Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1951)

STUFF words in him. And the whole evening, ;oo, glamorous Ava, whose heart and mind must have been all but consumed with conflicting emotions, was warm md considerate of everyone’s welfare. She was also exhausted— too exlausted to eat after a long hard day on ;he set with Clark Gable in “Lone Star.” I“I just want a glass of milk and some :offee beans,” she smiled at the surprised waiter, “they really are wonderful 'or giving energy.” Ava wasn’t kidding. For the balance of the evening she sat .here nibbling from the jar of coffee peans in front of her. “Guess how many ;here are,” Frank mused, “and you win a :ur-lined brown derby!” We wished we :ould have guessed how much happiness | the future holds for them. Happy Warrior: No, the Bob Hopes [aren’t facing bankruptcy. Mr. Ski-Snoot lidn’t follow the wrong pony, or lose his shimmy shirt on Wall Street. But it is ;rue that Hope and all the little Hope:uls are living in an inexpensive fiveifoom frame house. Here’s how it happened. Just before he took off for Sorea, the Lemon Drop Kiddo (plug!) (bought the lot in back of his estate. A ittle house on the lot went with the deal. 3is own magnificent manse was undergoing alterations, so the Hopes had to : Inove out during the process. Need we r go on? Actually, he loves living in the ittle house, which will be moved away ater. ! “There’s something about six in a jathtub that’s so cozy!” burbles Bobby. Short and Sour: Rock Hudson’s dates with beautiful belles like Ann Sheridan, ;trengthen the rumor that Vera-Ellen von’t be walking down the aisle with lim . . . June Allyson’s rumored retirenent is causing front office silver threads imongst the gold . . . Mild-mannered Doris Day would like to take the person vho’s spreading those “separation” stories and dunk him in her Bendix! IMPERTINENT INTERVIEW BY ALINE MOSBY U. P Hollywood Correspondent Peace reigned generally around the often warring households of Hollywood last spring, but not in the Bel-Air battleground of the Victor Matures. The beautiful hunk of man and his beautiful blonde wife were dug into their trenches again. At that time Mrs. M. denied they were separated for keeps and added, “We had a little argument, that’s all.” They’d had one skirmish before in which Vic was shot down in flames in a divorce suit, in November 1949. They called a truce the next February, though, and peace held again. After the smoke had cleared from this latest tactical maneuver, I hotfooted over to the “Las Vegas Story” set at RKO to find out who won. The broad-shouldered actor, who usually has 5,890 well-chosen words to say in any communique to the press, was practically silent this time. After some hemming and much hawing, he admitted that his wife always comes out the winner in their family discussions. “Sure, I admit I was wrong,” he finally said. “The woman in this case has been right in every instance. I’ve been wrong so consistently. This is great,” he laughed. “I can see some future lawyer holding out this interview to me and saying, ‘Here, see, he admits he was wrong.’ “Gee, seriously, Honey, it’s hard to say anything. I don’t want to hurt her. I really don’t want to talk about it. Oh, I’m no gem, I admit that. We had some type of argument which is pretty par for the course. If anything’s printed in the gossip columns that you’ve had an argument with your wife, though, people know it.” Does Mature mind the gold-fish bowl of Movieland? “Some of my greatest friends are gossip columnists,” he shrugged. “It’s their job to report what they feel is going on in town. But it still doesn’t help, if you’ve had an argument, to have Joe, Pete and Harry know it. We just had a simple little problem that comes up in everyday life. My wife really is very charming, great sense of humor, you know, all that. . . .” I wanted to know what he thought about couples airing their disputes instead of bottling them up for future serious explosions. “I’m no authority on that,” he said firmly. “If I give you any advice it’s liable to upset the whole universe.” The Victor Matures Even Jane Powell, expecting her baby when this oicture was taken, couldn’t stay away from the oarty. Chatting with her is actor Phil Reed Sitting in a corner, but far from blue, were those new friends, Barbara Stanwyck and Nancy Sinatra. Barbara’s reported reconciliation with Bob is still a rumor. Nancy recently agreed to divorce Frankie