Chili Bouchier

Speaker 10:00

Hello, I'm Kirsty Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive. For rights reasons we've had to shorten the music. The programme was originally broadcast in nineteen ninety six, and the presenter was Sue Lawley.

Presenter0:29

My Costaway this week is an actress. Today she's the only surviving British star of the silent screen, but in the thirties she also starred in hugely successful talkies such as Carnival and Gypsy. Her personal life has been as vivid as the films with which she made her name. Howard Hughes proposed to her twice, but she ended up marrying men who let her down. She also walked out on a Hollywood contract with Warner Brothers, which meant she was blackballed and unable to make another film. She turned instead to the stage, and in her own phrase just plodded on. I'm hanging on by my fingernails to the end of the century, she says. It's been the most fantastic of all time. She is Chilly Bouchier.

Presenter1:11

Yours is indeed a a fantastic story, Chillie. I suppose in a sense you were really the first sex symbol of the British screen, weren't you?

Chili Bouchier1:18

Uh

Presenter1:18

Yeah.

Chili Bouchier1:18

Yes, I was. I was the English Claribeau, or the English It Girl.

Chili Bouchier1:24

And we weren't allowed to say sex in those days, so it was it and not sex. It was sex appeal. It it was sex appeal.

Presenter1:32

But you got that across even in silent film. So, how did you do it? Yeah.

Presenter1:37

Yeah.

Chili Bouchier1:37

I don't know. I just looked different to everybody else, I think. I had this mad mop of black curly hair, and I was unfashionably plump, and everybody had to look like a bean pole in those days.

Presenter1:49

Plump as in curvaceous.

Chili Bouchier1:51

Curve on fat. Yeah, not fat. Oh, no, no, no. In the right places.

Presenter1:55

And it was the eyes, though, really, wasn't it?

Chili Bouchier1:58

Yes, they've always been a feature of I'm afraid of me. Why are you afraid? Well, I don't know. They got you into trouble. They did, because they seemed to know more than I did know. The eyes seemed to convey more. I remember one director saying, That's a clever girl. She looks at everybody in the same way.

Presenter2:02

Why are you afraid?

Presenter2:05

Yeah.

Chili Bouchier2:16

And I wasn't conscious of looking at anybody in any particular way.

Presenter2:20

So they cast you in the naughty parts of naughty eyes.

Chili Bouchier2:21

In the naughty eyes. Yes, I rarely played good girls.

Presenter2:26

Yeah.

Chili Bouchier2:26

Rarely played.

Presenter2:26

Rarely played.

Presenter2:29

What about the casting couch? You must therefore have been the victim of many occasions on that

Chili Bouchier2:34

I didn't have too much trouble at first because they did know.

Chili Bouchier2:39

how young I was. But it was a little later on I started when I became a more sophisticated actress that uh I started to have bits of trouble with directors and producers.

Presenter2:49

You've you've written about undignified struggles in Herbert Wilcox's office, the film director's office.

Chili Bouchier2:54

That's right.

Presenter2:56

Well, he he thought that he should have his pound of flesh if he was gonna make make you a star, did he?

Chili Bouchier3:00

Yeah.

Chili Bouchier3:01

Well, he did make me a star. He did work very, very hard, but he wanted something back in return, which I wasn't prepared to give.

Presenter3:09

But I mean it there wasn't just one man after you. You you've always had men falling about uh every time you've you've gone anywhere, haven't you? I have. What do you put it down to, though, Chilly? What do you want to be it just can't just be the eyes.

Chili Bouchier3:14

To live.

Chili Bouchier3:20

Uh

Presenter3:21

Yeah.

Chili Bouchier3:21

I don't know what it is, but I did notice it right from a girl.

Chili Bouchier3:27

that the men came to me, like my brothers.

Chili Bouchier3:30

school chums and cricket chums. They c they came round in in hordes in in in

Chili Bouchier3:37

Not one at a time, but they all hung around the garden gate and uh But you've never analyzed it? No, I ha I've never analysed it. I think b I'm a happy person, always have ha been a happy person.

Chili Bouchier3:51

Maybe that was something to do with it.

Chili Bouchier3:53

Tell me about your first record.

Chili Bouchier3:55

Ah.

Chili Bouchier3:57

Well, I'm choosing this record because everybody when they meet me always says, Where did you get your name from? Where did you get Chili from?

