Friday, October 11, 2024

Buried Treasures: Vera

 

Hello and welcome to the inaugural edition of Buried Treasures a series where we semi-regularly highlight unique or interesting items from our Special Collections. Today, we’re looking at the Charles Wallace Collection, and the script for the transgender romance movie of the 1980s that never was: Vera.

Vera logo. Vera publicity packet, 1980, Box: 7. Charles Wallace Collection,
UR16. Armacost Library Special Collections.

The Charles Wallace collection contains film and television scripts and associated production materials from the 1940s through the 1980s. Charles Wallace, a screenwriter best known for The Girl Who Knew Too Much starring Adam West and Nancy Kwan and Tiger by the Tail starring Christopher George and Tippi Hedren, gifted materials relating to his work in film and television. Additional donations came from former University of Redlands professor Bruce McAllister. The script for Vera likely came from this, more recent, addition to the collection.

Vera is a romantic drama about Dennis, a lingerie designer, and Vera, a transgender cabaret performer. After meeting under false pretenses (Dennis’s friends take him to see Vera’s show, not disclosing that she is transgender), Dennis and Vera grow to care deeply about each other, despite some initial shock when Vera discloses her identity. Their relationship is not without complications, however. As Dennis spends more time with Vera, his relationship with his fiancée, Cynthia, becomes strained. While spying on Dennis, she sees Vera visiting his houseboat. Furious, Cynthia spreads the news as she sees it: Dennis is cheating on her with a man. As a result, Dennis’s father storms in, throws Vera overboard, and puts Dennis in a psychiatric hospital. After his release, Dennis tracks Vera down. She is performing in a club in New York and in poor health due to drug use. He takes her, nursing her back to health before her gender confirmation surgery. Unfortunately, during the surgery, Vera dies due to complications with anemia. Dennis is alone, but no longer lost having experienced “love in its truest form.”

Vera was developed by Western International Pictures, a film production studio founded in late 1979 by Robert Barich. The production of Vera was announced alongside that of two other films, The Pope Is Missing and a then untitled third film. Vera was announced with a modest budget of $10.5 million, which is comparable to E.T and The Outsiders, and a script by Henry Nemo. In a press release, producer Jerry Zimmerman claimed that $250 thousand alone was allocated specifically to research on transgender issues stating, “[we] believe that it is money well spent since it gives us an insight into a mysterious region that we hope will be reflected on the screen…and we want to treat [the] matter with authenticity and compassion.” Daniel Mann was rumored to direct (Drama-Logue, 1980) and John Voight was in talks to star as Dennis (Castro, 1980) with Danny Bonaduce in a supporting role (Drag, 1980).

To cast the role of Vera herself, Western International Pictures sought to do something that would have been radical at the time: cast a trans woman. From the start, the producers knew that doing so would be difficult but necessary with Zimmerman stating, “We have been told by others in the industry that we are taking a gamble in using a transexual to play the role…we further believe that we will be doing a disservice to the film and the movie-going public if we compromised.” Finding inspiration from David O. Selznick’s search for Scarlett O’Hara, Western International Pictures planned open auditions to find the perfect actress. In early 1980, auditions were held in Los Angeles and New York with further auditions planned for New Orleans, Miami, Chicago, Montreal, St. Louis, Sydney and Paris. According to a report on the auditions in Female Mimics International, “the rights to all the videotapes done during the auditions were PRE-SOLD to a Japanese firm and will be used in a documentary feature in the Orient and Europe.”  

Unknown woman auditioning for Vera. (1980). Les girls: Boys will be girls 1(2)

Contemporary response to the auditions was largely enthusiastic and covered in traditional outlets like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter and in niche gay and trans magazines such as Data-Boy, Female Mimics International, and Les Girls. Reporting in traditional media offers a straightforward account of the auditions supplemented by a quote or two from Barich or Zimmerman and occasionally commenting on the novelty of the auditions. Reporting in gay and trans media was much more enthusiastic, offering photos from the events and responses from the hopeful auditioners. In Data-Boy, Busty O’Shea commented on the script saying, “This is an honest story. No one is being made fun of and no one is belittled, and unless they change the script that I’ve seen, and I hope they don’t, they’ve got a winner.”  Les girls featured photo spreads in multiple issues from each round of auditions and was enthusiastic about the project’s future saying, “The star of ‘Vera’ will most certainly become an overnight sensation, our first transsexual star!”

