Screenland (May-Oct 1941)

Judy Canova's Advice to Homely (?) Girls Continued from page 33 Maybe there is a certain something in the voice that is intriguing. Or else her demeanor is distinctive and charming. Or perhaps she wears her clothes well, or converses interestingly and intelligently. So I say — look for the one thing about you that is attractive and bring it to the front. That doesn't mean to talk like a drunken canary if you are a good conversationalist, for instance. Nothing is more deadening than idle chatter. Talk when you have something to say and when you haven't, just listen. And if your voice has a nice quality, I don't mean that you should become vowelconscious and roll your R's. You'd become a stereotype then. I simply mean that you should use your one good quality with discretion and without obvious emphasis. Then you are capitalizing and not existing solely on that one prominent characteristic. If you need a good example of the sense of this advice, take Mrs. Roosevelt. In her book she openly stated that she was shy and self-conscious because of her looks. She also knew that her voice wasn't especially melodic. But there was a great charm about her and a capacity for action. Few people think of her now as unattractive. To most, she is an outstanding example of a woman who has made her life mean something because of her one outstanding characteristic — her interest in humanity and her completely democratic viewpoint. In final analysis, then, personality is nothing but an unconscious projection of a person's real self, and regardless of looks, the finer points will emerge. A girl must be humane and kind above all else, however, for without these qualities everything else is of no importance. When an unattractive girl is stressing her personality, she must be careful not to become one of the Personality Plus types. Usually, at least it has been my experience, such a person is only stressing a veneer, and it isn't long before that veneer wears on you and becomes obvious. Again — use discretion. There are undoubtedly many unattractive girls who are married and faced with the problem of holding their husband whose Count and Countess Oleg Cassini, above. It's little Gene Tlerney after her surprise elopement with the nobleman. Best wishes! attention is momentarily disturbed by some glamorous vision. They wonder how their love can be retained, how their home can be saved. Perhaps they have always wondered how long they could keep their happiness, and what they would do when their husbands became tired of their personality. They live with a fear hanging over their heads and hearts. This results in stifling their natural charm, their poise. I have seen this very thing happen several times. I had a friend who came to me recently and said, "Judy, what am I to do? My husband doesn't care for me any more. He has even said that I've never been beautiful." Naturally, this hurts any girl who has the misfortune to be continually conscious of her lack of beauty, but her problem is no different from that of the beautiful woman who is faced with the same thing. Men are changeable creatures. They seem to need constant diversion. It's up to the woman, then, to see that that diversion doesn't go too far. In the case of an unattractive girl, my advice is to take a good look at herself. Maybe marriage has made her careless of her appearance. Maybe she has thought it unnecessary to project the quality that her husband once admired. Or maybe she has projected it too much. She should be able to find where she is wrong. The one thing she must never do, though, is to weep on her husband's shoulder and tell him that she knows she has never been beautiful. She must never become overpoweringly affectionate. This is the time for independence and sanity. If the man must have his fling, let him have it. If there's any real love in the home, he'll come back and be even more in love with his wife. If he's just a diversion seeker, then the girl is better off. But why should unattractive girls feel that such a possible break-up of the home is the inevitable fate in store for her? Why doesn'f she look at the really beautiful women who find their husbands attracted by unattractive women? That one thing should convince them that the fault does not lie in their appearances. Men get just as tired of looking at a waxen doll as they do at a girl whose nose is off the bias or whose mouth resembles the Grand Canyon. I've found out that the "unattractive" girls hold on to their husbands much longer than the glamor girls do. For one thing, they don't have to spend so much time worrying about facial rejuvenation. They can devote their time to maintaining a real home, and that is the first requisite of any man. Take a look at your neighbors and see which wives make the happiest homes. I think you'll find that I'm right when you see for yourself. No, your husband isn't leaving you because you aren't a Hedy Lamarr. He's tiring of you because of a change within you. He found you attractive once, so you have done something to make him think of you as unattractive. That's the peculiar contradiction of unattractive girls' marriages. Naturally, every plain girl isn't thinking solely of marriage. She may be the career type who doesn't think that men are of the utmost importance. But she takes a good look at herself and says, "Now how can I get any place with this mugg?" Certainly beauty is important in some fields in both the theater and in the movies. But it isn't the only requisite. Talent and determination can get a girl just as far. My brother and sister and I made up our minds to get some place in the entertainment world in spite of our rather unassum ing appearances. But to get on top, we knew we had to capitalize on the fact that we weren't the answer to every maiden's and romeo's dream. We started out by singing hillbilly songs because we felt that such an act was the best way we could introduce ourselves. We got our first job singing "corn." When we went on the radio we were still singing "corn" and screwing our faces up to make us look really unattractive. And ever since I have worked in pictures, I have stressed my own peculiar qualities. In "Sis Hopkins," for example, I was the exact personification of a girl who was both unattractive and uneducated. But in that character, you could see the appeal that such a girl really has. The mere fact that "Sis Hopkins" has remained an entertainment favorite for so many years is conclusive proof that the public is sympathetic to a character like that. No matter what you may read to the contrary, Hollywood isn't all glamor. There are a lot of unattractive people who have hit the top and who are still lending valuable support for the boys and girls with oomph. If you aren't terribly good-looking, there's no reason to worry. If you think you have talent for acting, whether it's comedy, drama, or singing, pick out your one feature and capitalize on it. In a career, then, the same rule applies as it does to romance and happiness. If your face is plain enough to be used for laughs, then by all means use it for all it's worth. Make it downright ugly if you have to, for the funniest looking people have been our finest comedians and often our finest actors. If you have a voice that is adaptable to an individual type of singing, concentrate on the voice and the public will forget everything else about you. But,, above all, if you're career-minded, don't let anyone tell you that you're not attractive enough to click. Take every break, good or bad, and keep plugging away. You may have a harder time getting a chance than a platinum blonde with a Venus figure, but the chances are ten to one that you'll last a lot longer once you get your break. And don't forget that every glamorous figure in> the entertainment world today had a pretty hard time getting her first break too. After you have made your first impression, don't think that you can afford to change your type. Some actresses in Hollywood have tried to become glamorous when glamor was as phoney with them as it would be for me to play a love scene with Tyrone Power. No unattractive person can capitalize on her weak points any more than an attractive character can try to make herself look funny by turning into a facial contortionist. Here I've been talking about unattractive people, and yet I have never seen what you might call a really unattractive person! After I have known anyone who, on the surface, looked very plain, I have found qualities that I have admired. From then on, they were not in the least unappealing. And yet, on the other hand, I have met some very beautiful girls, and after I have known them for a while I have considered them, because of certain characteristics, the most unattractive persons I have ever known. So — for my last advice — remember the old saying if you wish comfort : "Beauty is only skin deep." It's the beauty within any girl that means more than the beauty without. Alexander Korda Productions announces a last-minute title change in the film starring Merle Oberon and Joseph Cotten — roto photos pages 38-39 — from "Illusions" to "Lydia." 60