Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1963)

GIRLS RUSHED INTO WOMAN HOOD ( Continued from page 34) hair, the most sinuous hips in history and the face of a child. “Definitely sick,” she said of her own characterization. “An angel, this kooky girl, terribly smart, terribly bright, careful to appear sane — but crafty as only the insane can be.” What aroused Brigid’s sympathy was that Salome could be at once so young and so depraved, and she played the part pretty well for a kid who has just achieved sixteen, a junior at Chicago Latin, who’d cut her teeth and earned her Peabody award as “The Blue Fairy” on a kid’s program. If I were casting Brigid I’d have cast her without seductive make-up and with those great eyes mirroring what only a sixteen-year-old can mirror — the gorgeous excitement and wonder of being alive. But that’s never enough for Hollywood. From 1909, when lovely little Norma Talmadge played hooky from Erasmus High in Brooklyn to appear in one-reelers at the old Vitagraph studio, movie-makers have pushed beautiful female children into the role of nymphs; directed them into flaunting charm of which they were only half aware; beguiled them much too soon into the vocabulary of sex, and rushed them into portraying loves they weren’t nearly mature enough to understand. Elizabeth Taylor at sixteen, playing her first adult role as Bob Taylor’s bride in “Conspirator,” said honestly, “I don’t really know what I’m expected to do. I have the emotions of a child in the body of a woman.” She had never really dated, she was carrying on her long distance correspondence with Glenn Davis, in love with love. When she was supposed to be playing an adult scene, she was reliving the moment when she’d received (by mail, of course) Glenn’s “A” pin. Loretta Young at fourteen, playing her first love scene, in “Laugh, Clown, Laugh,” was padded out in symmetricals to enhance her thin little fourteen-year-old frame. “Look into the mirror,” her director would say, “You see your lover, you’re mad about him, make it sexy. Okay, let’s go.” Loretta would nearly burst her chest trying to show emotion but the director, furious with the effect, would bellow through his megaphone and they’d have to try again. Finally Nils Asther, her lover, said, “Loretta dear, when you see me in the mirror, just imagine I’m a hot fudge sundae.” And Jean Simmons, playing Ophelia, winced every time she opened her mouth. Her babyish rabbit teeth had just been filed down and the cold air “fractured” them. When Laurence Olivier tried to tell her how to read her lines, she committed the — for him — unforgivable sin. She giggled. Seventeen-year-old Clara Bow had never had a date when she arrived in Hollywood. Seventeen-year-old Joan Crawford, then Lucille LeSueur, burst into tears because no one met her at the station. Seventeen year-oiu nna nayworui was escorted to and from the studio by her father, and all the wolf whistles followed them to no avail. Seventeen-year-old Judy Garland wasn’t allowed to date and was forced to dress like a child. Seventeen-year-old Lana Turner wore a sweater, all right, but she’d never had any fun. But Natalie Wood, who at sixteen, had taken her high school diploma with straight A’s, was a show business veteran at seventeen — thought nothing of dating actors of twenty-five. Who writes their scripts? Never doubt this: Playing love scenes on screen forces a girl into a woman’s role just as surely as a hothouse forces a flower into bloom. But when the little nymphs start taking on a woman’s life off screen, with no script writer to write the script — catastrophe strikes ! You have to be a teenager before you can become an adult, and these girls who’ve been robbed of their teenage eventually wind up in headlines as they reach out for life — for love — for security — for the woman’s life they’ve essayed too soon. That they’re insecure in their grown-up pose is reflected in the fact that one and all of these girls reach out for love, yes, but also for someone to reinforce and guide them. Witness Mary Pickford, who married Owen Moore at sixteen, three months after rehearsing her first love scene with him for D. W. Griffith . . . Witness Clara Bow, who clung first to Gilbert Roland, then to director Victor Fleming, then to Gary Cooper, then to Harry Richman, then to Rex Bell . . . Witness Lana Turner, who married Artie Shaw on their first date when she was really in love with Greg Bautzer . . . Witness Joan Crawford, who married once out of sheer loneliness . . . Witness Jean Simmons, who at seventeen was trailing behind thirty-two-year-old “Jimmy” Grainger, ignoring the friends who advised her he was a “scoundrel,” that he’d been married and had two children, that he was far too old for her . . . Witness Greta Garbo, who at seventeen played Trilby to Mauritz Stiller’s Svengali and never even found moral support without him . . . Witness Judy Garland, who