Spencer Tracy_ A Biography - James C. Curtis [504]
Schlosser was one hour late to the meeting up at Spencer’s house. And they were fuming. I was embarrassed. So the doorbell finally rang, and Kate goes to the door and opens it and says, “Are you Mr. Schlosser?” He says, “Yes.” She said, “You’re very rude.” He said, “Well, I apologize.” That’s the way the meeting started. So, at the end of the meeting, Schlosser left, and he and I walked out to the street. He said, “Well, he looks fine.” So, I went back in and Spence was showing all this interest. I went back to my office, and then I got a phone call from Abe Lastfogel. He said, “Bill, what the hell are you doing? I’ve known you twenty years. You know you shouldn’t talk to Spence about money.” I said, “I know that. He doesn’t know it.” And I went through the whole thing about what happened. He said, “Well, look. We’re not going to work for that kind of money. If Spence does a television series, and he likes your idea, he’s going to have to have ownership, he’s going to have to have residuals, he’s going to have to have some controls, et cetera and so forth.” I said, “Fine. If he really goes forward, we’ll sit down and talk about all of those things. At the moment, I’m not sure he’s really going to do it.”
Once Tracy committed to the new picture, which quickly picked up the title Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Stanley Kramer got into the habit of stopping by St. Ives whenever there was news to report. “The anticipation of going to work again was one of the things which bolstered him up a great deal,” Kramer said, “and one of the reasons why I was anxious that he be kept apprised of as much as I knew at the time, because we did not have a script per se.” At first, Kramer left the exact plot of the film murky, positioning it to Columbia management as a “social comedy” while cobbling together all the elements of the package, principal among them assurances that the film would go forward should ill health force Tracy to drop out.
On September 21, Kramer outlined the specifics of the deal in a memo to Columbia’s Gordon Stulberg: Tracy would receive $200,000—$50,000 at the end of photography, $75,000 one year later, and the balance a year after that. Also $150,000 deferred from profits. Hepburn would get $150,000 and a small percentage of Kramer’s own share of the profits.
Hepburn will be in the third position behind Tracy and Poitier, but I have agreed to talk to Poitier about letting her split the two men just for balance … No compensation shall accrue either to Spencer or to Katie until they have either completed rendition of their services in the picture … Katie will be covered by cast insurance and will have to take a cast physical. Spencer will not be covered by any insurance. It is understood that if Spencer is unable to finish the rendition of his services because of his physical condition or his failure or refusal to perform, neither he nor Katie will be entitled to any compensation unless the picture is released containing the results and proceeds of his services. In other words, if he should finish 75% of his services and then is unable to continue for health reasons, they would not be entitled to any compensation unless the picture is not re-shot and they appear in the roles for which they are employed in the picture and it is released … Katie would have the option to play the female role if Spencer’s part were recast and re-shot.
Four days later, Kramer announced the project by way of a press conference held in the studio dining room. Tracy, looking dapper in a blue blazer and gray slacks, was in the best of moods, relaxed and agreeable. How did he feel about going back to work? “I feel great about