Encore San Francisco

I was vastly amused at the error in Robert Scheer’s article about San Francisco’s charms (“The Square with Style,” Dec. 22). He quotes Don Herron who, in a book, claimed that “it was in 1943 over lunch in the St. Francis Hotel that Ernest Hemingway talked Ingrid Bergman into starring in ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls.’ ”

If Scheer had bothered to read Bergman’s autobiography, he would have found no mention of such casting of the picture. It was true that he did suggest Bergman for the part of his heroine, but Vera Zorina was the first choice. When she proved to be miscast, Paramount then was very glad to get Ingrid, but Hemingway had nothing to do with that deal.

DELICIA BRACEGIRDLE

Los Angeles