Modern Screen (Feb-Dec 1958)

ing me at all. I don't know how. but I knew what you were seeing in your mind — a picture of a girl ten years younger, unattached, jree, sparkling in the bright lights, laughing in the pleasure of being beautiful, of being the center of a roomful of admiring men — "Listen," you said suddenly, "I'll tell you a secret. The best reason I know for becoming a wife and a mother. It's because that's your most beautiful role. Because you can create your own surroundings, show yourself off in your own home, in the soft colors you picked yourself, in the lights you chose — so your husband never sees you but at your best. A girl out in the world can't do that. She's surrounded by things she never made, that aren't suited to her. But me — look around you!" Your arm swept the room. "I did this room. I made it glow this way. I made sure that Ben would see me in things that are right for me. For us. That's the kind of glamour I want." And then with scarcely a pause you said softly, "And as a woman gets older, she knows she wants the soft lights of home." The shocking thing My friend leaned across the table to whisper to me. "But the really shocking thing," she murmured, "the one thing I can't forgive her for is — she had Susie with her the whole time. I mean, it's sort of appalling, isn't it, to have your fouryear-old daughter along while you're in the process of falling in love with another man? I mean, do you suppose she left her in the hotel room at night while she went out on dates with Chandler? My goodness — " Oh, Es, it came back to me so clearly. Maybe it was half an hour after Kimmie flashed in and out that the door opened again and I saw a nymph standing in the hall. A play-suited, tousel-haired numph, peeking shyly in at her mother. You followed my eyes to the doorway, and your face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Come in, sweetheart," you called, and the nymph took three giant steps and a run and landed in your arms. She snuggled there, good as gold, for almost five minutes while we went on talking. Then she gave a sigh and climbed down from your lap to hold it, george (Continued from page 49) members, camera equipment, etc., make filmed love scenes much more complex than real life love scenes! Do you kiss a girl good-night after the first date? That's definitely between the girl in question and me. I'm tired of reading stories about guys who kiss and tell! What advice would you give teenagers wanting to break into movies? Get as much experience in your line of work as you possibly can. It doesn't matter where it is — just keep working at what you want to do, or as close to it as possible, as often and as hard as you can. A word of warning, though — better be very sure what it is you want. Sometimes we blindly hammer away at a stone and when the dust clears away we've chiseled a statue, but one which we'd rather not look at! If you weren't an actor, what occupation would you select? I'd like to direct — and if I have my way about it, I will direct someday. If I weren't 76 in the entertainment field, I would like to rove around the room. A second later I noticed that the top of her playsuit had disappeared. Startled, I looked up in time to see the bottom part land on the floor and the nymph commence to remove her panties. You looked, too, and sighed in mock anguish. "She's hinting," you explained mournfully. "I guess the whole family wants to go swimming." "Is that — is that the way she usually lets you know?" "Are you shocked?" you asked snddenly. "Because she hasn't learned to be ashamed of her body? Oh, I don't mean that I'm bringing my children up to strip in public or join a nudist colony. But I'm not bringing them up to be ashamed, either. Already they take pride in being healthy, in being strong, in having bodies that look good and do what they want them to — swim like fish, walk without getting too tired, fall asleep with cramps and prickles. That's the way a child should be — strong enough to help a weaker one, or fight back if someone tries to be a bully. Proud, not ashamed." Your eyes glowed. "Did you know what happened to me yesterday? I got a wire from the White House — imagine! I'm going to be on the President's Council for Youth Fitness!" A second later you were giving a little smack to the round behind. "OK," you said. "Get into your bathing suit. I'll be out in a few minutes." The most wonderful thing The door closed behind Susie and you leaned forward. "I take it back that the offer to be on the Council was the most wonderful thing. The most wonderful happened the other day. Susie asked me, 'What is God?' "I thought about it — children are always making you stop and look for answers in yourself — and I said, 'God is love, darling.' "And she said, 'God must be a lady.' " 'For heaven's sake,' I said. 'Why?' "And she said, 'Because you are love, and you are a lady.' " That was what I took away with me that day, Esther. A sense of a home, a lady, a love. That was what I found last spring, looking over my notes and my memories, asking myself what my friends had asked be a writer — not for the motion pictures or the theatre — probably short novels and stories. What do you dislike doing? Going to the barber shop. I don't like getting my hair cut! Briefly, what is your philosophy of life? The Golden Rule is what I try to keep in mind — you know, Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Not always easy, but wouldn't everything be much better if we all could? Where did you go to school? Glendale High School, Occidental College, Northwestern University, Harvard University and the Pasadena Playhouse. What pictures have you been in? Monsoon, Memory of Love, The Carnival Story, Miss Robin Crusoe, Lady Godiva, The Second Greatest Sex, Away All Boats, Congo Crossing, The Unguarded Moment, Four Girls in Town, Joe Butterfly, Man Afraid, Floodtide, and The Female Animal. What are your hobbies? Collecting records and photography. me: Was there a hint? Were you unhappy And standing on the dock, watehin; Ben's face with the bravery gone, with th hope and the fear — The gangplank had scarcely touchei the dock before you were running dowi it, with Susie under your arm. Your fee had scarcely touched New York befor Ben was holding you in his arms — but yoi had come back to ask for a divorce. Yoi had come home . . . for a divorce. What changed? For the woman who spoke to me tha day in the bright, sunlit room was happ: and more than happy — she was content she was courageous, she had the honest; to face bad times, live them through make them good. She was a woman wh valued her home, her husband, her chil dren, above all the glittering things lif might offer in their place. Have you for gotten that happiness, Esther, just becaus a few business ventures that Ben handlei had failed? Or because of a moonlit Ro man evening? I don't know what troubl there was between you and Ben in this the eleventh year of your marriage, Ei I don't know what brief spark migh have been lighted in loneliness betweei you and Jeff. The nights in Rome are per fumed, they say, and it is possible that kiss shared under the hot lights of movie set could seem infinitely sweete below a cool Italian moon. My friend believe there was such a moment — I dj not. Which of us is right doesn't matte: For this I know: the Italian nights ar not perfumed with the things you lov best — talcum powder on small, clean bodie the smell of dinner on the stove, tb private, personal scent of a house that 1 lived in and loved. Remember this — befon you make a mistake that can mean W end of happiness for you. Now ... it is ni yet too late. There is no brief, shallo romance, no brief shallow trouble, thil should part you and your husband, yd and your life. With Susie under your arm, you cart home, Esther; now — stay home, where yc belong — where your happiness is . . . Esther will appear in U-I's Raw Wind i Eden. Who are your favorite stars? Greta Garbo and William Holden, amoi1 others. What's your favorite menu? Fried pork chops, creamed corn, gre1' salad and milk. How many pets do you have? A cat named Susan, and two dogs nam Matt and Joey. What's your worst fault? Not answering my telephone, and i remembering when the laundry or c cleaning is ready to be picked up. Which movie did you enjoy filming the most? Six Bridges to Cross with Tony Cui and Julie Adams. It was a lot of hard work under some pretty diffie conditions, but Tony and Julie were w( derful to work with. Would you like to do a musical? I don't sing well, but with someone el voice dubbed in, I think doing a mus: would be great. I'd like to do one. Do you sing in the shower? Sometimes. In the shower I don't soi too bad.