Chili Bouchier4:05

So I'll have to say that it came from a song, I Love My Chili Bomb Bum.

Speaker 24:11

About the kind of girls that men forget. Well, here's a baby you'll remember all your life, I'll bet. Believe me, I have a lot of fun, fun with chilly bum bomb, cause chilly bum bomb

Speaker 24:25

Bob's

Presenter4:44

I Love My Chili Bom Bomb, sung by Fred Hartley and his band. So tell me about Chili Bombom. Who gave you the name? It was at Harrod's, wasn't it?

Chili Bouchier4:52

Yes, it was when I was working at Harrods. I was either fifteen or sixteen, I've forgotten which.

Chili Bouchier4:57

And uh I worked in the small ladies' gown department and uh

Chili Bouchier5:01

I had two followers, one Welshman and another man.

Chili Bouchier5:05

And this Welshman one day walked into the department and said, I love my chili bomb bomb. I said, What do you mean? He said, Well, last night I went to a show.

Chili Bouchier5:14

called the Punch Bowl and a sunny hair and a girl with a big mop of dark curly hair who looked just like you.

Chili Bouchier5:20

Sang it with him and he said it's a little bang wong.

Chili Bouchier5:23

So my colleagues thought it was fun and they took it up to Chili Bomb Bomb, then took it down to Chile.

Chili Bouchier5:29

And when I went into films, the agent said, It's an unusual name, Chiddy, keep it. They'll remember it. The audience will remember it.'Cause you were Dorothy. I was born Dorothy.

Presenter5:37

I was born.

Presenter5:38

Yes. Tell me about Harrods in those days, because they I think it was already in the nineteen twenties using its catchphrase, escape into another world. What what sort of world was it behind the scenes where you were?

Chili Bouchier5:49

Well, backstage Harrods is just like any place. It's there is just plain walls and and whitewashed walls. Then you open a door and you go into one of these glorious uh salons, you know.

Presenter6:01

But it was quite Dickensian, wasn't it, in the way it was written?

Chili Bouchier6:03

Well the management were very very very strict indeed, yes, very strict.

Presenter6:07

And what did they look like, the managers, as they were?

Chili Bouchier6:09

The thief prowled around the store.

Chili Bouchier6:12

Well, the the big boss, Sir Woodman Burbage,

Chili Bouchier6:15

He wore a black frock coat, striped trousers and top hat.

Chili Bouchier6:20

Really that, you know, that it was terribly funny, really, we thought.

Presenter6:25

And were you terrified of them?

Chili Bouchier6:26

Absinthe Petrified, he used to do a daily walk around the shop with his side kick, mister Chittam.

Chili Bouchier6:34

And when we saw them coming in the distance we'd go and hide in one of the dressing rooms.

Presenter6:39

Because you you became a kind of mannequin in the small ladies' department, didn't you? And and so you were sometimes there wearing very revealing frocks.

Chili Bouchier6:42

Yeah.

Chili Bouchier6:47

Yes, yes, Miss Richards, the buyer, she say, come along, dear, c put on a dress today and walk around the the apartment.

Chili Bouchier6:55

I'd never undressed before except at the seaside, and I was very much felt very much exposed with one of these nineteen twenties beaded evening dresses.

Chili Bouchier7:06

And I'd hide behind a pillar half the time. I wouldn't I wouldn't show myself.

Presenter7:10

But it but it all ended in tears, well worse than tears, really, it ended in disgrace because um well you tell me about it.

Chili Bouchier7:14

Yeah.

Chili Bouchier7:16

Well, there was this other young man I told you about the Welsh boy, and there was this other young man who I preferred, and of course I would being me, I'd prefer the Cad to the nice man.

Chili Bouchier7:27

And he said, I'm going to take you up west to dinner one night. And I thought, this is terribly exciting. I'd never been up west.

Chili Bouchier7:35

I was only sixteen and we went to the Regent Palace Hotel, which I thought was a wonderful place. Had dinner, we came out.

Chili Bouchier7:43

And he said, Um will you trust me, Julie? I said, Yes, of course I'll trust you. We got into a taxi.

Chili Bouchier7:49

and went a long, long ride, it seemed, and finished up in a terrible looking street, dark.

