Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1961)

p ►OWDE# PARIS CASTS A SPCLL SO CAN YOU! A subtle change takes place when you puff on Evening in Paris Bath Powder... you're more female, desirable, more of everything that’s really you! 5 luxurious ozs., light as a cloud, scented like a dream; just $1.00; Deluxe box $1.50 THATS HOLLYWOOD FOR YOU FROM A STOOL AT SCHWAB’S ! The talk is continuous. It sounds as if you’ve tuned in the radio low, to a talk program with plenty of static. I notice Tony Curtis, needing a haircut, at the magazine rack (we natives call it “The Reading Room”) at the Schwabadero. Said Tony: “Newcomers ask me ‘How can I get started?’ Truthfully, I can’t answer them. Everybody’s story is different. There is no set of rules. Becoming a star is not an exact science. There’s no textbook. I was fortunate when I started. Then the major studios were powerful. The major studios searched for new faces, placed them under contract and groomed them. I don’t think I could be discovered today. Who’d take the time and spend the money to develop me?” I didn’t try to answer this question directly. I said something about performers through the years adjusting to a changing theatrical world. I mentioned Tuesday Weld and Elvis and Nancy Kwan, three examples of people who made it without being groomed by a studio. As a great philosopher once said (perhaps for this very paragraph) : “Everything changes but change itself.” Hours later I recalled that Tony Curtis, studio-bred, is one of the most active and successful independent producers in the business! Gardner McKay’s dog, as all his fans (I mean Gardner’s) know, is named Pussycat. It’s a smart dog, sometimes smarter than Gardner, because Pussycat knows there’s a health ordinance forbidding animals in places where food is served. Whenever Gardner tries to take Pussycat into the dining room at Schwab’s, the dog refuses to enter. What’s more, Pussycat has a contract for the “Adventures in Paradise” series, receiving $150 a week. I don’t know about you, but I do know about me. I’ve had it with those trick credit titles which suddenly flash on in various sections of the screen. Following them is similar to following the ball in a tennis match, only more so. I’m worn out, weary before the movie actually begins. I happened to be in a projection room with Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee and a few other couples for a small running of John Cassavetes’ “Shadows.” I entered the projection room shortly after the film had started, but I knew Bobby was present from the way he was laughing it up in all the right places. After the picture, I was proved correct : There was Bobby, wearing one of those jazzy straw hats with a many-colored hat band, which was as loud as his “I want everyone to know I appreciate it” laugh. Bobby and I discussed the movie. Sandra kept quiet. After about ten minutes, Sandra interrupted to say: “Bobby, I want to go home. I’m tired.” It took Bobby a second to catch on — it’s the first time he’s about to be a father! Bobby was then working in Cassavetes’ “Too Late Blues,” and Sandra stayed on the set every afternoon, all afternoon. It’s more tiring staying on the set, especially an entire afternoon, than working in the picture. I asked Sandra why she stayed on the set every afternoon, and she replied honestly (although it did sound like a line from a “Tammy” script) : “Because I want to be near Bobby.” Sandra is welcome to this answer from Denise Minnelli, ( Please turn the page ) Pappa-to-be Bobby Darin tells Sidney the good news about his expected baby. 4