For all the attention surrounding the auditions, Vera would ultimately never be filmed. All mention of Vera largely ceases in 1981. At that time, Western International Pictures would begin production on what would become the only movie they would ever release, Mausoleum. During its production and shortly after its release, Barich and Zimmerman would be sued and charged several times on multiple counts including breach of contract, civil fraud, grand theft, and conspiracy to cheat and defraud (AFI). Mausoleum was a critical and commercial bomb, generally disliked by the few who saw it. This, combined with the lawsuits, seemed to have doomed Western International Pictures and Vera along with it.

When the film never materialized, opinion in the gay press seemed to sour. By mid-1981, in a profile on Rocio, one of the women who auditioned for the role of Vera, Les girls called the auditions “infamous.” In 1983, Linda Lee writing for Female Mimics International said, “Sometimes it seems like the opportunities that should be unique to transgendered people all turn out to be illusions. One only has to think back to Vera—A Love Story of the Eighties, which seemed to mostly wind up being a story where transgendered people performed on videotape without getting paid.” After that, Vera seems to have disappeared from public consciousness.

While it seems strange to dwell so much on this little movie that was never made, I find it’s worth putting Vera in the cultural context of its hypothetical release. Generally speaking, what little depiction of trans women in popular media was largely unfavorable. For example, during the Vera casting process, Dressed to Kill was released. Dressed to Kill was only one of many films that featured murderous trans women or crossdressing men (at the time, the moviegoing public wouldn’t have made a meaningful distinction between the two groups). This legacy includes Psycho and Silence of the Lambs among others. Other films featured different harmful images of trans women, where revelations of their identities and bodies are met with disgust and violence, as in The Crying Game, Soapdish, and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. By contrast, Vera is portrayed as a sincere romantic interest. Any characters that oppose Dennis and Vera’s relationship are clearly shown as villainous and in the wrong in the screenplay’s perspective. This would’ve been revolutionary for the time. 

Additionally, the producers’ intent on casting a trans woman as Vera would have put the movie decades ahead of the rest of mainstream cinema which, until very recently, continued to cast cisgender actors to play transgender roles. Even at the time this was considered an issue. For example, in 1983, Linda Lee lamented the casting of cisgender actors as transgender women in both Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean and The Christine Jorgensen Story.

Had Vera been produced, maybe its star could’ve broken through and become the star of the 80s. Maybe the “transgender tipping point” wouldn’t have been in 2014 with Laverne Cox but in 1980 with Amanda Winters, Rocio, or one of the countless other women who auditioned.

               Thus concludes this scintillating installment of Buried Treasures. As always, you can learn more about this and other items in the Special Collections by browsing the collections online or by emailing the Special Collections Librarian.

 

References

Castro, T. (January 31, 1980). Is it live or is it Memorex? Los Angeles Herald Examiner, 109(304).

Daily Variety, (November 27, 1979).

‘Danny’ worries about TV/TS angle in new movie. (1980). Drag 8(27).

Lee, L. (1983). Linda Lee’s Pages. Female Mimics International, 13(15).

Mausoleum, (n.d.). AFI Catalog. https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58014-MAUSOLEUM?sid=a6ffe425-7e33-4097-8fc5-2a97165e062e&sr=11.572908&cp=1&pos=0

Messina, L. (December 5, 1979). Barich budgets $30 million for 3 films; hotel and video slated. The Hollywood Reporter, 259(26).

Rocco, P. (February 7, 1980). Vera auditions draw a crowd. Data-Boy, 1(242).

