HEMINGWAY, ERNEST | Typed Letter Signed ("Ernest Hemingway"), to Herbert Walters, describing the filming of The Old Man and the Sea

HEMINGWAY, ERNEST

Typed Letter Signed ("Ernest Hemingway"), to Herbert Walters, describing the filming of The Old Man and the Sea

1 page (11 x 8 1/2 in.; 280 x 215 mm), on Finca Vigia onion skin letterhead, 30 October 1955, with original typed Finca Vigia envelope, and two notes on Esquire letterhead to Herbert Walters from Julie Schwartz, Assistant Fiction Editor, rejecting the letter for publication; previously folded with light handling wear. 

"We all work for our living," Hemingway on filming the fishing sequences of the adaptation of The Old Man and the Sea

Upon its release in 1952, Hemingway's last major work of fiction, The Old Man and the Sea, was immediately recognized as one of his best. Accolades quickly followed — the Pulitzer in 1953, the Nobel Prize citation in 1954 — as did talk of a cinematic adaptation. Producer Leland Hayward first approached the author in December of the year of its publication to suggest an adaptation starring Spencer Tracy, whose schedule precluded filming until the fall of 1955. 

Hemingway was deeply involved in the production of the fishing sequences filmed off Punta Purgatorio in Cuba, lashing baitfish alongside a skiff and mounting cameras on the flying bridge of his fishing boat Pilar. A crew of fourteen men worked every fair day for the first two weeks of September, though the sea was extremely rough. Hemingway took pride in long steering sessions on the flying bridge, fortifying himself with sips of tequila. Writing to Herb Walters shortly after filming, he described his preoccupation with his ongoing African novel, and the grueling nature of film production: 

"Thanks very much for your fine letter. I would have answered sooner but have been working very hard on the book that am doing. Page 658 and had to take the month of September to do photography of the fishing (actual) for The Old Man and the Sea. Up every morning at 0515, steer 8 to 10 hours on the flying bridge run the boat ass backwards to bring the over size cameras to bear etc. We all work for our living."

He goes on to describe a characteristically caustic exchange with an unidentified party looking for a substantial investment from the author, touching on the Salvation Army along the way ("I have slept in their establishments several times and it is nicer than jail although you meet more interesting characters in jail if they are sober"). 

REFERENCES

Baker, Carlos. Ernest Hemingway; A Life Story, pp. 506-507, 530-531

PROVENANCE

Herbert Walters — by descent to current owner