Movie mirror. (1936)

MOVIE MIRROR who went to such great efforts to keep one of the nicest things she has ever done in a career filled with generous gestures, just a simple little secret between herself and a girl who needed a friend very much ! Remember there had been three long years of the Harlow-Crawford feud when both Joan and Jean reported for work on the M-G-M lot at just about the same time. Joan was to do “The Gorgeous Hussy” after a nine-months’ va¬ cation that had seen her marriage to Franchot Tone and a long honeymoon since her last production. Jean was to do “Suzy” with bridegroom-Tone chief in support. The pictures started within two days of one another, and as usual, Holly¬ wood expected the long delayed climax to their differences ; especially since it was being rumored that Joan’s patience was being strained to the breaking point over the continued casting of Franchot in Jean’s pictures. A very close observer, however, might have noticed something far more impor¬ tant than a studio feud possibility in Jean Harlow's demeanor. There was a tired¬ ness and weariness surrounding the little Harlow that seemed to transcend any¬ thing personal between herself and Joan. Though it has not been printed before, Jean Harlow went into production on “Suzy” so dangerously close to a nervous breakdown that it took every ounce of energy, every disciplined nerve in her body to keep from asking for a release from the assignment 1 ONLY those vitally close to her, des¬ perately worried over her condition, knew this fact. They begged her to take the rest she seriously needed. The past year has been a confused and at many times an unhappy one for Jean. Without prying too deeply into her private affairs, let it suffice to say that Jean has been go¬ ing through an emotional crisis in her life, striving desperately hard to find herself. Added to this had been complications in the lives of those close to her, her mother’s divorce from Mario Bello, the death of a dear friend in the profession, the legal tangles attendant on the sale of her home, becoming settled in new surroundings. It was a worried and unhappy girl who reported to work on “Suzy.” Players who had worked with Jean previously began to whisper that they hardly recognized the gay flame that formerly was Jean Harlow on the set as the exhausted girl who was forced to take long rests between “takes.” Because it is impossible for Jean to share her troubles, no one really knew just how much she shouldered. She hated drifting away from the company during that gay half-hour in the afternoon when they stopped for hot dogs and soda pop. But she had to. She had to rest with ice packs over her eyes, alone in her dressing room, soothing every tired nerve if she was going to be able to finish the picture at all. Noth¬ ing else particularly mattered to Jean, ex¬ cept making that giant effort not to let her company down, not to have to give up now that the picture was so far along with so much money invested in it. And that is the kind of girl Jean Harlow is! It is ironic that “The Gorgeous Hussy” found Joan Crawford in almost the same state for a directly opposite reason! True, Joan had had nine gorgeous lazy months C H E RAM Y April Sk owers THE PERFUME OF YOUTH Otl flow e ns/ April Showers clothes you in the seductive fragrance of Spring— the one perfume that is always as fresh and young and eternally right as flow¬ ers are! Quality? Superb ! April Show¬ ers toiletries are the greatest creation of Cheramy, Paris, one of the world’s fine per¬ fumers. Expensive? Not a bit! The whole matched service . . . perfume, talc, dusting powder, eau de cologne, brilliantine . . . wall impress you with its gen¬ erous value at low cost. ^xjqucLLLte • • • Lut Fx. . . 28c and 55c ogne . 28c to $1.75 wder . . 85c, $1.25 tie . 55c lipstick, Skin Lotion, ts, etc. from 28c up. 87