Photoplay (Jul - Dec 1939)

Great Lady (Continued from page 15) you will go alone . . . and you will be silent and proud when you are hurt." Slowly the mother's eyes fill with tears. But little Greta has no time for foreboding. She jumps up and throws herself into her mother's arms. . "Everything is so lovely, so lovely I must hug you," she cries, "and I shall start today; but I will be an actress only until someone whom I love has come. Then I shall marry him and have two little girls with curls. They may have all the cookies they want to eat, with lingonberry jam on top, and though I shall no longer be an actress, I shall always be a very great lady." OO GRETA GARBO began to live her dream, becoming more and more obsessed with the idea of being great. She worked and planned and studied. She lived alone, seeing no one, not talking much, even to her servants. She became beautiful. She had gold and silver dresses and men who loved her and sent her flowers and jewels. Greta Garbo became a legend — writers have chanted it to you for years — something like the headless Aphrodite of Cyrene who is never mixed in with the rest of the statues; but is off, apart, in a little niche all alone. We forgot that once there was a very human little girl who said, "One day I'll marry someone whom I love and I will have two little girls with curls." And no one wrote about the very human older girl who wept bitterly when she learned that being a great lady is not so pleasant when there is nobody else to be glad about it. In her heart she knew he would come. At least life hadn't robbed her of her dream. Long ago she had retired into it. In the twilight she would sit and wonder how it would be. Usually on a prancing charger, in the old Norse tales, and always playing a serenade. . . . LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI made up in serenades what he lacked in the way of a charger. He laid his serenade at her feet — whole symphonies, operas, concertos, cascades of golden sound. Best of all, at home in America waiting, were two little girls with curls. They would love cookies with lingonberry jam on top. That is what Greta thought. For the first time in her life she knew what it was to be completely happy. No longer a dream or a fantasy! This was real! Strolling along an Italian beach in the moonlight, counting the fireflies at twilight, lazily floating in the warm Italian water, becoming golden brown in the hot Italian sun; Greta no longer watched the parade as if from behind glass. How wonderful to live and feel and know that life had not passed by, leaving one ignorant of the strong, slashing, painful beauty it contained! She would never forget these weeks of rapturous idleness, the fulfillment of the old dream. Greta spent hours in the kitchen, all the old cunning with the pots and pans, so laboriously taught by her mother in the kitchen in Stockholm, returning. She made dozens of cookies for the caretaker's children. She haunted shops and found little gifts — embroidered robes, slippers with fur, many things to delight the hearts of two little girls. She wondered what they would say when she met them. She guessed they would be shy at first (but the cookies would remedy that!). Then came another thought: were girls of ten and twelve to be won with toys and cookies? She had been thinking of them all along as babies. But they couldn't be! They were grown-up little girls . . . and best of all they had curls. While they were with her only she would be permitted to brush their hair. She would do it carefully, winding the soft ringlets around her forefinger. nND now it was all over. Love was thrilling and beautiful, like the bright sun in a blue sky, and it was the only thing worth fighting for . . . but you didn't fight two little girls . . . who loved the same man you did . . . and had more right to him than you had. Instead, you did as the "divine" Sarah would have done! You courageously gave him up! Because it was the only noble thing to do. For a while you felt desolate and alone and you pretended you weren't hurt and that it didn't matter. But in your heart you knew that it did matter and in the night you felt you couldn't bear the waves of darkness and fear that passed over you. You knew that no matter how long you lived you would never recall just how you managed to tell him that you wouldn't come if the little girls didn't want you. Of course, if you had been anyone except Greta Garbo, you'd have known that their resentment was only a normal one. You'd have known that in their full and happy lives there was no place for you. It wasn't that they disliked you, they just didn't care! You had lived too long in a dream and didn't realize that the world of reality had its complications. You had been a success in business, but love is not a business ... it is something in an old Norse fairy tale that always turns out right! Finally, you put away the old cookie jar you brought from Stockholm, because there wasn't any use making more cookies. You put the little gifts on a high shelf where you'd never see