Hedy's Folly

  7 “Soon I knew” … “and in these blue violets”: Ibid., 75.

  8 “we entertained”: Ibid.

  9 “the Jew, Mandl”: Joseph Goebbels, speech delivered at National Socialist Party Congress, Nuremberg, 1937.

  10 “I did not do more”: Hall (1938), 75.

  11 “Any girl can be”: Schickel (1962), 212.

  12 “There were times”: Hall (1938), 75.

  13 “My husband would sit there”: Ibid.

  14 “but both times”: Ibid., 76.

  15 “But still he did not” … “I was out driving”: Ibid.

  16 “in his last agony”: Ibid.

  17 “I wore black”: Ibid.

  18 “From the moment”: Ibid., 76–77.

  19 It might even take blackmail: As Lamarr recounted in a conversation with the engineer and inventor Carmelo “Nino” Amarena in 1997. Nino Amarena interview with author, 5 Jan. 2011.

  20 She would have to be a sponge: Nino Amarena: “Hedy told me: ‘I was being a sponge because I had to find a way to escape Mandl—even blackmail if necessary. And all I had to do was pose and listen.’ ” Ibid.

  21 “Things were pretty tough” … “We also had the roof”: Boski Antheil memoir, 99, box 17, folders 1–3, Antheil Collection, Library of Congress.

  22 “We are around”: George Antheil, “My Father,” June 1945, box 14, folder 8, Antheil Collection.

  23 “Bill told me”: Antheil (1945), 270.

  24 “a whole coterie”: Ibid. On the premiere of Helen Retires, see invitation in MS 112, box 3, folder 42, William C. Bullitt Papers, Yale University Library.

  25 “Bewildered, I stopped composing”: Autobiographical notes, box 14, folder 5, Antheil Collection.

  26 “pure Paris” … “an American ballet”: Antheil (1945), 276.

  27 “I had to accept”: Antheil to Bok, 22 Sept. 1934, George Antheil Correspondence with Mary Louise Curtis Bok, 1921–40, Library of Congress.

  28 “MacArthur and I lured”: Hecht (1962), 162–63.

  29 “100% music”: Antheil to Bok, 22 Sept. 1934. 90 “in a ‘Russian’ village”: Antheil (1945), 272.

  30 “With us were gypsy dancers”: Hecht (1962), 163–64.

  31 “This summer has been”: Antheil to Bok, 22 Sept. 1934.

  32 “My dear George”: Bok to Antheil, 28 Sept. 1934, Antheil Correspondence with Bok.

  33 “wherein I had to represent”: Antheil to Bok, [28] Sept. 1934, Antheil Correspondence with Bok.

  34 “We had been discussing”: Antheil (1945), 274.

  35 “FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS!”: Ibid., 275.

  FIVE: LEAVING FRITZ

  1 “to drive a submarine”: Walter (1954), 166.

  2 hydrogen peroxide: See Walter (1947), Walter (1954), and Wernimont et al. (1999).

  3 “only isolated suggestions”: Walter (1947), 2.

  4 “Years later”: Walter biography, The Hellmuth Walter Web Site, www.walterwerke.co.uk/hw/wbiog.htm, accessed 22 March 2011.

  5 Tests at the Chemical State Institute: Walter (1954), 166. 100 “After the encouraging”: Ibid.

  6 four-man mini-sub: Stokes (1998), 4. Another source, www.walterwerke.co.uk, mentions a three-man crew.

  7 one thousand kilograms of thrust: Walter (1954), 166.

  8 “The first flight”: Ibid., 166–67.

  9 Henschel Hs 293A: Bollinger (2010), 15; Piccirillo (1997), 9.

  10 “could operate on any”: Piccirillo (1997), 4.

  11 “He was very interesting”: The interviewer was Nino Amarena: Nino Amarena interview with author, 5 Jan. 2011.

  12 “I felt more and more”: Hall (1938), 77.

  13 “ ‘Went walking’ ”: Tims (2003), 92.

