The Washington times., 1936-03-11

from the back rO0m-Ot tWent
The chuckling man in the moon
beams down from his full frame
upon a rare cavalcade. -Four aged
tally-hos and 20 leds and gels
mounted on spirited nags leave the
atmospheric Travers Rogers Barn
and parade through Pal m
Springs to a point some six miles
distant, coming to halt in natural
amphitheater form d by the
rugged foothills of San Jacinto. {. q.
Here cowboys broil steaks over
long CRATES licked by vivid fire
tongues and three score of us
hardened Eastern pioneers collect
around the plank-boards and eat
our fill in the light of the full
desert moon, the super-charged
stars, and half dozen bonfires
while three cowboys strum guitars
and chant spirited melodies. -.
This is a moonlight barbecue or.
ganized by Mrs. Frank Morgan and
Trigger" Kriendler. Nor does it
appear incongruous that the dead
panned Charles Butterworth
should do a bit of truckin' with
the pantalooned Marylou Dix, nor
that the bereted, white-haireo
Frank Morgan should attempt a
bit of bronco-bustin' with gentle
filly whose eyes plead to be per.
mitted to study the stars in peace
Winnie Gardiner, between gulpS
of tequila, endeavors to gather an
audience which will listen to his
plea for more adequate air force
for the Youessay. Henry IttleSon,
jr., and his bride, Nancy Straus,
whose elopement was headlined in
Manhattan gaZettes several months
ago: the Frank MandelS, of Chi
cago, who also figured in the public
prints; Sidney Kingsley, the Will
liam Ransoms were among the
others who fingered in this heaven
ly desert spot until late in the early
hours of the following morn.
The crowded 5 o'clock assem-
bly, at the Racquet Club brings
the wandering thirsty souls into
the barrOOm Here Frank
Shields joins us to lament the
robbery of his home, particu-
larly the loss of all his valuable
trophies and medals. . Samson
RaphelSon Joins our table, which,
at this time, includes Junior
Laemmle, Philip Reed, Jerry
HOrwin, and the Paul LevitOns,
to hint at a new play he has
fashioned and to recall the time
we had discussed his previous
play, "Accent on YOUTH" in our
parIOr several weeks before 1t
opened This reporter, at the
time. had branded the theme too
shallow to have much public ap-
peal, Olny to be cOnfOunded and
shamed by its success after the
opening RaphelSOn leaves to
join a group near the swimming
pool. Against the bar stands
Paul Lukas; at corner table
Archie and Edgar Selwyn chat
ting with Peaches Jackson.
Skeets Gallagher, Leila Hyams.
Frank Morgan, Virginia Valli
are others scattered about.
Into the little sportsWear shop
across the Desert Inn, enters a
pretty girl revealing handsome
shaplies in her shorts-a young
woman whose youthful face is in
contrast to her shock of gray hair
Billie Dove. Bette Davis in
from La Quinta-Proud possessor
Of the Academy award which
stamps her as the outstanding
FEMININE screen performer for the
year, stops to look into the win
dow-a then passes on. =.
Through the narrow streets,
grown-up men and women fly by
on tiny velocipedeS and your
heart stands still as you watch,
for the narrow escapes from being
hit by automobiles are many. e.
It is a dangerous pastime-but
they go in for it here. Which
reminds me, Dick Powell told me
the other day that he was more
or less responsible for the intro
duction Of the fad in Palm
Springs. having purchased half a
dozen Of these tiny kid machines
with the idea Of letting a relative
rent them out and make himself
an income. The receipts we're far
beyond his expectation and only
did recently sell his fleet to the
man who now operates it.
Saturday night. we leave
B-Bar-H again to ride into the
Springs for another inspection
of the Dunes. . There is no way
of adequately picturing for you
the loveliness Of these desert
nights and it is not my inten-
tiOn to bore you with descrip-
tiOnS, but if vOu will take few
seconds off to fancy a narrow
ribbon of white Sanded desert
road cutting across a falkland,
purplish under the moonlight
night-just beyond the stretch
of your hand, mountain ranges,
the snOw-Sprinkled caps of which
look like freshly laundered but
slightly crumpIed handkerchiefS