Since You Went Away (United Artists) (1944)

Who Said “Weaker Sex"? While reporters for leading newspapers are eagerly digging up stories about women today who are doing work ordinarily per¬ formed by the male of the species, David O. Selznick’s three story departments point out that they are not only staffed exclusively by women, but have been exclusively feminine for years. This goes for before the war, too! These story departments are maintained in Hollywood, New York and London. Selznick’s current film, “Since You Went Away,” is a romantic drama of life on the home front which opens at the .... Theatre on ... . through United Artists release. In the star-studded cast are Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Shirley Tem¬ ple, Monty Woolley, Lionel Barrymore and Robert Walker. Reel Life Is Faster The time covered in David O. Selznick’s “Since You Went Away,” now at the .... Theatre through United Artists release, is approximately eleven months in the year 1943. It took film players Claudette Colbert, Joseph Cotten, Jennifer Jones, Shirley Temple, Monty Woolley, Lionel Barrymore and Robert Walker approximately five months to make the picture or just about one-half the time rep¬ resented. If one adds the time necessary to actually bring the picture before the public, it turns out that the time consumed from beginning of production to actual release date is about equal to the time elapsed in the film. This cheerful view of the living-room of the Hilton home, which forms a vital part of the story in David O. Selznick’s romantic panorama of the home front, “Since You Went Away,” shows how charming an odd corner can be made when cleverly treated. The window seat and curtain flounces are fashioned of a bright plaid in green, white and yellow* W. & J. Sloane furnished all the sets for this outstanding film which opens at the .... Theatre on ... . through United Artists release. Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten and Shirley Temple are just a few of the stars s hari ng stellar honors in the brilliant cast. 12B—Two Col. Scene (Mat .30) Choose Love Song After Long Search No single instance better illustrates David 0. Selznick’s concern with absolute realism in his films than his careful and painstaking search for the proper music for “Since You Went Away,” the grand new film playing at the .... Theatre through United Artists release. 'Usually music is used merely as part of the “mood” or back¬ ground aspects of the film. While care is taken in its selection, there is little attempt, usually, to fit the musical background to the chronology and characterization established in the film. This is not the case in “Since The song which runs throughout the picture and which is practically the theme of the movie is the old hit song, “Together.” How the song came to be chosen is an inter¬ esting story in itself. David 0. Selznick reasoned that Claudette Colbert and Neil Ham¬ ilton, who play the man and wife of a typical American family with which the film is concerned must have been sweethearts at about 1928. Like all other sweethearts, he figured, these two must have had a song which they considered “their” song. He put his research staff to work to discover a song which would fill all of the quali¬ fications of a love song for a man and woman who courted in 1928. The staff got to work and after exhaustive research came up with the one song they were convinced could logically be the sweethearts’ song. It was the tune “Together.” Written by Buddy DeSylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson, it had been a widely popular hit and was probably “the” song of many couples of that era. As a result of its use in “Since You Went Away,” “Together” has reemerged as a highly popular tune currently heard regularly on the radios and juke boxes of the nation. It is interesting to observe that Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple who play the daughters of the Hil¬ ton family were much moved by the You Went Away.” song which was the favorite of their “father and mother.” Besides Miss Colbert, Shirley Temple and Jennifer Jones, “Since You Went Away” stars Monty Woolley, Joseph Cotten, Lionel Barrymore and Robert Walker. Missouri Without A Representative On the set of David O. Selz¬ nick’s “Since You Went Away,” the panoramic film of the home front now playing at the .... Theatre through United Artists release, there were hundreds of extras being used as soldiers for atmosphere in the scenes with Claudette Colbert, Joseph Cotten, Jennifer Jones, Shirley Temple, Monty Woolley, Lionel Barrymore and Robert Walker, all co-stars in the film. A check-up for the native lands and states of these various extras revealed that they come from Canada, Mexico, in a few cases from Europe, and from every state in the Union—with one ex¬ ception. There was no one from Missouri. So there’s no one in all that vast company who could stand before John Cromwell, director, look him in the eye and say, “You’ll have to show me—I’m from Missouri!” Claudette, Jennifer 9 Shirley Use Simple Beauty Methods Those long, languorous, Minnie-Mouse eyelashes for which Hollywood has been too long famous, are on their way out— at least, if the makeups worn by the three feminine stars of David O. Selznick’s “Since You Went Away,” Claudette Col¬ bert, Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple, may be used as a criterion. There isn’t a false eyelash on any one of them, and everybody who has seen this beautifully pro¬ duced story of life on the home front has offered cheers for the naturalness and simplicity Mr. Selznick insisted upon throughout. Claudette, who plays Anne Hil¬ ton, the mother of Jane, 18, and Brig, 15 (Jennifer and Shirley), is really a soap and water addict where beauty is concerned. But she has one beauty tip that will be a boon to all girls who suffer from extra-dry skin. Claudette has always had to battle dryness in her skin and finally evolved a wonderful way of winning the fight. Before her early morning tub she rubs her entire body with baby oil, and then washes it off with a mild soap. Enough of the oil remains, she says, to keep her skin from having that stretched, taut feeling that is so unpleasant. Jennifer Jones also makes good use of baby oil. With it, she claims, she has