That’s Hollywood For You

I BELIEVE Edmund Purdom portrays a dashing hero in the “Dragnet” acting manner. . . . Wonder if Audrey Hepburn paid Dior to try to make her fashionable. . . . “White Christmas” reminds me: I go for Rosemary Clooney singing, “Love, You Didn’t Do Right by Me,” especially when Mrs. Joe Ferrer sings, “Along came a Joe with winter and snow in his heart.” . . . Do you remember when Johnny Weissmuller was “Tarzan, the Ape”? . . . Terry Moore claims she hasn’t as many romances as printed. Terry explains: “It’s not that I have a lot of boy friends. It’s just that I have a lot of friends who are boys.” . . . The third booth opposite the bar in Chasen’s is my favorite dining spot in Hollywood. . . . People keep telling me Rock Hudson is improving as an actor. . . . All blonds are brunettes. However, the minute a brunette changes, she assumes the personality of a blond. . . . I’d like to know the exact count of the actresses who have been labeled “another Marilyn Monroe.” . . . I watched The Monroe do “Heat Wave” and there’s no one like her. .. . My favorite character Mike Curtiz told me that the way things are these days, any guy who’s normal should see a psychiatrist.

Jane Russell lets her clothes flop onto the floor when she undresses. . . . I can listen to Sheree North talk for hours. She has a lingo all her own, flavored with bop stuff. . . . Treat yourself to Frank Sinatra’s new album, “Swing Easy.” . . . I don’t know of a pleasanter gin-rummy loser than Robert Wagner. He’s so nice you almost want to return the winnings.

I see Marlon Brando receiving the Oscar for the best performance by an actor. Anybody else and I yell Foul! . . . An actor told me he kissed Gloria Grahame in a scene and tasted Kleenex. She sometimes uses it under her lips to make them protrude. . . . I’d love to hear what Howard (Sam Spade) Duff thinks of Jack (Joe Friday) Webb. . . . Confession: I have never been to the Hollywood Bowl. . . . Do you remember when Dick Powell was singing love songs to Ruby Keeler? Mamie Van Doren always wears a nightgown to bed. She told me why: “I just don’t think you can take off all your clothes and still feel like a lady.” Wives of popular actors always are the noisiest at dinner parties. . . . Wonder why Kim Novak was chicken? She should have braved it with her real name, Marilyn Novak. . . . I find Bella Darvi charming and good company. . . . Only when “Roman Holiday” is mentioned have I seen Jean Simmons frown. She hasn’t forgotten she was the first asked to play the Princess. She couldn’t get out of her contract. . . . If you don’t believe movies are better than ever just catch a few of those oldies they show on the Late Show. . . When I’m talking to Lana Turner, I always feel she’s standing closer to me than I am to her. . . . Bob Hope, introducing a comedy team: “And now—Martin and Lewis—who have brought a lot of happiness to people—not me—people.”

Jeff Chandler sleeps in a king-size bed and uses every square foot of it at one time or another during the night. . . . I picture Tony Curtis muttering, “Is this real?” when the fans mob him for autographs. . . . Do you remember when you waited anxiously for the new Deanna Durbin picture? . . . I wish Judy Holliday would get back to Hollywood real fast. . . . Guess the only trick left for Alfred Hitchcock is not to appear in one of his movies. . . . I must ask Roland Petit to explain Leslie Caron to me. . . . Attention Please! Here is the whole story of Hollywood: The struggle to be a success, then getting there and finding out success isn’t sufficient.

I know Eddie Fisher is a movie personality because of his hectic romance with Debbie Reynolds. . . . And Will Rogers, Jr., a full-fledged movie star, talking about his acting ability is honest enough to admit: “So far I’ve mastered two expressions—hat off and hat on.” . . . Do you remember “What Price Hollywood” which is almost the same story as “A Star Is Born”? Both pictures were directed by George Cukor. . . . I’ll never forget an afternoon some years ago when I walked into the men’s room at M-G-M and saw Greta Garbo. Gee Gee stood there looking out of a window, turned, noticed the startled expression on my face, and calmly said: “I like the view from here.” . . . Ava Gardner makes no secret that she likes men. She’s prouder, though, that women like her off the screen and on. . . . Shelley Winters told me she’d never marry another actor: “I had it. He’d grab me in his arms, hold me, and tell me how wonderful he is.” That’s Hollywood for you.

—BY SIDNEY SKOLSKY

It is a quote. PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 1954