Rocio: Star of L.A.’s Plaza Saloon. (February, March, April 1981). Les Girls: Boys Will Be Girls 1(4).

The search is on…Vera. (Spring 1980). Female Mimics International, 11(2).

Vera publicity packet, 1980, Box: 7. Charles Wallace Collection, UR16. Armacost Library Special Collections.

Whose life is it, anyhow? (February 14-20, 1980). Drama-Logue.

 


Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Join the University of Redlands for a Presidential Debate Viewing Party Tonight!

Are you ready for the 2024 Presidential Elections? Join us for an online viewing party tonight to watch the presidential debate together! Hosted on Zoom, this event is open to the entire Redlands community, with a special invitation to our First-Year students as part of their campus engagement experience. It's a great opportunity to come together, discuss, and gain insights into the upcoming elections.

Details:

  • When: Tonight
  • Where: Zoom - Join via this link
  • Who: Open to everyone in the Redlands community!

Jeff Bullington, the Library Director, will be helping to host and facilitate the session, and Renée Van Vechten, professor of Political Science and Public Policy Director, will host a Q&A session afterward. 

For those who want to dive deeper into the 2024 elections, check out our specially curated LibGuide on the 2024 Elections, which includes information about tonight’s debate, and will be updated to include Armacost Library's events for Constitution Day, National Voter Registration Day, and much more. 

Let's make this a memorable and insightful event together!

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Little Magazine, Big Journey!

 

From time to time, materials from the Armacost Library leave the library for a big adventure. Of course, our materials are toted around campus and the greater Redlands area for use by our community members. And others go even further afield to borrowers at other libraries through interlibrary loan. But one of our items recently went on a journey to remember. Though not so far in terms of distance, one of our magazines got its day in the spotlight at last, thanks to the University of California Irvine’s Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute & Museum of California Art (Langson IMCA). 


A picture of the bound volume of Scribner's Magazine from 1929. It sits on a desk near a window with plants in the background.
This magazine recently went on a big journey!

Last year, the Armacost Library received an inquiry from the Langson IMCA about one of the items listed on our catalog: a 1929 issue of Scribner’s Magazine, located among our bound periodicals. (Bound periodicals are historical journals, magazines, newspapers, and so on that are now bound in volume [book] format, rather than having each issue shelved individually.) After communicating more with the wonderful staff at the Langson IMCA, we learned that an upcoming exhibition of theirs titled Spiritual Geographies: Religion and Landscape Art in California, 1890 – 1930 would feature works of art as well as “rare theological books and archival materials that trace how landscape imagery operated within religious discourse” (Langson IMCA, 2024). Of these, the Langson IMCA hoped to include the poem “These Are My Friends” by Susan DeLancey published in the January 1929 issue of Scribner’s Magazine (volume 85, issue 1). Their question was, would the Armacost Library be willing and able to lend our copy to the Langson IMCA for the exhibition? After some internal discussions about logistics, we were delighted to say yes! 


Photo of the text of "They Are My Friends" by Susan DeLancey. Text reads: "The friendly trees hold out their arms to me,/ They bend and twist and whisper to the wind,/ And all they say is beautiful and kind. // They take the summer's fever on their heads,/ It trickles through their fingers, stippled, sweet,/ And falls in broken glory at their feet. // They stand courageous against frost and snow,/ Stripped of their leaves, pale, gaunt, and winter-worn,/ But gallant soldiers holding death to scorn.// Without the trees how pitiless the sky/ Cupping us in with unrelenting might,/ Too vast the day, too deep the lonely night. // They are my friends, and draw earth intimate,/ God planted trees to play this human part,/ They are my friends and live within my heart."
"They Are My Friends" by Susan DeLancey

We packaged the Scribner’s edition up carefully and sent it out in February 2024. It arrived at the Langson IMCA in nearby Irvine ahead of the exhibition’s March 2, 2024 opening date. For three months, our little (well—not-so-little, given the periodical’s larger size) magazine was featured alongside the spectacular artwork, rare books, and other rare archival materials on display. Together, these items asked guests to explore how various religious ideas and movements influenced and informed landscape painting in California from 1890-1930. (Check out the Langson IMCA’s Instagram and website for a closer look at what was featured in the exhibition. Can you spot our Scribner’s?)

