Picture-Play Magazine (1932)

16 THE SWANSON WHEN two actresses contend for Hollywood's queenly crown they become rivals. Friendly. polite rivals. Of course! But when they both have loved, and have been loved by, the same man they automatically become enemies. Friendly, polite enemies. Naturally ! At least that is the way Hollywood interprets it. And a drama founded upon this supposition is being woven about Gloria Swanson and Constance Bennett, a? the principal players, with the Marquis Henri de la Falaise de la Coudraye the pivotal character. The Swanson-Bennett-Falaise triangle is Hollywood's most subtle to date. It is smart, gay, flavored with intrigue. Its locales fluctuate between Paris, Cannes, Monte Carlo, St. Moritz, London, New York, Hollywood, and Sylvia's massage emporium. It is as sophisticated as a Noel Coward drawing-room roundelav in which brittle, ultra-modern dialogue masks Sophisticated rivalry between Madame la Marquise and the ex-Marquise sparkles merrily on, with Henri de la Falaise the cause of it all. age-old emotion.-,. And it is destined to go down in Hollywood's social history as the high light of the otherwise dull 1930-31 season. The two queens have played their respective roles with the finesse of chess players. And the young king of hearts has been as debonair as any man could be who was divorced by filmdom's erstwhile glamorous monarch, and before the decree was granted again found himself eager to offer his title to a newly reigning sovereign. Hollywood has watched man) romantic dramas. But none has been enacted with the wit, the cleverness, and resourcefulness of the Bennett-Swanson-Marquis threesome. Bv comparison, even the Negri-Chaplin and the Garbo-Gilbert amourettes become obvious, graceless interlude. Gloria recently received her final decree of divorce from the marquis — "Hank," as she democratically introduced him to America six years ago. But apparently Gloria became confused about the date of the final decree, and in an impetuous moment took unto herself a fourth husband, the handsome young Irish sportsman, Michael Farmer, almost two months before her divorce from the marquis became legal. And then to make doubly sure that she was Mrs. Michael Farmer, she remarried the gentleman in Yuma, Arizona. Miss Bennett, running true to form in this Swanson-Bennett competition, was soon afterward married to "Or-ree," as she pronounces Henri de la Falaise's name, with a Parisian accent. Now that all these things have come to pass, all parties concerned should be perfectly happy. But just suppose, for the sake of argument, Constance had not married the marquis. Would she then have been guilty of what some of the fans were accusing her — that her romance with him was partly to demonstrate to Gloria her flair for affairs of the heart? When Miss Bennett's and Joel McCrea's names were linked in romantic association not long ago, while the marquis stood by com plaisantly, some of the franker fans accused her of duplicity, and even went so far as to say that she was only trying to spite Gloria by going with Henri. Silly stuff ! Or isn't it? To contrast that, fans pointed out that when Gloria returned from Europe late last summer on the arm of Michael Farmer, whom she met in Paris, she was only trying to make Connie realize that there were other men in the world besides Henri. Also silly stuff! Or what do you make of it? Now that Constance has married the marquis, do you suppose she ever contemplates the memory of Gloria as a specter in her new world of happiness? And does Gloria ever contemplate the vision of Constance gracing her former title as distinctly disturbing to her memories? Both Gloria and Constance are sophisticated, and it is probably broadest surmise to presume that their minds would work in so conventional a manner. However, you can never tell about women's minds. Sophisticated or otherwise, they often function in the most normal and traditional way. It is not uncommon for women who have been wooed and won by the same man — at different intervals, to be sure— to become considerablv aware of each other in a When Gloria Swanson brought the marquis to Hollywood in triumph, she introduced him as "Hank." Now she says she hasn't the slightest concern in what any one thinks or does.