It sounds like the plot of a classic Hollywood caper. But in 1935, two of the screen’s most iconic leading men, fueled by booze and boredom, actually tried to dig an underground tunnel to the home of the reclusive “Divine One,” Greta Garbo.
Long before they were Oscar-winning legends, James Stewart and Henry Fonda were just two struggling actors sharing a bungalow in Los Angeles. Having met as members of the University Players stock company in the East, the pair resumed their roommate arrangement when they both migrated West to break into cinema.
The Cat Problem That Sparked a Fence
Their rented house on Rockingham Road (located in what is now the posh Brentwood neighborhood) had a peculiar selling point. It was directly next door to the fortress-like mansion of Greta Garbo. While this seemed like a dream come true for Stewart, who was “completely enamoured” with the enigmatic star, the proximity was a nightmare for Garbo.
Related: The Real Reason Greta Garbo Retired So Young
The trouble wasn’t just the two competitive bachelors; it was also “Hank’s cats.” Fonda had a soft spot for strays. He began leaving food out on the porch, and soon the property was overrun by a herd of feral felines. Garbo, famously private, was not amused. “Garbo didn’t like Hank’s cats,” Stewart later recalled. The actress’s response was decidedly architectural, as she erected a massive fence between the two properties.
For most people, a high fence is a deterrent. For Stewart and Fonda, slightly inebriated on a lazy afternoon, it was a challenge. “We agreed we should meet her,” Fonda recounted in his memoirs. “But she had this high fence separating our properties, so we decided to dig a tunnel under the fence”.
The Great Tunnel Incident of 1935
What followed was perhaps the most absurd moment in Hollywood history. The two actors, both over six feet tall, grabbed a shovel and began digging at the base of the fence, attempting to create a passageway into Garbo’s yard. “It was thirsty work,” Fonda admitted. “So we made sure we had plenty of booze on hand, and we ended up consuming quite a bit of alcohol”.
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The digging continued for several feet, with the two legends taking turns shoveling dirt while sneaking glances toward the fence line for signs of Garbo. But their subterranean scheme came to a screeching halt when the shovel struck something hard and metallic.
They had hit a gas main.
Who Wanted to Quit? The Friendly Debate That Followed
It was at this point that the story diverges depending on which legend you ask. Fonda claimed he wanted to keep digging, but Stewart, ever the cautious banker’s son, refused to risk blowing up the block. Stewart, conversely, insisted that he was ready to push forward, but Fonda, “not used to too much hard labour,” gave up.
Regardless of who was the coward, the tunnel was abandoned. They never got to meet Garbo, though they did manage to nearly asphyxiate themselves in the name of chivalry.
The aftermath of the “Great Tunnel Incident” is even stranger. The two men continued to live in squalor while Garbo grew increasingly agitated. The high fence did nothing to stop the fleas infesting Fonda’s stray cats. “They just hopped right over,” Fonda lamented. Eventually, the plague of insects became so severe that Garbo, the most famous actress in the world, simply moved away to escape the itching.
Years later, the story became a staple of Hollywood lore, perfectly capturing the unique dynamic between the two men. As Orson Welles once famously observed of the roommates: “I thought those two guys were either having the hottest affair in Hollywood… or were the two straightest human beings I ever met in my life.“
They were just two regular guys who happened to be movie stars, trying (and failing) to dig their way into a legend’s heart.
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