them again. Once more you retired deeply into the old dream! You had given up the most precious thing you ever had! You wept bitterly . . . and now your face shows a softness that only tragedy can bring to it . . . but you have something left . . . you have the old dream . . . and you still remain ... a Great Lady! Once I saw this in a book of yours: Why borrow sorrow? Live your dream . . . For your dream Is your deed of tomorrow. THE BERNARR MACFADDEN FOUNDATION conducts various non-profit enterprises: The Macfadden-Deauville Hotel at Miami Beach, Florida, one of the most beautiful resorts on the Florida Beach, recreation of all kinds provided, although a rigid system of Bernarr Macfadden methods of health building can be secured. The Physical Culture Hotel, Dansvitle, New York, is open the year round, with accommodations at attractive prices, for health building and recreation. The Loomis Sanatorium at Liberty, New York, for the treatment of tuberculosis has been taken over by the Foundation and Bernarr Macfadden's treatments, together with the latest and most scientific medical procedures, can be secured here for the treatment in all stages of this dreaded disease. Castle Heights Military Academy at Lebanon, Tennessee, a man-building, fully accredited school preparatory for college, placed on the honor roll by designation of the War Department's governmental authorities, where character building is the most important part of education. The Bernarr Macfadden Foundation School for boys and girls from four to eleven, at Briarciiff Manor, New York. Complete information furnished upon request. • **••********** I1IJII 1(1! TJte Hollywood May HERE it is . . . the new Sylvia of Hollywood book you ha\<' been waiting for. Streamline Your Figure goes ri^lit to the heart of your figure troubles and gives you definite, practical helps that will maki even more attractive . . . glamorous . . .desirable. In Streamline Your Figure Madame S\l\ia tells you how to take off fat from any part of your hotly. There's nothing impossible about it . In fact you'll enjoy reducing this modern Hollywood way By following Madame S\ l\ ia's suggestions you fat or thin girls will he surprised how quickly you can acquire the alluring proportions you so much admire in others. Streamline Your Figure by Sylvia of Hollywood You'll find plenty of the movie stars you admire and envy on the brink of forty, some even older. They are attractive because they think themselves as young. They are alive with the enthusiasm of youth. Most of all, they know the value of keeping themselves attractive, and looking the part. \nd now you can acquire the charm and beauty of the movie stars |,y following the valuable suggestions of Hollywood's own Madame SyNia as described in Streamline )<mr Figure. Streamline Your Figure is more than b reducing hook. It, tells you how to acquire beautiful legs . . . how to improve the appearance of your breasts . . . how to have ;i loverj neck ... a beautiful back and a well proportioned face. Read the table of contents printed in it and notice how completely the author covers the verj subjects you are intensely interested in. Then remember that the pages of Streamline Your Figure are packed to the brim with practical instructions illustrated by 32 full page photographs from life. Moreover, you can carry out Sylvj t g simple inotrucbcns in the privacy of your houdoir without the aid of any special equipment whatsoever. Read Mine. Sylvia's new hook and regain the loveliness and physical charm that you have let slip through your fingers. The price of this new book is hut $1 at all booksellers or from publishers direct. • •••••••••••• MACFADDEN BOOK CO., Dept. P-7 205 Easl 4211,1 Street, New York, N. Y. Send me, postage prepaid, the book Streamline Your Figure by Sylvia of Hollywood. I enclose $1.00. ONLY $1.00 The new Sylvia of Hollywood book Streamline Your Figure is beautifully bound in gay blue novelex cloth and contains 32 full page photographs from life. Name. Address. City. .Slate. **********•**•• How to STOP PAINFUL I CHAFING Wear CHAFEZE — the dainty rayon and cotton jersey leg shield which fits snugly and comfortably and prevents chafing. Thousands of women wouldn't be without Chafeze for warm weather wear — many wear Chafeze the year round instead of panties! If unable to find Chafeze in your favorite corset dept. write to The Warner Brothers Company, Warren St., Bridgeport, Conn. FEET HURT TIRE, ACHE OR BURN? After a hard day, when your i are almost "killing" you, Dr. Scholl's Foot Balm will quickly put an end to such suffering. You'll be amazed how it rests and refreshes tired, aching, burning, sensitive feet caused by exertion and^ fatigue; soothes minor skin irritations; relieves muscular soreness. Sold everywhere. Family-size jar, 35g —also Wt size. For Dr. Scholl's FREE FOOT BOOK, write irto/A Dr.SchoU's, Chicago, 111. DrSchollsllll* Holds powder and make-up on until removed. No nose shine; non -greasy; waterproof. Achieves a velvety, flattering complexion. POUIDWSE 251 Fifth Avenue. New Yo>k JULY, 1939 85