Episode 107: Friend or Foe
A newly free prince is on the hunt for his next fortune, but could there be a new heiress in his sight?
#DorisDuke, #BarbaraHutton, #PrinceMdivani, #lovetriangle, #Hitler, #Communism, #Russianroyals, #Feuchtwanger, #lovetriangle, #frenemy
As Barbara Hutton continues her South Seas travels, another rumor percolates involving a new love interest for Prince Alexis Mdivani. Will the new love triangle cause another rift in friendship? Meanwhile former Russian aristocracy hope that Hitler’s rise to power will lead to a restoration of the monarchy and the eradication of the Communists from Soviet Russia.
Other people and subjects include: Doris Duke, Nanaline Duke, Louise Van Alen – formerly Princess Mdivani, James HR Cromwell aka “Jimmy,” Princess Roussadana “Roussie” Mdivani Sert, Walter Winchell, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Nazi party, German Communists, McCarthy era, Lion Feuchtwanger, The Waiting Room book series (Success, The Oppermans, & Exil), Moscow 1937, play Salem Witch Trials, Arthur Miller, The Crucible, Earl of Warwick Charles Guy Fulke Greville, William Rhinelander Stewart, Gold Dust twins, Harold Lloyd, Arturo Toscanini, Oscar Theiben, Mrs. George Palen Snow – Carmen White, Napoleonic shoulder pads, Vogue & Harper’s Bazaar fashion editor, Prohibition, monarchists, royalists, anti-royalists, dispossessed royals & aristocrats, King Alphonso XIII of Spain, Empress Maria Theresa, Emperor Charles V, Duke de Guise – Jean III, Hapsburg Empress Zita, King Otto, King George of Greece, Prince Philip, King Charles III, Hohenzollern, Kaiser Wilhelm II, King Michael I, Jeanne Eagels, Jr., Jeanne Eagels, the Oscars, Academy Awards, face spanked – slapped, man burglar, nudist colony, newspaper research, digital archives, Charity Carnival, Judson Health Center,
Saks Fifth Avenue, ocean liners, Bremen, Aquitania, Akron, Ohio, New York, Paris, South Seas, Sidney, Australia, French internment Camp des Milles, Apple tv series The New Look, Christian Dior, Catherine Dior, Coco Chanel, frenemy, rivalry, romantic competition between friends, past lingers into the present
Archival Music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Extra Notes / Call to Action:
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Publish Date: March 21, 2024
Length: 23:54
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Says My Heart / You Leave Me Breathless by Carroll Gibbons, Album Elegance
Section 2 Music: Umtcha, Umtcha, Da Da Da by The Rhythmic Eight, Album Fascinating Rhythm – Great Hits of the 20s
Section 3 Music: Royal Garden Blues by Benny Carter, Album Perfect Jazz
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
AS THE MONEY BURNS
Podcast by Nicki Woodard
Episode 107 – Friend or Foe
Outline
New love rumor
Royals in exile
00:00
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
AS THE MONEY BURNS is an original podcast by Nicki Woodard. Based on historical research, this is a deep exploration into what happened to a set of actual heirs and heiresses to some of America’s most famous fortunes when the Great Depression hits.
Each episode has three primary sections. Section 1 is a narrative story. Section 2 goes deeper into the historical facts. Section 3 focuses on contemporary, emotional, and personal connections.
00:28
Story Recap
Wedding speculation surrounds Jakey Astor and an Italian princess, but the real pending scandal is his mother Madeleine Astor Dick with her fiery Italian boxer lover.
Now back to AS THE MONEY BURNS
Title
00:45
Friend or Foe
[Music Fade Out]
Episode Tag
A newly free prince is on the hunt for his next fortune, but could there be a new heiress in his sight?
01:00
[Music – Says My Heart / You Leave Me Breathless by Carroll Gibbons, Album Elegance]
Section 1 – Story
[Music Fade Out]
01:19
Life has a way of forcing change. Regime changes. Fortune changes. Heart changes. Oh, how fickled the world and lovers can be.
Something is definitely happening in the air. Is it hope? Love? Despair?
A mysterious female hand cuts out and pastes together newspaper articles detailing recent events into a scrapbook.
