The New Movie Magazine (Jan-Sep 1935)

At the left, Joan Bennett, a star in her own right, who writes this story of her sister. And on this page, Joan and Constance, snapped with Dolores Del Rio at the Mayfair Ba at the BeverlyWilshire Hotel. She was the leader in every crowd. Everything she did was done with dash and fire and imagination. She never entered a room, she swept in — and instantly took command of the situation. She never passed through the "gangly" stage, for her poise was too instinctive to permit selfconsciousness. She was very popular. As a child she was extremely precocious. She soaked up knowledge as effortlessly as a sponge soaks up water. Unlike most so-called precocious children, she was analytical. Instead of being content to skim the surface, she wanted to know the reason why. She still does. Moreover, her mind is amazingly retentive. Once having fixed on an idea, she never forgets. The fact that she was a girl was a bitter disappointment to our father, who had set his heart on a son who would carry on in his footsteps. Being one of the most wilfull men that ever lived, he refused to become reconciled to the fact of her sex for years. Consequently, he treated Constance as he would have treated a son. She already had, by inheritance, his fighting heart, his impatience with all restraint, his wilfullness — and he encouraged her in every one of those qualities. He took her into his confidence, treated her as though she were an adult, instilled into her mind his own arrogant, "self-made man's" psychology. He preached the necessity of learning by experience, of fighting one's own battles, of being able to "take it on the chin" without a whine. One of the immediate results was, of course, that her will began to clash with his while she was still a child. It has continued to clash with his ever since, in a series of explosions which are usually short-lived but breath-taking in their violence. Father frequently rages when she defies his authority — yet I know he is tremendously proud of her determination and independence. He has ample reason to be proud of her courage. I have never seen her afraid of anything — unless it might be that she is sometimes afraid of being afraid. I have never seen her shirk a fight, no matter how slim her chance of winning might be. She welcomes and heartily enjoys the stimulation of conflict. A torrid argument is to her one of life's supreme joys, an escape from boredom, which she cannot tolerate. She is quick to show her withering contempt for anyone who fails to stick to his guns. She is also quick to acknowledge her fault, once she has been convinced that she is wrong. If there is any one thing which Constance detests more than all others, that thing is a "yes-man." Anyone who wishes to hold her respect and liking must have the courage of his convictions and be willing to pit them against hers. She admires a fighter. And give her credit for this: if her temper is quickly kindled, it also is quickly quenched. She neither expects nor wants anyone to grovel before her opinions because she happens to be a star ; neither will she be subservient to anyone because of that person's position. Many stars "red-apple" the producers; Connie's Hollywood career has been punctuated by her challenges to their judgment and authority. I honestly believe that she would turn her back on stardom, salary and everything else which Hollywood can offer her before she would "yes" a producer against her convictions. Her first starring contract was only a few days old when she asserted her independence. Her producers had gone into a huddle with their publicity executives and determined on a campaign in her behalf. When her boat docked in New York (she had signed her contract in Paris), she found awaiting her a telegram which virtually ordered her to cooperate by giving out a story entitled "No Girl Should Marry a Millionaire." Instantly she wired back: ". . . . I refuse to crash the front pages in that way. For some inexplicable reason, when I come to America, I always land on the front pages — and without having to make an ass of myself to do it!" Constance did not exaggerate. She has been front page copy ever since she was a girl in school. No one has been more misrepresented by the press than she has been. Whenever she has been maligned, she has instantly fought back. Last year she filed no less than four libel suits against magazines and newspapers. Probably her prompt resentment has aroused the enmity of a few publishers, but, in her lexicon, better an enemy than the sacrifice of one's self-respect! Reporters have stormed because she refuses to grant interviews while she is working in a picture, and because she will not see any writer without first knowing his intended subject. She feels that she is justified in both stands. Never strong physically, she devotes so much energy to her work that, during production, she has no reserve left to bestow on interviewers. If I have portrayed Constance as a fire-brand who constantly carries a chip on her shoulder, I have failed in my purpose. She is a fire-brand, but she carries no chip. She never avoids a fight, but neither does she provoke one. Unlike most combative persons, she has a flair for logic which acts as a balance wheel. She arrives at her conclusions with amazing celerity, but never without due thought and the careful weighing of one factor against another. It is that sense of logic, plus her decisiveness, which makes her a magnificent business woman. She has always been the generalissimo of her own affairs. She seeks advice, but reserves and exercises the right to value it against her own opinions and reach her own decisions. She employs a business counsellor, but make no mistake about this: it is Constance who utters the final word, whether the question in hand involves a new studio contract or a stock market investment. In the administration of her home, she pays close attention to every detail. She examines every bill, decides upon every expenditure, determines every menu. How she finds the time and energy to do so, even during the stress of picture-making, has always been a mystery to me. Why, I have known her to spend hours phrasing and re-phrasing an answer to one of her fan letters. It must express exactly her intended meaning before it is allowed to enter the mail. It has been said, with considerable justice, that most screen stars are the product of at least a dozen brains; Constance is the product of just one — her own! She has a keen, though very caustic, sense of humor. At times, she is cuttingly sarcastic — and since she is a genius for seeing through affectation, her sarcasms are usually as penetrating as a surgeon's lance. (Please turn to page 49) Drawings by Henri Weiner 8? /. X. ir* w*~> Spotlights and cameras have been trained on Constance Bennett since she wot a child. They ore In her blood. The N.ew Movie Magazine, June, 1935 29