Screenland (May-Oct 1942)

He'd r Guess Her Age! New kind of face powder makes her look years younger! ONCE this lovely girl looked quite a bit older. For she was the innocent victim of an unflattering shade of face powder! It was a cruel shade— treacherous and sly. Like a harsh light, it showed up every tiny line in her face —accented every little skin fault— even seemed to exaggerate the size of the pores. But look at her now! He'd never guess her age! Is she 19—30—35? She has found her lucky shade of face powder— the shade that flatters her skin, makes -her look young and enchanting. How old does your face powder say you are? Are you sure the shade of powder you use doesn't lie about your age— doesn't say you're getting a bit older? Why take that chance? Send for the 9 new shades of Lady Esther Face Powder today! Try them one after another and let your mirror tell you which is the perfect shade for you! Lady Esther Powder is made a new wayblown by TWIN 'HURRICANES until it's softer, smoother by far than ordinary powder. That's why its shades and texture are so flattering. Send for all 9 shades Find your most flattering shade of Lady Esther Powder. Mail the coupon for the 9 new shades and try them all. You'll know your lucky shade —it makes your skin look younger and lovelier! FACE POWDER (78) Lady Esther, 7162 W. 65 th St., Chicago, 111. Send me your 9 new shades of face powder, also a generous tube of 4-Purpose Face Cream. I enclose 100 to cover cost of packing and mailing. ^ (1J you live in Canada, write Lady Esther, Toronto,Ont.) j How I Conquered Foolish Fears! Continued from page 28 flight was probably, "What's the fuss? It's no more than she or any other wife should do." Nor was it. You would not know, of course, the story behind that hurried cross-country flight. That it was Bette's first. That with it she conquered a deathly terror of flying which had haunted' her insanely for years. Nor could you possibly estimate the shining victory that relatively minor event meant in her life. But then you may have forgotten that beneath her screen glamor, Bette Davis is human after all. That, even as you and I, she is cursed with useless fears and phobias, complexes and blown-up bugaboos that have and occasionally still do make her miserable. "I've just learned a lesson," Bette told me the other day across the luncheon table. "And for the hundredth time," she added, a bit sheepishly. "Foolish fears are the most poisonous things in the world !" It was hard, off hand, to associate any fear, foolish or otherwise, with Bette Davis. Except maybe fear the priorities board might shut off the supply of brass Academy Oscars. She is bright, aggressive, alive every minute and always bursting' with beans. But I have learned that when Bette Davis makes a statement she can usually back it up. "If I were a man," continued Bette, "I'd like to be a psychiatrist. I'd like to find out how silly, ingrown terrors start and how to banish them. I can't think of a more worthwhile job in the shaky world today. There's enough real danger without imaginary mental goblins. Foolish fears shatter happiness and ruin careers. They destroy health, warp minds, breed failures, and take all the joy out of life. They ^cause more torture, uncertainty and despair than anything else in the world. "I don't mean," Bette hastened to state, "that one air-plane trip did give me years of mental misery. That I finally tossed it to the winds was just an incident, a small thing. But in my life I have been ridden and seen my friends ridden by phobias originally every bit as small. That's the absurd thing about fear complexes — the worst mental monsters usually spring from the tiniest trifles." Bette reflected moodily for a minute. "I've never told anyone this," she began. "That's the trouble, when you nurse silly fears and complexes the last thing in the world you want to do is tell them. If we only had sense enough to tell them and get them off our burdened minds, they'd probably vanish, like germs brought into the sunlight. I don't know why that's so hard, but it is. "When I was a small girl, I went to the Boston theater once to see Thurston, the magician. It was a gala occasion and I'd stuffed myself unwisely with lobster for lunch. In the middle of the act, I lost all interest. Dizzy spots danced before my eyes and in a minute I was a violently sick little girl. The experience was humiliating enough, but to make things worse, the lady sitting next to me wasn't a very understanding sort. In fact, she bawled me out in no uncertain terms, for all the row to hear. I crept out of there sick, hurt, humiliated and certain I was the most disgusting creature alive. "Right then a useless, absurd, but powerful phobia seized me and all my life I've had to fight it. I still do, not nearly so often as before, of course, but it's still lurking around. I'm afraid to be in any place where escape isn't handy. I'm afraid I'll get sick. I've felt that terror strike coldly more times than I can remember. When I've been on stages, in audiences, on trains, at parties, or just in city crowds. I think it's probably what fabricated my absurd terror of air-planes. I've never been physically afraid. .The thought of being high in the air, the consideration of a crack-up never bothered me. Nothing nearly so valid as that. It was the silly, picayunish fear of — getting airsick in a closed plane. When I thought of that I trembled with imaginary mortification. "Most foolish fears are every bit as trifling in origin and facts," reflected Bette. "But to the person they afflict they're terrible, invincible nightmares often quite capable of ruining all happiness and hope, even life itself." Bette told me about two girls she had known. Both were inordinately tall. Both were extremely self-conscious about their height. Both were beautiful and intelligent. Everyone liked them — but they didn't like themselves. One managed to overcome the silly worry about her tree-top figure. She became a famous fashion and artists' model. She had an important New York career, married well and now has a family. But the other girl stewed and brooded about her long legs (she was perfect in every other department) until her mind actually became unbalanced. Pretty soon she lapsed into melancholia, there were suicide trys — and finally one of them took. A tragic twist to a foolish fear. "It exasperates me," said Bette almost angrily, "when I think how idiotic fear robs people of so much happiness, so many friendships, so much opportunity to live. Take any small example. How many people are terrified at horses, scared of the water, of mountain slopes ? How many have reason to be? Horseback riding is a healthy, thrilling sport. So is sailing, so is skiing. None are really dangerous. How many mothers have ruined their sons' chances for popularity, strength and friendships by forbidding football? How many children, incidentally, have lived on through nervous, intimidated lives of fear because of a million over-cautious, parental 'don'ts' ? "Think of the adults who have gone through life feeling guilty about almost everything normal they did. Think of children forced to nurse their childish tragedies out of all proportion and into a complex, Anne Jeffreys and Marian Rosemond, above, two former Powers models, play roles of twin brides in "I Married An Angel," film which costars Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. 60 5 GREENLAND