Gabrielle Chiararo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating snapshot of a life and the choices made through historic moments.

[A David · Rating 5 out of 5]

RLJ's experiences are a wealth of narrative intrigue and social relevancy that, for better and worse, have become no less potent in the decades since.

[JerryDeanHalleck · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to to like this so much. Yeah, Lardner was a commie., but he lead an interesting life, was a good screenwriter, and must have some good stories about Hollywood and CPUSA.

Just for Background - the Lardner family was incredilbly talented and incredibly stupid. Well, and unlucky. Ring Snr (You know me AL) was very good writer and seemingly good guy who had 4 sons. Ring was a liberal, but no radical and died at age 48, in 1933.

His youngest son, a commie went off and died in the Spainish Civil war. If you read Bessie's notebooks its seems his "Comrade General" sent the kid off on suicide mission. The next youngest Lardner son, died on the Western Front in November 1944. The oldest son also died at age 48 of a heart attack. He was a writer for the New Yorker.

So, at age 45, in 1960, Ring Jnr had seen his father and his 3 brothers all die. And himself blacklisted. And you would expect Ring Jnr. would give us some discussion of that. Some introspection. Some "old man looking back on his life" and giving us some deep thoughts.

But we don't. Nor, in this thin, point A to Point B, memoir do we get any soul searching ro even honesty about his membership in the CPUSA. I wasn't looking for repentance, I was just looking for honesty - and details. why did Ring join? What did he do as a commie? Who did he know? How did Communism affect his work and career? Is he still a commie, if not why?

We get no answers or details. Just the standard "Gosh darn it, I hated the Nazis, and every American can belong to any party he pleases, and Cf: 1st Admendment. And the people who blacklisted me were completely evil."

As for his story its the standard blacklisted commie writer story. Couldn't work for 15 years in Hollywood. But sold scripts under fake names. Had to move into a smaller mansion and make do with 2 servants instead of 4. Then in the mid to late 60s was able to work again in Hollywood using their real names, and got plenty of jobs and money.

LIke Trumbo, Lardner was a talent. But a minor one. Not sure what the world gained or lost by his being blacklisted.

[Robert Dahlen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been a good book, but too much time spent whining about being prosecuted for being a member of the Communist Party.
Really interesting when he discussed his past, what he was doing (politics aside) and his contemporaries.
I had to skip too many pages of his rants and complaints about his political problems

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yawn. Read Scoundrel Time instead.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

More fab tales from Hollywood's golden era!