Screenland (Nov 1938-Apr 1939)

A little shiver ran up my backbone when I heard this. It was gone quickly, however, when I saw Bette run over two cameramen in her dash to the door. Nelson met her with a shy, proud grin. "Just wanted to be the first to congratulate the top lady," he said, and stooped quickly to kiss his wife before a photographer realized what a rare candid shot he was missing. Is Bette overly ambitious ? After eightyfive per cent of the critics voted her the outstanding American actress on the screen, did she begin to take herself too seriously? Is it true what they say about "Jezebel" having gone to her head? The facts as I know them will answer these questions. Sure, Bette Davis is ambitious ! Who wouldn't be, with her talent? But Bette's ambition doesn't run away with her to the home-breaking point. Didn't she actually go on record to say that marriage had developed her into a better actress? Ham was the last person in the world to want her to quit her job in which she's perfected herself after years of hard work. He was always proud of Bette's progress as an actress. It was his custom to go alone to previews of her pictures — while she stayed at home as nervous as a kitten. When Ham came back from "Jezebel," his way of raving was to say, "Spuds, you've got something there!" If it isn't the usual question of ambition and jealousy separating this Hollywood couple, is it the money that Bette Davis earns in excess of her husband? In Hollywood or Hoboken the money question is said to be the cause of more than half the divorces. The cash clash in Hollywood is tremendously aggravated. A motion picture star's salary is more than that of the President of the United States or the president of a steel corporation. It is galling to any he-man husband to realize that his wife can buy and sell him. On what grounds would Bette Davis or Harmon Nelson sue for divorce? I have it absolutely from Mrs. Davis that there is no other person involved — unless you want to credit the "in-law rumor." Namely, that mother Ruthie and sister Bobbie (who is married to Robert Pelgram) were at Bette's so often that Harmon complained even the hours they could spend together were not spent alone! The world will never know the real reason if it waits for Bette to disclose it. My guess is that it is a case of temperament. Harmon Nelson remains a conservative New Englander. Bette had to lose her straight-laced inhibitions, or else, she says : "I couldn't have played gutty girls or those disagreeable wenches." When she first came to Hollywood, they called Bette Davis "a little brown wren." In comparison, today, she is a fighting cock ! She found out that the best way to beat the game in Hollywood is to stand up and fight. She had to fight to get out of sister roles and sweet young things. She fought later to get away from drunkards and drugstore molls. She fought Warner Bros, for the right to make pictures in England two years ago. When she lost the court fight, along with her life savings, and returned to work, I knew she was just biding her time. I wasn't surprised when she reopened the old battle with Warners over unsuited roles and got herself suspended for refusal to play "Comet Over Broadway," which she felt would be a pull-down after "Jezebel" that sent her stock shooting sky-high — and, incidentally, cleaned up tremendous profits for the studio. This sort of thing takes a lot out of a woman. What's left, the husband gets. The family have always called Bette the "iron horse." Yet she is extremely sensitive and high-strung. She's an individualist as a woman and as a movie star. She's always refused to be put in the Hollywood mold. Never wanted to be a glamor girl — got the kick of her life when Time Magazine called her "Pop-eye the Magnificent." Ham's wife today couldn't possibly be the "Spuds" he married. Primarily, she's a studio investment. She was working in "The Sisters" when Harmon Nelson left for New York for a month's business trip. He was anxious for Bette to go with him But what happened? She couldn't even go to the station and see him off ! This is believed to have been the beginning of the end. "Click— And You've Cot Something7' Continued from page 59 automatic spring on the camera, shot it, and that was out of my system!" Roland Young, as Topper, wandered up to us, glanced through the pictures and admired them, satisfactorily. "Fun doing this film," he observed, after we had waited in silence while a scene was being played, "but it's tedious fitting in the trick stuff. Constance Bennett has just disappeared again and we're in for more ghosting." "Rather fun, trick stuff," commented Alan. "I like to experiment with my camera. I use a fog filter now and then to get some special shot. Once I used it for a picture of my daughter in the garden. It was a bright, sunny day, but it came out very misty, with my little girl looking like a fairy about to float away. One of the best pictures I ever got was made on the set of an Eddie Cantor picture a few years ago. I had my daughter visiting me on the set, and Eddie thought he'd make her laugh. But she was giving him nothing, simply sitting there. He tried all his tricks, put on all his repertoire, and suddenly something struck her as amusing and she leaned back and roared. I clicked my shutter. Here's the picture. That's another the advertising experts would like to have. My daughter doesn't mind the camera. She's used to seeing me fussing around with it and pays no attention. Then if I call her, she's still for a moment, and it's over. "I have one of those angle-shot things that attaches to a camera so that you seem to be pointing your lens in one direction, but actually you are shooting in another. In that way, it's possible to get good unposed stuff. But I doubt if you could fool children with it. You might manage it once, but the second time they'd be on to you. "In this shot, my daughter was actually posing. She was visiting the British battleship, H.M.S. Danae, and the men gave her the cap and made quite a pet of her. She wanted a picture, so I took it. But as a rule, I creep up on her when she's doing something and shoot. "I very seldom show my pictures to people. I hate that old family-album stuff, where you drag out the book and make people look at Cousin Hetty and Aunt Arabelle, and Bobby when he was on the football team, and so on. It bores people to death. I take my pictures, blow them up if they're good, and throw them into a drawer. Except, of course, for the few I frame for my wife. She has several upstairs in her room. For myself, what I want is a record,' as I said before. Something to keep. To record the swift changes in my children. Even in these few shots you can see how my daughter has grown. "For a hobby, you know, taking pictures is really worth while. You've got something. Yes, you've got something!" P IBS Original POEMS — SONGS WANTED FOR PUBLICATION WESTMORE MUSIC CORP. Dept. 41-F Portland, Ore. WHO'S WHO IN HOLLYWOOD A de luxe Movie Encyclopedia containing biographies of 500 movie stars. Also other interesting facts about Hollywood. Free particulars or send 50c in coin for your copy today. STAR PUBLISHERS P. 0. Box 49 De Kalb, 111. That dreadful skin disease many suffer with for years PSORIASIS thinking their trouble to 6e f /* T C Rif * and treating without results, t W Mm W Iwl f\ Send for this VALUABLE INFORMATION at once. Free Dr. D. R. Parsons, 1249 Trust Bldg., Huntington, W. Va. SONG POEMS WANTED TO BE SET TO MUSIC Free Examination. Send Your Poems To j. chas. McNeil BACHELOR OF MUSIC 4153-V South Van Ness Los Angeles, Calif. SCREENLAND 81