Silver Screen (Nov 1930-Oct 1931)

62 Silver Screen for June 1931 Robert Montgomery — He's Grand magazines. She stayed. And then Bob and his press agent came in and showed them what a truthful little darling I was. But they got what they wanted. They all got introduced to the celebrity. We three went into the dining room. "A nice quiet table, George," said the press agent. "Yes, indeed, sir," said the headwaiter and gave us one plump in the center of the room, in line with the lobby. An actress came rushing over. "Oh, Bobby," she cried. "Do you remember when we played in stock together?" Bobby did remember and was very polite. The owner of the hotel appeared. He remembered things about Bob. A most important newspaper columnist came along. He said he'd just sit with us a minute if we didn't mind. His minute was long enough for him to eat a three-course lunch. Meanwhile there were telephone calls for Mr. Montgomery, little notes being delivered for Mr. Montgomery. It was all just dandy. And I felt just as important as a spear of grass on the eighteenth hole of a golf course during a championship match. Still we got in a few words. Over our shad roe and bacon we instantly invented names for one another, Bob calling me "Pioneer" because I said I had been in the movie-interviewing business since the early days and usually wore a coonskin cap, a la Daniel Boone, when I went hunting a celebrity, and I calling him "Ingagi" because he said he wasn't the handsome dog he played on the screen but really just a gorilla. And that ought to let you know about the Montgomery charm — that I felt oh, so bright over those absurd nicknames. We were about to get going conversationally when the press agent announced that it was time for Bob to visit the Board of Censors — to charm them into passing a couple of daring pictures. Two giggling stenographers from the M-G-M office appeared and trotted off with the star triumphantly. I thought all was lost. But there was a Santa Claus. That night, after office hours, I dropped into one of those quiet little places where glasses tinkle and various liquids shine like jewels in the smoke-laden air. And who should I find facing me across the tiny room but Mr. Montgomery and the faithful p. a.? We wished the press agent and my escort on each other and we went to it. upon your age and your outlook. Things are all topsy turvy now and short hair today means older girls and long hair means younger. There is nothing sweeter than a youngster with cute ears who combs her hair back simply from her face, tucks it behind her little ears and twists it in a loose knot on the back of her neck. For girls from twenty to eighty I recommend the bob. With the right barber and enough patience, you can do anything. Watch Garbo. \Vatch Norma Shearer. Watch Nancy Carroll for hair style tips. Those girls are wonders. And notice that all three of them keep the hair long enough [Continued from page 22] Bob won't talk about iiimself. I can tell you that. I tried to make him — and I even succeeded in making Lon Chaney talk about himself once. But Bob will not. It isn't stubbornness. It honestly seems to be a lack of interest in his own personality. I tried all the usual dumb attacks. 'Ts your name really Henry Montgomery, Jr.?" "Yes, if you must know," said Bob. "Don't you think 'Death in Venice' is the grandest book of short stories you ever read?" "Yes," I said. "What did they call you at home?" "Harry," said Bob. "Have you been hearing a lot of music here this winter? I like the moderns." I tried to switch the attack. "Tell me about your baby," I said. "Her name is Martha Bryan," he said, "but I call her Jiggs." I asked him if she was beautiful and Bob replied that she looked just like any other baby. In fact, so much so that one night he took her over to the Chester Morris's and let her play with their daughter, with the result that he wasn't sure he brought home the right child. "Were you as poor as reported or as rich?" I demanded. "No," said Bob. "Both stories are exaggerated. Now they're saying my father was president of the United States Rubber Company. He was vice-president of the NewYork Rubber Company, something else again. And while I got hungry at times, after I was on my own, I never starved." He looked at me and grinned. "Aw, quit this," he said. "I really want to talk.' ' So I did quit and we did talk. I can't give it to you. When a conversation is really charming, you never remember it. I only remember Bob's wit and the amazing resources of his mind. I only remember the perfection of taste he revealed in his choice of books and plays and music, and his evident flare for life. Not that he is highbrow, heaven forbid. He is simply a young man of intelligence and energy who wants the best of everything, who was properly brought up and who is not going to stop thinking at this late date. We talked about everything, except Bob. He talked about his work, concerning which he is serious but dubious. Metro has bought him two fine plays, "The Man Hair — Your Finest Accessory [Continued from page 6] to let it register variety. Very short hair is limited in treatment. Finally consider the color of your hair. Very black hair seems best worn straight. Its lovely lustre should not be broken into waves unless they are the softest possible. Dress black hair simply, always. Red hair, reversely, is best waved. And the fluffier, the more girlish the wave, the more charming. Red hair expresses temperament, gaiety, youth The hairdressing should typify those qualities. Really blonde hair should be dressed to compliment its delicacy. A blonde suggests a fragile, angelic creature — even In Possession" and "Private Lives," for his next pictures. But even at that he isn't too wildly hopeful. He remembers the accident of the microphone that toppled Gilbert off his throne. He watches the careers of stars waning because they haven't had good pictures. He'd like to do serious characters but he doubts that the public would care for him very much in them. And besides, he doubts that he is much of an actor, anyhow. We even finally talked about Garbo— because Bob said he was grateful that I hadn ' t asked him about her . "I respect her as much as any woman I've ever met," he said. "I don't know her at all. But I know that she is an artist, an utterly sincere artist, and that her work is the one great thing in her life, which no man, no love, no other interest can ever surpass." The hours passed. The press agent and my escort ate their dinner, glowering, in a far corner. Bob and I ate our dinner. I haven't the faintest idea what the food was . And we went on talking, until it was time for Bob to make another public appearance at some wrestling matches. Out of it all, I should say that this Montgomery lad can have the world at his feet just so long as he wishes — but that it won't make a great deal of difference to him whether it's there or not. He loves life and his work. He grins and mocks at it but he's human enough to get a kick out of his fame. He wants money and he will get it. He is hard-boiled in the real sense, knowing what he wants, intending to get it, and perfectly prepared to pay the price of whatever it is. But if the whole thing goes bust, it won't kill him. Somewhere, somehow, he has gone through disillusion and come out on the other side. Sometime in his past life, something swacked him hard and he learned a lot of things from that blow. He won't be hit by that same thing again. He'll grin at it, thrust out that jaw of his and keep on going — up. If anything makes him stop acting, he'll do something else — and do it brilliantly. A poet once said that if you opened up his heart you'd find \vritten on it the word "Italy." Now if you opened up my heart — ah, well! But really a man like that can certainly take your mind off your work. though Lorelie Lee was a hard-headed business woman. Here, too, soft waves are needed, and the simplest cut. For the in-between shades come the inbetween modes. Here is where both the most care and the most originality may be exercised. Because the in-between types are not so emphatic in characteristics, you can be the most original and expressive. Maybe I can advise some of you when it comes to these tricks. Will you write me, if I can? And till next month remember — don't be afraid to experiment with your hair. This way will you find the road ro beautv and distinction.