Screenland (Nov 1950-Oct 1951)

Amazing new curls and beautifies as it cleanses ... The Show Doesn't Have To Go On Continued from page 37 and so determined to get its money's worth that it would boo the theatre manager if he stepped out and informed it that the star had been called home, on a moment's notice, by serious illness in the family? And what about the star's family? Can they wait until she gives just one more performance? Or is she needlessly complicating their lives and plans? You know darned well she is. I learned several years ago that the show doesn't have to go on, though I'd been brought up in that supposedly fine old tradition, too. Actually, the trouble with the tradition is that so frequently it's carried to extremes in a business where everyone loves to dramatize every occurrence. At the end of my sophomore year at N.Y.U. I joined the Kay Brothers Circus, a little outfit which was playing upper New York State, and which paid me, if I remember right, three dollars a week plus board and keep. Not knowing too much about trapeze work, except what I'd learned in the college gym, I nevertheless tried to work out a routine with my partner, Nick Cravat, that would thrill the customers. The highlight of our act was a deathdefying business which wound up by Lancaster flying through the air with the greatest of ease and gripping the bar with the back of his knees. But unlike the daring young man in the song my actions weren't too graceful to begin with, and every time I hit that bar with the back of my legs I burned off a hunk of skin. I did everything to try to toughen myself for that stunt, including soaking my legs in brine. Did you ever try rubbing salt into a raw spot on your epidermis? I don't recommend it. No matter what I did, my legs just got sorer and I wasn't a bit sure how long I 48 could continue the act. "Well, why didn't Goodbye expense and time-taking fuss. Goodbye risk of dry, brittle hair. Now give yourself long-lasting curls and waves while shampooing. Haw SHAMPOO -CURL makes permanent* outof date! After rinsing, merely set your favorite hair-do . . . just as you do anyway, even with a permanent. When dry, presto! (1) Deep, natural looking curls and waves that last and l-a-s-U (2) Wonderful new body that makes hair easier to manage. (3) Luster like rippling satin thanks to SHAMPOO-CURL'S rich, gentle oil-creme formula that lathers luxuriously in hardest water... never needs special rinses. Enjoy this Triple Action! It CURLS and BEAUTIFIES as it CLEANSES. See for yourself how it makes permanents out-of-date. Get the original SHAMPOO-CURL in the blackand-pink jar today ! ONLY $J00 for many glamorous shampoo curls □nonmnono At All Cosmetic Counters or we'll have your nearest dealer mail you a jar for $1.25 postpaid, including tax and postage; also sent C.O.D. Mail your order to Beauty Sales, 9174 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood 46, California. the jerk quit," you'll ask. "He was only getting three bucks a week." Well, friend, I'd been brought up in that "show must go on" business and I believed it literally. It hurts now just to think about it. Every time I hit that bar, I winced. I didn't even like to tell Cravat about my condition, it seemed like such a sissy thing to complain about. But the raw places behind my knees were gradually getting infected. I had to wear bandages whenever I had my street clothes on, or the rubbing of the cloth would drive me crazy. Finally, it was acutely painful simply to walk erect. I couldn't help limping. Then one night, one of the Kay Brothers noticed me hobbling away from the tent and wanted to know what was the matter. So I broke down and told him. He looked at me for a minute as if he thought I was crazy. "But you don't have to kill yourself," he said. "Substitute something else in the act. Work out some other routine until your legs are healed. Nobody's asking you to cripple yourself. For the love of Mike, relax, kid. We don't ask anybody to be a martyr." I was so relieved I almost wanted to cry on his shoulder. From then on, my whole philosophy of life and of show business changed. I didn't have to kill myself. The show, as it stood, didn't have to go on. What if plans did have to be changed? That's what brains are for — to work out something else, to be ingenious, to come up with another solution, to be, above all things, sensible, to cut out the ham. Because actually, the actor who must appear, come hell or high water, just caters to the ham in himself. And the same is true of other people in every walk of life. I know a girl — not an actress in this case — who had planned an elaborate wedding; with an expensive gown, bridesmaids, flowers, a reception to follow. The church had been selected and the invitations sent out. Then, the boy was called into service much sooner than an