Four Wives (Warner Bros.) (1939)

is ~ 4 , Coe £ Matrimonial Do's and Don'ts | For Real Life Wives Suggested CE, By Stars of ‘Four Wives’ Priscilla, Rosemary and Lola Lane, and Gale Page Yy ~ Each Have Own Ideas of What Makes Happy Marriages McHugh, Rosemary Lane, Gale Page, *Still FW29; Mat 201—30c IT'S FATHER'S DAY—and Claude Rains is the proud papa of the film family in the new Warner Bros.’ hit, "Four Wives". (Left to right) Lola Lane, Frank May Robson, Dick Foran, Rains, Priscilla Lane and Jeffrey Lynn are all in the family! Sunday night supper is an open-house affair at the Hollywood home of the Lane sisters. Informality is the kyenote of these parties, with guests helping themselves to any or all of the dishes laid out on the large dining room table. Here’s a typical menu: Onion soup au gratin, Lane Salad Bowl (tossed greens, laced with Julienne strips of ham and chicken, French dressing), Spaghetti En Casserole with Italian meat sauce, hot rolls, Compote of fresh fruit, coffee. The hot dishes are kept heated over tiny alcohol burners, the salad and compote bowls rest in larger bowls of chopped ice. If you’re planning a party for a larger group than you can seat around your dining room, why not consider this idea with this menu as a basis—it’s a perfect one for a mid-winter evening. Like most single “career” girls, Gale Page does her entertaining on a small scale, but her girl friends have standing invitations to drop in for tea on the days she is not at the studio. For these intimate little parties, she serves tiny sandwiches of two or three varieties, plumsize cup cakes with colored frostings, and of course, plenty of well-brewed tea. Sandwich fillings she likes best are minced chicken blended into a paste with mayonnaise and chopped Hollywood Party Suggestions “rom the Stars of ‘Four Wives’ olives, and cream cheese mixed with shredded pineapple and apricots. The cakes she makes with a plain cup-cake recipe in a special small size tin. Then she prepares three or four bowls of frosting each colored with a different vegetable coloring. She dips the cakes into these until they are completely coated, then leaves them to dry on a sheet of waxed paper. May Robson is of the oldfashioned school which believes guests, whether they stay for only five minutes or come to spend the winter, must be offered some refreshment. For the “just dropped in to say hello” variety, Miss Robson always produces some novelty in the way of a refreshing drink. Her newest one—and a very good one it is—is “banana squash,” which is made simply by beating a banana to a pulp (easy enough to do with a fork, but easier yet with one of the new electric mixers) and stirring it into a tall glass of iced orange juice. Another delicious drink she serves is “Spiced Mocha.” For this she uses freshly brewed strong coffee, into which she mixes one-half tablespoon of chocolate syrup and a pinch of powdered cinnamon, pouring the steaming liquid into glasses full of ice just as she is ready to serve it. In colder weather, she serves it piping hot. Shampoo Trick In reminiscing mood on the set of “Four Wives,’’ May Robson recalled how actresses in her youth gave’ themselves quick shampoos when long hair took hours to dry. For a quick, dry cleansing during the cold weather the girls bought powdered orris root in bulk form at the corner drug _§ store, sprinkled it through the hair, then brushed it out. The fine powder removed all soil and oil, leaving the hair soft and glistening. For a quick dry after a wet shampoo the girls would heat big Turkish towels before briskly rubbing the hair with them. Although old-fashioned the ideas are still good, New Rain Togs Priscilla Lane believes in wearing her gayest clothes on rainy days, because she thinks that cheerful colors take the curse off gray and cloudy skies. Her favorite rain outfits are a blue oilskin cape with matching hood, a gay red, green and black plaid waterproof coat with a matching umbrella that has a little compartment in the handle for change and _ cosmetics, and a white trench coat with aviator’s helmet to match and knee-high white rubber boots. Priscilla, who is currently starring in “Four Wives’, confesses that the outfits are so charming that she almost prays for daily showers. No four wives are ever going to agree fully on the magic formula that makes the wheels of matrimony run smoothly — not even four movie wives. The writer re-learned that recently in chatting with Priscilla, Rosemary and Lola Lane and Gale Page, the stars who play the title roles in Warner Bros.’ “Hour Wives,” which is currently showing at the Strand. “What,” each girl was asked, “do you consider the cardinal mistakes made by wives? Your guesses are as good as any others, and at least you can be sure that what you say won’t be used against you in divorce court.” As the youngest of the “Four Wives,” Priscilla Lane was called upon the witness stand first. “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,” Miss Lane quoted, “and I guess the same thing goes for mere theorists. Based upon my profound experience as a movie wife only, I’d say that the greatest mistake is being jealous. Some Jealousy Needed “Of course,” Priscilla added, “there’s a reverse angle to that jealousy business, which makes it the more dangerous. If a wife shows no signs of ever being jealous, her husband is apt to think she doesn’t love him and to eventually accuse her of being interested in someone else.” Being moody for inexplicable reasons is another vital wifely mistake Priscilla listed. “T got that one right out of the picture,” she explained. “I’m married to Jeffrey Lynn and I love him, but I’m far from the sort of wife a man would cling to, until I’ve learned a lesson. I’m brooding about my first husband, John Garfield, who was killed in ‘Four Daughters.’ As a result, I’m cold and indifferent to my husband. And I can’t give any logical, sane reason for my attitude. Men are logical animals and they can’t understand feminine moods and _ whims. What they can’t understand, they resent. And resentment leads to divorce courts.” Lola, Priscilla’s older sister, was the next of the “Four Wives” to take the stand. Husband Needs Ego “The little mistakes add up to the big total that causes the crisis,” she said. “And _ the worst of the small mistakes a wife can make is to take pot shots at the husband’s ego. Every man wants to be an important personage, if not actually a hero, in his wife’s eyes.” Among other little mistakes Lola listed were mussing newspapers and using the comic sheets to wrap up the garbage or start the fire; or constantly interrupting with remarks when the spouse is engrossed in the sports pages and the serious decision of whether to bet on the first horse in the fourth race, or the last horse in the fourth race, Brunette Gale Page took up the mistake parade by leading off with the “perfect companion” illusion. “Being a pal to the husband is a great idea,” Miss Page said, “But too many wives make the mistake of carrying it beyond reasonable bounds. They cut themselves in upon the poor man’s poker and golf games and his fishing trips. They may loathe all those things, but with false enthusiasm, they pretend to adore them—and generally ruin them for the husband.” So far, none of the “Four Wives” had touched upon the mistake of nagging, but Miss Page quickly corrected that omission. “It’s almost too obvious to need mentioning,” she said, ‘‘or I would have listed it first. Constant nagging will wear away any patience. I think occasional explosive word scraps are far less damaging.” After all the mistakes the first three stars had listed, it seemed there wouldn’t be any left for Rosemary Lane to mention. Rosemary, however, soon dispelled that idea. “They’ve missed the whole point — the mistakes of mistakes,” she said. “That’s marrying the wrong man in the first place. If a girl uses the intelligence God gave her in selecting a mate, she can avoid a lot of those other errors.” With that premise disposed of, Rosemary proceeded to recount some of the common mistakes her sister “wives” had overlooked. No Lies Are White “Telling lies, white or otherwise, is one of the most serious,” she said. ‘Men have stricter ideas about truth than most women. Fibs that seem perfectly innocuous and harmless to us are apt to loom as monumental prevarications to them. “And then there’s the tragic mistake of taking marriage for granted, which often involves the neglect of the feminine charm that first attracted the husband. Men seldom forgive that—at least in pictures.” There you have them, the considered opinions of four movie wives. Checking over that imposing list of common errors, it might almost seem the greatest mistake a girl could make would be to get married. That, however, can’t be true. Hundreds of millions of women can’t be wrong. Campus Togs Are Ripe for ‘Cribbing’ Cribbing is no crime in fashion if it helps to lift a campus perennial like the sweater and skirt out of the uniform class, declares Designer Howard Shoup. Having done the youthful togs for the Lane sisters and Gale Page to wear in Warner Bros. “Four Wives,” now’ showing at the Strand, Shoup is full of suggestions ripe to be copied. There are three hints for the co-ed in Peis Cle la Lane’s wardrobe. A black shetland wool sweater is accompanied by a necklace made up of inch-square tags of plaid wool which match the skirt and tam. The collegiate follower of monotone fashions is welcome to Shoup’s idea for Rosemary Lane. She wears knee-length socks, sweater and hat knitted of French blue yarn and unites them with skirt and oxfords dyed to a perfect match. Gale Page’s contribution to the smart cribber is a cerise sheer wool sweater styled with wide front waistband which becomes a sash in back, tying into a huge bustle bow. Lola’s contribution is a bunny-lined hood. [8] Mat 116—15c GALE PAGE Glamour Sips “rom ‘Four Wives’ Pretty knees are as important as a pretty face now that short skirts are showing them. Rosemary Lane, featured in the cast of “Four Wives” at the Strand, comes to the rescue with kneeknowledge she picked up in physical education classes. Anything that hinders proper circulation in the legs causes flabby muscles and over-large knees, so Rosemary advises against tight garters, tight shoes, and sitting with firmly crossed knees. Ankle-crossing is not only better for leg beauty, but has been considered more decorous since the first book was written on manners and morals. * k * Matching gloves to jewels is a color thought from Gale Page, currently featured in Warner Bros.’ “Four Wives.” Turquoise suede mousquetaire gloves match a turquoise choker necklace and give life to a dress of coffee bean brown. Very short gloves and ruby red kid conspire with a ruby brooch to lift a black dress from the doldrums. kok O® Lola Lane has invisible pockets for sachet pads hidden in the yoke seams of her sports and street dresses. She inserts a new packet each time a dress returns from the cleaners. Priscilla Lane thinks so much of the new vogue for matching turbans to daytime frocks that she orders an extra square of the material of every dress she buys and makes a turban of it. ‘Four Wives’ Dress To Please the Men Women who admit they dress to please men can’t go wrong in drawing inspiration from fashions Howard Shoup of Warner Bros. creates for the screen. Shoup’s test of clothes for “Four Wives,” starring the Lane sisters and Gale Page, was whether they would please the male audience. In his years of getting reactions from ‘producers, directors, and male critics he has = discovered that s just as most " men agree on masculine styles, they also agree on feminine. If a woman wants to please Mr. Average Man, and yet be chic in 1939, Shoup herewith lists her best fashion bets: The princess, Empire, or Grecian silhouette, a widely flared skirt and a semi-fitted bodice. A polo coat, a vagabond hat, a semi-tailored suit, but nothing else that verges on the masculine in style. A turban or conservative halo hat. Jersey, taffeta, and silk fabrics — monotones, small checks, polka dots, faint stripes—white and everything in the blue or rose color family. Mat 114—15¢ LOLA LANE