Modern Screen (Jan-Nov 1951)

miss whistle-bait of 1951 (Continued from page 49) Janie for five years, and she hasn't changed one bit. Geary's given her a lot of self-confidence, I think, but she's still the same as she was back in 1945." As for the new-found sex appeal — that makes Lillian Burns laugh. "The first time she walked into my office she had the same cuteness, the same perkiness she has now. If you remember that scene in Holiday in Mexico where she imitated Ilona Massey, I don't think there's any doubt in your mind that she had sex appeal. And she was only fifteen then." Add to this the statement of a former publicist at MGM, and you'll be even more enlightened. "As svire as God made green apples," he says. "Janie Powell had IT. Every guy at the studio was mooning aroimd like a lovesick calf. She didn't know it — was completely unaware of it — but not because she was naive. She had a remarkable shrewdness about her career, and about people. But she was always a lady." 'T'he wardrobe department was never unaware of Janie's charms. "We really had to tone down her clothes," a designer says. "We were trying to make her look yotmg, and we had trouble minimizing her allure. We never discussed it in her presence, though, because Janie isn't the kind of girl who takes well to that kind of talk. She blushes so easily -you feel sorry for her." And Joan Wilcoxon (wife of actor Henry Wilcoxon) who's been a friend of Jane's for some time, seems a bit incensed at the studio's claifn of new glamor. "That's silly," she says briskly. "They're asking us to believe that overnight Jane's ready to be a leading woman. She's been doing that since she was born. I think it's a mistake to believe that by spending two days or two months in the hands of experts, the true meaning of glamor can be achieved. Plunging necklines and new hairdos can make a girl look older, but that shouldn't be confused with glamor. Glamor's a dividend that MGM can't give to Janie. She has it already. God gave it to her." Jane Powell has had the same trouble as other girls who started off early in a movie career. Despite the passing years, people tended to regard her as a child. They wouldn't let her grow up, at least in their own minds. When she went to Sun Valley on a vacation a few years ago, people were shocked by her mature be Never lovelier esther williams on the march cover of modern screen on sale february 9 havior. "Goodness," they said to themselves. "What that Hollywood does to children's lives! It makes them old before their time." Janie has disregarded these opinions with a great deal of equanimity. "Older folks," she has said, "never let kids mature. They don't even give them credit for having good sense." JANE Powell has good sense, and she's always had it. She almost married Tommy Batten when she was nineteen, but she was wise enough to recognize it as puppy love, and told him she wasn't ready for marriage, or even an engagement. She was never interested in nightclubs, but preferred instead the smaller, quieter spots for an evening's entertainment. She never gave a thought to leaving her parents' home to do the "accepted" thing of living alone because she was financially independent. She never felt she'd die if she didn't get certain roles at the studio, preferring to let her bosses choose her pictures, and performing her job with a minimum of temperament. She's always maintained a mature attitude about her voice, knowing that it's a great gift, and works hard at perfecting it. She isn't even a bit superstitious, and has already made many baby clothes and tucked them away for future use. Her outlook on everything is practical. At the time she became engaged, for in stance, MGM was whipping up her wai'drobe for Nancy Goes To Rio. After she'd seen the sketches, she went to Dore Schary and announced that the clothes would make a perfect trousseau. This broke all precedent, since clothes worn by the stars are tised again and again by the extras. But Janie figured that few people can get into clothes made for her; a logical conclusion— she's five-feet-two, and weighs ninety-eight povmds. She got the trousseau. T]F7hen she and Geary decided on the apartment that was to be their home after the wedding, it was Janie who arranged the lease and got the rental reduced. "I sat in the car and let her do the talking," Geary says. She bought their furniture at bargain basements and auction sales. (Janie will buy anything on sale.) Their winnings from Canasta went into a piggy bank, and their honeymoon came out of it. With a wedding in sight, Jane was naturally anxious to find a dreamhouse, but she refused to look at any xmtil a definite wedding date was set. "We might find something jjist perfect, and then break our hearts because we aren't in a position to buy it yet." The Steffens have their own house now, out in Brentwood, and whenever new people move into the neighborhood, young Mrs. Steffen gets herself gussied up and sets out to call on them. This consideration for others is another thing that's almost as old as Janie is. Producer Rogers recalls that, at fourteen, Jane worried quite a bit about the money poured into her film debut. "I don't understand," she told him, "why you spend so much money on my first picture." "Most kids," says Rogers, "would be bragging about it, instead of worrying. Another thing about Janie — she was so appreciative. I remember that I gave her a small watch at Christmas that year. You'd have thought it was a Cadillac the way she raved aboiit it. "Janie's never forgotten me, either. After the picture was finished, and she went back to Metro, she continued to write me little notes on Thanksgiving and Easter, etnd other holidays, always thanking me for what I'd done for her." "Changed?" ask the stars and the friends who've always known her. "She's exactly the same as she always was. She's always had a lot of sense for her age, and a lot of glamor, too. But now that the years are creeping on through twenty, the glamor's beginning to show. And on Janie, it's a wonderful sight!" The End castle witli a redwood fence (Continued from page 46) eye is a series of redwood batons woven horizontally in and out between redwood posts. It's particularly efficient because it's trim, it's modem-looking, and it's relatively inexpensive to build. It also provides more privacy than a picket fence, without offering a solid barrier between neighbors. If you're interested in fences you might bear Janet's in mind. HPhe house behind the fence is also made of California redwood. Like so many houses in southern California, it's built around a patio. To insure as much outdoor living as possible, one whole wall of the living room and one wall of Janet's bedroom is a series of glass doors opening on the patio. ""This outdoor living," Janet says, "was a little hard for us to get used to. I mean that for years — in fact, all our lives — my parents and I had lived in apartments, and for the first few weeks, I had the feeling that the neighbors were looking in on us. I knew it was impossible for anyone but a giant to see over our fence, but I worried. "When I got over it, I started to leave all the doors open, and one day a bird flew in. We had one crazy time trying to shoo him out again. I've decided that you can live just so close to nature, before nature moves in and takes over." Janet and her family, however, are genuinely enthusiastic about the patio principle. Matter of fact, they were explaining it — at least Janet was to Tony Curtis — the other day. Tony is a frequent visitor. He spends all his spare time at her house. Well, Janet was giving Tony the lowdown about patio living. "If you buy any kind of house, a good patio acts as a second living room," Janet explained. "It also makes the house seem twice as large and it's wonderful for parties. When we have company we simply roll the portable barbecue onto one comer of the patio and a bar onto the other. Then we set up card tables, and presto! — we're set." As a sort of house warming, Janet only recently invited two dozen of her friends over to the house for a buffet dinner. She and her mother arranged the tables. Her father barbecued a turkey, and the small house took care of the crowd with ease. A LTHOUGH Janet's new redwood house ! lends itself to parties, she is no veteran partythrower. Actually, she's a home body, who is sold on family-living. One large room takes care of that — the hving-dining room. At one end, there's a dining area which looks like a separate room because of the arrangement of the living room furniture. The furniture turns | its back on the dinner table and chairs. I The rest of the high-ceilinged room is I arranged for comfort and home entertain I ment. The over-scale modern furniture r