Screenland (May 1943-Oct 1944)

New nnder-arm Cream Deodorant safely Stops Perspiration *r\ Guaranteed by *^ Good Housekeeping J _ IDWCRIISEP ttffr 1. Does not harm dresses, or men's shirts. Does not irritate skin. 2. No waiting to dry. Can be used right after shaving. 3. Safely stops perspiration for 1 to 3 days. Removes odor from perspiration, keeps armpits dry. 4. A pure white, greaseless, stainless vanishing cream. 5. Arrid has been awarded the Seal of Approval of the American Institute of Laundering, for being harmless to fabrics. Use Arrid regularly. SONG POEMS WANTED To Be Set to Music ^Publishers need new songs! Submit one or more of .A-your best poems for immediate consideration. Any subject. Send poem. PHONOGRAPH RECORDS MADE. ★FIVE STAR MUSIC MASTERS, 805 Beacon Bldfa Boston, Mass. There's Romance in Hair that is Truly BLONDE! • Hair that gleams and glistens like a halo of spun gold... bright, light, exquisitely lovely! What man can resist it? What blonde doesn't long for it? With the help of Marchand's Golden Hair Wash, such hair may be yours! When you see what stunning effects you can get, you'll be thrilled. For, with Marchand's you yourself can control the actual degree of lightness you desire! If you are a brunette or a redhead, use Marchand's Golden Hair Wash to get more lightness into your hair! Not a dye— not an expensive "treatment"— it's easy to apply! Wonderful, also, for lightening hair on arms and legs... At all drug counters. MARCHAND'S Made by the Makers of Morchond's "Moke • Up" Hair Rinse GOLDEN HAIR WASH Lost In Action Continued from page 30 equally well known. But few knew Leslie Howard himself. Those of us who did knew a "genius." A man gifted in the arts, who was not only a fine actor, but who proved himself a great producer. With George Bernard Shaw, he produced "Pygmalion." At the Hollywood preview Leslie keenlyregretted the critics not giving their attention to his efforts on the production, rather than his acting. He worked from early to late on "Intermezzo" as co-producer with David Selznick. There was script to revise, okay. Sets, costumes, director, players, the endless details of production. Leslie was well pleased with this picture, which introduced Ingrid Bergman to this country. Leslie had a superb poise, which he wore with an amused detached smile. Nothing seemed to upset his scheme of things. Details did not disturb him. His mind was actively curious. He liked to know other people's minds. He liked to develop and originate ideas. He projected himself, his own thoughts into his screen characterizations. "That's really me playing me," he said during a screening of "The Petrified Forest." Leslie was a vital person. For all his gentle, soft-spoken manner, his slight physique, he was energetic, forceful. He did not fight with words — but rather with supreme indifference that usually won his point. To women, Leslie was a dream-hero come true. He understood women, because he had made a study of them. He knew that pretty words, gallantry, masculine attentions were as essential to a woman as love. To his own wife, he played the role of lover by his attentiveness. Because his slight appearance made him appear the dreamer, Leslie was wont to be daring. He played a fast game of polo. He once dove into the ocean to save a drowning man when a lifeguard was afraid of the riptide. To know Leslie at all was to know a strong, vital, forceful personality. During the filming of "Intermezzo" Leslie bought his first home in Hollywood, Hedy Lamarr's charming little house in Beverly Hills. All done in soft creams and crystal, with a large swimming pool taking up the entire length of the back garden. "Isn't it glamorous living in Hedy Lamarr's house?" Leslie would say. "We feel very excited about it, really!" Leslie was an inveterate swimmer. He never missed a morning in the pool. Leslie Ruth, then sixteen, always swam with her father before breakfast. Sometimes I was a third. Mrs. Howard would sit in the patio, and there was much laughing and talking back and forth — until the smell of simmering country sausages announced breakfast was soon to be served. Then a scramble to get dried and dressed and breakfast in the open air. By eight-thirty, Leslie had backed his convertible out the drive and was on his way to the studio. Leslie loved people. He liked to sit, unobserved, and watch them. Many a time we'd go to lunch and sit at some corner table and pick out the celebrities who came in. The Vendome, on Sunset Boulevard, which has long since closed its doors, was a particular favorite with Leslie. He would bring his miniature Leica camera along and sit snapping pictures of the stars. "Who is that lovely creature?" he asked once. I think of her now. She was Carole Lombard, laughingly breezing by. He was delighted when Wally Beery and his brother, Noah, lumbered over and I introduced them. "You don't mind if I snap your pic ture ?" he asked — then naively explained, "I used to say I was snapping these pictures for my daughter, Leslie Ruth, but she's here with us this trip. I guess I must admit my curiosity for seeing the film stars myself." I first met Leslie Howard in 1936. He was making "The Petrified Forest" — which he had successfully played on the stage — with Bette Davis at Warner Brothers. I remember the unit man took me on a big sound stage that had been converted into a desert. "Mr. Howard is the most difficult man to find," he said. "He is always wandering away. Sometimes we find him in his automobile asleep. Or behind a piece of scenery — just sitting with his pipe, cogitating.'' Leslie was within earshot of this conversation, for he stepped right out from behind the scenery and said, with a smile, "An amusing chap, this Howard, I must say." Leslie remarked that the new girl appearing with him in the picture was "Remarkable ! Bette Davis, her name is, and I think she will be one of the great names in this business. It is a relief to work with an actress who knows her lines and how to use them. Bette knows just what she is doing." Later Leslie returned to England. He was about to realize his fondest hope, of producing and playing "Hamlet" on the stage. A year later on Broadway, Leslie opened his own production of "Hamlet." The sets were lavish and modernistic. The critics applauded the sets — and panned Leslie's "Hamlet." After a short run, Leslie took his company on a tour of the United States. "Hamlet" came to Ogden, Utah, my home town, while I was there. I called Leslie and he invited me to dinner and to the play. "What a time we've had of it!" he said. "Every actor wants to take a crack at 'Hamlet,' you know. But I had never been able to interest a producer to back Mr. Shakespeare's classic for me. When I got back to England last year I found I had enough money to do it on my own. It is the one thing I have always wanted to do. This will not enrich me to say the least, travelling across the country with this heavy scenery and big cast. But it's a great adventure. I'm getting to know America like I never did before. I had to leave Mrs. Howard in Denver with the flu. What a dear she's been. It's been a long, arduous trip for her." We left the cafe for the theater which was three doors down the street. There Leslie stopped, appalled. People were lined up by the hundreds in front of the Orpheum Theater waiting for his arrival. "I can't get through that crowd," he said. "Don't tell me you've developed stagefright?" I laughed. Leslie had. Rather than forage through the crowd — we did an about-face and walked to the back entrance of the theater. After the last act, Leslie, King Lear, and I went to an ice-cream parlor for sodas. Leslie never drank, but consumed more malteds than the average college co-ed. He was trying to put on weight. He wore his usual tweed suit and tan sweater in lieu of a vest. Off-stage, Leslie was seldom taken for an actor. Even then Leslie was aware of the unrest in Europe. "There's bound to be another war — although no one wants to think of it," he said. "Amazingly enough, the last 78 SCREENLAND