Screenland (Feb-Oct 1949)

Busy Bob Hope with Producer Howard Wiley of NBC Theatre. Bob's got television bug. ily at a table for two in Romanoff's and looking extremely happy. Quite a change in Jas., who used to prowl around the local bistros looking, if not glum, at least solemn. Judy Garland was a very unhappy little gal when she left Hollywood for a rest and a checkup in Boston. At that time she'd left her husband, Vincente Minnelli, and, of course, had lost out on the plum role of the year in "Annie Get Your Gun." Last year she conked out on another box-office smash, "The Barkleys Of Broadway," leaving the field open for the reuniting of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. This time Betty Hutton steps into the breach and, fof my dough, is absolutely perfect for the ebullient gun-totin* Annie. The John Huston-Evelyn Keyes bustup came as quite a surprise because there'd been less than the usual amount of rumors circulated about them than the average Hollywood couple — happy or unhappy— have to contend with in this town. Even so, this marriage lasted much longer (three years) than some of the smarties figured it would. Mr. H's life is far from dull — 2 Oscars for "Treasure Of The Sierra Madre," the Wendell Willkie One World Award, followed by adverse criticism for his picture, "We Were Strangers," and the postponement of the epic, "Quo Vadis," which he was to direct in Italy. All this happening in such a short time coidd shake the foundations of the most stable marriage. Gregory Peck, who was to have starred in "Quo Vadis." wasn't too unhappy about the picture being delayed. He spent the Summer working with his pet project, the La Jolla Playhouse, after winding up "Twelve O'Clock High" at 20th. But Mrs. P. was a little unhappy about it. She had expected to follow Greg to Europe after the birth of their third child and take him to visit her relatives in Finland who have never met her handsome husband. Greta just recently became an American citizen. Also. SINCE you heard from us last through these pages Hollywood went into high gear — never has so much happened to so many, both romantically and careerwise. What's more, we can prove it. Take, for instance, the fact that the wily bachelor, Jimmy Stewart, finally decided to give up his freedom for the beautiful Gloria McLean after successfully resisting the lures of more than a score of top glammer gals. The romance took a serious turn when Jimmy followed her to New York to break up the string of dates Gloria was having with Petey Lawford. 20th Century-Fox evidently supplied the final push that sent Jimmy over the fence notifying him he'd be on an Arizona location five weeks for his new picture "Arrow." No doubt Jimmy figured he'd have to take drastic measures to freeze out competition which would be heavy during the five-weeks absence. Day or so after the big news was announced we saw them dining coz Wanda (Mrs. Audie Murphy) Hendrix with John Lund at a Radio Theatre rehearsal. Left: Sonja Henie and socialite Winthrop Gardiner, constant twosome in Manhattan. when last heard from, she was trying to persuade Greg to let her name the baby Gregory. Jr., if a boy. It's evident that he doesn't go for that Junior stuff — the two little Peck boys arc monickered Jonathan and, Stephen. Another sad marital bustup was the one of Dan Dailey and his Liz. They've tried pretty hard to hang onto their marriage, but actually it hadn't been all peaches and cream since he returned from the War. Via a letter from Tv Power's secretary. Betty Grable with her daughters, Victoria and Jessica. Betty's in "Wabash Avenue."