Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1949)

But I honestly believe that Victor loves his Dorothy. She’s good for him. And Vic, with his vital personality, is a powerful battery to recharge Dorothy’s delicate health. Besides they are in love with each other — as of this writing! If .. . June Allyson and Dick Powell take all of their 1949 vacations together. If .. . Jimmy Stewart finally breaks down and takes unto himself a wife. Jimmy will be forty-one in May. Just before he reached the forty mark, Jimmy solemnly assured me that the time had definitely arrived for Stewart to find a wife. So I watched and waited. Would it be Myrna Dell? “We go together for laughs,” Jimmy told me with his usual candor. Myrna harrumphed and walked out of his life. Will it be Gloria McLean in 1949? If .. . June Haver wins a church annulment from Jimmy Zito — she divorced him in California during 1948. And if she marries Dentist John Duzik, the man she should have married the first time out. If . . . Margaret O’Brien realizes that it is not fair to disapprove when her mother wants to marry again. The very attractive thirty-ish Gladys received two proposals of marriage to my knowledge during 1948. One she turned down because she didn’t like the man. The second suitor was refused because Maggie doesn’t want her mama to marry. That’s all very well for now. But what kind of lonely life looms for Mrs. O’Brien in, say 1957, when Margaret will be nineteen and probably married, with a life of her own? IF .. . Burt Lancaster gives up his awful idea of retiring as a movie actor to direct and produce pictures. Here a guy comes along who oozes personality, an honest actor and a pleasure to watch and all he talks about is “When I retire”! If .. . Jennifer Jones gets off that high horse and reverts to the easy-to-getalong-with gal she used to be during her “Song of Bernadette” days. It is one of the more painful parts of my job to talk to Jennifer once in a while to get a line on her private and professional plans. It’s like talking to a little piece of unbottled air. There’s nothing there. Not only for me, but for everyone. Jennifer takes it on the lam like a frightened fawn. Maybe she will change — I hope — when she is actually Mrs. David Selznick and the “if” or “maybe” has been removed. The wedding is scheduled for early 1949. If .. . Esther Williams announces that she is expecting a baby. The pretty swimming-champ movie star doesn’t talk about it any more, but the loss of her expected baby last year is a tragedy that can only be cured when the stork comes calling again If . . Elizabeth Taylor gets the word, “Come to Korea.” Lizzie’s heart lies in a little silver football she wears around her neck. It’s inscribed with the name of Glenn Davis, the all-American Army football player. When Elizabeth and her parents said goodbye to Glenn when he left for duty in the Pacific, the sixteenyear-old star promised him solemnly that she would wait for him — forever, if necessary. It will be grand* if the wait has a 1949 ending. If .. . Frank Sinatra can actually accumulate some of the million dollars he earns annually. I keep hearing that Frankie not only can’t save anything, but that he is always behind with his income tax payments. It sounds incredible and I hope it’s just one of those Hollywood stories. If . . . Larry Parks makes a lot of movies without the costly interruptions of lawsuits. If . . . Van Johnson does not make any matrimonial headlines. It isn’t easy for Van and Evie to settle harmoniously into wedded bliss, not with the hurdles and headlines they had to battle at the beginning. But they are two swell people and if they get through 1949, the future is a cinch. If .. . Mrs. Glenn Ford really means it about retiring from her dancing career. Glenn wants her at home. And Farley Granger’s career goes into the high gear promised by the man in the driver’s seat — boss Sam Goldwyn . . . and Peter Lawford would get back to being a nice kid again . . . and Gregory Peck could fire all the producers who own slices of the Peck pictures and make a few dollars for himself — it sure would be a wonderful 1949. And if, every time a Hollywood star gets into a jam, it is understood by the public, that for every screwball here, we have a hundred decent movie personalities who don’t make news because they are normal. And above all, it will be a grand New Year in Hollywood if the great and black shadow of fear is finally erased from the movie capital of the world. It will be a great and terrific year if men and women in all stratas of the Hollywood scene can wake up in the morning without dread of losing their jobs because of a foreign quota law, or fear of losing their good characters because of distorted whispering campaigns inside the U.S.A. So goodbye to 1948. I don’t think it will be missed in Hollywood. WELCOME 1949! The End IT TASTES GOODIT’S GOOD TASTE 67