Chili Bouchier7:55

Victorian houses. And I thought he was going going visiting. But I thought, funny place to go visiting. Went into one of these nasty houses and he talked to a lady and went into a room, came out, went up some stairs and opened a door. I thought a funny place to be visiting. It's not very nice. Then when he opened the door and I saw this dreadful room with one single light bulb in the ceiling and a a double bed and nothing much else, I knew what I was there for.

Chili Bouchier8:26

and being a silly girl and adventurous.

Chili Bouchier8:29

I instead of running home, I stayed and didn't like it at all. It was an awful letdown. And the management of Hammond's found out? It it got to their ears. And that was the end of you. Sent for my mother.

Presenter8:39

And that was the end of you.

Chili Bouchier8:42

Which was a terrible thing. I saw her coming into the department looking white and drawn and

Chili Bouchier8:48

And they said, I'm afraid she's got to go. And um

Chili Bouchier8:52

It was a dreadful thing for my parents. Can you still feel the shame of it somewhere inside you? Do you still

Chili Bouchier8:59

N only for them.

Chili Bouchier9:01

I I wasn't ashamed. No, I wasn't ashamed, not really. I pretended to the girls the next morning.

Chili Bouchier9:07

That I'd enjoyed it, but I hated it. Perhaps if I'd enjoyed it, I might feel ashamed, but I didn't.

Presenter9:14

Uh Anyway, you were sacked. You were out on

Chili Bouchier9:15

I will segue.

Presenter9:17

Tell me about record number two.

Chili Bouchier9:19

Ah, well, this is strange, because although it was the the silent era at the time,

Chili Bouchier9:25

My first job.

Chili Bouchier9:26

In front of a camera was in a talkie. Well, it wasn't a talkie, it was it was a soundy.

Chili Bouchier9:32

An American singer sang songs and I wobbled about in the background doing the Charleston and things. He sang Ain't She Sweet. This American singer and I danced to it.

Speaker 29:44

Ain't she sweet, see you coming down the street, Now ask you very confidentially, ain't she?

Speaker 29:52

Ain't she nice, look her over once or twice, Now ask you very confidentially, age

Speaker 210:00

Just cast an eye in her direction, O me or mine, ain't that perfection?

Speaker 210:09

I be don't think that kind of

Presenter10:11

Ain't she sweet with Ray Storita and the Piccadilly Revels Band. So the sacking from Harrods was a blessing in disguise because it meant you could pursue your ambition to be a film starter. You answered an ad, didn't you? I did. What did it say?

Speaker 210:20

Because it meant

Speaker 110:21

Yeah.

Speaker 210:23

Yeah.

Chili Bouchier10:23

That's right.

Chili Bouchier10:25

I did.

Presenter10:27

Hey.

Chili Bouchier10:28

Remake Film Stars price three guineas.

Chili Bouchier10:32

Well I thought, well, that's cheap at the price. So I went along to this place it was a ramshackle old place off Oxford Street, and went up some rickety stairs, and there's a man sitting at the top.

Chili Bouchier10:43

And I said, I want to be join the film star score, please. He said, Well, there's one going to start now. Would you like to go India? I went in.

Chili Bouchier10:52

And there were a lot of very funny people sitting around. None of them would ever be a film star.

Chili Bouchier10:56

And I I was very young at the time, but I knew it was completely phony set up. And uh the second day there was a tall young man out standing by this man and he said, This is Ridgie Newman. He's from Water Street and he wants you to do a commercial for him.

Chili Bouchier11:14

film commercial, not a television commercial, of course.

Chili Bouchier11:17

And so he booked me to be at um Hendon Aerodrome.

Chili Bouchier11:22

The following day in a summer dress, and that was my first job. So you were spotted, really? I was spotted. Amazing.

Presenter11:28

I was just an amazing piece of luck.

Chili Bouchier11:30

I w I'll never know if the man at the desk phoned this man in Water Street and said, We've got a girl I think will photograph well. Or whether he just came looking for somebody, I shall never know.

Presenter11:41

And you were very very soon making, I think, a movie every six weeks or something.

Chili Bouchier11:45

Oh, I was working working very, very hard.

Presenter11:48

And you had to trapeze off the Eiffel Tower in one of them, is that right?

Chili Bouchier11:52

Well no, I didn't trapeze off the Eiffel Tower. I had to jump off the Eiffel Tower. We were right at the very top.

Chili Bouchier12:00

where the the public don't go and I was supposed to ap jump into thin air with a parachute.

