Movieland. (1949)

HERE’S NEWS! PREXIES BECOME GUEST EDITORS OF YOUR FAN CLUB Oppenheim and her staff make the Bette Davis Fan Club one of the best A memorable visit with honorary Bette Davis was part of Prexy Marion Oppenheim’s exciting Hollywood vacation. Cecelia McNamee Welcome Committee Evelyn Lacques Vice-President Joan Cuthbertson Canadian Rep. By MARION OPPENHEIM ★ I have long been a great admirer of Bette Davis, as an actress and a woman and have been a member of her club, since its inception. More than three years ago, the former president resigned and Miss Davis asked me to take over. Being at the head of a fan club is not an easy task, but having Bette Davis as an honorary president is enough of an in¬ centive to transform all my work into a labor of love. The first and most important requisite of a club, is that the honorary president take an active interest in it and Bette certainly does. There are few stars busier, yet she always finds time to write a letter to the members for each issue of our club journal and it’s not a rthank you’ note, either. She also sends out a large, personally autographed photograph of herself, to each member upon joining the club. We issue three club journals a year and each contains at least one informal snap of Bette, articles by the members about Bette, about our honoraries or any other subject of interest to the members. As everyone likes to see their name in print, there is a column devoted to the activities, likes, dislikes or any other item, about the members, which I select from the many letters I receive. We have members (both male and female) all over the world and to ac¬ quaint them with each other, member¬ ship lists are issued from time to time and as a result, many lasting friendships have been formed. Articles have been written about the shameful conduct of fans towards stars, but I believe they are grossly exag¬ gerated. I’ve belonged to fan clubs for years and have met members from New York -and other parts of the country and have found them to be well-man¬ nered, intelligent and able to converse upon many subjects other than their main interest, the movies. The local members in many large cities, including New York, often get together to attend the showing of Bette’s films and after¬ wards discuss them. When vacation time rolls around each year, my thoughts naturally turn toward Hollywood, the ideal place for anyone as movie-minded as I am. I’d been plan¬ ning a trip there, for five years and it finally materialized? last October. As luck would have it, Bette had just begun work on “Winter Meeting” (formerly “Strange Meeting”) her first film in over a year, so I had high hopes of getting a glimpse of her. And I wasn’t disappointed, for I had much more than a glimpse. Soon after I arrived, I attended the Screen Guild’s radio presentation of “Elizabeth, the Queen,” for which Bette had so kindly sent me tickets. She co¬ starred with Brian Aheme and not only gave a brilliant performance, but looked positively ravishing. A few weeks later, she invited me to spend a day at the studio with her, which thrilled me no end, never having been to a studio before. I arrived there just before lunch and was met by Stanley Smith, Bette’s publicity representative at Warners, who took me to her bunga¬ low dressing room. Bette had not yet returned from the set, where she had worked all morning, so I took a look at my surroundings. The' room in which I sat, was beautifully decorated in gray and yellow and the furniture was taste¬ fully arranged. There were several ador¬ able snaps of the baby on Bette’s desk and two of her husband’s paintings hung on the walls. Bette’s arriyal was pre¬ ceded by her two dogs, a black cocker spaniel named “Sootie” and a boxer called “Schatzie,” who dashed in. Bette came right over and greeted me with a firm handclasp, as only Bette can. (I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her, before, so I know.) I was then introduced to her husband, William Grant Sherry, who is very nice, and also to a friend of his. Bette was dressed for her role in the picture, in a pleated black and white plaid skirt, a long-sleeved white blouse and a red sleeveless pullover sweater and looked very young and gay. Her 74