Screenland (Nov 1936-Apr 1937)

78 SCREENLAND Thin Man and Wife Continued from page 21 Heretofore, pictures had always worked up to a marriage in the seventh reel. Or else if the couple were married to begin with, they had to have a couple of indiscretions and renunciations before they could share in the last close-up. But here, believe it or not, were a married couple who seemed perfectly content with each other, and who lost none of their romance and glamor in so being. Every wife in America suddenly decided that she too could be Nora, (not Nora of Ibsen's "Doll House," don't try to put your Vassar airs on around us), and every bachelor who had been sort of smug in his single blessedness, suddenly decided that he must find Nora and marry her at once. Thousands of young men, trained not to accept a substitute, sent direct proposals of marriage to Myrna Loy, who in their minds had become hopelessly confused with Nora Charles. Then when they realized that they couldn't marry her themselves they insisted that she marry William Powell. For months and months after the release of "The Thin Man" the greater part of Myrna's fan mail consisted of letters suggesting, even demanding, that Myrna marry Bill. Such an ideal couple on the screen should make an equally ideal couple off, or so they reckoned. But they reckoned without Jean Harlow and Arthur Hornblow, Jr., who had a few things to say on that subject. And "The Thin Man" accomplished something else in Hollywood that has never been accomplished before — a state of permanency. Nothing is permanent in this mad town where you can't even count on the earth beneath your feet because every so often it rises right up and slaps you in the face— that is, nothing was permanent until Myrna's and Bill's screen romance was established ; and that, my dears, has lasted through fire and flood and earthquakes and taxes. Myrna has been married to Bill in five pictures, six if you wish to include "Libeled Lady," though they didn't get married in that until the last reel and even then thanks to Miss Harlow it was all a little doubtful. Their last picture is, praises be, the long-awaited sequel to "The Thin Man" called "After The Thin Man," with Myrna and Bill again playing the utterly fascinating Nick and Nora Charles. Although in actual time it has been two years since "The Thin Man" the sequel pretends that it has only been three days, and the picture starts with Nick and Nora arriving in San Francisco after that hectic trip to New York where Nick solved a sensational murder mystery. (I bet very few of you remember what the mystery was, but you haven't forgotten Myrna's hangover scene with the ice-bag on her head, or Christmas morning with Bill and his pop-gun.) They are on their way to visit Myrna's rich and aristocratic family who dwell on Nob Hill and who consider the man she married nothing more than a vulgar flatfoot. Of course there is another murder for Bill to solve, though he swears to the reporters that he has retired from sleuthing in order to devote all his time to looking after his wife's money, and when that is finished again the rollicking Charleses grab a train. "It's all arranged," said Myrna, "so that if the public continues to like us Bill and I can keep on being Mr. and Mrs. Charles and getting in and out of murder scrapes until we celebrate our Golden Wedding and have to be rolled along in wheel chairs when we take Asta for his walk." (By the way, Asta, who in real life is named Skippy, evidently read his notices after the last picture for he insists upon a much bigger part this time and is up-staging Miss Loy and Mr. Powell every chance he gets. The famous lamp-post scene is duplicated in this picture, though I hear that the Hays office has ordered it taken out which will be a pity as it certainly didn't hurt anyone's morals before.) So it seems it all depends on you fans, whether or not Myrna's screen marriage remains the permanent institution it has become these last two years. As long as you are faithful Myrna and Bill can enjoy their marriage, which is certainly a new angle. And enjoy it they do. Many times I have been asked in my ramblings around the world, (I often get as far as Merle Oberon's beach house at Santa Monica), if Myrna and Bill are as gay and charming On the sidelines during the filming of a night scene on location, we find Fred MacMurray, his bride, the former Lillian Lamont, and Edward Ellis. together on the set as they are on the screen; and as far as I can judge in my snooping about when they are working, I think I can safely say that they are even more gay and charming, and decidedly more screwy. When Myrna occasionally wanders off and becomes Mr. Gable's or Mr. Baxter's wife, or Mr. Tracy's girl friend, she is the very modei of decorum. She sits sort of aloof like in a far corner of the stage and usually reads between "takes." Myrna is really a very shy and reserved young lady. When she was' making "Hide-Out" with Spencer Tracy poor Spence almost had conniption fits because Myrna wouldn't talk to him on the set, he thought he had b.o. or something, until someone explained to him that Myrna wasn't the most cordial person in the world and gave all her leading men the aloof business — that is, all except Bill Powell. But when Myrna's with Bill in a picture she relaxes completely ; gone with the wind is all that reserve and dignity ; and she thinks up gags and ribs and pranks to play on Mr. Powell with the utter abandon of a Harlow or a Lombard. "I suppose it's because I've been married to him so many times," Myrna explains it with a giggle, "when I'm working in a picture with him I have sort of that going home feeling." I think it rather remarkable that two people can work and love for pictures so ideally and except for a warm regard have no feeling for each other whatsoever. As you well know, despite all efforts of the fans, Myrna did not marry Bill Powell but instead married Arthur Hornblow, Jr., last summer and is blissfully happy. And the suave and witty Mr. Powell is still the constant escort of Miss Jean Harlow. Wrhen the last "take" of the day is over Myrna rushes home to her first and only husband, and Bill stops by for a pint of ice cream to take to Jean. Their private life never seems to get involved with their screen life. And just in case you might think otherwise I'll tell you right now that Myrna and Jean are the best of friends, and so are Bill and Arthur. You can't make anything out of that. Bill of course constantly refers to Mr. Hornblow as "that man you married — what's his name — Horntooter?" And when I asked Bill why he considered Myrna the ideal screen wife he said with a decided wink in Miss Loy's direction, "because she goes home at five o'clock." Director Van Dyke, who is directing the "Thin Alan" series, had this to say of his two stars, "They perform together as smoothly as the Flying Codonas. They are entirely unselfish. Neither of them ever tries in any way to steal a scene from the other, or for that matter from anyone else in the cast. They are far more interested in the success of the picture as a whole than in their individual performances, which makes them rather unique as actors go." And the studio people will tell you that they are the two stars in Hollywood who get along perfectly together. No jealousies, no temper. Which is more than can be said of some of the other famous teams, such as Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald, Jean Harlow and Clark Gable, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell. So when all is said and done there is little wonder that they make such gay pictures together. When I first heard that Myrna Loy was going in for gags I simply couldn't believe it — not that shy, dignified Myrna. But evidently the debonair Air. Powell brings out the peaked cap in his women, for Lorn