Screenland (Feb-Oct 1949)

LITTLE LULU 'It's magic — the way Kleenex* pops up r " " Little Lulu says: Kleenex Tissues always at your fingertips! You pull just one double tissue (not a fistful ! ) and up pops another. Only Kleenex has this handy Serv-a-Tissue box. O International Cellucotton Products Co. *T. M. Reg. U. S. Pat. OB. though. We plan to go to Europe in a few months when "Not Wanted," my first picture as a producer for Emerald Productions, Film Classics release, is finished, just to be together.^ Not all couples can take ambitious trips to Europe, but they can find an acceptable substitute if they take the time to give the matter some thought. I think any wife, if she wants to remain interesting to her husband, is foolish to nag. That is simply being dominating and robs a man of his masculinity or puts him on the defensive. The "other woman" would never resort to that. Instead she would be utterly feminine. She might even become the helpless female — and it doesn't hurt any wife to be just a little helpless. No matter what they say, men like helpless females. It gives them added strength. Not that I approve of the clinging vine approach. I loathe it. But to make a man feel your need of him isn't such a bad idea. Women forget that a man's ego can be beaten down faster than can a woman's — much faster. And when that happens, what have you? I also think that a wife shouldn't forget that in the courting days she laughed at every funny thing her man said. Once she has put the Mrs. in front of her name, though, she seems diabolically determined to let his jokes fall with a dull thud. Some wives forget to be good listeners any of the time. They want to do all the talking. Every man likes to have his ego inflated — and what better way is there than to appreciate his sense of humor, even if you have heard the same gags over and over again? Another danger time in the ego department is when children arrive. I grant you I have no children yet, but I have friends who have, and I've been able to Co-stars Jack Carson and Doris Day on the set of "My Dream Is Yours." observe that there is a serious problem here. Many women forget the husband — or push him into the background — when a child is born. I don't believe in this because a man must never be pushed out of a woman's immediate interest. I know it's a trying time for a woman. She is up all night, she's nervous with her new responsibilities, but she has to learn to control all that and still remain a sweetheart and a wife. Every rule I've thought of about marriage up to this point is even more important now. When the child arrives is the time when a marriage must be hung on to more tenaciously than ever. I know it takes work. Yet, my own mother succeeded very well in this respect. She took care of my sister, Rita, and me in the morning, always got father's lunch at noon, went to the theatre and performed two shows in the afternoon, came home to look after us when she finished working, prepared dinner, put Rita and me to bed, and then went back to the theatre. But she never for a moment neglected my father — and she didn't neglect herself. She remained as glamourous as ever. It can be done — if a woman wants her marriage badly enough. Another common trait among some wives that I have no use for is the habit of complaining about what a hard day they have had or how ill they feel. A woman who has "complaining-itis" is sounding the death knell to her happy marriage. Men have been known to stray from the fireside just for the want of hearing something happy and cheerful said for a change. There is no quicker way to get a marriage into a dangerous rut than by complaining about the very things that are your job in that marriage. Which brings me to my last point — and perhaps the most important. To keep a husband interested in you, take a hint from the "other woman" and let him know once in a while that you want to be alone with him. Why not say, "Let's see no one tonight and just be alone?" In other words, what's wrong with having a date together by the fire in your own living room? Collie and I tried that recently. We had four invitations for one Saturday night and we refused them all. We sat down in front of the fire and just talked for a while. We had gone to the ballet the night before, so after a while he asked me to show him how to do some of the "lifts" we had seen. So I did. You should have seen me cavorting about with Collie lifting me up on cue! It was a wonderful evening of fun. That's the basis of Collie's and my life together. To have fun. He's a man who loves laughter. He's sympathetic to anyone in trouble, but he can't tolerate — and neither can I — anyone's bringing his moods into our house. He turns pale then and becomes very nervous. We want to keep life on as cheery a plane as possible. That's the only plan we have for our future — to keep our marriage fun, to keep its success from being taken for granted. It's the best way I know of to avoid the entrance of the "other woman." ScREENLAND .59