Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1959)

on the gravel path. It was the delivery man, returning with a smaller bundle of dresses than he had gone up with. I rolled down the window beside me. “Hey,” I shouted, “can you come over here for a minute?” He waved back in acknowledgment, left the dresses in the back of the van, and walked towards me. “Say,” I began, offering him a cigarette, “what’s it like up there? They all seem so shut off from everything.” “Thanks,” he said, taking a cigarette from the packet. Then, as I offered him a light he added, “Yeah — I guess it is. She’s so quiet, so serious these days . . . not at all like she used to be when she came down to the store.” He looked at his watch. “I’m afraid I can’t stay here talking — I’m late already,” he said and hurried away. Looking back at my pad, I’d gone through all my notes — all of them except for those from Mrs. Taussig, the astrologer. “. . . Liz is born under the ninth degree of Pisces,” she had said. “And this shows a character of great self-will and perseverence. But from the way her planets are arranged one would expect to find a person who might let her emotions rule her head. “She is a highly emotional person who needs people around her all the time and she takes strength from emotion as others take strength from food.” There was a gap here, then the notes went on, “I would say she gets depressed very easily and depression could have been a cause of her having put on so much weight recently. “Liz is not a disciplined person and is probably a very untidy housekeeper. She is undoubtedly indulgent, but she is extremely strong — stronger by far than Eddie Fisher. And I would say that because of this their marriage could not be either happy or long-lasting. Mike Todd was the only man in her life whose iron character really matched her own. “Physically, Liz is lazy; she admits this. “She is not a practical person, especially with money; few people are who are born under signs such as hers. She is very creative, however, but quickly bored and is forever looking for new experiences.” Of the future, Mrs. Taussig says: “I see her going to even greater heights both as a very beautiful woman and as a fine actress. She will reach a peak at forty when I see her falling headlong in love again the way she did with Mike Todd. She will definitely remain in the limelight for a very long while. Her resourcefulness, plus her beauty and talent, will assure this.” But was all this true? Yes, I believe so. Being as near to Liz as I had been over the past six weeks I sensed a great deal of truth in Mrs. Taussig’s words. And suddenly— suddenly I knew that I’d found out what I’d originally set out to learn: what sort of a person Liz Taylor is today. I closed my book. All around me the street was quiet, as quiet as it had been when I’d first driven up it more than an hour ago. I looked back up at the house with its big shuttered windows seeming as final against the outside world as the moment I’d first seen them. It was a lonely scene — that one of the shut-away home. And as I turned the key in the ignition and started off slowly down the road, I thought of it and knew that the Liz of today was as alone and cut off from the world as her house in Copa De Oro Road. the end BE SURE TO CATCH LIZ IN M-G-M’S “CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF” IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY DONE SO. PRESENTLY BEFORE THE CAMERAS ARE U.A.’S “TWO FOR THE SEESAW” AND METRO’S “SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER.” Super Chief • EL Capital All-room service Hi-Level chair car train Daily between Chicago and Los Angeles The Chief • Texas Chief Pullman-chair car train Pullman-chair car train between Chicago — Los Angeles between Chicago — Texas Pullman-chair car train between Chicago — San Francisco For reservations, phone any Santa Fe Traffic Office or Travel Agent. P 81