Love and Learn (Warner Bros.) (1947)

Janis Paige’s Skirt Unraveled As She Walked Off ‘Love And Learn’ Set — She’s Stopped Knitting The oldest knitting gag in the world actually happened on the set of Warners’ "Love and Learn," the Jack Carson-Bob Hutton-Martha Vickers-Janis Paige starrer coming to the Strand on Friday. Janis Paige started to leave the set carrying her ever-present knitting bag. In it—she thought—was her nearly-completed knitted ribbon skirt and a roll of ribbon. Actually the skirt had fallen unnoticed to the floor of her dressing room, leaving only the spool of unused ribbon in the bag. Janis walked clear off the stage before the gentle tugging of the spool revealed that what was once a skirt had unraveled into 100 feet of kinky ribbon. She is using the ribbon to tie birthday presents and Christmas packages for next year, and sold her knitting needles at a sacrifice. Female ‘Love And Learn’ Stars Discuss Dream Men If you were a serviceman during the war, your favorite pin-up girl may well have been Janis Paige or Martha Vickers. Thousands had pictures of the two Warner Bros.’ actresses pasted in their GI lockers or over their bunks. Now you may turn out to be the girls’ own favorite pin-up. Between scenes for “Love and Learn,” in which they are co-starred with Jack Carson and Robert Hutton, currently at the Strand Theatre, they decided what their dream man must look like. “T want him big and tall,” Janis said, “and he ought to be a blond.” Martha wasn’t too positive about the color of his hair, but her preference seems to run toward brunets. Janis thought he should have nice legs, believing that a man’s legs are almost as important as a woman’s even if they aren’t so clearly on display. Martha backed her up, but qualified the statement slightly: “If everything else is perfect T’ll accept bowlegs. He must have expressive hands, though. Nothing delicate, just strong and well-formed.” “That’s for me,” Janis added, “plus a pair of husky arms—all the better to squeeze me with!” A narrow waist and a pair of spreading shoulders held appeal for both of the actresses. “We’re not holding out for an Adonis,” they chorused. “Or are we?” Neither could give an accurate description of her man’s features. Janis declared she really didn’t mind as long as he had a kind face, while Martha admitted her only preferences were a pair of gray eyes and bushy eyebrows. Both wanted neat dressers — men who can look neat in a tuxedo or a pair of old slacks. Martha wants her man to wear sweaters around the house and hopes he’ll smoke a pipe upside down in the rain. “He’s got to be intelligent,” Still No. Carson 152 JACK CARSON, who is co-starred with Bob Hutton, Martha Vickers and Janis Paige in Warners’ "Love and Learn,"'". sings romantic as well as comic ballads for the film, coming to the Strand Theatre on Friday. MAT 1G Janis said, “and I want him to be familiar with music, painting and the theater. I want him to be able to tell me about ancient history and pick out silver patterns immediately.” Martha hopes’ her man is a reader. “I think if he reads good books I’ll have to keep up with him,” she said, “and that’s good.” “My dream man will be an expert sailor who can teach me more about sailboats,” Janis said. “He’ll be able to swim like a fish and be equally at home on skis and horses.” “Nothing so violent for me,” Martha added. “If my man can explain football and hockey to me from the bleachers I’ll be satisfied, and if he wants to set up a little croquet game in the backyard well, that’s fine. But’ rough and tumble stuff isn’t for me at oall Pll .stay...imthe bleachers and love it.” Mat No.1 C Martha Vickers Young Garson Puts It Over On His Pop Jack Carson’s 5-year old son John is learning his strategy early. Jack gave the boy a dollar so that John could buy a present for Jack on his birthday. “T’ll get you something you need real bad,” John assured his father. When the gift arrived on the set of ‘Love and Learn” at Warner Bros., Jack found a shiny new flashlight inside the tattered package. “Gee, it’s a nice flashlight, but no batteries,’ said Carson, examining the gift. “I guess he didn’t have enough money.” “Oh yes,” said Martha Vickers, who is co-starred with Carson, Bob Hutton and Janis Paige in the new Warners’ comedy at the Strand “Listen to the card: ‘Happy Birthday to Daddy from Johnny ... P.S. I have some batteries, but no flashlight.’ ” Retakes On Eating Scenes Spoil Taste “This reminds me of a picture where I had to eat lobster,” Jack Carson groaned as the prop man thrust another hamburger into his hand. ‘‘Before the sequence was shot I’d gobbled 20 lobsters. I haven’t touched one since.” On Warner Bros. back lot Carson was with co-stars Bob Hutton, Martha Vickers and Janis Paige, for after-dark scenes on “Love and Learn,” currently at the Strand Theatre. Hamburgers? Ugh! The script called for the actors to meander through a park eating hamburgers, but low-flying airplanes and insistent crickets shooting the scene over and over again. The others could nibble on their sandwiches, but Carson really had to eat his. “This is my tenth hamburger tonight,” Carson lamented. “I used to like hot dogs too, but after once having to eat 15 of them in a single morning, I can’t bear even to look at a bun.” . He sighed and got ready for another take and another hamburger. “Pictures like this have spoiled all my favorite foods,” he said. had necessitated: ‘Comics Need Savvy Of Human Comedy’ — Carson Understanding makes the comedian, and the funniest jokesters are usually the most thoughtful in private. At least that’s the way it is with Jack Carson. Carson has been pulling down laughs at Warner Bros. for the past seven years, besides doing very well as a radio comic. At parties he wows ’em and in crowds people gather around to chuckle at