Modern Screen (Dec 1954 - Dec 1955)

LOU ELLA PARSONS in holly wood the letter box Carolyn Matthews, of Detroit, Michigan, is 15 years old and she has this to say about Clark Gable: "I saw him for the first time' in the reissue of Gone With The Wind. He's the greatest! No actor on the screen today can hold a candle to him. To those who say he is old — I say I'd like to marry him." So would lots of belles between fifteen and fifty, Carolyn. Writes janet Thomson, San Francisco: "I collect souvenirs and I sure would appreciate it if you will send me your invitations to the weddings of both Jane Powell and Pat Nerney and Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher." As this is written I haven't received either "invite," Janet. From mrs. bill weismann, Atlanta, Georgia: "Marlon Brando is the greatest actor in the world. On The Waterfront proves it." A great many critics in this country and in Europe agree with you. a.e.y. (that's the way she signs herself) of Redwood City, California, believes Robert Taylor is making a mistake turning thumbs down on publicity about his new bride, Ursula Thiess, and his new home. "We fans aren't prying — we're just interested," she says. Take note, Bob and Ursula. Vivian van zandt, New York asks: "How could Ava Gardner date bullfighter Louis Dominguin in New York on her recent visit here after the way he talked about her, saying he'd never marry her because she's been divorced too many times?" Ava's an unpredictable girl, my friend. mrs. Joseph fatraige, of my home town, Los Angeles, wants to correct the impression that Simone Silva, the girl who posed minus a brassiere with Bob Mitchum, is a French girl. "She is Italian born — and they are welcome to her." Raymond kasper, age 16, Rochester, New York, writes: "You and your daughter, Harriet, have done much to help Debbie Reynolds' career. Now will you please ask your daughter to do as much for Barbara Ruick as she did for Debbie in Susan Slept Here." I'll take that up with producer Parsons, Raymond. 16 I love little girls and so does Sid. You know we have a little boy, by Sid's former marriage." When I look back just a few short years ago and remember how unhappy Judy was, a really miserable girl who was beginning to believe that the cards were stacked against her — and when I listened to this same wonderfully, happy woman she is today— I believe she has really found that magical "Somewhere "Over The Rainbow" she sings about. DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH until Guy Madison hurries down to Mexico to pick up a quickie divorce from Gail Russell so he can marry Sheila Connolly. Sure, Guy has a big crush on Sheila, the girl who looks enough like Liz Taylor to be her sister — if not her twin. He's bought a new house and if he and Sheila feel as they do now a year from this time — when his California divorce is final — well, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Sheila becomes Mrs. Guy. But Guy himself tells me he's not going to do anything foolish like a Las Vegas or Mexico divorce. EVE ARDEN'S adopted daughter, nineyear-old Liza, was the first person next to papa Brooks West to get a look at the ninepound boy born to "Our Miss Brooks." As Liza was carefully looking her new brother up and down, the baby suddenly belched and threw up. "You'd better cut that out," the little girl said to the baby, "or your privileges will be taken away from you." IT'S MY PRIVATE OPINION that Hoi lywood can jolly well skip these foreign film festivals in Europe in the future. The recent affair in Venice was so markedly anti-American that the picture which drew the most applause. On The Watertront, didn't win, and one of the two American stars present. Rock Hudson, most certainly got the "B" treatment. (Gloria Swanson was the other American.) To get back to Rock: he writes in a letter to a friend: " "I don't ever expect to be handled with kid gloves. But I must say I was surprised when I was seated in the second row at the festival instead of the first row, which was roped off for the visiting stars of all nations. "Although I was invited as a guest, as ' were the other stars, I was handed a bill for everything, including my hotel suite! "Marlon Brando's superb performance in Waterfront got the greatest applause from the audience. But he did not get the acting award." I've heard from others that the antiAmerican feeling was so thick against everything and everyone from this country that it could be sliced with a knife. So I say: why should we trouble to send our best pictures and most popular actors to these foreign events only to receive slights which are deliberate insults to our entire motion picture industry? PERSONAL OPINIONS: My biggest chuckle of the month came when I saw the pictures from Paris of Jane Russell wearing one of Dior's new "flat look" dresses. The "flat look" looked like a small mountain range across the front! The real reason Edmund Purdom didn't get to the big Hollywood premiere of The Egyptian is because he and Mrs. Purdom had a tiff just before leaving the house. . . . I've never seen Ann Miller in the same cocktail or evening gown twice. . . . Ginger Rogers will get the loudest, longest and last laugh if her husband, Jacques Bergerac, becomes a big hit after the fans see him in their foreign-made movie. Twist of Fate. She did everything to sell her goodlooking bridegroom to Hollywood producers who kept looking the other way. . . . I sincerely believe that Gene Tierney's illness was brought on by heartbreak over" the ending of her international romance with Prince Aly Khan. I talked with Gene about her feeling for Aly and believe me, she was a girl in love. ... Silly to say Pier An'geli used to date James Dean, the Broadway actor in East of . Eden because he looks like Kirk Douglas. And how about Vic Damone? He doesn't look like Kirk. . . . Of all the gag wires Dean Martin sent Jerry Lewis during Jerry's illness, this struck me as the funniest. Said Dean: EITHER GET WELL OR DIE. I DON'T KNOW HOW I STAND. . . . THAT'S ALL FOR NOW. SEE YOU NEXT MONTH or. Peter Lindstrom, Ingrid Bergman's ex husband, has a bride, Dr. Agnes Rovnanek Shelley Winters attended the gala Glamorama Beauty Show, escorted by Tom Hennesey.