  14 “Hedi is expected”: “ ‘Ecstasy’ Star to Quit Rich Mate for Stage,” New York Sunday News, 19 Sept. 1937, 3C.

  15 “I cannot tell”: Hall (1938), 77.

  16 “At a small evening party”: Ibid., 77–78.

  17 “I saw Ecstasy”: Lamarr (1966), 38–39.

  18 “on board ship”: Ibid., 41, 43.

  19 “We all agreed”: Hall (1938), 78.

  20 “[Mayer] didn’t like Kiesler”: Walter Reisch in McGilligan (1991), 222.

  SIX: CINEMOGLING

  1 “She swam”: “Cinema: The New Pictures,” Time, 25 July 1938.

  2 “The film and especially”: Horak (2001), 34–35.

  3 Man Ray recalled playing chess: Man Ray (1963), 296.

  4 “My favorite thing”: Hall (1938), 78.

  5 “Howard Hughes once lent”: Meeks (1990), 136. 116 tissue-box attachment: Denise Loder-DeLuca, personal communication, Nov. 2010.

  6 “My life has been”: “Backstage with Esquire,” Esquire, Jan. 1939, 36.

  7 “very very ill”: Antheil to Bullitt, 18 June 1938, William C. Bullitt Papers, Yale University Library.

  8 “almost died”: Antheil to Bok [Month obscure, 1936; letter begins “Boski and I have at last reached California.”], George Antheil Correspondence with Mary Louise Curtis Bok, 1921–40, Library of Congress.

  9 “Ten years ago”: Antheil (1935), 62.

  10 “just enough of a taste”: George Antheil radio interview, transcribed by Charles Amirkhanian, 28 Sept. 1980, box 14, folder 14, Antheil Collection, Library of Congress.

  11 “I have been down”: Antheil to Bok, [Oct. 1937], Antheil Correspondence with Bok.

  12 three-score contract: Antheil to Bok, [Oct. 1937]. 119 “liked the idea”: Antheil (1945), 305.

  13 “studied the writing field”: Ibid.

  14 “but I no longer”: Ibid., 306.

  15 Every Man His Own Detective: Antheil (1937a).

  16 “a system” … “every last piece”: Antheil to Bullitt, 18 June 1938.

  17 Dutch challenger: Ibid.

  18 “Our company”: Antheil to Bullitt, 13 Aug. 1938, Bullitt Papers.

  19 $49,000 … “little Peter”: Antheil to Bok, 21 May 1938, Antheil Correspondence with Bok.

  20 “The publishers of the world”: Quoted in Bok to Antheil, 10 July 1938, Antheil Correspondence with Bok.

  21 “We tried to keep up”: Boski Antheil memoir, 96–99, box 17, folders 1–3, Antheil Collection.

  22 “on the walls”: Ibid., 99.

  23 desperate financial crisis: Antheil to Bok, 18 Feb. 1939, 6 March 1939, 30 March 1939, 6 Feb. 1940, 28 March 1940, 16 March 1940. Antheil Correspondence with Bok.

  24 “[We] put our meager”: Boski Antheil memoir, 100–101.

  25 “just making it on time”: Ibid., 101.

  26 “falsified assignment cables”: Johnson and Hermann (2007), 50.

  27 “mysteriously exploded”: Quoted in ibid., 46.

  28 “no hope is held”: Hull to Antheil, telegram, 22 June 1940, box 18, folder 5, Other Correspondence, Antheil Collection.

  29 “a brilliant raconteur”: Quoted in Barton (2010), 90.

  30 “We decided late Friday”: Quoted in ibid., 81.

  31 already bought a house: Ibid. 128 She told the court: Ibid., 90–91.

  32 October 1939: Ibid., 83.

  33 “I really wanted”: Quoted in Baker (2009), 213.

  34 “[German] Naval High Command”: Dönitz (1959), 58–59.

  35 “On her second day”: Nagorski (2006), 20.

  36 “Four days, 600 miles”: U.K. Wartime Memories Project.

