Back at Malibu, I prowled the house, tried to read scripts, and behaved like a caged bear. Although I did not know it, I was the victim of creative backlash. A director between pictures can become a lost soul. I was renewing my hatred of humanity when Winnie Sheehan called. He had a new script. …

Once again Sheehan warned me about the perils of censorship. We got into trouble with the Hays office in spite of the warning. El Brendel marched up to McLaglen with a pretty soubrette in tow and sounded off: ‘I brought you the lay of the land.’ He pulled out a map and made McLaglen look at it while he pointed innocently. The august guardians of public morals took a jaundiced view. We pushed the footage by, but it was a close shave. – RW