Screenland (May-Oct 1942)

in a tree !" Ann grimaced. "And it was new car, too. Needless to say, Robert does all the driving for the family!" s with her clothes, Ann turns to Marie honest criticism or praise as far as her k is concerned. It is Marie who goes ^ Ann to see the "test rushes" that are ie before each picture is started. Beon them, they decide whether or not the iceup looks right— that the clothes are |perly fitted and have the most flattering lis. They never see the daily rushes dur| the filming of the pictures, as many js do. "It makes me too nervous," Ann llains. .'s the same way with her previews. All : king's horses couldn't drag Ann out Isee one of her pictures at a preview wing. But her friends do. And what's m, Ann pesters them to death until wade through every foot of film for benefit, via the telephone, the minute preview is over. 'Miss Ann gets offended if I don't go ;all her pictures," Marie confides. "I j.'t always get a chance to go to the preja but I catch them when they come i the big theater downtown or at my ■jghborhood house, though. I wouldn't IB not to! I believe I like the 'Maizie' :ures about the best," Marie went on. is so real. You know, she's very much : Miss Ann herself — so natural-like and Idly." ;Vhen she isn't working, Ann spends a Jt deal of time in her garden, of which is very proud. Then there's her knit B "My land," Marie said, shaking her :d. "I don't know how many sweaters ss Sothern has made. Why, she's knitted for every one of her friends — and her my besides. And she always has one ng for the Red Cross, too." _ [hm\ is an avid reader, Marie will tell 1 "I don't know how she finds the fie," she says, "but she reads every one those Book-of-the-Month books. And jre from the library besides." i'\side from her gardening and knitting, |re's not a domestic bone in Ann's body. Iji loathes the very thought of domesticI However, when it comes to cooking, ] knows how everything should be pre. ed and Osee (who has been cooking for M for ten years) is delegated to carry : her wishes. Especially about keeping i ice-box well stocked — just in case she Ijk elude the watchful Marie long enough get into it ! "Miss Sothern is crazy about music, too," ie continued. "We always have music he set when she's working. Depends hat kind of a mood she's in as to is played. Sometimes she likes classimusic and other times she's very gay 1 wants nothing but swing." \Ve've heard about those moods of Ann's, hen she's "up," she's bubbling over. But »en she's low, it takes a bit of doing to ip her out of it. That's Marie's selfpointed job. 'I never start talking unless I know ss Sothern is ready to talk," she admits, jl'ou see, I've known her so long I can 1 when she feels good. Some days she'll so happy she'll chatter all day long, jling funny stories and joking with the >upe on the set. Other days, when I o\v she's upset about something, I keep ry quiet until she tells me what it is. len I try to reason her out of it." You just never know what Ann is going think of next, Marie will tell you. Just tore she started "Panama Hattie," Ann :idcd she would acquire a lovely sun tan she wouldn't have to bother with make. Marie accordingly called a shop and d them send over a sun-tan lamp. There fe experiment ended. To this day, the np has not been used and Ann's skin mains white and creamy as ever. The closest she ever came to carrying out her plan (without benefit of the sun lamp, which remained in the closet) was along about six in the afternoon one day when she was entertaining a guest. "But why no stockings?" her guest wanted to know, as they strolled about tingarden to see if the bugs had gotten into Ann's favorite camellias. "Why, honey,'' Ann said patiently, "I TOLD you I was going to get a good tan this summer. And you can't get tan with your stockings on !" The friend pointed to the heavens, where the sun had long since disappeared. Ann was completely bewildered and glared at the sky as though it had been most inconsiderate in getting dark just when she'd gotten around to needing the sun ! One thing that Marie can't make Ann do is dress up around the house. The dozens of beautiful negligees and house coats in the closet just go on hanging there. And Ann will climb contentedly into an ancient pongee robe that she's clung to for years and be perfectly happy. However, Ann did put on some of her prettiest hostess gowns and house coats when she posed for the pictures to illustrate this story. Shoes, too, she hates. The minute she walks into the house, she kicks them off and pops into a comfortable pair of mules. It's the same way on the set. _ One of "Marie's most important duties is to be sure Ann's mules are laid out in a handy place so she can slip into them between scenes. "Miss Sothern just loves perfume," Marie tells you. "She has a special odor for morning and one for afternoon. The crews on her pictures all know this and they'll ask her which kind it is she has on. She's generous with her perfume, too. She's given away many bottles to her friends and doesn't mind a bit their having her special blend. "And bath oil, too. She's crazy about that. She hates showers and always prefers a good hot tub, with plenty of bath oil and dusting powder afterwards." Ann has another little idiosyncrasy. She gets all dressed, even to her hat, before she puts her dress on. For that reason, she likes dresses she can step into. She loathes the feeling, anyway, of putting things over her head. So when the shops send out a batch of clothes, they're always particular to send the "step-in" variety. "I don't see how she can eat it," Marie continued, "but Miss Sothern likes the rarest meat I've ever seen. Why, it hardly looks even cooked, the way she wants it. Steak and lamb chops are her favorite^. I have an awful time making her eat vegetables. She just doesn't like them. And Osee will keep chocolate cake around the house. There's where I have my real trouble. Because Miss Sothern adores chocolate cake more than anything in the world !" Marie always accompanies Ann on her trips to New York and occasionally about the country. "Miss Sothern is a grea' one to put things off," she complains. "I have to worry her to death to get her to attend to things ahead of time. She's never in a hurry, you know, and hates to be rushed at any time. If I didn't keep right after her, when we're leaving on a trip, she'd never be ready to leave. "I take her breakfast to her, even on the train," Marie chuckled. "Miss Sothern certainly does like to have her breakfast in bed. When she wakes up on the train she rings for the porter and then the porter calls me, and I take in her tray, just like I do at home. It's a good thing I do, too, because goodness only knows what would be on that tray if she ordered it hersef !" Just then Ann called and Marie had to leave. She was doing a difficult scene and wanted Marie to see if it looked all right. Ann depends on Marie even for that. "When Marie tells you you're all right, you know you must be," Ann told me. "She's not inclined to be over-enthusiastic and you can always count on her to tell you the honest truth. Which is darned important in this business. Yes, sir, Marie is certainly Ann's right hand man. And a mighty good one, too, if you ask me! Ann Sothern achieves an interesting and unusual mantle effect in the living room of her Beverly Hills home by the use of "Chinese immortals" and other picturesque figurines. 61