Modern Screen (Dec 1940 - Nov 1941)

HOLLYWOOD, that perennial cry-baby, is in the throes of the weeps again. Tears are flowing copiously and earnestly. It seems this time, that there just are not men enough to go around — either professionally or socially. Movie moguls, movie gals and the movie socialites are all in a panic. No men! And what are they going to do about it? Well now, actually, the question is not what are they going to do about it, of course. First, the question is— how come? Is this something new? And if so, why? Thinking about this for a moment, we realize that socially, the man market in Hollywood is considerably more complicated than it is in a normal city. A male star doesn't simply find a nice girl and marry her. "When he starts his career he hasn't the money; when he has the money he can't find the girl — largely because he doesn't trust most of them. His pride prevents him from dating a star who earns more than he does, while he is on the road up. Once he has arrived, his snobbery prevents him from dating a girl who is beneath him. Put yourself in the kid's position for a minute. His studio, his agent, his publicity man and his business manager all have something to say about his heart murmurs. And you, his fans, have a great deal to say about the girl he chooses to be seen with, too. Every time he buys a girl an ice cream soda he literally puts his career into jeopardy. Hollywood prefers bachelors. But they must be good boys and not get into trouble or the newspapers. The result is that the marriageable men take refuge in a sort • of implied engagement to a girl, or an engagement that implies eventual marriage. The ones who are married but are not working at it remain married legally in order to protect themselves from a too swift and ruinous re-marriage. Such tangled ties and vague but still threatening undercurrents surround every otherwise completely eligible man. You could safely say, in fact, without fear of contradiction that there are few really eligible bachelors in this movie town. You don't believe it? Look at the fist for a moment and study some of the outstanding cases. Cary Grant: He has been rumored serious about Barbara Hutton. For years he kept Phyllis Brooks as a wall between himself and predatory females. He is definitely in the higher social brackets and not in the general run. He is also pretty usually a one-woman man. Jack Carson: Just bursting through to success after his click in Ginger Roger's new picture, "Lucky Partners," although he's been around a long time. Married to Kay St. Germaine. Screen future swell. Socially, nil, unless you want to invite the missus, too. Richard Carlson: Matured, the quiet, intellectual type, getting a break in "Too Many Girls" and "The Howards of Virginia." Has not progressed as rapidly as he might have; maybe because he handpicks his roles and hopes to quit acting altogether as soon as he can get himself started as a director. Practically useless, socially. Served as a publicity escort once for Janet Gaynor. Had a short and swift romance with Ann Sheridan. Then married a New York model and settled down. Vaughn Paul: Definitely a good marriage bet, on his way to becoming a Universal producer, but tied hook, line and sinker to Deanna Durbin. Howard Hughes: Supposedly going to marry Ginger Rogers. Has escorted Gene Tierney and numerous others, including Madeleine Carroll, but is pretty cagey. Definitely not a guy a girl could call up in a pinch. John Payne: Newly arrived in "Maryland" and "The Great Profile." Married to Anne Shirley and father of a baby daughter. His domestic tranquility, his well-bred intellectual personality, have kept him from overnight success. Now he's on the ascending path, a credit to the industry, but a total loss to lonesome gals. Dennis O'Keefe: A good marriage bet, but almost exclusively the property of Steffi Duna. Richard Greene: Tagged romantically by the English star Virginia Field, for more than a year. Then came the wai Hollywood's bachelor brigade is lovely to look at, but impossible to put in a marrying mood! 9R MODERN SCREEN