After too short a time, the exhibition ended on June 8, 2024. Though our 95-year-old Scribner’s has returned safely to its home at the Armacost Library, we're sure it’ll never forget its grand adventure supporting this amazing exhibition--and neither will we!

Much thanks to Michaëla Mohrmann and Chanelle Mandell at the Langson IMCA for reaching out, and many thanks to Naila Popat, Elizabeth Flater, and Lindsay Call for helping to facilitate the sharing and display of our materials!

Monday, February 26, 2024

Save the Date

 


This March 19, consider donating to the Armacost Library Fund. This year, our interim director will give $1,000 if 100 people choose to donate to the Armacost Library Fund by Giving Day. 

One way that the Armacost Library supports students is by supporting their academic success. In addition to our print and digital collections, Armacost librarians help students navigate our modern and dynamic world of information through class instruction, individual consultations, and our annual Armacost Library Undergraduate Research Awards (ALURA). Armacost Library is also looking to enhance our Archives and Special Collections to facilitate more original student research.

Save the date: March 19. 

All donations are welcome, from big to small, from huge to teeny tiny. Can't wait? Early donations are always welcome. 

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Grab a Game at the Library to Celebrate International Games Month

 November is International Games Month 

November 20th thru 26th is National Games & Puzzles Week 

 



What we did this summer!! Library staff spent part of their summer gathering data and doing research to choose board & card games to add to the library’s collections. An interest survey during May Term helped us start a list of games that students were interested in - thank you to everyone who participated!  

 

“There’s more to life than increasing its speed, sometimes you need to slow down and play a board game.” 

-Unknown  
 
In June a group of us took a fun shopping trip to two local stores, Board Game Paradise and Jack’s Toy Store. Utilizing our initial list, our own favorites, as well as online reviews, and with some expert guidance from store staff, we chose over 50 board and card games to build the collection. 

 

“A good game is like a good conversation – engaging, challenging, and surprising.” 

-Unknown 

 

The rest of the summer was spent cataloging, processing and re-packaging the games and choosing a location to house them. And the rest is history – the Game Nook was born – game boxes shelved in a convenient location right inside our front doors and a giant table with different seating options where you can play a game.  

 

“Games are the playgrounds of the mind.” 

-Unknown 

 

Typically, board games can be checked out for three days at a time but there is a special extension if you choose to check them out over Thanksgiving Break. Peruse the shelves, pick a box and bring it up to the front desk with your student ID. You’ll receive all the game pieces in a convenient zippered pouch. And then HAVE FUN!! 

 

“Board games are the art of strategy and chance, wrapped in a world of imagination.” 

-Unknown 

 

 

Don’t want to travel home with a board game? Grab one of our “mystery envelopes” filled with paper games & puzzles and a pencilall ready for you to put down your phone and have some fun while traveling or just during some downtime over break. 

 

“In the end, it’s not the games we play but the memories we make that truly matter.” 

-Unknown 

 

 

Our student employees have started playing and reviewing games as well – check out our Instagram page to see those reviews. As a reminder, any member of our University community – students, staff & faculty – can check out games! 

 



Here is just a partial list of some of the games we currently have in our collection: 


Bananagrams 

Boggle 

Cards Against Humanity 

Catan 

Checkers 

Chess 

Clue 

Codigo Secreto Duo 

Connect Four 

Dungeons & Dragons 

Exploding Kittens 

Jenga 

Loose Caboose 

Monopoly 

One Night Werewolf 

Operation 

Perfection 

Scrabble 

Sequence 

Sushi Go 

Uno 

Unstable Unicorns 

Yahtzee