Samuel Goldwyn, Warsaw to Hollywood, 1879 to 1974, 'I'll give you a definite maybe'; 500+pp. 'After watching the rushes on Ball of Fire one day, [Samuel] Goldwyn had announced to [Billy] Wilder that he was looking for a big picture and that he wished the writer would come up with some big ideas. Realizing Goldwyn was not about to hire him to direct a film, as he hoped, Wilder made an appointment with the producer just to tweak his nose. “Mr. Goldwyn,” he said at the meeting, “why not do a picture about Nijinsky?” Goldwyn looked puzzled. Wilder explained that Nijinsky was the single most famous ballet dancer in the world, a Russian with a “marvellous, touching story.” Wilder proceeded to talk about this peasant with a passion to dance who met Diaghilev, the impresario of the Bolshoi, and of their becoming homosexual lovers. “Homosexuals! Are you crazy?” Goldywn interrupted. But Wilder proceeded, insisting the story got better. He told of Nijinsky’s going insane, and that very day, while exercising in a Swiss asylum, he believed he was a horse. “A homosexual! A horse!” Goldwyn interrupted again, rapidly losing interest. But Wilder plowed through to the end of the story, detailing Nijinsky’s marriage to a woman, Diaghilev’s revenge, and Nijinsky’s neighing for the rest of his life. Goldwyn shooed Wilder from the office, shouting at him for wasting his time on such a miserable story. On his way out the door, Wilder poked his head in with an afterthought. “Mr. Goldwyn,” he said, “you want a happy ending? Not only does Nijinsky think he’s a horse. But in the end … he wins the Kentucky Derby.”
