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In this chapter, which details pre-production, the eccentric, socialite producer Michael Laughlin, married to movie star Leslie Caron, hires cerebral hippy director Monte Hellman to make Two-Lane Blacktop, written by television actor/director Will Corry. Hellman has acquired a small cult following for his films for Roger Corman, The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind.Hellman’s friend, actor Martin Landau, recalls Hellman had run a theater in Los Angeles, where he directed a production of Waiting for Godot. Cult author Rudy Wurlitzer writes a jazzy, existentialist script about two young hot rodders adrift in the world who race a fancy guy across country west to east. Wurlitzer models the character of the Girl on Hellman’s girlfriend, Laurie Bird. The chapter includes a history of hot rodding, and a history of road movies, and details how Two-Lane largely ignores road-movie conventions.

The chapter discusses Walters’ direction of Broadway’s By the Beautiful Sea, his run-ins with composer Arthur Schwartz, and his decision to leave that show during out-of-town tryouts. Returning to M-G-M, he re-teams with Leslie Caron for The Glass Slipper (1955). Chapter 20 presents an in depth look at that film’s development, including Walters’ collaboration with writer Helen Deutsch, producer Edwin Knopf’s interferences, and the inclusion of Roland Petit’s classical ballets. This chapter also looks at Walters and Deutsch’s work developing the biopic I’ll Cry Tomorrow, as well as Walters’ studio suspension when he refuses to direct Susan Hayward in the role of Lillian Roth.

This chapter takes an in-depth look at the making of the film Lili (1953), starring Leslie Caron. It explores Walters’ participation in the development of the script (with writer Helen Deutsch), his choreography for the film’s ballets, Dore Schary’s trouble with film distribution, and Lili’s reception, which yielded five Academy Award nominations, including Best Director.

This chapter focuses on the making of Chris & Don: A Love Story, a feature-length documentary film that chronicles the thirty-year relationship between Christopher Isherwood and his lover Don Bachardy. The authors of this chapter, who directed the film, reflect on the problems and challenges they encountered before they could finish it. They traveled to Ireland to film John Boorman, to Paris to speak with Leslie Caron, and to many other locations, including England and Los Angeles. Going to places like London was particularly difficult in terms of logistics. Also, some of their interviews didn’t pan out as originally planned, as was the case when meeting with David Hockney. They interviewed Don about nine times over a period of two years. Aside from interviews, the directors made use of archival footage shot by the couple from the 1950s, letters, and excerpts from Isherwood’s diaries. Chris & Don premiered in 2007.