Modern Screen (Dec 1954 - Dec 1955)

They were strolling around from one exhibit to another when Barbara nudged her. "Look! There's Guy Madison!" Sheila looked. She recalls thinking that he was extraordinarily handsome, even for an actor. They were introduced, inspected each other briefly and went their separate ways. "Ah, but then," as Sheila tells it, "we were invited to a little cocktail party upstairs, which was Guy's doing. He wanted us there. As soon as we came in, he came over and started talking. I i never remembered to ask what happened I to my friends that night. It was Guy who took me home." To hear Sheila tell it he was a regular little old chatterbox on the drive to her apartment, musing over the sound of Ireland in her name, teasing her about the probably low flash point of her temper, talking about his own family, enthusing about hunting, fishing, Andy Devine and sundry other subjects. "He talked so much that I was surprised to learn that he had a reputation as the strong, silent type!" One of the things they talked about was her phone number. Guy found a piece of paper, then slapped his pockets in disgust. "No pencil." "Oh," Sheila's hand went to her purse, "I always carry one." Except this time. "Okay, I'll remember it, anyhow." Sure you will, Sheila thought to herself as they said good night. An hour later the phone at her bedside rang, and she murmured a drowsy, '"Lo?" "You see?" said the triumphant voice of Guy. "I told you I'd remember!" All of a sudden she was wide awake again. It was a distinctly pleasurable feeling, talking to him a little while longer, even if he said good night the second time with a vague, "I'll call you." "Detter that she didn't hold her breath *-* until he did call. She read in the trade papers the next day that he was off on a hunting trip, she read about it when he got back to town. She thought it was nice of the columnists to report his activities, since she obviously wasn't going to hear about them first hand. Guy maintained his silence for two months, until the interlocutory decree in his divorce case was handed down. Sheila can take comfort from the fact that she was the first girl he did call as soon as he was free. By the time they were ready to leave her apartment on their first date, he had already learned that she wasn't much of a cook. At that point the telephone rang; it was Sheila's father, calling from New York. "I want to talk to him," Guy said, and after identifying himself, announced to the astonished Hibernian across the country, "This is a pretty nice little girl you have here, sir, but she needs some training around the house, for sure." Sheila doesn't know what her father answered, only that their masculine agreement must have been instantaneous. Guy grinned hugely, and the last thing he said to his future fatherin-law was, "Well, I think a couple of good beatings ought to do it." How long did he court her before they decided to marry? "About twenty-four hours," Sheila will tell you, because she always teases a little first. 1 "No, actually we went together for months. What I mean is that it could have happened in twenty-four hours. Have you ever met someone whom you felt you'd always known? That's the way it was with us. When he told me something happened before I knew him, it was like having something I already knew confirmed. And I didn't really have to tell him about my childhood in Ireland; he might just as well have grown up with me." Guy never actually proposed — "He sort of got around to it by degrees" — but it had been his decision to obtain that Mexican divorce so they might be married without further delay. When Hedda Hopper reminded him that Mexican marriages and divorces end up sometimes yea and sometimes nay, Guy answered, "Hedda, you're talking to a marrying kind of man who is really in love. I've been alone too long." And, having summed up his life in those few poignant words, Guy took his girl down to Juarez and got married. uy has changed since he first hit Holly wood. Many men fall apart under stress; Guy found unsuspected strength and maturity through pain, hardship and professional humiliation. He isn't an impossibly beautiful, golden-haired boy anymore, but a dynamic man tested and found true. To his credit, bitterness is still a stranger to Guy. Recalling the stark years, he is apt to shrug and say, "Hollywood gave me the chance to make more money than I could any other way. I have reason to be grateful." Guy's still taciturn, but there is the steel of self-assurance behind his wariness, the diffidence has developed naturally into reserve and the naivete is long since gone. More recently departed but equally unlamented is the solemnity; the slow smile starts so often in Guy's hazel eyes these days that his more intrepid friends presume to call him Laughing Boy. The change has come about partly because Guy feels his responsibility toward the enchanting girl he wooed and won. (From his attitude toward redhaired Bridget born to them this year you would think no man had ever been a father before.) Partly because he is a settled, domesticated, brand-new home owner. And partly because he learned his trade the really hard way — from the top down — and isn't likely to make the same mistakes twice. As for the girl that Guy married — she hasn't tried to change him, being as how she fell in love with the man that he is. There is the possibility, though, that he might be influenced by what she gives him: the simple life he craves, a sense of emotional security, her own love of life and her priceless gift of laughter. One friend described Sheila's influence this way. "Guy is basically simple. He doesn't feel like a movie star and he doesn't like to live like one. Sheila's good for him in that way, too. I believe he has bought her a little station wagon of her own now, but when they only had one car, she used to drive him to the studio like any other housewife driving her husband to his job. She looks after his clothes; when he comes home at night, she cooks for him. At the end of the day he's as tired as any other working man and has the same reluctance to go out on the town, which Sheila understands. That way life makes sense. Maybe he earns his living in an unusual way, but the normalcy of their personal life keeps everything else in focus for Guy." Certainly not the least of Sheila's gifts is the ability to make Guy feel that he is her lord and master. Take last week, for instance. Guy had been on location for a fortnight, putting another tv series on film, and Sheila hadn't seen him for that long. She wore a properly doleful Irish face (just short of wurrah, wurrah) as she sighed and said, "He gets back tomorrow, but he's leaving right away to go boar hunting. But I know he won't let me go along; he thinks it's too dangerous." Next day there was a brief item in one of the trade papers which said, "Sheila and Guy Madison are over on Catalina Island, hunting wild boars and things." Of course Guy's the boss. Everybody knows that. end WIN A First Prfze: A $1,000.00 MINK STOLE. Plus 25 other prizes of deluxe radios. a. You don't have to make a purchase to qualify. b. The luxurious mink stole will be presented to the person who writes in 25 words or less the best conclusion to . . . "I purchase my bras at because" (name and address of favorite store) c. Write or print legibly on a 3" x 5" card (Postal Card) your entry in the contest. Be sure to include your name and address. d. Closing date is midnight December 5, 1955. Presentation to be made prior to Dec. 30, 1955. e. Duplicate prizes will be awarded in case of tie between two or more contestants. f. This contest is not open to any person employed by or associated with the sponsor. Style illustrated No. 492 Finely detailed bra to retail at $1.00 send entries to: Dept. 15 JUBILEE BRA 180 MADISON AVE.. NEW YORK, N. Y. DIVISION OF UNITED MILLS CORPORATION 81