01:45
Thursday, February 23rd, 1933, New York
Exciting news as German ocean liner Bremen arrives in New York harbor. A Berlin banker and fiscal agent to big German breweries Oscar Theiben (Tee – bun) hints that thirsty Americans might begin importing beverages soon. Eh-hem, could this mean the over decade long Prohibition might be coming to an end in the nearish future?
As always fashion is reviving another trend that might indicate other rising moods. Another Bremen passenger and former Vogue now Harper’s Bazaar fashion editor Mrs. George Palen Snow, formerly Carmen White, alerts the public that square padded military shoulders similar to the Napoleonic era is THE fashion trend. Among other passengers aboard this particular trip are movie comedian Harold Lloyd and family, maestro Arturo Toscanini on his way to conduct the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, and the socially ambitious Nanaline Duke with her daughter the tall and now less awkward growing fashion icon heiress Doris Duke. The latter two avoid any questions on which way the wedding bells might be ringing for Doris.
03:00
Oh, Doris, much like that other heiress the little less chubby budding fashionista Barbara Hutton is now perpetually on the matrimonial watchlist. Any male half breathing near them might be a potential suitor. Must be such a change for the former ugly ducklings. These two semi-best friends once nicknamed the Gold Dust twins, due to being heiresses to two of the largest fortunes amongst their age group and quite honestly the whole entire world.
Now, these two young 20 year old heiresses have yet to secure that all important matrimonial title of Mrs., despite having both debuted in 1930. Egads, the best debutantes announce their engagement at their balls or at least married within a year. Two years is an old maid, and if they hit 3 spinsterhood.
But don’t worry too much for these burgeoning swans. They soon will turn 21 in November 1933 when they can then choose any husband they desire and inherit their fortunes. Ummm, one should note that females still will have some form of conservatorship until lawfully wed so that their husbands can protect their finances.
04:15
Therefore the richest heiresses are heavily pursued by plenty of fortune hunters and hungry royals but lacking more reputable suitors. Barbara was caught in a scandal with ruggedly handsome Russian Prince Alexis Mdivani – the details not fully public, but the threat still looms especially as practically everyone is waiting for their inevitable announcement.
Barbara avoids attention with an excursion to the South Seas, where every port brings another speculation. Somehow she manages to skip notice in Sydney, Australia. Oh how, Doris must envy Barbara’s nonparental & unchaperoned travels, as Doris is never out of Nanaline’s reach or sight. A very cold and disapproving sight.
But did Doris happen to make another unexpected romance?
Oh what trouble one little line can do. Very few words, direct and to the point. Uttered by Walter Winchell in his syndicated column…
05:21
Sunday, March 5th, 1933
“Americans in Paris are cabling locals about the talk that Doris Duke, the richest belle in the world, is Prince Mdivani’s new baybee.”
Oh my god, is that true? Could that actually be? Would that be a love quadrangle?
A somewhat silly claim as Doris is nowhere near him, at least not anymore. Even if so, Alexis has plenty of competition. The impoverished young Earl of Warwick Charles Guys Fulke Greville and William Rhinelander Stewart might be rivals for attention. Plus the adamant heir to two fortunes James HR Cromwell, aka Jimmy, has been courting her everywhere on two continents.
Furthermore since her return, Doris has been busying herself with the Charity Carnival for the Judson Health Center to be held at Madison Square Gardens. In preparation, she attends Junior Committee meetings at Saks Fifth Avenue.
06:24
Only the quivers of Cupid’s arrows can be quite fickle. But with such an exacting measure?… The source of such a well planted rumor is most likely none other than Princess Roussadana “Roussie” Mdivani Sert, Alexis’s highly scheming and manipulative sister. Now the question is are they trying to ensnare Doris or stoke jealousy in Barbara or might there be someone else in mind?
The Mdivanis have kept on the hook in close proximity Alexis’s first wife It Girl heiress Louise Van Alen, who while heartbroken over their recent divorce and the love triangle seems more than still willing to soothe Alexis and maybe even reconcile.
07:07
Oooh, if the fickled uber rich Barbara would just play into their hands already. Barbara has twice the fortune of Louise – who is the sister of Alexis’s best friend by the way. And though Doris might be slightly richer than Barbara but is maybe not be as malleable, especially as long as Nanaline is around.
