Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1961)

FIGHT BACK! Continued, from page 44 them. B was shipped back to his outfit. But Norma decided to play the same game and this time she went AWOL and returned to Montecatini. “When I arrived,” she says, “B and I managed to elude the sentries long enough to elope to the little Italian coastal town of Pisa” — famous for the leaning tower and also for being the spot where the MP’s again caught up with the newlywed Burt Lancasters, but not until they’d had an idyllic three-day honeymoon ! “Hang on to those fellows you call ‘just friends,’ ” adds Norma Anders — rather, Mrs. Lancaster. “They can be valuable allies when it comes to introductions.” 3. DON’T BE DISCOURAGED IF YOU'RE ALONE BY THE TELEPHONE Here’s how May Wynn illustrates her lesson: One crisp November afternoon in 1953, she was working on a picture called “They Rode West” at Columbia Studios. “From the first day on set, I had noticed a dark, clean-cut fellow actor who seemed pre-occupied much of the time on polishing his lines and on-camera business,” May told us. “I was quite attracted to the fellow (we’ll call him J for now), but trying to be much the lady, and a bit shy anyway, I never made any overtures to get to know him.” And that’s how things remained throughout the whole stint of the film. For many nights, May, thinking J surely must have noticed her on the set, sat home waiting for the telephone to ring, hoping it would be him asking to see her after shooting the next day. Although J sometimes smiled at her or said hello, the daydream never came Uuc. “Why doesn’L lie call?" she’d say, but her question remained unanswered. Finally, she resigned herself to the fact that theirs was strictly a beforethe-camera relationship and tried hard not to think about J, to forget about him. She almost succeeded, too, until Cupid entered the scene two years later. May’s best friend, Pat Hardy (now Mrs. Richard Egan) decided she knew just the man for May. She telephoned old friend J intending to arrange a blind date. But again J was steeped in a movie and didn’t even listen to the name of the girl about whom Pat was talking. But then J’s film was wrapped up and he had a few idle weeks ahead, he returned Pat’s call. “What was the name of that girl you were raving about?” he asked. “Go on, you wouldn't be interested anyway,” Pat teased. “And besides, she’s terribly popular. You probably wouldn’t be able to get a date with her if you tried,” Pat added. “You know you’re just sparking my interest the more you talk,” persisted J. “C’mon, how about giving your old buddy a break?” And so Pat broke down and gave J the name and address of May Wynn. And was J’s face red? He remembered immediately the shy, lovely girl on the set of “They Rode West” — the one he’d intended calling, but because of work never did. You can imagine May’s surprise at J’s telephone call. And she was busy the first two times. But he was persistent, and by the third call. May was free and the couple had their first date. “That evening, J told me how he could have kicked himself around the block for not having called sooner,” May confided modestly. “As for me, I was gone from that moment on.” And then? Ihey began going steady, went together for six weeks and at the end of the sixth week — J not being one for quick decisions — -had a 72-hour marathon discussing the pros and cons of marriage. “Marriage won the filibuster,” says May, “and we both decided it was love, love, love.” In June, 1956, May Wynn and Jack Kelly — did you guess? — eloped to Quartzite, Arizona. “Don’t give yourself up to spinsterhood until you consider a few possible reasons for a boy’s not rushing to the telephone,” May further advised. “Boys are just less impulsive than girls by nature, and besides, did you ever realize they can be shy and unsure, too?” 4. EVEN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT MAY TAKE A LONG TIME “Once upon a time, a Miss Frieda Harding of Salisbury, Connecticut, attended a play in nearby Sharon. Connecticut. When she returned home that evening, she announced to her family in no uncertain terms that she had just seen the boy she was going to marry. He’d been one of the actors in the play. This is how Frieda describes meeting her husband-to-be. Naturally, the boy of Frieda’s dreams, not knowing she existed, could hardly be expected to call her. This was Frieda’s predicament, but she had a plan in mind. When the summer was over, she packed up and went to New York to study acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. The following summer, after a year of intensive study, she got a job as an apprentice at the Sharon Playhouse. Luck of luck — B was still in the company! The object of her affections (completely unaware that he was) took one look at her and liked what he saw. Whereupon he set about trying to impress Frieda by playing the role of wolf. But since Frieda definitely did not like wolves, she was changing her mind rapidly about her feelings toward B. The summer was not a total washout; she was getting fine acting experience, and besides, she turned out to be the belle of the theater, with lots of dates and attention. In fact, B was getting discouraged over her complete aloofness towards him. Until . . . The last show of the season was “Happy Birthday.” B and Frieda both got parts. Their entire roles consisted of sitting on onstage barstools throughout the play. At the very back of the stage they sat. he a sailor and she a lady of easy virtue. For three acts they were directed just to converse, with no scripts, in whispers about whatever they chose. The last scene called for them to dismount, walk down to stage center and into a cozy clinch. For the first two nights, Frieda acted unapproachable. But by the third night, their three acts of conversation had convinced Frieda that B’s wolf act was a cover-up. She discovered he had a fine mind full of knowledge and wonderful ideas. That night their closing clinch was for real, and they began dating steadily until a year later — it was two years since Frieda had first laid eyes on the man she wanted to marry — when Frieda Harding became Mrs. Bradford Dillman! “It took two years,” Frieda says, “but it was well worth it!” So hold on to all of your contacts. If boys don't fight over you, fight bach. Joan Staley did — look what happened.