Screenland Plus TV-Land (Nov 1952 - Oct 1953)

WHAT HOLLYWOOD ITSELF IS TALKING ABOUT [CONTINUED FROM PACE 11] starring with him. Mr. O'C takes over the role Fred Astaire was to play in the remake of "Holiday Inn" — the picture that launched the song, "White Christmas." Hollywood's gabbing about the fact that practically half the film colony is in New York, busying around with stage plays, personal appearances, television and, in some cases, just plain fun. This column took a fast, four-week whirl in Manhattan and it doesn't matter where you go in that town — you're bound to run into so many Hollywoodites that you think you're on Beverly Drive at home. The first refugee from the Beverly Hills I saw was the beautiful Lisa Ferraday, who is so busy in television in New York that she's sold her home on the West Coast and is settling permanently in the East, in a large and handsome penthouse apartment in which I settled comfortably as a house guest during my stay. At the crack of dawn, Earl Blackwell (head of Celebrity Service and one of New York's most eligible bachelors) and 7 trekked to Grand Central Station to meet Louella Parsons and her entourage, just arriving from Hollywood. Just as the train came in, who should sneak up on us but Rosemary Clooney, whom I'd just said good-bye to at a Hollywood shindig a few days before. She and LOP are close friends — and believe me, you have to be devoted to someone to get up with the birds in that town to meet an early morning train. Miss C. and I compared gruesome notes on our air flights from Hollywood, both of us having gone through assorted rough flying weather, forced landings, and conked-out engines on the trip. Next stop was the Maisonette Room of the St. Regis Hotel, where Hollywood's Connie Moore was opening in her delightful singing engagement. The gal's repertoire is sharp and witty and her clothes are divine. It's good to see Connie well on the way to a new success. "21," the restaurant that's the hangout for all visiting firemen from Hollywood, had all necks craning when Humphrey Bogart walked in, dressed in California sport clothes (but with a necktie on). Bogey's been ousted from so many Manhattan smart spots that it's a bit of a novelty to see him welcomed by bistro proprietors. But the Kreindler Brothers — there are about a gillion of them — are real nice guys and they like eccentric members of the film colony. Ran smack into that gorgeous redhead, Piper Laurie, at the Little Club. Piper's been out on p.a. tours for her studio, Universal-International, all over the country and wound it up in a blaze in New York. Rock Hudson flew in for a fast date with Piper and there was quite a buzz around town. But her heart's elsewhere — and so is his. Lunch 70 was with another actress — Mildred Natwick — who seems to prefer all the NY. television activity to Hollywood movies. But she's one of John Ford's favorite actresses and when he gets going again, our gal will be back. Danny's Hideaway, a hangout for the movie world, was the lunch spot for the glamourous Rita Gam just before she departed for Europe and a picture. Rita's gams were clad in jodhpurs and boats — a very unusual sight in New York, which is always chic beyond words. But she had rushed from posing for a flock of stills right to the dining spot. An experience no one should miss is the Bette Davis Broadway revue, "Two's Company." In spite of all the hassles and difficulties it took to get this show off the road and onto Broadway, and Bette's recurrent loss of voice, the thing is delightful to see. Bette doing a housewifefrump skit and a hill-billy number is one of the most hilarious evenings in the New York theatre. Then to see Shirley Booth in "Time Of The Cuckoo" — ahhhhh! The success she's had from "Come Back, Little Sheba" and this stage play is something all her pals are happy about. After the play we went back stage with Donald Murphy (you'll be seeing him in the movies after the play closes) to meet Miss Booth and I can tell you she's the most modest, shy, friendly big-time star you'd ever meet. The Pen and Pencil Restaurant, rapidly becoming New York's MOST popular dining spot, was the scene of a fabulous party which Earl Blackwell threw for Louella Parsons and Margaret Ettinger. These gals are cousins and Maggie's the famous press agent. Earl's place cards for the men were on gold paper with photographs of the "Two Gals From Freeport, 111." Place cards for the gals were handpainted French scarves with sketches of Earl's Paris, London, New York, and Hollywood offices and each femme's name painted in the middle. After dinner some of Broadway's most famous people dropped in — Ethel Merman, Bette Davis and Gary Merrill, Yul Brynner, Reggie That night when Betty got home she asked her daughter Babbie, age thirteen, at what point in the show did she realize that Betty wasn't really singing. Babbie replied, "As soon as they announced that you were going to sing!" Several hospitals are planning to install television sets in rooms set aside for expectant fathers, so that their nerves and Nadia Gardiner, Zasu Pitts (appearing on Broadway in a revival of "Ttye Bat"), Lillian Gish, Cobina Wright, the George Hearsts — and scads of others. The fun went on till dawn. Practically the most delightful experience in the theatre — watching the antics of Beatrice Lillie in "An Evening With Beatrice Lillie." Her partner in the show is Reggie Gardiner, who never had it so good or was so funny. Then the exciting opening of the Arthur Miller play, "The Crucible," with Hollywood's Arthur Kennedy in the lead role. See what I mean about Hollywood people being in NY? We sort of flung a small ball for a few thousand friends — surprise guests of the evening were Bob and Mary Cummings, who had flown in from Detroit on a 500mile an hour tail wind and arrived so fast they were still winging. They just stopped off long enough to say hello to a few pals and were off again to Hollywood for Bob's television show, "My Hero." The very fascinating Elizabeth Threatt excited a lot of comment on account of she's very handsome and keeps people in doubt about whether she's really part Indian or not. Nobody ever found out for sure. It was fun to see Marta Linden, who deserted Hollywood for the New York stage, Ben Lyon (he and Bebe Daniels are living permanently in London and doing TV and radio like mad), Ben Nedell and Olive Blakeney who seem to like New York better than youknow-where. Piper Laurie had columnist Earl Wilson (and his beautiful Rosemary) asking her lots of questions and she sort of divided herself up between other columnists Louella Parsons and Cobina Wright. Caught a glimpse of Deborah Kerr and Tony Bartley at the Algonquin, fresh in from their Pacific Palisades home, for a fast tour of the theatres and night spots; had a wonderful evening with Glenda Farrell, who is commuting to the West Coast more and more often for pictures. Yvonne De Carlo had all the men ogling her at Jerry Zipkin's party for Louella and Maggie. Saw Ella Raines, who is another deserter from Hollywood, in the large and gay bunch at Jerry's. END needn't be on edge during the ordeal. At first thought, the idea appealed to me, but now that I've given the plan further consideration I'm inclined to feel differently about it. Wouldn't TV shows, some TV shows, make those jittery men more irritable? The success of "Omnibus" may pave the way for thousands of non-profes MAGGI'S PRIVATE WIRE [CONTiNUED FROM PACE 45]