Picture-Play Magazine (Jan - Jun 1931)

72 His Biggest Fight While Jack and Raquel, his next-door neighbor, were whiling away that afternoon, huge posters throughout Los Angeles read: "Wallace Beery, John Gilbert, Polly Aloran, in 'Way For a Sailor.* " The film had been produced with John Gilbert as the star. Tin story had been written specially for him, giving him the role of a rugged he-man of the merchant marine. It had been filmed with microphones carefully placed to record his voice better than had been done before. Yet, when the picture was finished, it did not make John Gilbert stand out with the dominating personality which had brought him fame. Jack Gilbert probably laughed when he saw the billing — a forced, ironical laugh. It was just another punch on the chin. What if they did bill Wallace Beery's name over his? He wasn't proud of the picture. He wasn't satisfied with it. It wasn't the story for which he had waited. But he had four more chances, he remembered, before his contract would expire. And then? The afternoon waned. Raquel and John, stretched on the sand, watched the fishing boats coming in with their catch. A big tanker, black smoke floating from its funnel, headed off toward the Orient. A small freighter rancid with the smell of coconut oil heeled in toward the docks. The gulls making their final forage before the coming of night. "I've made a lot of mistakes, Raquel," said Jack. "I made one big one." The little "Mexican girl made no reply. She did not ask what that big one was. He would tell her if he wished. "Watch your step. Raquel." he continued. "You have a splendid chance before you. Listen to the advice of friends. Sometimes it's invaluable." What was Jack Gilbert's one big mistake? Was it one of his marriages? Every one makes mistakes and almost everybody makes a big one that stands in the forefront for the remainder of life. What was Jack Gilbert's? Could it have been his marriage to Olivia Burwell, the Southern girl he met in camp when men were being mobilized For the World War? Olivia, an entertainer, smiled at him when he was lonely and talked to him because she was lonely, too, in that camp bristling with guns and bayonets. They were married in the chaplain's quarters three days before the armistice was signed. For weeks Jack could find no work at the studios and before long he borrowed the money to .-end his girl wife back to her home. They never saw each other again. Was his big mistake in not standing by Olivia and fighting the game till success was won? And here is the Gilbert revealed by "Way For a Sailor." What has changed him? He admits having made a big mistake in his life. What was it? His marriage to Leatrice Joy was next. He believed that he was in love — really in love. When he learned that a baby was coming, he seemed in ecstasies. A: last he had a home, something he never had known be1'ut half a dozen times in the next two years he and Leatrice quarreled and separated only to make up again. When Leatrice finally bade him good-by and took their baby away, he knew that the romance was ended. Leatrice got $15,000 payable at the rate of $300 a week and their daughter will get $50 a week until she is eighteen. Was his consent to the departure of his wife and baby that one big mistake? He went to the heights soon after the separation, when he starred in "The Big Parade." But it wasn't long before the road became rough and stony. Xow the time has come when his name is billed beneath that of Wallace Beery by one of the big Hollywood theaters. Jack likes Wally and does not blame him for what happened. There was his marriage to Ina Claire in Las Yegas, Xew Mexico, in May, 1929. Many times since then both have told how happy they were. Yet they lived apart for several weeks while Jack's bachelor home was being remodeled to accommodate a bride, so it was announced. They honeymooned in Europe and from Paris came the report of a rift between them, but this was denied. I fall, Ina went to Xew York to film "The Royal Family," leaving Jack alone with his thoughts. Could it be that his marriage to the blond Ina was his one big mistake? Or was it the ending of his romance with Garbo which shadowed the course of his life? They meet on the lot occasionally and exchange formal greetings as they pass. But there are no more rides in the moonlight by the sea. Xo lunching at a sequestered table in some restaurant. Xo lovers' talks between scenes at the studio. He has not even had Greta in his arms in a picture since "Flesh and the Devil." Once they almost married, according to a report circulated in Hollywood. In 1927 they motored to a near-bv town, the story said, with the intention of becoming man and wife. But Greta halted before the license bureau and asked to wait a while longer. She is not the kind to rush headlong into anything. Xot Garbo! Was John's failure to press that romance his big mistake? Does the memory of those wonderful days and nights with Greta haunt him continuously as time goes on ? Returning from Europe two years ago. Greta telephoned Tack immediately she arrived in Xew York. To-day they scarcely speak. Something has happened to make John Gilbert change : someContinued on page 98