Ready or Not, Here comes Gatsby

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The delay was caused by budget problems and the crumbling Evans marriage. If the interval undermined the Women's Wear campaign, it did have one good side effect; the studio milked hundreds of extra inches of press copy out of the deliberately prolonged search for a fresh Daisy. When such established stars as Katharine Ross, Candice Bergen and Faye Dunaway were made to test, photographers were dutifully stationed at the door to record their comings and goings.

The product tie-ins, valued at $6 million, were designed to "create a third level of awareness," says Paramount Promotion Director Charles Glenn. That is, they are designed to flog Gatsby on the Main Street level. "I figured we could get $2 million in paid publicity from somebody else's budgets," says Yablans. (The $6 million figure includes the calculated cost of each manufacturer's in-house and labor costs.)

The studio claims to have turned down more than a dozen manufacturers eager to link their products with Gatsby. "Anything that was not in keeping with the taste level of the film itself was not considered," says Mildred Collins, a publicist who coordinated the tie-ins. Also anything that did not smack of cold cash. Says Glenn: "We looked for companies that would put their money where their mouths were."

Classic White. Finally four firms were picked: "21" Brands (Ballantine Scotch); Glemby International, a chain of more than 500 hairdressing salons; Robert Bruce, a men's sportswear manufacturer; and E.I. du Pont, for their new "classic white" line of cookware. "You have turned The Great Gatsby into pots and pans," complained Fitzgerald's daughter, Scottie Lanahan Smith, but to no avail. (The film lavishes attention on Gatsby's Escoffier-worthy kitchen that is stocked completely with gleaming copper utensils.)

Ballantine was the only association initiated by the studio. "21" Brands weighed in with $350,000 for a campaign whispering "Gatsby's parties . . . Ballantine's was there" — illegally, of course, since 1922 was a Prohibition year as well as the height, in Fitzgerald's judgment, of the Jazz Age. Robert Bruce failed to get the services of Robert Redford as model for its $175,000 commitment ("Drape me in a suit like a Vogue model?" stormed Redford. "No way"). But the firm did get the use of Newport, R.I., location backgrounds for its "Gatsby's Times" ads and some movie tickets to award in the "Gatsby man" contests it will sponsor in its 400 retail department store outlets. Glemby promised $250,000 worth of "Gatsby cut" promotions in its 600 department store salons. (In the film Farrow's marcelled wig is pretty but has all the natural hit of a helmet.) Du Pont will also blanket 52 department stores in major markets with displays, books, records, block movie tickets, and provide each store with a half-hour film on the making of the film for local TV exposure. "The idea," concludes Glenn modestly, "is to Gatsbyize the entire country."