Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1960)

A GOOD WIFE Continued from page 49 Doris grins fondly at her husband and adds, “But Marty isn’t so perfect either. Do you know what this man does to me? He falls asleep right while I’m talking to him! We’ll be sitting in the backyard soaking up sun, because I'm between pictures and I can relax. . . “She means that’s when she can take a chance on getting more freckles,” Marty Melcher teases. “When she’s working they show up too much. She loves to poke her face in the sun, and for some reason it makes her feel talkative. But it makes me very sleepy — the sun, I mean. . . .” “. . . so the next thing I know, I’m talking to the wall!” Doris breaks in. “Just talking to the blank wall and a fast-asleep man! It makes me so mad I get out of my chair and march back to the house. . . .” “Dragging me with you, don’t forget!” “Okay.” Again the broad grin. “I said I was bossy, didn’t I?” Marty puts it this way. “Doris and I have a talent for staying close, for two excellent reasons. One, I like it. Two, she insists on it.” But then he adds, “Seriously, I do believe in closeness — it’s the heart of any marriage. I feel very close to my wife, and her mother, and Terry.” “He only married me to get my mother and my son,” Doris insists. “He tells everybody, ‘I certainly married a beautiful package deal.’ ” “And so I did,” Marty agrees heartily. “My wife’s relatives are my friends, not my in-laws. I have no use for the in-law relationship, I don’t even like the expres sion. We’re friends because they’re nice people to have around — it’s only a coincidence that they happen to be your relatives too.” In answer, Doris bounds across the room to throw her arms around her husband and kiss him with an enthusiasm that all but knocks him down. Marty does not call his mother-in-law by title — sometimes it’s Alma and sometimes Nanna — but Doris enjoys the way they get along. AlmaNanna lives with them and runs the household. And about this Doris has another confession. “Don’t tell Marty,” she whispers, “but I hate to cook. And my mother is such a whiz that when he puts on weight he complains to her, ‘Oh you cook so good you make me mad.’ So you see what a good wife I am? Do I put pounds on him? No, it’s my mother. And Marty jokingly announces to Nanna: ‘Nanna, I hereby give notice that if this wife of mine ever acts up. I’m going to be the one to get custody of you. You’re never going to get away from me.’ ” Doris deliberately turns down the corners of her mouth in a sad droop. “Honestly, they gang up on me. Around here I’m a nobody — I have no say at all. I’m the one who always loses — and I’m a bad loser.” Marty goodnaturedly points out that one minute she admits that she’s bossy and the very next minute hollers that she has no say. “Who,” he demands, “looks me over like an inspector general before we go anyplace?” “Me!” Doris agrees brightly. And explains that if she didn’t, he might go to a formal party wearing a light suit. The Melchers don’t go out socially a great deal because both of them adore their home and all they want is to get back to it if they’ve been away. “I love coming home,” Marty says and Doris nods knowingly, remembering that from the time he was eighteen Marty lived in hotels too much and longed for a home. Now he has one and revels in it. That’s why they by-passed interior decorators and shopped together for furniture and fabrics they enjoy living with. But when they do step out, Doris admits she will make Marty stand inspection, and even go back to change into a dark suit if the invitation calls for it. “What’s more,” she boasts proudly, “I pick out his ties, and he lets me! Now he’s acting put-upon, but actually he goes around telling people ‘my wife has impeccable taste.’ Those are his very words. Impeccable.” Marty does go shopping with Doris, too, for the fun of it, admiring everything she buys for herself. He can’t get over how sensibly she spends her money. “My wife looks elegant in a skirt and sweater,” he says proudly. “She doesn’t need a three hundred and fifty dollar dress to make her attractive. And she’s a lot more sensible about clothes than many a girl who never had to earn a quarter.” “I can’t resist it” Marty feels that people shouldn’t spend money out of line with their income, even when it comes to the beautiful house they both love. “If you pay more for a house than you should,” he says, “it becomes a snare and a delusion, and you can’t walk into your home on a solid foot.” “Oh I agree with you a hundred percent,” Doris nods like a wise owl. “Until,” she adds, “until it comes to something for the house that’s so beautiful I can’t resist it.” Thousands of mature young women continue, needlessly, to suffer the embarrassment of skin blemishes. 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