Ep 56: Mary Astor in Dodsworth (1936)

Mary Astor plays an American living alone in Italy. She embodies the fantasy Bette Davis had in Now, Voyager to 'live alone in single blessedness'. A chance encounter with an American businessman (Walter Huston) leads to a surprise romance. The hardship her character endured onscreen paled in comparison with the real drama in Mary Astor's life. After filming all day, she spent the evenings in a courtroom locked in a vicious custody battle. Astor's ex-husband attempted to sway the ruling in his favour by feeding excerpts from Mary's diary to the press. You can imagine the media frenzy at the news that Mary kept a scorecard which ranked the sexual performance of Hollywood's top leading men. The episode closes with a brief passage from Astor's memoir.