  37 She began thinking: As she told Nino Amarena in 1997; Nino Amarena interview with author, 5 Jan. 2011.

  SEVEN: FREQUENCY HOPPING

  1 “We were good friends”: Boski Antheil memoir, 94, box 17, folders 1–3, Antheil Collection, Library of Congress.

  2 “a few homes”: Powdermaker (1950), 21.

  3 “to visit my heartbroken”: Antheil to Bullitt, 18 Aug. 1940, William C. Bullitt Papers, Yale University Library.

  4 the week when George and Hedy finally met: “Boski wasn’t present, as she was visiting Mother and Dad in Trenton.” Antheil (1945), 329.

  5 “One day”: Ibid., 327.

  6 “eyeballs sizzled” ?
?? “The thing is”: Ibid., 328–29.

  7 “high up”: Ibid., 329–30.

  8 “We began talking”: Ibid., 330.

  9 “very, very bright”: Ibid., 332.

  10 “overheard him”: Ibid., 330.

  11 Hedy told an interviewer: The interviewer was Nino Amarena; Nino Amarena interview with author, 5 Jan. 2011.

  12 “Here, then, and at long last”: George Antheil draft text attached to Antheil to Lamarr, 10 Jan. 1941, 11, box 2, folder L, Antheil Collection, Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

  13 “Our pal, Ted Mills”: Antheil to Boski, 12 Sept. 1940, box 18, folder 6, Antheil Collection.

  14 “I have been up”: Ibid.

  15 “Boski was so indignant”: Antheil (1945), 331.

  16 “I have been a very”: Antheil to Boski, 8 Sept. 1940, box 18, folder 6, Antheil Collection.

  17 “when Hedy moved down”: Antheil (1945), 332.

  18 “By the way”: Antheil to Boski, 2 Feb. 1945, box 18, folder 6, Antheil Collection.

  19 “I get around”: Antheil to Bullitt, 30 Sept. 1940, Bullitt Papers.

  20 “We talked like”: Amarena interview with author, 5 Jan. 2011.

  21 Philco console-model radio: Ramirez (2006).

  22 generates high-frequency signals: See Miessner (1916), 137–44.

  23 Formal German development: My source for this discussion is Bollinger (2010).

  24 used a Walter hydrogen-peroxide rocket: Ibid., 15.

  25 “More often than not”: Amarena interview with author, 5 Jan. 2011.

  26 “hopping of frequencies”: Ibid.

  27 “Antheil and my mother”: Meeks (1990), 137.

  28 “I didn’t know how”: Amarena interview with author, 5 Jan. 2011.

  29 “doing me the honor”: Antheil (1945), 291.

  30 “that she and Antheil”: “Hedy Adds New Twist to War,” Stars and Stripes, 19 Nov. 1945, 1.

  31 “In a radio communication”: Markey and Antheil (1941), 21.

  32 “An invention is the result”: Quoted in Berle and De Camp (1937), 4.

  33 “An invention is not complete”: Quoted in ibid.

  34 “The invention is not the specimen”: Ibid., 197.

  35 “It seems that Hedy”: George Antheil draft text, 11–12. Antheil Papers.

  EIGHT: FLASHES OF GENIUS

  1 “We are, at this instant”: Antheil to Bullitt, 16 Oct. 1940, MS 112, box 3, folder 42, William C. Bullitt Papers, Yale University Library.

  2 “split-second”: “Idea for a Radio-Controlled Torpedo,” 2, 23 Dec. 1940, document in possession of Anthony Loder, Los Angeles.

  3 “In the meantime”: Antheil to Lamarr, 10 Jan. 1941, Antheil Papers.

  4 Oslo Report: See Frithjof Sterrenburg, The Oslo Report 1939—Nazi Secret Weapons Forfeited.

  5 “was to handle”: Antheil to Lamarr, 10 Jan. 1941, box 2, folder 7, George Antheil Papers, Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

  6 “I found it necessary”: Ibid.

