Your Verdict On Ingrid Bergman 4 To 1 In Her Favor

As far as you readers of Photoplay are concerned, Ingrid Bergman can come back home any time she wants to. Of the 10,293 of you who sent in your votes, four out of every five were in favor of the actress’s return.

But whether you voted for or against her coming back to the United States to make pictures, very few of you registered a simple “Yes” or “No.” You had definite opinions and you minced no words in expressing them.

Those of you who refused to put out the welcome mat were almost unanimous in your reason: you felt that Ingrid’s abandonment (that was the word you used most often) of her daughter Pia was a serious offense—serious enough to make you ignore the question of her ability as an actress.

But those of you—the overwhelming majority—who would like to see her return felt that her private life was entirely her own affair, and that her behavior in no way prejudiced your admiration for her as a fine performer. Many of you expressed sincere sympathy for her, and despair that her love should have brought her so much unhappiness.

Voters who are under thirty-five were far more willing to forgive than those who have passed that crucial mid-way mark. The more mature readers possibly read into their opinions their own feelings as parents, and their judgment of themselves in the event of like circumstances.

The editors of Photoplay have passed your verdict on to Ingrid Bergman. Whether or not she will have the courage—or desire—to act on your decision remains to be seen. For the time being, she is resting in Italy—enjoying the pleasures of being a full-time mother to Robertino and the new twins—after having finished her most recent movie, “Europe 51.” Will she choose to make her next picture on this side of the Atlantic? No one can be sure but Ingrid, herself, and her husband, Roberto Rossellini. But at least she knows how her American fans feel about the matter.

 

It is a quote. PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE DECEMBER 1952