Evening star., 1934-07-01

RlNOdACo OlllJI pAlC az tAAO OAAN
l. Il of his swimming pool in his
! Beverly Hills home. We catch
| him sitting thus at 1880 pm. wal
lowing in the incest day Hollywood
has had in two weeks. Mr.. Powell
i shouts out a loud rs that Mr.. So and
So?" as Theodore-his first butler
escorts us to the pool, the small
| quadrangle and that shaded corner
where Lisa Grey Chaplin dt's her
house, has planted sofas and chairs,
bath houses and pingpong table.
Mr.. Powell is not in his morning
| coat. Nor is he in any coat at all
He hasn't even a shirt on. He talks
gIbly to two visiting females loosely
garbed in white sheet and pair of
swimming trunks. He is, frankly,
having his hair cut
This is the first time We have ever
seen a gentleman film star nom
chalantly carrying on a conversation
with two handsome maidens and a
visiting fireman" while his locks are
being shorn But William Powell, be-
| ing William Powell, carries it off
beautifully. AS the slightly greying
whisker over his left temple is de-
moliShed he discusses Hollywood
| architecture, the new home he is
building in Sunset, and how glad he is
that he has been signed to work for
Metro -Goldwyn-Mayer
At Ease as Usual.
AS the barber leans over his right
| shoulder and sees that no trace re-
mains of his decapitated tresses, he
has almost reached the League of Ma
tions, and but for a cordial invitation
to ask us If we would like to have our
hair cut too, he remains calmly in his
| home barber chair-as much at ease
| as he was in Manhattan Melodrama"
when he sent Clark Gable to his
doom, and altogether as agreeable as
| he would be if he were receiving his
| guests in the White House.
The ladies having ambled off toward
the pinepong table, Mr. Powell in
| dulges in a further morning recrea-
! tiou-asking our pardon as he lies
back in his chair and prepares to be
shaved. He Is to be photographed this
afternoon "at home" by Clarence Bull,
| and he must therefore be as clipper
! as possible.
Before lunch, and after the shave,
We have few minutes in which to
discuss the world-and Mr.. Powell.
I'm tired" says Mr.. Powell, pulling
a sunshade over his head as he sprawls
| out in a sort of chaise Tongue beside
his pool, I'm tired of being called
smooth and suave' I want to be a
decent human being for a change.
/ Inyoik f1 iy,t1 v>i1
ture Of mine and say, oh, yes. the
last time we saw Bill Powell he was
doing one Of those lady's man jobs,
too.'"
Yearns for Change.
NO" says he, with determination.
looking up at his 16-room house where.
We suppose, Carol Lombard last year
was boss, Il don't want that kind of
business any more. I don't care what
I do. but I don't want to be smooth
and I don't want to be suave."
Mr.. Powell, pleased at the success
Of Manhattan Melodrama." and even
more pleased over THE Thin Man"
which, he says quite honestly. Il can
recommend to you as being grand
show" is delighted that on July Is
he will become part of the M-G-M
studio. Up until then. now that he
is back from fishing trip down this
side of the coast of Mexico, he will be
busy with a picture for Universal.
Lunch, which is served. now that
one of the young ladies has given the
other young lady good walloping at
pingpong. consist mostly of a trout
one of the largest ever-and a meal
| for both the guests and the host. After
the trout. Mr.. Bull and his cameramen
| have arrived, and there is Mr.. Powell,
all shaved, all hair-cutted, all through
with lunch, and ready to be photo
graphed by the visiting brigade
Powell is known out here to be one
Of the regulars" He looks day
or two older than he does in the films
but is far more natural and far less
what some call Sophisticated" than
you would suppose. He is as much
at home in an impromptu barber
chair as he is in his living room,
and his manner is neither forced nor
comparable to the play-acting atti-
tude of many of these Hollywoodians.
When he says something he says it
straight from the shoulder-and with
out benefit of profile.
He is tall. well built, and has a
9-year-old son. His new home in