Chili Bouchier12:08

And they had the cameras behind me and I stood on a ledge and below me was another ledge of about two or three feet wide with one single

Chili Bouchier12:17

iron rail round it, that's all there was between me and the boulevards of Paris below.

Chili Bouchier12:23

And as I jumped

Chili Bouchier12:25

It looked as if I was jumping into space.

Presenter12:28

Must have felt like it, too.

Chili Bouchier12:29

I was terrified in the film, which I have seen recently. You can see I don't really jump, I sort of slip.

Presenter12:37

And this was called the City of Plague. Uh

Presenter12:39

But that one, as I understand it, turned into a talkie. It began life as a silent film, it turned into a talkie halfway through. Why?

Chili Bouchier12:44

It'll turn into a

Chili Bouchier12:45

Yeah.

Chili Bouchier12:47

Well, but when we came back from Paris, Al Jolson had

Chili Bouchier12:51

arrived with the jazz singer.

Chili Bouchier12:53

And Torquis had come to stay. We had the first sound man, soundman Baina Monery, he was the first soundman. He was installed in the studio and his voice came through a megaphone that was attached to the ceiling and that that's how it all started. He would say, Speak up, Miss Boucher, because I had a little tiny squeaky voice.

Presenter13:15

Uh

Presenter13:16

And what did you think when you first heard heard yourself on the movies?

Chili Bouchier13:20

I knew I had to do something about my vowels, which were rather fulhamish, rather weak, I thought. I had a tiny part in a film with Sybil Thorndyke, and one day she was calling to address her across the studio, and she said, Darling, bring me my powder.

Chili Bouchier13:37

I thought that sounds nice. Powder.

Chili Bouchier13:39

And I said it to Powell, I said, No, that's Fulhamish No.

Chili Bouchier13:43

So I started to um get my vowels. I never never had any trouble. I mean I went straight into talkies. Record number three.

Chili Bouchier13:52

In the silent days we used to have a little three-piece orchestra playing for us during our scenes.

Chili Bouchier13:59

and we were allowed to choose our own mood music. I had Ain't She Sweet or Sweet Sue for the jolly scenes, and I had a number called Songs My Mother Taught Me for the Sad Scenes and the Love Scenes.

Speaker 214:23

In the days long round.

Speaker 214:46

Fear God.

Presenter15:00

Songs my mother taught me sung by the Cliff Adams singers.

Presenter15:04

Um, Chilibouche, you married a matinee idol called Harry Milton. You were twenty years old, I think, when you got married. It was a fairy tale wedding, wasn't it? Tell me about the day itself.

Presenter15:16

No, it wasn't such a fairy tale wedding, actually. We didn't have a big wedding.

Chili Bouchier15:20

Yeah.

Presenter15:21

Mm.

Chili Bouchier15:21

Yeah.

Presenter15:21

I mean fairy tale in the sense that that Gracie Fields came along because she was starring with her and then that evening you went on stage with them.

Chili Bouchier15:24

Oh yeah.

Chili Bouchier15:27

Yes, he was playing in in the show's a thing with Gracie after we'd we'd had the reception and everything.

Chili Bouchier15:34

We went home and um mother and my father and I went to the theatre and sat in the box the royal box in the royal box and uh Gracie came down in in her solo number and she

Chili Bouchier15:48

Just stood underneath the box and sang straight at me, Sweetheart, This Is Heaven, and it was terribly, terribly moving. But she had you.

Presenter15:56

But she had you up on stage at the end.

Chili Bouchier15:58

At the end somebody hauled me out of the box. I wasn't expecting it. And all by myself I came down the steps and the the band played the wedding march and uh

Presenter16:09

What were you wearing?

Chili Bouchier16:11

I was wearing a new dress that I bought at Harrods. I bought all my clothes at Harrods. Small ladies' department. Small ladies' department.

Presenter16:17

Mon later.

Chili Bouchier16:20

It was a

Chili Bouchier16:21

A Paris model.

Chili Bouchier16:23

in a black black net.

Chili Bouchier16:25

It cost eighty guineas. It was the price of it, and Miss Richards, my buyer from the Small Ladies, gave it to me for forty guineas as a wedding present. So you felt beautiful. Oh, I dear dear

Presenter16:37

And then you and Harry rushed off to the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne for the night because he had to be back the next day to be on the stage with with with Gracie.

Chili Bouchier16:39

The nice

Chili Bouchier16:41

At the end of the stage with Moon.

