Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1948)

nome and Nancy wisely let him alone. “Do you think he’d like me to be with him, Mommy?” little Nancy asked. “Try it, dear,” her mother said. So edging slowly into the room she crept close to her father. Together they sat side by side on the couch not speaking a word but drawing comfort from each other. And it was there Nancy served each of them a dinner tray. Another evening little Nancy was sent up to bed as usual while Frank studied a new recording. Soon her crying reached the living room and Nancy went upstairs. When her wails again reached the room Frank called to her sternly. “You didn’t read to me,” she sobbed. “Come here, Nancy,” Frank said, and she approached hesitatingly, not quite sure of the outcome. Slowly he gathered her in his arms. “What story will it be, Nancy?” he asked. “Will it be Cinderella tonight?” Life was simple at the Sinatra’s. Dinners on red gingham cloths. Bedtime stories. Frank’s bow ties which Nancy made by hand. The seldom used built-in bar, for the Sinatras are temperate people. Friends, largely people who work with Frank, song writers, radio and theatrical people, to spend a holiday afternoon or an evening. Conversation of music or the same simple homey talk that goes on in thousands of American homes, the house mortgage, the children’s teeth, the monthly bills. ONLY recently was there time for restlessness. Before, with Frank and Nancy, poverty, broken hopes and dreams, then a glimmer of hope and finally the hard road up, were things to share. Through it all Nancy never let Frank down. And he was a good husband and a devoted father, even in the little ways. Although his business trips were many he never took his absences from home for granted. Always he returned with a lovely gift for Nancy and exciting toys for the children. But success, completely realized, was different. And when Frank found the outside temptations, demands and stimulation that came with it were things he couldn’t share he began to suffer from the delusion that only with personal liberation could he hope for happiness. However, those closest to the Sinatras believe that this mirage of happiness disappeared even as Frank reached for it, that as he closed the door of the Toluca Lake house his need for Nancy and his children and home swept over him. No one was surprised, therefore, that night at Slapsie Maxie’s when, after a few turns around the floor, Frank danced Nancy to the door, drove her to his apartment where they had a long talk and the next day returned home. It won’t be easy for Frank and Nancy to hold fast to their marriage. For a long time, as long as Frank’s youth and fame endure perhaps, they will have to be stronger than all the difficulties — the gossip, the temptations, the separations, the nervous tensions— that will beset them. But to sustain them they will have their love of home and children and each other. They will have, too, all the dear customs and traditions born of their eight years of marriage and the long courtship which went before. Traditions like New Year’s Eve, for instance. It’s good to be able to think that this New Year’s Eve they’ll be together again, that though the fun be at its height on the first stroke of twelve Frank, as always, will seek his wife’s side, kiss her tenderly and say — more solemnly perhaps than ever before, “Happy New Year, Nancy!” 7©UT OF lO TISSUE USERS SAY Now! MORE KLEENEX being made than ever before. So keep asking for it! One tissue stands far ahead of all other brands in public preference . . . and that one tissue is Kleenex! In a certified nation-wide poll of thousands of tissue users, 7 out of every 10 went on record to say: "Of all tissues. Hike Kleenex best!" 7 out of 10. Such overwhelming prefer 1 ence shows there must be a real difference between Kleenex Tissues and other brands. A special process used only for Kleenex keeps this tissue luxuriously soft, dependably strong. That’s why others cant be "just like Kleenex.” And only Kleenex of all tissues gives you the handy Serv-a-Tissue Box. Yes, *T.M. Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. only with Kleenex can you pull a tissue and have the next one pop up ready for use. So keep asking for Kleenex — America’s favorite tissue. Each and every month there’ll be more and more Kleenex Tissues for you. Cold Medal Award Winners Next Month 71