Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1962)

Dinah Shore looked heartbroken when she went to court to divorce George Montgomery. I don’t believe she learned of his indiscretions until quite recently. UIlDeR HeDDas Hat continued After fifty-one years a member of our industry was honored by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. The historic first tribute went to Frank Capra who has made pictures for more than forty years. James Stewart, who’s been in many Capra hits, was principal speaker. He said: “We honor you not as a picture director but as a great citizen.” He read comments made by Winston Churchill after he saw Capra’s war-time documentary films: “I’ve never seen a more powerful statement for our cause than these films,” said Winston. Dick Beymer discovered Linda Evans, took her to lunch at 20th where all the execs were asking who she was. Metro got there first and have the beautiful pixie in a TV series with Jim Davis. It should be great! Princess Soraya went through this town like a hurricane. But long before she came here she was a friend of Baron Dieter von Malsen and visited him several times at his Schloss Osterberg in Austria. When he went into the bakery business in France she went in with him. They turn out 15,000 loaves of brown bread daily and hope that eventually theirs will replace French bread. Jose Ferrer hopes Rosemary Clooney will forgive and take him back into the family circle. I doubt very much if she will. Why go through agony again? Carol Channing made her friends happy while she was here. But Kenneth, her New York hairdresser, must have wept when he learned that she had washed the beautiful wig he made for her in soap and water. It shrunk so very much she couldn’t get it on her head. Hope Lange enjoyed smoking a cigar in “The Grand Duke and Mr. Pimm,” but hasn’t followed through with it thank goodness! Biggest surprise to Hollywood was marriage of lovely Robin Chandler Lynn to Angier Biddle Duke, State Department’s Chief of Protocol, plus which he’s a multimillionaire. There was a recent widow here who had her eye on him but got nowhere. Robin has two children, a son and daughter, by Jeffry Lynn; Duke has three. Charlie Knickerbocker took it upon himself to deny this coming marriage. Frances and Van Heflin have been planning a trip around the world for years, but something always interfered. They finally made it to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. Their older daughter Vana is in college, and Van’s mother came out from the East to baby-sit for the two younger Heflin children. Doris Day became a fashion plate when she wore Jean Louis’ beautiful costumes in “Midnight Lace.” Now her favorite designer is Irene. Doris also has her own line of dresses on the market. Last time I saw Rock Hudson, I asked: “When are you getting married, or haven’t you thought about it?” “Oh, sure. But I don’t know.” “Why clutter up your life. It’s perfect as it is,” said I. “I don’t think it’s perfect. I’d like to have a family.” When I ventured kids might annoy the heck out of him, he protested: “I love kids. Marilyn Maxwell has a little boy — he’s five now. We get along swell.” “I thought you liked to play with children like Maria Cooper.” He laughed: “She’s too young for me.” Then he recalled an interview two weeks after his marriage to Phyllis. “A reporter asked: ‘What do you and your wife do at night?’ “ ‘She dances on top of the table,’ I replied. “ ‘But we can’t print that,’ said the reporter. “You know magazine writers have a completely different mentality from anyone else I ever knew,” Rock kidded me. Vera Miles: “I’ll never buy another formal ball gown. I’ve got one I’ve worn twice. Every time I look in my closet there it is taking up all the room — and too expensive to throw away.” That’s all the news under my hat now. See you next month. •