Presenter16:44

Um and and unlike the chap in Paddington, Harry was a a good lover, was he?

Presenter16:50

What's not on the first night? He was too drunk and too tired.

Presenter16:55

But it turned out all right at the end.

Chili Bouchier16:56

You turned out all right in the end, yes.

Presenter16:57

So everything in the garden was lovely for for a year, eighteen months or so.

Chili Bouchier17:02

Yes, I think right.

Presenter17:03

And then he started having an affair with another.

Presenter17:07

Leading star of the time, Jesse Mathews.

Chili Bouchier17:09

By

Presenter17:10

Very successful young actress. What was the first you

Chili Bouchier17:12

You knew of it? He just admitted it one night when he was very drunk. He said she opened her mouth to me during a stage kiss and that was it.

Presenter17:23

Uh

Chili Bouchier17:23

Yeah.

Presenter17:24

He was besotted with her, wasn't he? And and but what was so deeply hurtful for you, as I understand it, was it was a very public affair. Everybody knew about it.

Chili Bouchier17:26

Mm.

Chili Bouchier17:33

Everybody in London knew about it but me, yes.

Presenter17:35

Yes.

Chili Bouchier17:36

But looking back people tried to tell me.

Presenter17:39

But in the end she went off him.

Chili Bouchier17:41

Well, when it came out into the open she didn't want

Presenter17:44

And his heart was broken.

Presenter17:46

And he took his revenge in a rather dramatic manner, didn't he?

Chili Bouchier17:49

I don't think Harry's heart was broken.

Chili Bouchier17:53

I think what he did he was getting his sense of humour back what he did.

Chili Bouchier17:57

He took up a a gypsy moth.

Chili Bouchier18:00

flew over her garden and dropped match boxes with a single raspberry in each one on her lawn.

Chili Bouchier18:07

Now that to me is not a broken heart. If it had been it would have been a little rosebud knowing Harry.

Chili Bouchier18:14

It was a raspberry. He was giving her the raspberry.

Presenter18:18

But as a result he was he was blackballed, wasn't he?

Chili Bouchier18:21

Well, Sunny Hale, her husband, who is still her husband,

Chili Bouchier18:25

He was a member of the West End Managers Association.

Chili Bouchier18:30

and had him blackballed and that was the end of Harry as a

Chili Bouchier18:34

An extra

Chili Bouchier18:35

But horrible

Presenter18:36

Uh

Chili Bouchier18:36

Painful for you, really, to be betrayed like that? Oh, it was dreadful at the time, yes, absolutely dreadful.

Chili Bouchier18:42

Yeah.

Presenter18:42

Next piece of music.

Chili Bouchier18:44

After thee.

Chili Bouchier18:46

the despair and the loneliness. I was in a show in London and I was invited by a man called Teddy Joyce to appear as his guest at our The Kit Kat where he was playing.

Chili Bouchier19:01

He was an American bandleader that has come over and taken London by storm.

Chili Bouchier19:05

and he had the spotlight play on me as I went into the restaurant, and then strode over, took me in his arms, like a real showman he was, and took me round the floor.

Chili Bouchier19:17

And we danced beautifully together, cheek to cheek,'cause we it was a new technique cheek to cheek, as they did in America.

Chili Bouchier19:25

And I thought he was the most romantic thing that I'd ever seen for a long time, and I hadn't been held by a man for a few years.

Chili Bouchier19:33

I saw him again a couple of times.

Chili Bouchier19:36

And I couldn't forget him. I just thought that he was terrific.

Speaker 219:43

It's June in January because I'm in love.

Speaker 219:50

It's always a spring in my heart with you in my arms.

Speaker 219:56

The snow is just white blossoms that fall from above.

Speaker 220:03

And here is the reason, my dear, your magical charm.

Presenter20:09

June in January, sung by Jack Plant and played by Teddy Joyce and his orchestra. Teddy Joyce, the heart throb American band leader of the thirties, who was the the love of your life, Chilly Boucher. Is that fair?

Chili Bouchier20:21

Yes, it's true to say that. Yes.

Presenter20:23

Tell me about him, what happened. You you had a wonderful time together, didn't you?

Chili Bouchier20:27

Yes, we did.

Chili Bouchier20:29

We were both very, very busy doing our own different thing, me filming and he did tours and everything.

