The New Movie Magazine (Jan-Sep 1935)

IN A LAXATIVE FOR WOMEN IT MUST BE C/enl/e STRONG, powerful "dynamite" laxatives are bad for anyone. But for you women . . . they're unthinkable ! Your delicate feminine system was never meant to endure the shock of harsh, violent purgatives or cathartics. They weaken you. They often leave bad after-effects. Madam, you must avoid them! Ex-Lax is the ideal laxative for every member of the family, but it is particularly good for women. That's because while Ex-Lax is thorough, it works in a mild and gentle way. Why, you hardly know you've taken a laxative. And Ex-Lax checks on the other important points, too: It won't cause pain. It won't upset digestion. It won't nauseate you. It won't leave you weak. And what's very important — it won't form a habit. You don't have to keep on increasing the dose to get results. And Ex-Lax is so easy to take. It tastes just like delicious chocolate. All the good points of Ex-Lax are just as important for the rest of the family as they are for women. So millions of homes have adopted Ex-Lax as the family laxative. Keep a box of Ex-Lax in the medicine cabinet — so that it will be there when any member of the family needs it. All druggists sell Ex-Lax — in 10c and 25c boxes. BEWARE OF IMITATIONS! Get genuine Ex-Lax — spelled E-X-L-A-X— to make sure of getting Ex -Lax results. When Nature forgets— remember EXLAX THE CHOCOLATED LAXATIVE That Mad Shearer! what it did when they were there a month ago. When Norma mentioned building the fireplace, the household said "It can't be done." They might have known that meant Norma would certainly build it! When I pressed Norma to know if she were born as dignified and aloof as all of her admirers think she is, she laughed heartily. . "I've tried to discover where that impression originated," she said, for it does seem to exist. I was not conscious of trying to achieve that effect, nor have I ever been, but in the early days I was so nervous and terribly frightened at the thought of any public appearance, where attention might be directed toward me. The more nervous I became, the calmer I was . . . almost stolid in fact. It is so yet. .This calmness gives one the appearance of dignity. It is probably my nearest approach to deserving the title. In addition to this, the parts I have portrayed might have strengthened that impression." WHEN Norma is hurt she cries. She never pouts. She refuses to poison her system with pent-up emotions. She has to talk it out. No matter who is responsible for the hurt, Mr. Thalberg has to hear it all and many times he is kept awake all hours listening to her while she "talks it out." She doesn't play practical jokes on other people, but takes those played on her in great fun. Mr. Thalberg is constantly thinking up a practical joke to try on her when he comes home. She's usually watching for it, but if she happens to see through it, she doesn't cheat him out of his fun. She hates cards, but loves games of all other kinds. Since her return from Europe, she seems to enjoy parties more. However, she rarely indulges herself more than once a week while she is working. She goes to bed at nine o'clock then, and feels she is robbing both herself and the studio if she stays up until twelve o'clock at a party. But Saturday night is a delight, and she looks forward to it like a girl of fourteen. She can then stay up until four o'clock in the morning if she cares to. She adores working like a Trojan all week and playing gloriously on Saturday night. She never releases any of her emotions by going skating or taking in the attractions at the Venice Pleasure Pier, but she would just love to sit by the ocean and meditate for hours, if ever she could find the time. She loves costume parties and is always terribly excited until she is there but she has no longings to impersonate a certain character each time. She doesn't ever long to be a man and do the things that men do. She is perfectly satisfied that she is entirely feminine. But, when Norma sees a sloping hill, covered with well-cut grass, she has a perfectly insane desire to roll down it. While she was making (Continued from page 4) "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" they were on location at the Busch Gardens in Pasadena. The company missed Norma between scenes and after searching vainly for an hour or so, found her on one of the sloping lawns, rolling down the hill with a little ten-year-old boy who had come to watch the picture being made. I will bet my last dime she is the kind that slid down the banister rail every time she got a chance. And how I laugh about her umbrellas. She never has one. Last year she determined this condition should be corrected, so she proceeded to buy an umbrella in almost every color obtainable, so she would be certain to have one to match any outfit she wore on a rainy day. And she ended by leaving them all at home and always having to borrow an umbrella from her maid to go from her dressing-room to the stage! She is about the most conscientious person I know, yet she never keeps appointments promptly! The trouble is, she plans to do twice as many things as it would be humanly possible for one person to do in a day. One of the things that Mr. Thalberg teases her about a great deal is the lists that she makes up, with such meticulous care, of all the things she will do the following day. A typical list would read something like this: "Shop for Mother, buy magazines, call Mary, place ad in paper, From Hap tee's Gag-Bag GUIDE (On sight-seeing tour around Hollywood): "And now we are passing the home of Mae West." COLLEGE BOY (Jumping off bus): "That's what you think!" send present to Helen — (baby's birthday), see interviewers, buy ties for Irving, fit shoes, read story for next picture, matinee with Sister. Mr. Thalberg loves to find these lists and there is a great scramble over them. He likes to tease her about the things she could not do. She always runs upstairs. No one has ever seen her walk upstairs to her dressing-room on the M-G-M lot. And her servants have long since ceased imploring her not to run up the stairs at home. She likes eating from other peoples' plates. No one is safe near her if they are eating something that is not on her plate. Because of this Irving calls her a "snitcher." And she has never learned to eat lettuce with a fork. Always takes it with her fingers. vyHEN the Thalbergs were ** abroad, Norma took many dresses, yet "never had anything to wear." Never the right garment f or the climate. On a cold day in Algiers, she found herself in chiffon. If it were very warm, she was certain to be dressed in tweeds. And she is as bad as her friend Helen Hayes about making all plans for a party and discovering at the eleventh hour, she has not invited a guest! She drives the photographers mad. Yet they are all crazy to photograph her. She will have an appointment for 10:30 in the morning and after repeated phoning, every half hour, that she will be a little late, she finally arrives at perhaps 4:00 P.M., and then keeps the photographer working like fury until nine o'clock or later, wholly unconscious of the fact that it is night. But is the photographer pleased when he sees the finished pictures! He certainly feels it was worth all the waiting. You may imagine, in your picture of Norma as a model of perfection, that she always has her lines letter-perfect before her picture begins. Don't believe it. When she was making "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" and discovered that Laughton came on to the set without knowing his lines, she became his friend for life. Now, she thought, she wouldn't be alone in her embarrassment when Mr. Thalberg came out to hear the rehearsal. Where then, is your cold, aloof, precise, dignified Norma Shearer? I'll tell you where she is on Sunday evenings: sitting at the piano with her husband, singing all the old-fashioned music of fifty years ago. First, he picks it out on the piano with one finger. Then when she can stand that no longer, she plays it herself (you may recall that she was a fine musician). He tells her she cannot sing, and she tells him that he can. So between them they have a great time. Now you know she is mad ! A great, famous, glamorous star being content to sit at home Sunday evenings and sing oldfashioned songs with her husband! It hardly seems possible and if this isn't enough to convince you completely, then I'll let you in on the deepest and darkest secret of all : she even bites her finger nails! 52 The Ne^v Movie Magazine, January, 1935