Modern Screen (Dec 1949 - Nov 1950)

VALIANT LADY (Continued from page 22) 58 That afternoon, June sat with a bright smile on her face while Gordon MacRae sang a sweet little song. Later, for her daily contribution as The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady, June danced a gay Irish jig which you are sure to like when you see it on the screen. When you do, remember that June Haver is an actress — a very great actress. That night, Director Butler gathered the cast together and told them that the book — or dialogue — portion of the film had been completed. Next week the entire company would start rehearsals for the big winter production number which ends the film. June only half heard the call as she rushed to St. John's. It was a silent group that spent the weekend in the tiny family waiting room just three doors away from John's room on the third floor at the hospital. June, John's mother and father, and his brother and sister. Down the hall, John's doctor worked to curb the hemorrhaging. It didn't stop, and an urgent call was sent out for positive-O blood. The Studio Club at 20th Century-Fox responded with 40 pints. The transfusions seemed to be the answer, and on Sunday night, June went home to rest. She had hardly reached her front door when the hospital called her back with the news that John had taken a turn for the worse. She spent the night in the hospital chapel, praying. The next morning at nine, June called dance director LeRoy Prinz and apologized for not coming in that day. "I want to get the picture finished as badly as anyone," she said brokenly. "But I'd never forgive myself if ... I weren't here." When the man you love is close to death, it's hard to think that anything else matters. June stayed at the hospital through Wednesday, as Dr. Duzik's condition grew steadily worse from the added complications of uremic poisoning. On Thursday morning, however, June came in for rehearsal at eight. Everyone on the set sensed June's heartache, and tried to make it easier by curbing their own concern and curiosity. "There's no change," June told them, as she methodically set about learning her dance routine. On Friday, October 7th, the company began shooting the big finale number, a winter scene resplendent with singing and dancing. By noon they had finished with a number of close-ups, and June left the lot to have lunch at the Smokehouse with several members of the cast. She was just finishing a salad when a messenger from thestudio rushed in and told her that the hospital was trying to reach her. June put through the call from the restaurant and got John's brother at the hospital. "John is not expected to live beyond six o'clock this afternoon," he said. "You'd better get here if you possibly can." silent prayer . . . June moaned — and ran back to the studio. With Shirley Clark, her stand-in and close friend, she rode to the hospital in the car which the studio had waiting outside the set for her use. All the way cross-town to Santa Monica, the two girls sat in the back seat of the big black limousine, and prayed silently. Somehow, John passed through that night's crisis. The next afternoon, he came out. of coma and asked the doctor the score of the Ohio State-USC game. He smiled happily when he learned that his alma mater had held the Buckeyes to a tie. By Sunday night, his condition had improved — and June felt she could go back to the studio next morning and finish the finale. June was in the make-up department at Warner Brothers at 6: 30 the next morning. After a slow start, the entire cast worked all day, and at 10:30 p.m., the last bit of gaiety was recorded on film. Each time June had called the hospital, Dr. Duzik's condition was the same. She told everyone: "No news is good news to me." Before she went home, a very weary June said to LeRoy Prinz, "I'm so glad we got it finished. Thank you and everyone again for being so very wonderful to me." the greatest girl . . . That night, Director Prinz, who has seen a lot of show business in his time, went home with an enlarged respect for the little blonde girl whose heart and courage were as big as she. The assistant director, Eddie "Mecca" Graham, who has known June since they worked together on Look for the Silver Lining, said, in effect, what was on everyone's mind when the production broke up that night: "June is the greatest girl I've ever • met in motion pictures. She's so young to have found the strength within herself to keep going through this experience. All of us are pulling hard for June and her Doctor John." When June came back to Warners' to make The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady, everyone was delighted to see her. June seemed brighter and friendlier than ever; this was going to be a good picture to work on. On the first day, she buzzed around the set, saying hello to her old friends. To a few of them, she confided the reason for her special happiness . . . after she finished this picture, she hoped to be married. Her fiance was entering the hospital for a routine operation, and in just a few months, she said, they might be honeymooning in the Grand Teton country in Wyoming. June talked about Wyoming as if she had discovered it — as, in a way, she had when she visited John's folks last summer at their ranch near Jackson Hole. And when John first went into the hospital, June wasn't at all worried. "Doesn't he have the finest surgeon in town? You couldn't find a better man than Dr. Stevens," she told her friends. Every evening, after his operation, June would stop by to see John at the hospital and tell him all the entertaining things that had happened at the studio during the day. That was before the hemorrhaging started. Before it happened, there wasn't a person on the set who hadn't been aware of June's happiness, and the reasons for it. Now, that knowledge helped them to understand just a little what her courage really meant. . . . In the next two weeks after that last grueling Monday on the sound stage at Warner Brothers, June spent most of every day at the hospital with John. A strong, athletic man with an intense will to live, he was kept alive by the skill of his doctors through recurring crises. But at 6:30 the morning of Sunday, October 30, with June at his bedside, holding his hand, death came to John Duzik. . . . In three short years, Hollywood has seen June grow from a pretty but uncertain girl to an intelligent, mature woman, who has squarely faced her problems. And Hollywood is praying that, out of her enduring faith and courage, June Haver will find the strength to surmount her great tragedy. The End statute to the daytime dress department connie bartel, fashion editor ■ We want to devote this entire column to a fabulous spot for fashion finds: the daytime dress department of your favorite department store. We think it's practically unequalled for terrific fashions at unbelievably low prices. We would like to make certain that you know about it, because we've found that while lots of girls practically live in the DDD, others have always passed it by, believing that it features nothing but housedresses! And what a mistake that is! First of all, the Daytime Dress Department has a very high level of style sense. The minute shawl collars, or big pockets, or low necklines turn up in expensive clothes — bang, the DDD has them ready for you, with tiny price tags. But it's one thing to offer style at low prices, and another to offer style-plusquality. And that's where the DDD really shines. The fabrics are downright good — sometimes the identical fabrics used in much more expensive clothes. The workmanship is excellent — buttons sewn on properly, hems deep and generous, seams nicely finished. The cut is good; the buttons, zippers, hooks are right. And all this, for prices usually under $10. It's wonderful — and it's a little amazing. The only thing that makes DDD fabulous fashions possible, of course, is mass production. You'll find that most of the fashions featured carry labels you recognize — the trademarks of manufacturers so well established and so big that they can afford to offer tremendous value for very little. As you can tell, we're mad for the Daytime Dress Department. On pages 59 through 64. you'll see why. Audrey Totter wears classic with T-square pockets ■ Audrey Totter, currently in MGM's Tension, wears the sort of smooth classic that's a must in every girl's wardrobe. The fly front conceals a long zipper for good fit; the stitched t-square pockets have pearl buttons for emphasis. It's made of fine Sanforized vatdyed broadcloth by Ameritex. in blue angel, sloe gin rose, creme de cocoa, mint green. Also pastel blue, pink. aqua. Sizes 12-20. Also 161424l/2. By Stefi — $5.95. In the Daytime Dress Department of Bloomingdale's, New York. Other stores, page 65. Jewelry by Coro.