The self-enchanted : Mae Murray : image of an era (1959)

arch, how the curtain would lift and there she'd be on screen, dressed like a little girl of the Civil War period, bouffant dress of course, and golden curls. "You'll carry on a conversation slow motion with Ed Wynn as if the picture was speaking from the screen." "But Mr. Ziegfeld. . . ." "Who's the boss?" he said. "Gene Buck and Julian Mitchell will go over with you Monday, the film studio's in Jersey. Send Gene and Julian telegrams, Goldie. You'll look beautiful on film, my dear. By the way, have you seen the sketches for your East Indian number?" Looking into his face was like seeing yourself in a mirror — the wide-spread eyebrows, the high square brow, the cool thoughtful eyes. In his face she could see a dazzling little figure running upstairs, flinging herself over the golden wall. "Make arrangements for Mae to see the sketches," he told Goldie and Goldie made a note. She also handed Mae an appointment card for a fitting Friday, at Veronica's, a white chiffon dress girdled in gold for the princess. She laughed. "Always laughing," he said in his nosy way. "Good, keep happy." He walked on. She stood hypnotized; she was wearing the white chiffon, running up the stairs on opening night. Mama Mia! "Are we going to the Knickerbocker?" Olive said, gliding slowly by, the feathers of her hat trembling. "Or to the Astor?" "I'm meeting Jay at the Knickerbocker," she whispered. "Talk out loud, child, rehearsal's over." And abruptly, the music stopped. In the emptiness, the line of dancers fell apart. "How can you think of tea-dancing," groaned one pretty chorus girl. "I'm dead. That Wayburn's a slave-driver." "If you were a big headliner like Lillian Lorraine, you'd skip rehearsals and rest," said another. "Hmm. You notice she's not in the Follies this year." "Who, Ziegfeld's folly ? Oh, he caught her hiding her liquor in the top of the water closet," laughed another. 29