Todd was on his way to New York to accept the New York Friars Club "Showman of the Year" award. Taylor wanted to travel with her husband, but stayed home with a cold after Todd overruled her pleas to join the trip. Just hours before the crash, Todd described the plane as safe as he phoned friends, including Joseph Mankiewicz and Kirk Douglas, in an attempt to recruit a gin rummy player for the flight: "Ah, c'mon," he said. "It's a good, safe plane. I wouldn't let it crash. I'm taking along a picture of Elizabeth, and I wouldn't let anything happen to her."