Screenland Plus TV-Land (Nov 1952 - Oct 1953)

Stretch out on your bed with a book or listen to some music. Beautify yourself, indulge yourself, relax for a little while. You can do as much for your looks and the way you feel as the most expensive beauty salon could do for you — if you'll just make up your mind to do it. "But if you're married — don't forget that your husband probably needs some time to be by himself and do what he wants to do, too. Don't, for heaven's sake, go into a pout if he wants to shut himself up for a time and read mystery stories or tie fishing flies or take an alarm clock apart or indulge in some other masculine quirk. Give the man his privacy. He'll be your adoring slave." Anne thinks it is wonderfully stimulating and lots of fun to change your looks now and then, too. She exults, "When I changed the color of my hair recently it gave me as much of a lift as if I had suddenly acquired ten thousand new hats! I had wanted to do it for such a long time and when I finally did I felt as if I had an entirely new— and slightly gay and dizzy — personality. "Everyone should do it. With the new color processes it's easy and absolutely safe and it's such a romp. Another thing that's fun, is a spray you can get now to color one strand of your hair to go with your dress for a party. That's a silly, of course, but it is a sort of conversational piece and somehow it makes you feel a little daring. It's good for any woman to feel a bit daring now and then — and it's becoming to her, too. It gives her zing!" Anne certainly has "zing" herself these days. She has always been a vivacious and fascinating girl, but lately she seems to have taken on a new verve, a sort of sheen which has made her glamour even more emphatic. Her recipes for "zing" seem to work. She is impatient with women who have no daring or imagination about their clothes. "Lots of women are stupid about it," she says, flatly. "It enrages me to hear a girl say that she 'can't wear' a certain color or style when she hasn't even tried. Usually some saleswoman has told her that and she has never had the backbone to experiment for herself. Someone told me once, 'Of course you can't wear orange!' I had never thought of it before but that did it. I got myself the brightest orange colored frock I could find and it was spectacularly becoming. I have had at least one thing in an intense orange shade in my wardrobe ever since and it is one of the most satisfying shades I ever wear. "You mustn't be a sheep about clothes. If you've always thought you were the 'fluffy, pastel type,' for goodness' sake snap out of it. Go and try on the sleekest, starkest, most severe black outfit you can find. Try on something else in vivid, sophisticated shades and lines. You may find a whole new 'you' while you are about it. You'll get a tremendous lift from wearing something different from anything you've ever had before. "The only thing any girl needs to ask herself when she selects clothes is 'Do I like it? Am I happy with it?' Never, never weigh yourself down with that dull, tired old question, 'Is this what 62 "they" are wearing?' Nothing could matter less. "I was invited to a swanky Hollywood party not long ago and on a sudden impulse I hunted up a dress I had had a long time but had never worn. It is a rather clinging, draped sort of gown, Indian in feeling, with a sari arrangement which goes over my hair. It was a sensation! Nearly every other woman there was wearing the sort of evening dress you see everywhere now — strapless top, full, wide, fluffy skirt — and my slinky outfit was socko. I've never had more compliments in my life and I had a wonderful time." Anne has dozens of ideas for changing routines, giving yourself a change of pace and a mental jolt. Change the furniture around, buy a controversial book, give a novel kind of party, go for a roller coaster ride, visit the dog pound and bring home a wiggly puppy. "Changing the furniture around is a lot of fun," she declares. "Use a mental eggbeater and shove everything into new positions, no matter how impossible or fantastic they seem at first. You may like it and if you don't you can always put it back again. It's grand exercise! "Get some new colors around you now and then if it's only by re-covering a couple of cushions or buying new lamp shades. Change the positions of all the lights and don't be afraid to be dramatic dad and mother divorced in New York when I was a baby and it has always been just Mom, my brother and me. We traveled across country, Mom working — me, doing odd jobs while I went through and on to college and into the service. But now, there was nothing much to say. I was in a dream — kissing Linda Darnell. I couldn't believe it. Talk about fiction — here was real life, and Linda and I were sent to the island, tropical and romantic as all get out. I never thought of Linda being a few years older — perhaps because she never made me feel younger. She was different from any girl I had ever met — not giggly or moody or self-conscious or spoiled like some of the younger girls I've known. With her came a great friendship with its correlative virtues of thoughtfulness, tolerance, understanding, mutual admiration. During our long talks — lying there on the warm sands of the beach at Jamaica, we discovered a great similarity of tastes. She never laughed at my ideas, but for hours, we'd discuss my philosophy. Rather than being bored, she encouraged me. She strengthened my selfconfidence a hundred percent by believing in my ambitions and ideals and beliefs. Besides our mutual enthusiasm for our work on the picture, I found her very unselfish. She was always doing little things for others. She was without guile about it, either. You can change the entire picture a room makes at night by altering the way the light falls. , "Small parties are more fun than big ones if you use some imagination. I have fun sometimes learning energetic new dances. You can get special records of South American dance music or some other exotic thing with printed directions for doing the dance. It's a romp to try these things out and the trickier the dance, the more laughs you get — and the more exercise. "A costume party is fun if the idea isn't so elaborate that your guests have to go to a lot of trouble renting or making costumes. A simple idea designed for laughs is best — such as a come-as-youare party or come-as-something-you'reglad-you're-not. "The important thing to remember about keeping a fresh point of view and making yourself an exciting personality is to avoid sameness in everything — small things as well as big ones. You don't have to take a trip around the world to have variety in your life. If you just watch yourself and avoid falling into drab habits, you'll be all right. Life will be fun." Anne believes what she says. Not long ago she caused a little flurry and some slight tut-tutting in Hollywood by smoking a little cigar in public. "So what?" smiled Anne, imperturbably. "At least, it's different!" END and she never said unkind things. She was perfection. One of the picture's crew said to me, "Tab, better take it easy." "What about?" I asked. He shook his head knowingly, "Well, Darnell is a woman with experience and you're only a kid." I was ready to tear his head off — until he explained that his remark was complimentary and he was only trying to head me off from a busted heart in the future. Linda was just a little kid of fourteen when she first became a star in pictures. I found myself wanting to protect her from all of the disappointments she had ever experienced. Like the time she was twelve, and Hollywood sent her back to Texas to grow up more. Even now, I could suffer her humiliation to face the kids at school who teased, "So Hollywood didn't want you!" When we were swimming, naturally, I protected her — when the waves were high — and she let me — smiling her appreciation. "How are you, Honey?" she'd always greet me — and I'd kiss her on the cheek. I still do. And when we played a love scene — I found myself wishing the director would never call "Cut." Our most beautiful scene in the picture was taken at sunset. We were lying on the sand together. She was in my arms. I stirred to look over at her. My foot ran up her leg slightly and she (CONTINUED ON PACE 64) MY LOVE FOR LINDA DARNELL [CONTINUED FROM PACE 42]