Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1948)

fy)\o$ Whom? ’Twas all in fun, and it got funnier — but nobody knows who was fooled BY MERLE OBERON I’M beginning to believe that with a bit of effort one can make anybody believe anything. My go^'d friend Paulette Goddard, for example, "most certainly is not a gullible person, yet recently her husband Burgess Meredith, my husband Lucien Ballard and I had her believing an utterly preposterous story which grew out of a single line of kidding. Paulette and Buzz bought a lot adjoining our home at Trancas Beach on the beautiful rocky stretch of seacoast, so like the Riviera, north of Malibu. Just before Paulette left for England she jestingly suggested to Buzz that he have their house built and the landscaping finished by the time she returned, which would be in about four weeks. On her homecoming we invited them to our beach house for the weekend and the four of us met in town to dine. Quite casually, over dessert, I asked Buzz, “Did you tell Sugar what happened to your lot?” I don’t know why I said it. We had not rehearsed any sort of rib and I had no idea what Buzz would say in reply. “Why did you mention that, Merle? I was going to let Sugar see for herself,” he answered calmly. “What happened? For heaven’s sake, tell me!” Paulette insisted. “Well,” Buzz hedged, “you said you wanted me to start building, so I hired a contractor to level off the property. I’m sorry, but they bulldozed most of the lot into the sea.” “They did what? Will it be possible to build a house on it?” Paulette was completely aghast. “It looks a little like the top of Vesuvius,” Lucien contributed. “One advantage, though. Trespassers don’t come to fish any more. Not with so much dirt pushed in by the rocks,” Buzz added, still as serious as a professor lecturing on atomic power. “This is horrible. And just the sort of thing you would do, Buzz,” Paulette fumed at her husband. During the hour’s trip to the beach she tried to be calm but as soon as we arrived in our patio she peered through the moonless night toward their property. In that darkness it was impossible to see anything, but she imagined she could. “It looks awful! What contractor could be so stupid?” The All the laughs Were over the lot that Paulette and Burgess had bought “The Murphy Brothers,” Buzz told her without a flicker of hesitation. “Now let’s not talk about it any more tonight,” I suggested placatingly; I didn’t want our silly story to lead to an argument. Early the next morning Paulette rushed to the window and saw two men on the nearby lot. Her lot. “Look!” she cried. “There are those miserable, mangy Murphy Brothers. I’m going to tell them exactly what I think of them. She started from the house, then for the first time saw the lot had not been bulldozed into the sea. We howled with laughter. But so did Paulette. So convincingly that I wonder just when she might have started acting and ribbing us? At any rate, the next day two characters appeared before Buzz’s dressing room, carrying picket signs announcing, “Burgess Meredith Unfair to the Murphy Brothers.” End More sureness in your samba, too, when you wear this Real-form Panty Girdle! It's fashioned to fit of two-way stretch Raschel -knitted Lastex and DuPont Rayon for gentle control. Wont roll or ride up, guaranteed non -run —and the crotch is semi-detachable! Sizes: Small, medium and large. JUST $3.00 Raal In form ation ! Send 2.><‘ hi coin or stamps for the Arthur Murray Dancr Book. Real-form Girdle Go., Dcpt.3t\ 358 Fifth Avenue. New York 1 P H 0 T 0 P L A Y 103