Screenland (Nov 1937-Apr 1938)

Famous author interviews famous actress! For intimate impression of the screen's spitfire, rc Samter Winslow's close-up of Bette he here is something I don't think even she would admit : I think that the gentle side of Bette is the true side— and that the cynical attitude is an armor she has put on to protect her from the world— and a girl needs a shell of protection in Hollywood. , ,/ T 1 tu Bette's life story is a combination of Cinderella, Young Love, and 1 he Girl Who Was Misunderstood. It might have turned out differently except for three things : a, Bette is a swell girl ; b, she is a splendid actress ; and c she happened to fall in love with a perfectly grand man. And that third may be the most important of all. Well, as important as the other two, anyhow. , , , , No use going into details of Bette's life. You've read them dozens ot times, I'm sure How she fell in love with Harmon Nelson when she was a very youn° girl And he paid no attention to her. Not the least bit of attention ! And she was in love with him even then. But she thought of it as puppy l0Ve_and as long as he didn't care about her, why bother about it ! Thus thought the very young and seemingly very wise Bette. Careers seemed more important than love, anyhow. So Harmon Nelson went away to college and Bette went on the stage. In stock. In New York Bits at first. And then a grand chance. With Blanche Yurka in "The Wild Duck." Getting ahead on the stage was the main thing, then. No time at all for young men! , , ... , , , And then Harmon Nelson came to see Bette act. And he didn't come back to see her! She heard he was in the theatre. And she didn't see him ! So he didn't care, eh ! Oh, very well, then she^ didn't care, either. After all, she was an actress, wasn't she! And he was just a college boy! She was getting some place ! How could she be bothered by a boy she used to know! But she was bothered. And piqued because he didn't come to see her. And something stirred — underneath the ambition — and the first new layer of being cynical. She got ahead. And Harmon Nelson got ahead. His success lay in music. Hers on the stage. His continued in music. He had his own orchestra, finally. And Bette went on the screen — and you know of her success — of all of the steps of it — and of the very fine pictures she is doing right now. But, before her big success came she met Harmon Nelson again. And she found out — and very soon — trust Bette for that — that his seeming coldness was because he thought, because she was beginning to be a success on the stage, that she wasn't interested in him — or in being in love. Bette soon convinced him of the opposite of that. And now everyone else is convinced. Their love for each other — and trust of each other and faith in each other — is one of the loveliest things I know. Too lovely to write about. The sort of thing that reducing to cold type takes off some of the fine glow. They are so swell, both alone and together. Harmon Nelson was a success in his own right when he married Bette. But his success meant that they were apart too much of the time. Love can't stand separation. And, thinking it over, they saw no reason why they had to be separated. Bette's success on the screen, to them both, was more important than Harmon Nelson's success as a musician and orchestra leader. Harmon liked living in Hollywood. So did Bette. So Harmon did something that only a very wise and very strong man could do — he gave up his established position to be with Bette. He isn't a parasite. Don't get that idea for a minute. Talk with him for one second and you'll know that he'd stand on his feet any place. Tall, very good looking, clever, amusing, understanding, he felt that Bette's happiness and Bette's career meant more to (Please turn to page 79) She's one of the few Hollywood actresses notabfe for brilliant personality as well as flashingly clever acting. That's why Thyra Winslow, one of America's most popular writers, picks Bette Davis as most interesting girl in movies. At right, top, Bette as Mrs. Harmon Nelson, with "Ham. Next, with her standin, snatching tea on the set between scenes. Below, with the tot who shares scenes with Bette in ''That Certain Woman."