Chili Bouchier20:35

But we managed to get together at weekends and it was all great fun and about nineteen thirty seven we became engaged.

Presenter20:42

So you'd have been what about 27, 26, 27. You got engaged, you bought a house.

Chili Bouchier20:44

26, 27.

Chili Bouchier20:48

Yes.

Presenter20:49

Everything was going splendidly.

Chili Bouchier20:49

thing would

Chili Bouchier20:50

And everything was going splendidly, yes.

Presenter20:52

The more

Chili Bouchier20:52

He died.

Chili Bouchier20:55

He died in nineteen forty one at the age of thirty six.

Chili Bouchier21:00

Oh why?

Chili Bouchier21:01

But he came home with what we thought was a bad dose of flu.

Chili Bouchier21:04

In three days he was dead. It was cerebrospinal fever, which is a very, very virulent form of

Chili Bouchier21:12

Meningitis.

Chili Bouchier21:14

He was a terribly, terribly strong person, but he just went.

Chili Bouchier21:18

to a skeleton in three days and died.

Chili Bouchier21:22

I wasn't married to him, but I was on the phone to the nurse at the hospital that night. I said, I can't sleep, sister she said, Well, come and if you'd like to come and sit here and wait I said, Yes, please and she said, Uh

Chili Bouchier21:39

No, just a minute, dear. No, don't come.

Chili Bouchier21:42

She's done come, misses Joyce.

Chili Bouchier21:45

mister Joyce has just passed away.

Chili Bouchier21:48

Stalk crack.

Chili Bouchier21:52

But I say

Chili Bouchier21:54

Nobody had called me Mrs. Joyce until that moment of his death, so I say she married us.

Chili Bouchier22:00

That's it, I do.

Presenter22:01

And you never really got over it.

Chili Bouchier22:03

Oh no, I couldn't get over a thing like that ever.

Chili Bouchier22:07

He was such a vital person that it was impossible to believe that he'd gone.

Chili Bouchier22:13

And he hasn't gone.

Chili Bouchier22:14

Only is with me.

Chili Bouchier22:17

We should have the next record.

Chili Bouchier22:19

Well, his signature tune was The World is Waiting for the Sunrise and it was very lovely because when we did announce our engagement as I say he was away a lot, if I was at home

Chili Bouchier22:32

And I went to one of the big all the big places like the Dorchester and Grovener House, Searos, Cafe de Barry, Cafe Anglais, they all had their big wonderful bands playing in those days. And if I walked in alone or with uh an escort,

Chili Bouchier22:49

The band leaders would see me stop playing what they were playing and play The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise, which was a lovely, lovely moment. I walked very proudly to my seat.

Speaker 223:02

Ba-ba-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.

Presenter23:56

The World is Waiting for the Sunrise, the signature tune of Teddy Joyce, but played on that recording by Akabilk and his band.

Presenter24:02

Apart from your many overt fans, Chilly, you had some closet ones too, didn't you? And one of them was Howard Hughes. Tell me about him.

Chili Bouchier24:11

After I had made the film Carnival, Willcocks said, Please, Julie.

Chili Bouchier24:16

One night, pop into a little private cinema in Water Street and there's a man there watching your films. He wants to meet you.

Chili Bouchier24:23

And there was this uh tall, rather handsome, nice looking young man, sitting all alone watching my films.

Chili Bouchier24:32

I knew his name was Howard Hughes and I knew that he was

Chili Bouchier24:35

a producer from America, but that's about all I knew about him. I didn't know that he was a billionaire or anything like that. Anyway, finally we got talking. He was very shy, very retiring, very quietly spoken, never with anybody else, always alone. And he uh asked me to go to Hollywood to make a film for him. And I didn't want to go. No, I was married to Harry and I didn't want to go to Hollywood anyway.

Chili Bouchier25:05

And on we went, and then one night he proposed marriage to me.

Chili Bouchier25:10

And I was so astonished'cause he was so quiet. He'd never taken you out or anything. He just sat by the side of the tree. He never even touched me. He didn't even touch me. He never even sat by me. He just stood in front of me, looking down.

Presenter25:14

So not even touch myself.

Chili Bouchier25:22

And um

Chili Bouchier25:23

And I said, Well, I'm I'm terribly sorry, but I'm married He said, Oh, I'm sorry, Dorothy And I thought, Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, it's all going to happen again I'm going to get into trouble again and all mixed up and things, so I didn't go in to see him any more.