But even if Barbara doesn’t want the Prince, would she be able to let him go to Doris? Does this turn a friend into a foe or a frenemy?
Meanwhile, the Prince and his siblings are not the only ones trying to get a better life, several impoverished and dispossessed royals see a brighter future on the horizon.
07:48
Friday, March 17th, 1933, Paris, France
Amongst royal exiles, an enthusiasm ripples through many Russian restaurants and hangouts in their home away from home.
It has been over a decade since World War I and now nearly 3 years of the Great Depression, and many are growing weary. It is so strange how people long for a return to the past or what might never be again or possibly never was. The fall of so many European monarchies led to massive upheaval, and now there are whispers of hope trickling throughout communities that a restoration might be on the forefront. There is considerable questioning of the fate of the newly democratic states failing thus making viable future restored monarchies. While anti-royalists claim that such romantic schemes are outside the realm of practical politics.
Still former officers of the Imperial Guard, graying barons, and pauper princes have held out hopes after 17 years that someone will lead them back to glory.
08:57
And the leader to this restoration – none other than Adolf Hitler. Yes, that’s right Hitler, an arch foe of Communism having already gotten rid of 5 million German Communist members fleeing for cover.
Though former Russian royals celebrate the new German Chancellor, Hitler is already a polarizing figure with other critics.
Recently, German Jewish author Lion Feuchtwanger finished a United States speaking tour for his 1930 book Success, a thinly veiled fictional account which is an actual criticism of Hitler and his autobiography. Feuchtwanger’s friends warn him not to return, but he insists as a literary critic he is under no danger and that Hitler will likely be out of power within 3 months. He also refers to Hitler as a failed and mediocre actor.
09:50
Many changes are coming indeed. So could an impoverished royal family soon be restored to their former glory? Would that change their pursuit from love to power? And could an heiress become a real princess?
A jeweled female hand scribbles away on a telegram before the message is sent across the world…
10:15
[Music – Umtcha, Umtcha, Da Da Da by The Rhythmic Eight, Album Fascinating Rhythm – Great Hits of the 20s]
Section 2 – History & Historiography
[Music Fade Out]
10:32
History certainly has plenty of oddities and ways of thinking. Which makes the little bits that pop up here and there all the more delicious as I flesh out the main storylines.
I mean who would have thought former Russian aristocrats support Hitler thinking he will kick out the communists and restore the monarchy in Russia.
As mentioned previously, there are plenty of former royals and aristocrats hanging around waiting for the good life to return. Some are very real, while others are pretenders. The aims can be varied – restoration of power, land, and privilege. Or merely the need to live a good life and be pampered wherever and forever.
11:10
World War I brought the end of many of the monarchies in Europe. Now over 17 years later in Russia alone, but those aren’t the only ones who might be hoping for restoration. The more recently abdicated deposed King Alphonso XIII of Spain visits India to see his son who is in the British navy. From Belgium, the Duke (Duc) de Guise would go by Jean III if returned to power in France. The Austro-Hungarian Hapsburg (Habsburg) widow ex-Empress Zita would like her son King Otto restored. He actually was only an infant during World War I when he was stripped of his throne. Then there is King George of Greece who lives in England – he is the grandfather of future Prince Philip and thus the great grandfather of the now new King Charles III.
11:55
I think the main thing these royalists, monarchists, and monarchic sympathizers are negating is that if Hitler started returning them to power he himself would be ousted from German and Austrian rule. Hello, first the Nazi party is a socialist party, and second regardless why would he re-legitimize anyone that might lead to the same movement to end his own rule. Still living from the 300 year old Hohenzollern line is Kaiser Wilhelm II and another temporary ruler King Michael I. Remember Hitler is also Austrian which ties back to the Hapsburg Empire, an even older line associated with the great grandmother of European monarchs Empress Maria Theresa and further back to German Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
12:46
Now the Jewish Lion Feuchtwanger is an open and early opponent to Hitler. As far back as the 1920s, the author begins protesting the Nazi party. He writes “Success” a fictional book in 1930 thinly mocking Hitler and openly calls him a failed and a mediocre actor. By 1933, the popular book leads to Feuchtwanger on an American tour speaking out against the now as of January 1933 Chancellor Hitler. During that tour, Feuchtwanger’s home will be ransacked by government agents who will steal and destroy many items. As the speaker rides the ocean liner Aquitania back to Germany, there are already concerns that he will be jailed or persecuted by the Nazis. He insists that as bad as it might be he doesn’t think literary criticism will lead to him having any real troubles. He will flee to France *later in 1933.
