Hollywood (Jan - Mar 1943)

have one Anderson in Hollywood who was working. At the mention of her name, directors would shake their heads glumly and say, "The trouble with her is she's too sweet. Gentle as a kitten. Much too goodygood." And so roles that Mary had tried out for went, at the last minute to other girls. Her screen career seemed to have reached its zenith as Henry Aldrich's coy 15-year-old girl friend. She says grimacing, "I was dying to act, and instead had to carry school books and make sheep's eyes at Henry." All this made Mary very much available when a Broadway play, Guest in the House was casting. Other young actresses who were approached to play the sweetfaced vixen in it, had too many picture engagements in Hollywood. But with Mary it was different. No on stopped her when she left unhappily for New York to begin rehearsals. She and Hollywood were through. The play opened and two months later Mary promptly became the acting "find" of the year with agents from every studio knocking at her dressing room and begging her to return to films. The reason for this was that the play represented a new Mary Anderson. Not a shy, sugar-sweet ingenue, but a nasty little tigress whose throat you'd cheerfully cut. The advertisements for the show deftly described her as "an All-American five-letter female." Audiences hissed and booed her, waiting eagerly for the final scene where Mary gets done in. And Mary loved it. "They hate me," she said, eyes shining. "You have no idea how happy this makes me. With all that rantin', fury and meanness, I feel re-born." The kitten had turned tiger, and learned that it pays to be bad. With this sharp reversal in her career, Mary herself has changed. She has the same demure smile, the same big, melting eyes, the same childish lisp, but inside she's a girl who is willing to fight for what she wants, and won't take any more pushing around. She's made Hollywood recognize her as an actress — not as Henry Aldrich's girl friend. Too, this new popularity, coming when her short career was dying of malnutrition, has made her a nut about acting. She practices hours before a long mirror in her bedroom, or in her dressing room on the lot. She says "no" to most of the young men who clamor around her demanding dates. She takes a long-sighted view and prefers to spend her time building up her dramatic possibilities. In New York most of her dates were reserved for Richard Watts, Jr., the dramatic critic, who holds a particularly high place in her affections because he gives her tips on acting. Now Mary is firmly entrenched on the Fox lot with a contract. She's giving Hollywood fair warning. No more gaga roles for her . . . she's a purring kitten no longer. The kitten has turned tiger — and for good. ■ DO YOUR PART . . . BUY WAR BONDS TODAY • • • AND THE GIRLS FACE is Satin-Smooth for Kisses GOOD MORNING TREATMENT FOR DRY SKIN Apply a light film of Jergens Face Cream; leave on as you do your chores. Your skin looks clean, fresh. Before making up, cleanse with this new cream; splash with cold water; blot gently dry. Sensational "One -Cream" Beauty Treatment soon helps smooth away sad Dry -Skin Lines You, too, can easily have skin like satin — so smooth, clear and fine. One new cream is all you need. Jergens Face Cream ! This single cream is almost like 4 creams. It (1) cleanses like a charm; (2) helps soften your skin; (3) leaves a silky-fine base for powder; (4) acts as a Night Cream that says "Hands off" to dry-skin lines. Thank Jergens skin scientists for Jergens Face Cream ; they make Jergens Lotion, too . Use Jergens Face Cream every day. It's the new "One-Cream" Beauty Treatment. • BUY WAR BONDS AND STAMPS • 49