Chili Bouchier25:37

But one morning, a couple of weeks later, the phone rang at six o'clock in the morning and it was Hughes on the ship that he was going to return to America, pleading with me to go with him. And I said, I'm sorry, I uh

Chili Bouchier25:52

I don't want to leave my husband.

Chili Bouchier25:54

And he does it all well.

Presenter25:55

Uh

Chili Bouchier25:55

Goodbye, Dorothy. Thank you.

Presenter25:56

Have you ever wished you'd accept it?

Chili Bouchier25:58

No.

Presenter25:59

Not even when Harry went off with Jesse Matthews. No, I think things

Chili Bouchier26:03

Because I'm meant to be.

Chili Bouchier26:05

I wasn't meant to be Mrs. Howard Hughes, and I the one thing I do regret.

Chili Bouchier26:10

All his ladies, and his leading ladies, he put on a

Chili Bouchier26:14

Pension for life. That that's what I missed.

Presenter26:18

Could do with that. Next piece of music.

Chili Bouchier26:21

Hopefully when I'm sitting on my desert island and watching a beautiful sunset.

Chili Bouchier26:27

I would like to hear this music.

Chili Bouchier26:30

I shall be thinking of Teddy and Mum and Dad and my brother and everybody that's gone, I think.

Chili Bouchier26:36

And just be quiet and listen to this beautiful piece of Tchaikovsky.

Presenter27:41

Part of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite played by the orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by Mark Ermler.

Presenter27:49

You made more than fifty films, fifty five, fifty six, I think, in your time, Chile. Yes. But never one in Hollywood. Now, why didn't you like Hollywood?'Cause you went out there, didn't you?

Chili Bouchier27:56

Now

Chili Bouchier27:59

I went out there under contract to Warner Brothers and I ran away after a few months. But why didn't you like it?

Presenter28:04

But why? You went out'cause you you'd had such a success with Gypsy, which was a Warner Brothers film, and you got there, and what happened?

Chili Bouchier28:11

I just hated it. I didn't like the atmosphere. I didn't like the people. I mean, I loved the the sun and the scenery. It was beautiful.

Chili Bouchier28:22

But it was the vibes of all these rather s strange people that had all got together, all making films, but

Chili Bouchier28:30

They weren't really

Presenter28:31

Really nice people. So you made this huge decision to travel back home and it was a long journey then. I mean, you went by by boat, presumably. Yes, oh yes.

Chili Bouchier28:38

Yes, oh yes.

Presenter28:40

And did you realize what an enormous decision that was and what the consequences could be?

Chili Bouchier28:45

Oh you know

Presenter28:45

No, no, I didn't.

Chili Bouchier28:46

No. I didn't think that Jack Warner, who was my boss, I didn't think he'd notice I'd gone. I mean, it's such a big studio, the big stars, Bette Davis and all those people.

Chili Bouchier28:57

I didn't think he'd notice that I'd gone, but he did.

Chili Bouchier29:01

and sent a telegram to the little studio at Warner's at Teddington to say when her six monthly option comes up she's out and um he didn't only do that, he just blacklisted me with every other studio. And he never forgave you.

Presenter29:16

Never forgave.

Chili Bouchier29:16

Below

Presenter29:17

Do you regret then walking out? I mean, you really did for your career in films, didn't you?

Chili Bouchier29:22

Yes, but I went into the theatre. And people don't seem to realize that. They just think I finished working then, but I didn't. I started to work fairly hard in the theatre.

Chili Bouchier29:33

After that.

Chili Bouchier29:34

Record number seven.

Chili Bouchier29:36

One of the films I made

Chili Bouchier29:38

I was at Wellingarden City during the war and there was this assistant director called Bluey Hill. He was a a lovely Australian with a lovely smiling face and red hair and green eyes and

Chili Bouchier29:50

And we became very friendly and very jolly and then the war went on and we went out different ways, made different pictures and I saw him occasionally.

Chili Bouchier30:01

And then much, much later, end of the forties, I moved into Dauphin Square and a fellow tenant was was Bluey.

Chili Bouchier30:11

And as the time went by we got together and um

Chili Bouchier30:15

Finally, he was the man that I spent the rest of my life with after that.

Chili Bouchier30:20

When we first got together and went round, the Third Man film was showing, and the Harry Lyme theme on the Zither was sort of top of the pops. So that's the one that I always remember Bluey from when I hear it.