13:40
Also in 1933 while in exile, he publishes the second novel The Oppermans in the Waiting Room trilogy series with Success as the first and the third Exil in 1940 – the series covers the fall of a German Jewish bourgeoisie family due to the Nazis. In 1939, when France declares war on Germany, Feuchtwanger will be twice imprisoned at the French internment Camp des Milles, and then moved as German forces advance. He will be smuggled to Marseilles then America. By 1941 after granted political asylum in the United States, he settles in Los Angeles. Now ironically, Feuchtwanger is a strong supporter of Stalin, writing another book Moscow 1937 (Moskau 1937) praising the Communist leader and will later be under investigation during the McCarthy era.
Feuchtwanger will be one the first to expose the Nazi racial policies before the atrocities. And he will also write a 1947 play Salem Witch Trials with many of similar themes to the future Arthur Miller’s 1953 The Crucible.
14:41
For every episode, I peruse multiple newspapers. When I first did my research through UCLA, the database would only give me the exact article. The service I now use pulls up the whole page despite where my search words land together or apart. This makes accuracy a little harder, while at the same time helps me find other things. Because I get to see the whole entire page with adjoining articles. Things might be scattered, the term I’m searching appears in a different context, or quite wondrously appears next to other interesting side notes. Hitler and Mussolini occasionally and more and more frequently. Sometimes crime stories, murder trials, kidnappings,… Other stories like a lost dog following its former owners cross the continent and reuniting. The stories about monkey stowaways, human ancestor remains,… I will often save them for side notes if just for my own amusement.
15:35
For this episode, two side stories stick out so much that I have to mention them. I found Feuchtwanger and his Success book reference inside an article and under the reference about Doris Duke and Prince Mdivani. Next to another article on Lion Feuchtwanger’s US tour, I ran into a February 1933 article on “Nudists Seeking New Recruits” in the Akron, Ohio community. The club’s president chides “fair weather friends” and emphasizes the call for winter not only summer participants, then he switches to an appeal to “softies, who want the world served to them in style.” For the upcoming summer camp, there is also a need for more boys on the baseball team, a dancing instructor, a physical director for women and a kindergartener – honestly something is off on that context maybe a typo because I don’t know if meant means teacher or supervisor for or an actual child. For the upcoming meeting, the date and time and location address *are printed in the news article.
16:35
I also like to title episodes after words or phrases that appear when reading and preparing a story. For this particular episode, I had to resist the one I most wanted to use – face-spanked meaning a face slap. It actually appears a few lines below and inside the article on the Doris Duke and Prince Alexis Mdivani rumor and where also further down mentions Feuchtwanger.
Actually, I didn’t really spot that one immediately I was moving too fast. But I was so excited finding that potential romance rumor back in January this year I sent it to a few friends who also listen and especially anyone I discuss future plots.
Immediately, 2 picked up that phrase but the story was cut off, so I had to go back and get the full story. I laughed so hard. Once again only a sentence or two explains a situation, but boy is this a loaded one…
17:26
“Jeanne Eagels, Jr.,” as she calls herself, was face-spanked in a West 58th Street Wyoming-Ketchup parlor the other night by her father’s new wife, who never met her before and thought she was a man-burglar… Junior, who will soon become a mother – was also kicked low by the TNTempered woman…”
Jeanne Eagels, Jr. is a woman claiming to be the daughter of film star Jeanne Eagels, who died from an overdose after recent eye surgery shortly before the 1929 Wall Street Crash and is the first posthumously nominated performer for an Oscar in the 2nd Academy Awards in 1930. The Junior claim has not been confirmed as Eagels died with no known surviving children – according to Wikipedia one son from her first marriage either died very young or was given away for adoption and no children from her second marriage. Kim Novak will portray Jeanne Eagels in a 1957 biopic of the same name. I could not locate any additional information on Junior either prior or after the reported spanking incident.