his ad libs. But get him off by himself and he’s a very serious guy. ““T guess all comies are,” Jack says. “In public they’re keyed up. Alone thy’re serious people who are constantly thinking to keep up with their profession.” Jack doesn’t believe in jokebook comedy. “Look at all the big comedy names today,” he points out. “They all got started in burlesque or the borscht circuit. That kind of training brings understanding of the real, laughable human comedy.” Jack himself is a well-known portrayer of fundamental humor. In “Roughly Speaking” he turned in an outstanding performance as the husband who could never reach success, bringing both laughter and tears in the role. He was a befuddled husband in “The Doughgirls” and a philosophical cab driver in “Two Guys From Milwaukee.” Humanized Comic Carson’s current starring role is in “Love and Learn,” at the Strand Theatre, where he shares stellar billing with Bob Hutton, Martha Vickers and Janis Paige. He portrays the lyricwriting half of a song-writing team. “T play a very human character,” Carson says. ‘‘That’s the kind of a part I like. I want to feel as though I could actually be the character in real circumstances.” Jack’s background is wellfounded in the “hard way” technique. After college he teamed with a schoolmate on the vaudeville and burlesque circuits for five years. He learned what it took to get a laugh and he learned that the greatest humor is essentially sad humor. “People will always laugh at somebody else’s discomfort,” Jack tells. “But they laugh only because they have suffered the same indignity themselves or know darn well how it feels. Being a comedian is almost like being a doctor—the more troubles you discover and understand, the more gladness you can bring to an audience.” ‘Controlled Press’ Run By Earl Hayes For Filmtown’s Tabloids Two newspaper headlines play an important role in the development of the plot of Warner Bros.’ new picture “Love and Learn,” the Jack Carson Bob Hutton Martha Vickers Janis Paige starrer at the Strand. In Hollywood, it goes without saying that those newspaper headlines — and the papers containing them — will be printed by Earl Hayes, who has been Hollywood’s favorite printer for a considerable number of years. Earl Hayes’ print shop may do ordinary job work as well or better than the average, but the proprietor’s fame is the result of the newspapers he prints for motion pictures. Through his medium, writers and directors. have a_ completely “controlled press” at their command. These newspapers for camera use are called “inserts.” Usually only the headlines, the sub-heads and perhaps the first paragraph of the running story are specially set in type. The remainder of the paper as well as the rest of the running story itself is usually only a jumble of pied type. Hayes has made his specialty a paying business, however, and he serves all Hollywood studios by printing the headlines they want with the pictures they need to illustrate their plots. He also prints menus from famous foreign and domestic __—restaurants, letterheads for world renowned hotels and business {nee ee breasr |) firms, and tickets for imaginary journeys — as well as the passports to “legalize” them. Because Hayes newspapers are shown so briefly on the screen, only extraordinarily sharp-eyed newsmen can distinguish them from the real journals. These papers seldom have the real name of the city where they Mat No.1 D Robert Hutton are supposedly published. Hayes has a number of tricks which give his papers the appearance of reality. Paper Shouts News The first one used in “Love and Learn,” for example, blazons the news as follows: “POLICE DRAG-NET OUT FOR BEAUTIFUL GIRL BURGLAR!” It runs a full eight columns in large blackface type. A two-column sub-head and one paragraph of the story follows—in the middle of the paper — so that it can be read while the paper is shown on the screen. The paper is named “Record Herald” but the city of publication is non-existent. 3 Publisher Earl Hayes will have served Warner Bros.’ purpose just by calling attention to the fact that Martha Vickers is suspected of being a “beautiful girl burglar.” Stil No. BH 47 ROBERT HUTTON is co-starred with Jack Carson, Martha Vickers and Janis Paige in Warners’ new modern comedy, "Love and Learn,"' coming to the Strand Theatre on Friday. The story tells of the vicissitudes of two song writers. MAT No. 1 F Off-Screen Affinity To Davis Dazes Fans Of Martha Vickers Martha Vickers bears a definite off-screen resemblance to Bette Davis, but on film she’s strictly Martha Vickers. The latter fact was. the clincher when Warner Bros. Studio was dubious about casting the young actress when she was first signed. A special test was made, photographing the former Conover model from every ‘angle. Test Was Relief When the test was screened it was obvious, to Martha’s great relief, that the similarity had ended when the camera began to turn. Martha was given her first role immediately in ‘The Big Sleep” and turned in an outstanding performance. “Tt wasn’t that I objected to looking like Bette Davis,” said Martha, “because I admire her greatly. But in Hollywood a close likeness to a great star is usually the kiss of death. If anybody will mistake my acting for hers I’ll be very pleased.” Martha occasionally is_ still mistaken for Bette by autograph seekers. During her first months in Hollywood some of the fans were a little annoyed when they discovered their error. They don’t mind now though, for Martha Vickers has become known as one of Filmtown’s fastest-rising young actresses. Now At Strand Her current film is “Love and Learn,” where she shares billing with Jack Carson, Bob Hutton and Janis Paige at the Strand Theatre. She plays a rich girl who masquerades as a dance hall hostess to help her songwriting friends.