Screenland (Nov 1942-Apr 1943)

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Please include |"> color of eyes, hair, and clothing for/ gy, prompt information on a natural, life. ™53*ffffuvC\ uke color enlargement in a FREE <V/7/ 1 1 1 1 1UUW FRAME to set on the table or dresser. Your original returned with FREE enlargement. Please send 10c for return mailing. Act Quick. Offer limited to U.S. HOLLYWOOD FILM STUDIOS 7021 Santa Monica Blvd.,Dept.667, Hollywood, Calif. feel that I should do my part. Naturally, though, my first thoughts and considerations will be for my child. "I think all war mothers are interested only in giving their children a proper start in life. That takes most of their time. But mothers also have a job to do for the fathers of their babies. That job is morale. Every mother should let her husband know that things are going well at home. She must write often and be loyal and cheerful — and affectionate. To accept the inevitable and what may come with dignity and courage is a woman's responsibility in this war. That, and to build with him a solid home when the war is over. "Our life today — Owen's and mine — has reached its most wonderful moment because of our baby. We planned our marriage on schedule and we knew when we wanted to have the child. We certainly would never let anything — not even a war — interfere. I can truthfully say that we are facing the future unafraid and with hope. Our baby has taken away our fears and has given us confidence in the life we eventually hope to lead together." Veronica Lake, whose husband, John Detlie, is in the Army, has been a mother now for a little over a year. She has had opportunity to see concretely how the war will affect her and her baby, Elaine. I talked to Veronica just after she returned from her very successful bond tour. The one thing I wanted to find out was what she considered the most significant difficulty facing a war mother — and how she faced it. "My difficulty was trying to be certain that Elaine would be given the best care and that I'd be able to give her the same kind of life she would have if John were home," Veronica explained. "Elaine has been under the constant care of a competent person when I have been unable to be with her. I have always given definite instructions to be followed in case of any emergency. I haven't left that important detail to a stranger. You see, I have tried tocombine acting and also be with John, so it has been a bit confused. Yet, I'm not unlike any war mother. Most mothers by now, I think, have worked out their own particular problem by sending their children to schools or to day nurseries. At least, such is the case with mothers who have to work. Their problem is one of self-support and of not losing sight of the fact that the baby must supersede everything else. "In these times, though, there is a great danger confronting most mothers. They are so busy that they may be inclined to forget to give their children plenty of love and affection. They should, I think, go out of their way to shower attention on the child. But there is also a danger in this — a danger of being so affectionate that a child becomes spoiled. I have tried to give Elaine all of the love and care and still teach her the importance of discipline. And of_ good manners. My job in this connection is one that isn't as easy as it sounds, for, like other mothers, some days I'm inclined to be too tired to be good company for Elaine, and other days I go overboard in indulging her every whim. "I do think that mothers in America today are doing a fine job, however. They are not only more concerned than ever in raising well-mannered children but they are also able to bury their fears and do their work without complaint. I think all feel as I do that the children are a challenge to mothers, a challenge to their capabilities in meeting problems — alone — during a crisis. Mothers believe now that if they fall down on the job of raising a child, they are falling down on their husbands who are away fighting. No woman wants to feel that she is making that mistake, for every man be lieves that in his wife and baby lie the makings of the American home of tomorrow — the home for which our country is at war." Veronica wasn't kidding when she told Paramount after she had finished "I Married A Witch" that she was going to come back to Hollywood only when she was absolutely needed. "How can I be too much concerned about my pictures?" she asked. "My place nowwhen it's possible — is with my child and my husband. John and I always planned to be together while we could. Having Elaine has also made the few times that John and I have together more important because she has given us our first realization of what makes a happy, normal home. As a result, I have tried to devote as much time to being a wife as a mother. I think every woman believes in balancing the two jobs. And when she shows no favoritism— either to husband or child — I think that in these times especially, she will find that her husband will return this love more fully to both his wife and baby." When I asked Veronica what she thought about the number of war babies being born, she thought for a moment and then replied, "I think it's a wonderful thing that so many babies are being brought into the world. Naturally, the question of having these babies should be given every thought. They should be given every advantage possible after they are born, and they shouldn't be brought into the world if conditions at home are unsatisfactory. No womar should consider only herself and have a child without first thinking if she can properly care for it. But I think, as a general rule, most young people are getting married today to get as much happiness as thej can. And the motivating reason for having babies is that the wife feels she wants tc have something of her happiness and tha' of her husband's to build her life arounc when he returns. "That's how I feel. As long as I havt Elaine, I have faith and courage. And have no fears." Jane Wyman is probably the most famou: war mother in Hollywood because Maureei Elizabeth was born about two years ago It was indeed a time when it took courag to bring a child into the world. Jane knows from experience now hov much her baby has meant to her. Witl Ronald Reagan away, she found exactb how important Maureen was to her ant how necessary a child was to a mothe whose husband is away at war. "All the time Ronnie was away," Jan told me on the Warner Studio set of "Prin cess O'Rourke," "I would only have to loo! at Maureen and be reminded of him. In hej I see so many of her father's traits. It i like seeing him in person. I hope all th countless women whose husbands are awa; at war have found as much comfort in thei children as I have found in Maureen. I an sure that if I didn't have her, the time gave her would be centered more or less c myself. This would tend to give an exag gerated importance to some of the problem with which we are all faced. While Ronni is away I try to do all of the things I kno\ he'd want me to do. With my war wor and my other work, I am pretty busy. Ther too, the knowledge that I have a double re sponsibility to Maureen — of being both fa ther and mother — has given me a dcepc sense of responsibility. In doing all I ca to bring Maureen up the way I think sh should be brought up and the way I kno\ Ronnie would want her raised, I also fe< that I am doing something for him too. "Having Maureen is like having a pal of Ronnie here and that's a wonderful, com forting feeling when those lonesome hour that all women know creep in." Jane has had to combat that lonelines probably more than any other Hollywoo 74 SCREENLAND