That’s Hollywood For You

I DON’T THINK Marilyn Monroe’s boxoffice will be hurt by anything but bad pictures. You’ll notice I made it plural . . . Ina popularity poll, Marlon Brando and Jeff Hunter pulled up even. . Terry Moore is more dangerous when she’s quiet. It’s like waiting for a time bomb to explode . . . No matter what happens anywhere else, a new crop of starlets appear who look better than last season’s Elizabeth Taylor doesn’t believe she is as beautiful as you think she is, Honest! . . . I’m in a hurry to see “Guys and Dolls” on the screen. More anxious about seeing this one than even “Oklahoma!” and “The King and I” . . . The movies are getting away from the idea that a pretty girl can be made unattractive by a pair of eyeglasses . . . I don’t care what anyone says, I prefer Shelley Winters talking to silent. Then Shelley is natural, and she’ll say: “The trouble with most of the eligible men is that they’re married.” In Hollywood, claims Tom Jenk, even a man’s best friend is his enemy.

Grace Kelly’s beautiful, but I feel she’s holding back and is seldom natural . . . Mamie Van Doren is sexiest when she peers at you over the rim of a wine glass . . . Each time I see “On the Waterfront” (three times to date), the more entranced I become with Eva Marie Saint.

I still prefer Katharine when it comes to a Hepburn, but I’ll admit Audrey is growing on me .. . Arlene Dahl and Fernando Lamas are so romantic you wouldn’t believe they’re married . . . I’d think I was seeing things if I saw Jack Webb excited on the screen . . . Charlotte Austin tells me she takes a deep breath before going into a scene. “It helps,” says Charlotte . . . I’m pleased with the recent success of Anne Francis. Been waiting for it for some years . . . John Wayne never has a leading lady on-screen who even slightly resembles his off-screen leading lady . . . Can you remember all the way back (just a few years ago) when people were saying William Holden didn’t have sex appeal? . . . No one was surprised by the Tyrone Power-Linda Christian separation announcement . . . Everyone was with the sudden Guy Madison-Sheila Connolly merger . . . I adore Judy Holliday, even when I don’t like the movie she’s in. This statement can be made about few performers . . . Groucho Marx says, “Half of Hollywood is trying to find out how the other half gets away with it.”

There’s not a light comic around who has the timing of Cary Grant. Jack Lemmon is the best and most promising of the new crop. . . If you believe the movies, all actresses look beautiful when they get out of bed in the morning. Being honest, I must tell you all actresses spend an hour in the make-up department before getting into bed to get up . . . Rock Hudson’s comment about making a movie in Ireland: “It’s like a Hollywood set where all the characters are played by Barry Fitzgerald.”

Gina Lollobrigida doesn’t look like an Italian actress when she’s in the United States . . . My idea of a real heel is a guy who’d try to do Ann Blyth dirt—even in a movie . . . I don’t believe Betty Hutton has retired from show business, although she read the line with sincerity . . . Charles Laughton told me that an actor who can put over a subtle emotion with his derriere facing the camera knows his craft and is a credit to his profession . . . My favorite character Mike Curtiz told an interviewer: “Don’t say anything against me, unless it’s complimentary.” And That’s Hollywood for You.

 

It is a quote. PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE JANUARY 1955