Modern Screen (Jan-Dec 1960)

Eddie's Love Cured Me! Continued from page 33) nagined. whatever the condition actually as. Liz suffered. This we know. For we have seen the tears of a woman r.mistakably in pain. We saw them in her . es that night, four or five years ago. at a irty in Beverly Hills when suddenly, jiile dancing. Liz stopped and turned pale "_d reached for her back with her right ;nd and then, helplessly, fell weeping to ie floor. We saw them the day. in 1957. in exico. when she married Mike Todd, hen towards the end of the reception . . . ~er the champagne and the wedding cake ere finished, after most of the guests and \ the photographers had left . . . Liz rned to Mike and mumbled something id threw herself in his arms and then :ed out. helplessly. "It hum. it hurts, oh od. it hurts so much.'"' We saw them in it eyes a little over a year ago when we sited her in the hospital, following an .-eration on her spine, when we walked to that S40-a-day room filled with flows and sunlight and saw her lying rigidly 1 her stomach, her back covered with ndage and tape, looking over at us. tryg to smile and tell us that she felt fine id that everything was all right, but with =rs in her eyes, nonetheless, tears she did •t even have the strength to wipe away. Yes. we have seen the tears of her pain. And we tell you now. happily, that those irs are gone — now that Liz Taylor is Mrs. idie Fisher — gone for good. Since Eddie s come into her life, there has never en a recurrence of her back trouble. Just as that look of agonized confusion. inner torment, that would come across r face much too often, is gone now too. She is emotionally unstable, we remember someone writing back in 1952. And why shouldn't she be? At eight vears, an actress. At fourteen, a star. A *;eird home life — with an aggressive ■iama taking over the reins of her t.oung daughter's upbringing and areer, a quiet and ignored papa sitting in the background, watching, wondering, not daring to say anything. 4r fifteen, the perplexed cry: 'I have he body of a woman and the emo■ ons of a child.' At seventeen, a long id desperate run from home — mar■ age to Nicky Hilton, young and eckless playboy — and disaster, culminating in divorce. More running then, < ild and free, from man to man, party o party, thrill to thrill, sensation to ensation. Till now, barely in her wenties, the news that she is in Engand, her outrageous flirtation with ortyyear -old Michael Wilding having y.cceeded. that they will probably be narried by the time you read this. 'motionally unstable, the writer had d. ind much as we hated to agree — we had ' ust as we had to shake our heads, as the :t few years passed, over her marriage Wilding, neither of them doing the other eh good, and admit that her emotional oility was going from bad to serious to ive. Jh, there were the fine bright moments . Liz, all right. "hat January morning when little :nael Jr. was born, hat February afternoon when little istopher was born. laybe some other moments; good. pure, utiful moments. ut. mostly, there were Ions, seeminslv endless moments of discontent for Liz. So that her face — when she was away from the camera, or the public's glare — often became a study in distress, a cause of increasing worry to all of us who knew her. Who can forget the look on her face that day on the set of Giant, when word came that James Dean had just been killed — the stunned look, followed by the hysterical weeping, the shouted cries of disbelief, the stumbling walk from the sound-stage, the collapse in the dressing room? Who can forget the look on her face the night, minutes after he'd left a party at her hilltop home. Montgomery Clift smashed his car into a tree — the look of fright in her eyes as she rushed down the road to the car. the look of terror as she knelt alongside Monty and lifted his bleeding head into her lap, as she began to sway her own head back and forth and moan and chant and cry, louder and louder and louder, until she was in a state of nearshock? People who knew Liz vaguely wondered, both these times, why the act? What Liz could not control It was no secret around Hollywood that James Dean and Liz hadn't gotten along well all during the making of Giant. That Dean had once told a reporter, "If you don't think this gal is much on-screen, you should get to know her off." That they had fought on more than one occasion. That they had made it a point to avoid each other as much as possible. About the Monty Clift incident, it should have been obvious to Liz — certain people said on hearing what had happened — that although her dear friend had been injured, he was in no great danger. That her "raving' at the scene of the crash made it seem that somebody had just been killed. That Monty was "—after all. still very much alive." So spoke the cynics. But those of us who knew Liz. knew her well, understood that these were not "acts.*' That these were inevitable outlets of expression for a tortured girl who seemed almost to wait for tragedy so that she could free herself — even for a short while — of her own burden of recurring pain, of growing discontent. There are no outbursts now. Today, we see Liz miraculously changed — happy, healthy, content, calm, at peace with herself, with life. In short, cured. . . . Liz was cured by Eddie Fisher. For well over a year now. millions of people all over the world have scorned these two. You yourself have heard the cracks, maybe even made some of them. "Liz Taylor? What's she got to offer him except a lot of trouble . . . Homewrecker . . Husband-snatcher . . . Miss Big Movie-Star . . . Money spender . . . j How long is she going to last with him? "Eddie Fisher? What's he got to offer her except his old records . . . Has-been . . . Mike Todd's best friend, ha ha . . . Sucker . . . Weakling . . . Deserter . . . How long is he going to last with her?" ^ Some people, even less impressed with EMie than with Liz, went on to wonder: "What does she want with such an ordinary guy, anyway? Nicky Hilton — at least I he had looks and money. Michael Wilding I —at least he had class. Mike Todd — he had everything to give her; glamour, wealth. ; P/ay Right Away! ANY INSTRUMENT iw it's EASY to leant ANY INSTRUMENT— don't know a single note now. No boring e plav delightful pieces RIGHT AWAY — from i n! Properly — by note. Simple as._A-B-£.-ll/ ing progress — at home, in spare_t' STVDENTS . FREE BOOK upon vou.0u!ESt.1°ScJio 161. Port Washingto SONG POEMS WANTED our poems today for PHOTO 1 ; in. size on doueight, silk t paper . . for exchangi: is, enclosing in letters or greetg cards or job applications. Origil returned. Order in units of 25 pose). Enclose payment (SI. 25) id we prepay or SEND NO MONEY. (Sent c.o.d. if vou 4 day service. Satisfaction guaranteed. Send photo or snapshot today. DEAN STUDIOS Dept. 336, 211 W. 7th St., Des Moines 2, Iowa. with a happy ending david grubic is three months old. This is the first time his mother has held him. She went to the hospital with TB six months before he was born, and has just returned home. Her tuberculosis story ended happily. Your Christmas Seal contribution can help write happy endings for 60,000 other families struck by TB each year. Please send a check today. Fight 3 TB with ! Christmas Seals &m~*<~*^