  7 “is a queer girl”: Antheil to Bullitt, 20 May 1941, MS 112, box 3, folder 42, Bullitt Papers.

  8 “Idea for a Radio-Controlled Torpedo”: Document dated 23 Dec. 1940, in possession of Anthony Loder, Los Angeles.

  9 “made blueprints”: Antheil to Bullitt, 20 May 1941.

  10 “One of the imperative”: Scott (1920), 286–87.

  11 October 1915: Ibid., 13.

  12 “mentally inbred”: Quoted in McBride (1992), 7.

  13 more than 110,000 ideas and inventions: Ibid., 12.

  14 only one actually went into production: Scott (1920), 125.

  15 testing pilots for airsickness: National Inventors Council (1943), 387.

  16 “Several others”: Scott (1920), 124.

  17 “had more impact”: Quoted in Michael Bess, review of Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World by J. R. McNeill, Journal of Political Ecology 9 (2002).

  18 “Inventors often lost”: National Inventors Council (1943).

  19 “And now we’ve received”: Antheil to Bullitt, 20 May 1941.

  20 “Hedy is incredibly”: Ibid.

  21 “deeply interested”: Antheil to Bullitt, n.d. (“Thanks for your very kind note of February 22 [1942].…”), MS 112, box 3, folder 44, Bullitt Papers.

  22 “became her trademark”: Barton (2010), 102.

  23 she briefed him: Ibid., 103.

  24 legally changed her name: Ibid., 108.

  25 “Langner seems to be”: Antheil to Bullitt, 30 June 1941, MS 112, box 3, folder 42, Bullitt Papers.

  NINE: RED-HOT APPARATUS

  1 “We are, at present”: George Antheil et al., “Idea for a Radio-Controlled Torpedo,” 23 Dec. 1940, document in possession of Anthony Loder, Los Angeles.

  2 “two sister system[s]”: document in possession of Anthony Loder, Los Angeles.

  3 “(a) The ribbon wavelength”: Ibid.

  4 “It’s my daily work”: Antheil to Bullitt, 24 June 1942, MS 112, box 3, folder 44, William C. Bullitt Papers, Yale University Library.

  5 “Hedy was once married”: Antheil to Bullitt, 20 May 1941, MS 112, box 3, folder 42, Bullitt Papers.

  6 “novel torpedo”: Ibid.

  7 “It is of course”: Markey and Antheil (1941), 12–13.

  8 “Recent communications”: Antheil to Bullitt, 30 June 1941, MS 112, box 3, folder 42, Bullitt Papers.

  9 illness ran into the layoff: Shearer (2010), 130–31.

  10 “Hedy was here Sunday”: Antheil to Bullitt, 19 July 1941, MS 112, box 3, folder 42, Bullitt Papers.

  11 “At that time”: Boski Antheil memoir, 93–94, box 17, folders 1–3, Antheil Collection.

  12 “Hollywood is a funny”: Ibid.

  13 “Let’s move away”: Antheil (1945), 335.

  14 “We moved to a tiny”: Boski Antheil memoir, 94.

  15 “We got the smallest”: Antheil (1945), 336.

  16 “It was from my dead”: Ibid.

  17 “I have just finished”: Antheil to Bullitt, 19 July 1941.

  18 “HEDY LAMARR INVENTOR”: New York Times, 1 Oct. 1941.

  19 “actually reached”: Antheil to Bullitt, 13 July 1942, MS 112, box 3, folder 44, Bullitt Papers.

  20 “The Ambassador said”: U.S. Department of State (1943), 136.

  21 “When that big bomb”: Mullener (2002), 31.

  22 “U.S. submariners began”: Wildenberg and Polmar (2010), 102.

  23 These and other problems: See Gannon (1996), Newpower (2006), and Lockwood (1951).

  24 “After considering our torpedo”: Antheil to Bullitt, 5 Feb. 1942 (misdated 1941), MS 112, box 3, folder 44, Bullitt Papers.

