SEATTLE

June 17, 1944

As is noted in Sheridan and Monush’s book, Gable’s return to film was in Adventure (1945).  The cancellation of Seattle freed up Lucille Ball to do Without Love and Ziegfeld Follies. After not getting the role of Scarlett in Gone With The Wind (1939), it looked like Ball and Gable were not fated to be mated on screen.  The pairing never came to be.  Ball had already worked with Myrna Loy when she first got to Hollywood in Broadway Bill (1934).  Not much is known about Seattle.  It was a pet project of John Considine Jr., the son of a vaudeville impresario whose checkered past was intrinsically tied to the Seattle city. Considine and Norman Taurog (who was to direct Seattle), had previously collaborated on A Yank at Eton (1942) starring Mickey Rooney. Their most famous collaboration was the Oscar-nominated film Boys Town (1938).  Like Lucy, Taurog also worked on Ziegfeld Follies. He was director of the Prologue and re-takes.