This Is The Truth

RUMOR: “Lana Turner did a two-day hideaway in a London hospital and Lex Barker is fit to be tied. She didn’t tell him she was leaving. . .”

FACT: Not a bit of truth in it. This is just another example of the ugly stories that have been plaguing Lana and Lex ever since they were married. And the stories appear to be deliberately planted to cause disorder in their lives. We checked with a close friend who was with Lana regularly all during the time she was making her picture in England and learned that the star and her husband are ideally happy and have never had a cross word. This, of course, will undoubtedly change, because all married couples do quarrel at times; but as of now Lana and her man are as cheerful as larks and glad to be back home in America. Married in Italy, the couple repeated their vows in a candlelit ceremony in Hollywood on Christmas Eve. This marriage looks pretty solid.

RUMOR: “Gene Tierney arrived in the United States from Europe to give some thought to the question of whether or not to marry Aly Khan. . .”

FACT: Baloney! Gene Tierney has given all the thought she needs to this question and a long, long time ago she came up with the decision to marry Aly any time he bought the ring. She actually came to this country to give Aly a chance to miss her. Pressure stuff. The truth of the matter is that Aly would be willing to marry Gene if it were entirely up to him. But it isn’t. His father, the Aga Khan, spiritual head of the Moslems, is getting a bit worried about his boy’s publicity and is dead set against Aly marrying another movie star. Aly is his successor and if he doesn’t watch his step, he may never get his weight in diamonds. If this marriage does take place, you can bet it will be despite stiff protests from Aly’s father. But as for Gene making up her mind, it’s done!

RUMOR: “Kirk Douglas is really burned up because of the newspaper stories that linked him with Mrs. Estelle Auguste, the rich widow who said Kirk was the cause of her broken engagement to Jack Dempsey. . .”

FACT: That is not a rumor—it is a rank understatement. Kirk was furious. He spoke to lawyers. He said things to reporters that they couldn’t print. We looked into it and found out that Kirk’s only meeting with the lady was a casual one at a crowded cocktail party in Paris. He never saw or heard from her again until he. read in the papers that he had “wrecked” Dempsey’s coming marriage. This is a good example of what can happen to stars if they are not careful. Some people think a pleasant smile and an autograph from a star is a vow of life-long friendship. Kirk’s affable air made him a victim of this error. He privately says he likes much younger girls than Mrs. Auguste (despite her thirty-five million bucks) and if he ever wanted to steal a fiancee, he’d make sure she didn’t belong to Jack Dempsey.

RUMOR: “Farley Granger is letting his hair grow in the hope that he will be given the leading male role in ‘Helen of Troy’. . .”

FACT: Baloney! Farley is another lad who doesn’t care if he ever sets foot in movietown again except to visit his folks. Farley earned his reputation as a star by hard work. But he would give it all up if he had to live in a town where he feels he is not understood or particularly liked. Farley keeps an establishment in Paris, which is his permanent residence, and one in Rome. He doesn’t even have a suitcase in Hollywood. If the movies want him from now on they’ll have to go to him. But then again, if “Helen of Troy” is really going to be shot in Italy. . . .

RUMOR: “Van Johnson has so many pictures lined up after he winds up his contract at M-G-M that he’ll probably never have a day off again in Hollywood. . .”

FACT: Van Johnson, at the present moment, doesn’t care if he ever steps inside a movie studio again, and he won’t commit himself to do anything more than earn enough money for taxes. And, although there have been unjustified rumors of marital discord in the past, this new career attitude may well result in real disharmony in his marriage. When Van visited New York last winter, it was for the sole purpose of feeling out Broadway producers regarding a career on the stage. He found out chances were good, and after he visited the theatre he had worked in as a boy and got a whiff of the stage, he said he didn’t want to leave. You can bet that he will go back to Broadway next season to stay if he can. His wife, Evie, is not so keen on the idea because she likes the comfortable life they live in Hollywood. She may stay on the West Coast. This is not a healthy situation—and no one can predict what will come of it.

RUMOR: “As soon as Gene Nelson gets back to town, you can look for a resumption of his romance with Jane Powell. . .”

FACT: As the song goes, “Never in a Million Years.” The boat “has sailed. As some of the wise columnists predicted long ago, Jane is on the town and taking dates where she finds them. Currently the head man is Pat Nerney, the former husband of Mona Freeman. Jane is having a ball and Gene, they say, is thinking of going back to his wife—if she’ll have him—and his son, Chris.

RUMOR: “There is real bad blood between Gary Cooper and Richard Widmark after that fist fight on the set of ‘Garden of Evil’ in Mexico. . .”

FACT: Hooey! That fight, which made the front pages, was about as rough as a tussle between a couple of monks. It was all a publicity stunt. A regular fight scene was shot—with nary a blow connecting except one accidental whack on Gary’s lip. The press agent on the picture saw his chance and wired the news services that the actors had gone wild and slugged it out. They say that Gary, Widmark and Cameron Mitchell, who was also in the scene, all had dinner and a good laugh about it that night.

RUMOR: “It looks as though Susan Hayward and Jeff Chandler will make it legal as soon as their divorces are final. They are inseparable . . .”

FACT: If “making it legal” means they’ll get married, don’t believe it. Sure, when they are both in town, Susan and Jeff do see a lot of each other, but they are far from inseparable. Susan has not been going out too much because she doesn’t think it looks too good for a woman to play the night-club circuit until the judge parts her from Jess Barker. But at the proper time, she’ll be there. And Jeff has been dating other girls just as much as he has Susan. Susan, when checked about this “romance,” put it better than we can. “Jeff and I,” she said, “are very good’ and long-time friends. And right now I need a friend.” We hear no wedding bells from where we watch the stars.

 

It is a quote. PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE MARCH 1954