  25 “Hedy and I spent”: Antheil to Bullitt, 13 July 1942.

  26 “unquestionably dealt”: Kennan, introduction to Bullitt (1972), xii.

  27 “I am sorry”: Bullitt to Antheil, 25 Aug. 1942, box 28, folder 16, Antheil Collection.

  28 “during the anxious days”: Antheil to Bullitt, 23 May 1943, MS 112, box 3, folder 44, Bullitt Papers.

  29 “rebirth”: Quoted in Whitesitt (1983), 57.

  30 news analyst: Ibid., 58.

  31 “chip in and help”: “Hedy Lamarr Sells $4,547,000 Bonds,” New York Times, 2 Sept. 1942.

  32 “NEWARK, N.J., Sept. 4”: “Hedy Lamarr a Hit in Newark,” New York Times, 5 Sept. 1942.

  TEN: O PIONEERS!

  1 denied its identifying information: “It is only this year (1997) that the connection has been pointed out by Dave Hughes.” Scibor-Marchocki (2003), “Sonobuoy.”

  2 “When we received”: Ibid.

  3 “As requested”: Ibid.

  4 “In retrospect”: Ibid.

  5 “worked very well”: Ibid.

  6 “solves each”: Ibid.

  7 “spread spectrum”: Scholtz (1982), 832.

  8 paper published in 1982: Ibid.

  9 told me he was aware: Robert Scholtz, personal communication, 28 April 2011.

  10 follow-up pap
er: Price (1983).

  11 “Although the radio link”: Scholtz (1982), 829.

  12 seminal paper: Shannon (1948).

  13 “Shannon’s formula”: Walters (2005), 165.

  14 coined the term “bit”: Shannon (1948), 379.

  15 “evidently carried”: Scholtz (1982), 833.

  16 different secret communication systems: Ibid., 845–47.

  17 “scores of patents”: Ibid., 835.

  18 “For the first time”: Scibor-Marchocki (2003), “Surveillance Drone.”

  19 top four most performed: Whitesitt (1983), 62.

  20 “It is a wonderful”: Quoted in ibid.

  21 “There is everything”: Quoted in ibid.

  22 “became a shuttle trip”: Lamarr (1966), 129.

  23 Traumas emerged: Ibid., 128–30.

  24 “time and analysis” … “the crisp, competitive”: Ibid., 131.

  25 “It was the case”: Ibid., 137.

  26 “My judgment on scripts”: Ibid., 166.

  27 “We argued quite a bit”: Quoted in ibid., 181.

  28 $30 million or more from acting: Ibid., 312.

  29 Spread Spectrum Systems: Dixon (1984).

  30 “first comprehensive”: Mike Marcus, “Early Civil Spread Spectrum History,” http://www.marcus-spectrum.com/SSHistory.htm, 1.

  31 “anachronistic technical regulations”: Marcus (2009), 19.

  32 “In the 1970S”: Ibid., 20–21.

  33 study the FCC commissioned: Scales (1980).

  34 “Spread spectrum techniques”: Ibid., 1–3.

  35 “It became clear”: Marcus (2009), 24.

  36 “the spread spectrum Pandora’s box”: Ibid.

  37 not so easily persuaded: This discussion follows ibid., 26.

  38 “Legend has it”: Ibid., 25.

  39 “The rules adopted”: Ibid., 33.

  40 A study done for Microsoft: Perspective Associates (UK) (2009), Economic Value of Unlicensed Spectrum. http://www.marcus-spectrum.com/SSHistory.htm.

  41 “I can’t understand”: Meeks (1990), 2, 4.

  42 “Few people were ever”: Osborne (2000).

  43 “I wasn’t worried”: Dave Hughes interview with author, Colorado Springs, 23 Sept. 2010. All Dave Hughes quotations from this source.

  AFTERWORD

  1 “Some time ago”: Boski Antheil, “Past Present,” box 17, folders 1–3, Antheil Collection, Library of Congress.

  2 “To neutralize Mandl”: Newton (1986), 544.