Who says history can’t be interesting and entertaining?
18:33
[Music – Royal Garden Blues by Benny Carter, Album Perfect Jazz]
Section 3 – Contemporary & Personal Relevance
[Music Fade Out]
18:52
What is a foe? Can a friend become a foe? Or even more can a foe become a friend? Is the enemy of your enemy really your friend or just another enemy? Who can you really trust?
Rivalry can do strange things to people, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. The world of wealth is very small and insular as we have been exploring. It is inevitable that there would be overlaps and alas even competition.
19:22
This is not confined to history, celebrity, or wealth. Almost everyone has had the experience of liking someone who likes or is involved with a friend. It’s painful, and it can quickly and easily destroy a friendship whether any reciprocal attraction takes place. Trust me, growing up, I had this scenario continuously with my own lifelong best friend. Nearly every guy I ever liked would find her attractive upon meeting her, and almost every male would ask me if she would find them attractive. Luckily, though we occasionally shared a few crushes, we rarely had to directly compete – that was definitely a major benefit of going to separate schools.
Still competition comes any many more forms – activities, goals, family,… the possibilities are endless. I mean it fuels social media. Digital, present, temporary, and yet forever.
20:21
History is in the past right? Not exactly relevant in the present, or is it? When reviewing for each episode, it is interesting to explore one period of time and see the foreshadowing into the next. The links ever more present and poignant.
Apple’s new tv limited series The New Look recounts the French fashion houses during the World War II German occupation of France and the rise of fashion for nearly a decade afterwards. The rivalries and friendships, the pitfalls, and the challenges and the later any Nazi association. While Coco Chanel gets some coverage, the central story focuses on Christian Dior with his sister French resistance fighter Catherine Dior. What is briefly referenced but not discussed is that their father was an industrialist who lost everything in the 1929 Crash. While earlier in the timeline of events of the story, the impact of the Crash and the Great Depression still linger as we know into later life and world events.
21:17
Makes you wonder how long we will suffer and what are the long-term side effects of these last few years? From financial to medical to social, we have had radical changes that have failed to revert back to pre-pandemic days.
In many ways, that won’t happen. Much like how the world changed with the Great Depression for everyone including our heirs and heiresses. So that leaves an uneasy question as to what other dangers might still lie ahead?
As dark times reign, our heirs and heiresses face more challenges, and the issues and rivalries with friendships and love will always plague them.
21:55
Guess what? As The Money Burns has been listed as #16 in the Top 22 Indie Documentary podcast at Goodpods for March 2024. It also ranks in three other leaderboards.
#16 Top 22 Top Indie Documentary Monthly chart
#60 Top 100 Indie Documentary All time chart
#62 Top 100 Indie History Monthly chart
#70 Top 100 Documentary Monthly chart
Links in the notes and transcript.
Best Documentary Podcasts [2024] Top 22 Shows – Goodpods
Best Documentary Podcasts [2024] Top 100 Shows – Goodpods
Best History Podcasts [2024] Top 84 Shows – Goodpods
Best Documentary Podcasts [2024] Top 100 Shows – Goodpods
22:24
The 4th Anniversary of As The Money Burns is only weeks away. Please come to any of the social media to ask questions, share stories, and whatever else you might like addressed for the anniversary episode. Thank you to those have been listening over the years, and for all the newcomers I hope you enjoy and keep coming back.
We’re finally getting to the good stuff. It’s been a long and winding road, but one that gives a better explanation for what these heirs and heiresses were dealing with back then, the pitfalls, those around them, and with history providing hindsight into what were obvious wrong turns later.
If you enjoy As The Money Burns, then please share, like, & subscribe.
Hook
23:05
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Next when we return to AS THE MONEY BURNS…
The heart wants what it wants, so a concerned mother rushes to thwart her heiress daughter’s return to her former love.
Until then…
Credits
23:23
AS THE MONEY BURNS is an original podcast written, produced, and voiced by Nicki Woodard, based on historical research. Archival music has been provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, check out their website at www.pastperfect.com.
Please come visit us at As The Money Burns via Goodpods, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook (now Meta), or Instagram. Transcripts, timeline, episode guide, and character bios are available at asthemoneyburns.com.
23:54
THE END.