solved the problem of using greasepaint for a screen makeup. It’s sticky and heavy and no fun at all, according to her. Her secret tip—which does away with greasepaint entirely—is to get a lovely deep tan which is just as dark as screen makeup. But the important part of it all is to get an even tan, and this she achieves by generous coatings of baby oil be¬ fore exposing herself to the sun. Shirley Temple, whose com¬ plexion is so lovely that it is the envy of most of her friends, puts in a good word for baby oil, too! She feels that the regular use of it is what has kept her skin so satin smooth. However, Shirley, who has just passed her sweet sixteenth birthday and is playing her first grownup role, has no further beauty tips to pass on. She likes to look natural, and one of her happy memories of working in “Since You Went Away” is that Mr. Selznick went out of his way to keep the Hilton family just that way all through the film. This homey, human story which is David 0. Selznick’s first produc¬ tion since “Gone With the Wind,” is now playing at the .... Theatre through United Artists release. Sharing starring honors with Clau¬ dette, Jennifer and Shirley are handsome Joseph Cotten, the inim¬ itable Monty (the Beard) Wool- ley, jovial Lionel Barrymore and romantic young Robert Walker. Rhonda Has Music Wherever She Goes The old nursery rhyme that goes: “Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,” has just been rewritten by young Rhonda Flem¬ ing who is one of the new David 0. Selznick finds in “Since You Went Away,” the grand new film now playing at the .... Theatre through United Artists release. Rhonda has taken a Mexican bracelet, made clusters of tiny sil¬ ver bells, and attached some of the same bells to a pair of bow-knot earrings — so she literally has “music wherever she goes.” Rhonda is one of cast of hun¬ dreds in “Since You Went Away” which has Claudette Colbert, Joseph Cotten, Jennifer Jones, Shirley Temple, Monty Woolley, Lionel Barrymore and Robert Walker in leading roles. Youngest Stars Have Own Cooking Secrets Choristers Make 55th Appearance The distinguished choir from St. Luke’s Church in Santa Monica sings in “Since You Went Away,” David O. Selznick’s big new film about the folks at home now at the .... Theatre through United Artists release. The choristers, in their fifty-fifth film assignment, joined six of the film stars—Clau¬ dette Colbert, Jennifer Jones, Shir¬ ley Temple, Monty Woolley, Lionel Barrymore and Robert Walker. St. Luke’s Church has been the site of many of the religious mo¬ ments in Hollywood films. The choristers are by now veteran actors. In “Since You Went Away,” Lio¬ nel Barrymore, who never before essayed such a role, plays pastor of the church. Claudette Colbert expresses the tragedy and courage of today’s women as she realizes the import of her telegram from the war de¬ partment. Scene is from David O. Selznick’s “Since You Went Away,” at the . *. . . Theatre now through United Artists release. 33A—One Col. Scene (Mat .15) Both Jennifer Jones and Shirley Temple, who play Jane and Brig, the teen-age Hilton girls in David O. Selznick’s unusual production of life on the home front, “Since You Went Away,” are very much interested in learning how to cook well. Jennifer’s favorite trick is to dig recipes out of everyone she meets. Not long ago, when she was still working on “Since You Went Away,” an interviewer, who hap¬ pened to be a native New Eng¬ lander, came for a story of her life and left only after he had taught her how to make real, old- fashioned New England clam chowder. Here is the recipe, just as Jen¬ nifer wrote it down: Place one-fourth of a cup of diced salt pork in a frying pan and cook until the fat is extracted, then add a sliced onion and cook until slightly yellow. In the mean¬ time heat a pint of fresh clams (or a No. 1 can of clams in their own juice). Draw off the heated liquid and combine with the onions and salt pork. Then add two cups of diced potatoes and cook gently until the potatoes are soft. Next add a pint of milk, the clams, a dash of cayenne and reheat to the boiling point. Serve immediately. Shirley is more interested in salad dressings than anything else in the culinary line. She loves salads and is forever learning new twists to the dressings that make them so palatable. Here is a new Colbert Remembers Her Old Friends Claudette Colbert, a native of Paris, has not lost the love she had for her native city even though she has been living in the U. S. all of her adult life. In her free moments during the production of David O. Selznick’s “Since You Went Away,” the heart-warming panorama of the home front now playing at the .... Theatre through United Art¬ ists release, Claudette spent much time entertaining French fleet per¬ sonnel who were in Hollywood on furlough. one that she dreamed up all by herself: Chop up some garlic and mix it with a little salad oil and then place it in a frying pan. Throw in some pieces of diced bread and brown on a hot flame. Cool down and add to your French dressing. “Since You Went Away,” which is David 0. Selznick’s first produc¬ tion since “Gone With the Wind,” is a homey, heart-warming story centering around the Hilton family which lives somewhere in our mid¬ dle-west. Joe Cotten Admits Kitchen Dabbling Joseph Cotten, one of the seven stars of “Since You Went Away,” at the .... Theatre, like a great many men who do not hesitate to admit it, likes to dabble a bit in the kitchen once in a while. So far, he’s confined his efforts principally to salads, and he’s very proud of the one he made up himself. This is it: On a bed of garden lettuce he places an avocado that has been carefully washed on the outside. He removes the pit from the avo¬ cado, but not the skin, and fills the cup with a simple dressing made with olive oil, vinegar, and a dash each of salt, pepper and paprika. Buxom Hattie McDaniel disapproves of Shirley Temple’s cooking methods in this domestic scene from David O. Selznick’s “Since You Went Away,” playing at the .... Theatre through United Artists re¬ lease. Besides Shirley, this heart-warming panorama of the home front f 6 tars Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Monty Woolley, . Lionel Barrymore and Robert Walker. 15B—Two Col. Scene (Mat .30) Page Fifteen