Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1951)

The Life He Saved ( Continued, from page 40) Through you — I want everyone who needs help now or may need help in the future — to know that the sick and the heartsick can find Utopia in Menninger’s — or in some other good sanitarium— just as I did.” Looking at my husky, vital guest I could hardly believe he had ever been on the verge of a complete breakdown. He had breezed in to see me straight from the tennis courts, wearing a sports shirt, a cap on the back of his head and looking as brown as a berry. What a different person he was from the man I had talked to in his studio dressingroom just a few weeks after his marriage to Liz Dailey hit the rocks for the second and final time. Then Dan literally had looked and acted like a man who had just gone through a crash. He had been too nervous to sit down. As we talked, he had paced the floor, clasping and unclasping' his hands. His voice had been strained and jittery. THAT was just a short five months ago. The other day, looking at him sipping a soft drink across the card table from me, I asked impulsively, “Dan, how did you happen to make up your mind to go to Menninger’s? How did you have the courage to take such a drastic step?” He answered without hesitation. “I suddenly took stock of myself,” he said eagerly, 1 “I realized I could not go on faced with the threat of a complete breakdown. I couldn’t do it to my little boy, Dan, the third. I I couldn’t do it to my studio. “My days and nights — before I made up my mind — were a nightmare. Every morning when I woke up my troubles mounted and mounted. “Then someone who had been at Menninger’s— not Robert Walker, but a girl I know whose name I can’t tell you because she’s very well known — told me what had been done for her at this famous Clinic. “So out of the blue, I called my agent, A1 Melnick, who is also my close friend (Dan is now living with the Melnicks) and said, ‘I want to go to Menninger’s.’ “A1 didn’t say, ‘You’ll be ruined. They’ll think something is wrong with you mentally.’ He said, ‘Okay, boy. If you want to — that’s it.’ Other friends were not as understanding,” Dan laughed. “Well, I never was out of my mind. If I had been I wouldn’t have had the sense to want to get myself well again. “I wish I could describe Menninger’s to you,” he went on eagerly, “not just the appearance of the place — but the feeling there. It’s near Topeka, Kansas — not a large place — in fact, they can only take sixty-five people at a time and they have a long l waiting list. “It’s the complete wholesomeness and normality of the place that first hits you. It’s like a fraternity house. It has the i warmth and intimacy of a friendly family ! — and yet, if you don’t want to associate with other people you do not have to.” For many years I have known of the Menninger Clinic and of the fine work being done by the famed psychiatrist, Dr. Carl Menninger, who heads it. His book, “The Human Mind,” has been a best seller for a long time. But never before had I talked with anyone who had been a patient there and I found myself hanging on Dan’s words. “The word ‘mental’ is never mentioned there,” he continued, “nor is anyone made to feel like a ‘patient.’ Not for a moment do you lose your identity. A banker is treated as a banker, an artist as an artist, an actor as an actor. Even down to the little things — your personality is respected. If you like chocolate ice cream — you get it. i iL. c/Vowf Easier, surer protection tor your marriage hygiene problem 1. ANTISEPTIC {Protection from germs ) Norforms are now safer and surer than ever! A highly perfected new formula actually combats germs right in the vaginal tract. The exclusive new base melts at body temperature, forming a powerful, protective film that permits effective and long-lasting action. Will not harm delicate tissues. 2. DEODORANT {Protection from odor ) A Norwich Product W TESTED by Doctors TRUSTED by Women NEW IMPROVED NORFORMS VAGINAL SUPPOSITORIES FOR MARRIAGE HYGIENE Norforms were tested in a hospital clinic and found to be more effective than anything it had ever used. Norforms are powerfully deodorant — they eliminate (rather than cover up) unpleasant or embarrassing odors, and yet they have no “medicine” or “disinfectant” odor themselves. 3. CONVENIENT {So easy to use) Norforms are small vaginal suppositories that are so easy and convenient to use. Just insert — no apparatus, no mixing or measuring. They’re greaseless and they keep in any climate. Your druggist has them in boxes of 12 and 24. ALSO AVAILABLE IN CANADA FREE informative Norforms booklet Just mail this coupon to: Dept. PH-8 Norwich Pharmacal Company, Norwich, N. Y. Please send me the new Norforms booklet, in a plain envelope. Name Address City Zone State P 81