Presenter31:08

A Harry Lyme theme played by Anton Karas and uh a theme tune for you, Chilly Boucher and your third husband, who unlike the first two wasn't a rotter at all. That's right. And with whom you lived very happily until his death about ten years ago now.

Chili Bouchier31:16

Mm-hmm.

Chili Bouchier31:20

This

Presenter31:21

Y yours has been a a life of incredible highs and lows. How do you feel looking back across it at the age of eighty six? Do you do you think the game was worth the candle?

Chili Bouchier31:30

Oh yes, there have been wonderful moments, wonderful highs and awful lows.

Presenter31:36

And do you materially have anything to show for it, or is it all gone one way or another?

Chili Bouchier31:42

No, very little to show for it.

Presenter31:44

The Rotter husbands, I think, did for a lot of the cash you had in the early days, didn't they? Yes. Drank it away.

Chili Bouchier31:46

And then we're going to be able to do it.

Chili Bouchier31:49

That's right. I was just a bad picker, I think, as far as men were concerned. But by the time I met Blueie, I was more mature.

Chili Bouchier31:57

And I I looked for something other than good looks. Perhaps I shouldn't have gone for the good looks.

Presenter32:04

That that's the moral of the story, though.

Chili Bouchier32:06

I think so.

Presenter32:08

Now what about you, briefly, on this desert island? Are you going to be able to look after yourself, alone on a desert island?

Chili Bouchier32:14

Oh yes, I'm I'm sure I would. I think I'd find plenty to do. I would look to the flora.

Chili Bouchier32:20

'Cause I'm very fond of flowers and growing things. I'd try and find all the lovely f new flowers, orchids and things. I wouldn't look much to the fauna because I might find some creepy crawlies that I didn't like.

Chili Bouchier32:33

But even those I've come to deal with, like spiders and things, I always say, Look at the size of that spider and look at the size of yourself, don't be so silly.

Presenter32:42

And whatever else you could you could make marks in the sand to make sure you got to the millennium, to the end of this century.

Chili Bouchier32:42

Yeah.

Chili Bouchier32:48

Ah, yes, yes, of course I would do that.

Chili Bouchier32:52

Last record, please.

Chili Bouchier32:53

Well, this is a thrill. This is for me.

Chili Bouchier32:56

On my desert island to get thrills up and down my spine, I want the three tenors, please, singing O Sole Meal.

Speaker 233:10

Time of roll.

Speaker 233:32

I'm a program.

Speaker 233:38

A soul of

Speaker 233:47

Find a one day after

Speaker 233:52

I have run

Presenter34:03

Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, and Jose Carrera singing O Solemio in concert in Rome in july, nineteen ninety. Now, if you could only take one of the eight records, Chilli, which one would it be?

Chili Bouchier34:16

Oh the world is waiting for the sunrise.

Presenter34:21

Teddy's signature tune

Presenter34:24

And what about your book? You've got the Bible and you've got Shakespeare waiting for you. Have I? Hm. Out there. Hm. They're already there on the beach.

Chili Bouchier34:30

Am they?

Chili Bouchier34:32

Oh

Chili Bouchier34:33

Well I would rather like to have taken my autobiography because it's got lots of nice pictures of my family and people and it would be almost like taking a photographic album as well. But

Chili Bouchier34:46

Perhaps it is a little self indulgent. So I've got a lovely little book called In Tune with the Infinite by Rafe Waldo Trine, which is a simply written little book, but it has a wonderful message in it. It is really philosophy. Sort of little book that you can

Chili Bouchier35:04

Just delve into when you're feeling perhaps a bit down and you'll soon feel up.

Presenter35:09

Yeah.

Chili Bouchier35:09

And what about your luxury?

Chili Bouchier35:11

Well, I expect Fengen to ask what all the girls ask for.

Chili Bouchier35:15

My makeup kit.

Chili Bouchier35:17

I must have that with me.

Presenter35:20

Live without

Chili Bouchier35:20

No, couldn't live without it.

Presenter35:23

Chilly Boucher, thank you very much indeed for letting us hear your desert island discs.

Chili Bouchier35:26

A great pleasure.

Speaker 135:35

You've been listening to a podcast from the Desert Islandists archive. For more podcasts, please visit bbc.co.uk slash radio four.