fell for Dave Rose and Vincente Minnelli and Chuck Walters — always older, brilliant, talented men — in a desperate effort to find reinforcement and guidance . . . Witness Tuesday Weld, who couldn’t wait for love . . . Witness Liz Taylor, ditto . . . Witness Loretta Young, who ran away to Yuma on her seventeenth birthday and married Grant Withers, the handsome young man she’d just played love scenes with in “Two Lovers.” This was the first in a series of romances that left romantic Loretta bereft. She didn’t know where the scene ended and life began. She was able to convey passion realistically on screen — all these girls have — but off screen they hadn’t matured enough as women to give a man the relationship marriage demands. Do the girls ever mature? Or do they forever “act” a love scene, forever reach out for some man to guide them? Norma Talmadge had never dated until she was a star. Ardently courted by Bill Hart and a dozen other glamorous actors, she married a stocky Russian-born WITH UGLY VARICOSE L VEINS How many times have you been ashamed of hideous purple veins and ugly splotches on your legs? Whenever you wear a bathing suit, shorts, or even your best dress, those disfigured legs make you look dowdy and unattractive. But now, there’s no reason you should suffer this embarrassment. FEEL BETTER BECAUSE YOU LOOK BETTER Now you can hide most horrid varicose veins that add years to your appearance. New TERRI COVER CREAM covers up varicose veins, fades out the ugly look, matches your natural skin color. Just smooth a very light coat of TERRI COVER CREAM over veins. You apply it straight from the jar with your fingertips. No mess or trouble, and it won’t stain or smear nylons. It removes easily with soap and water or cleansing cream. NO RISK GUARANTEED OFFER Not in drug or department stores, you must order by mail. Select the shade that matches your natural skin; Light — Medium — Dark. Indicate shade on coupon below and mall order today. 10 week supply only §1.65 (tax Incl.). If not completely satisfied, return unused portion for your purchase price refund. Don’t let ugly looking varicose veins embarrass you ever again. Decide to try TERRI COVER CREAM today 1 FLEETWOOD CO. . Dept. R-32, 427 W. Randolph St.. Chicago 6.111. * □ Please send me one new Terri Cover Cream @ $1.65 (Tax Incl. □ Two for $3.00 Check Shade Wanted; Light; Med; Dark □ Remittance enclosed. Send postpaid □ Please send C.O.D. plus postage. NAME ADDRESS C IT Y ZONE STATE. EXTRA CASH E i“Hi magazine subscriptions. Write for FREE information. There is no obligation. Macfadden-Bartell Corp., 205 E. 42 St.. N. Y. 17. N. Y. V/4 CARAT ZIRCON $5.95 That’s right! Big, impressive 1% CARAT Genuine White Zircon Gem (Nature’s Diamond Rival) set in Ladies' handsome Occasional Ring for only $5.95. tax and postage paid. SEND NO REMITTANCE (unless you wish). Rush only ring size and order now. Pay postman EXACTLY $5.95, NOT one cent more — on arrival. Your money returned if, after examination, you are not delighted. Send now — you’ll be glad you did. NATIONAL JEWELRY CO., Dept. 150, Wheeling, W. Va. Woman Nearly Itches To Death “I nearly itched to death for 7'hyears. Then I found anew wonder-working creme. Now I’m happy,” writes Mrs. P. Ramsay ofL.A. Calif. Here’s blessed relief from the tortures of vaginal itch, rectal itch, chafing, rash and eczema with an amazing new scientific formula called LANACANE. This fast-acting, stainless medicated creme kills harmful bacteria germs while it soothes raw, irritated and inflamed skin tissue. Stops scratching and so speeds healing. Don’t suffer ! Get LANACANE at druggists . New "Electric-Eye" pOL* *0IPJ> NO COST! To get acquainted, I’ll send you this amazing new 10 second Polaroid Camera that takes beautiful color or b & w pictures of your loved ones, friends, scenery, etc. Simply hand out or mail on’ twenty get-acquainted coupons FREE friends or relatives and help us get the, many new customers as per our premium letter. You’ll love your new easy-to-operate Polaroid, and the pictures it takes, as I do mine. Please send me your favorite snapshot, photo or Kodak picture when writing for your Polaroid Camera. We will make you a: beautiful 5.\7 inch enlargement in a “Movietone” frame and you can tell friends about our hand colored enlargements when handing out the coupons. Send today and pay postman only forty-nine cents and a few cents for our c.o.d. service plus postage on arrival. Your original returned. Also include the color of hair and eyes with each picture so I can also give you our bargain offer on a second enlargement handcolored in oils for greater beauty, sparkle and life. Limit of 2 to any' one person. Send today for your 20 FREE coupons to hand out and please enclose your name, address and favorite snapshot. Our supply of Polaroid Cameras is limited. Mrs. Ruth Long, Gift Manager. DEAN STUDIOS Dept. X-657, 913 Walnut St., Des Moines 2. Iowa P 91