Evening star., 1943-05-08
By SHEILAH GRAHAM.

Carmen Miranda has secret pas
sion for Charles Boyer. She is al
ways kissing his picture-in secret,
of course. But Phil Baker is in love
with the tempestuous Miranda, and
so he tries to look like Boyer-which
is easy via make-up-talk like Boyer,
which is not too hard-with a soft
Ssh instead of the hard "ch." And
he tries to act like Boyer. And this
is difficult to the point of impossible
All these goings-on are for THE
Girls He Left Behind" in which the
pair are co-starred with Alice Faye.
Il play sort of Grover Whalen
of New York" says the dapper Mr.
Baker. I'm the Mayor" He is on
hand to welcome Miss Miranda who
has just arrived by boat from South
America. She tips a bag of coffee
beans into his top hat. When he
puts it on, the beans scatter. Funny,
isn't it? Or is it? Anyway, there is
no scramble by anyone for the coffee.
It isn't real.
Baker is not particularly happy
making the picture. He loathes early
rising. TWENTY-FIVE years ago I
went on the stage to avoid getting
up in the morning and looking for
work" he tells me. Il do not like
to see the dawn. I cannot get to
sleep until three in the morning, and
have to get up at six for this pic
ture. So how can I do myself JUS
tice in a love scene with Miss Mir
anda at nine am.?" Not to mention
justice for the lady!
There are eight Alice Fayes in the
picture, or rather, seven girls with
blond wigs, black hats, and black,
flgure-hugging dresses. There is one
way to distinguish Alice-her legs
are thinner than those of the imita-
tors. The eight blond cuties are
chorus girls. I'm back where I
started ten years ago." Alice tells me.
She began her career as a chorus
girl ten years ago in a New York
night club.
Miss Miranda teeters over to say
hello" wearing six-inch-thick soles
on her shoes. She sneezes, and
everyone dncluding your reporter)
moves away hurriedly. There are
more colds per person in California
than anywhere else in the world.
Come back" screams Carmen. Its
hay fever!" But We don't go back.
This scene is the hideout for
Roger Touhy, the last of the gang
sters 1--WE hope, and his gang. Pres
ton Foster is Toughy, Kent Taylor
is the chief investigator, Victor
McLaglen is Basil (The OwD Bang
hsrt, and Lois Andrews is the dumb
mol. They are pooling their tai
ents for the movie about Touhy.
now being made at goth Century
Fox. And they all have something
to say-mostly about their private
lives.
Well start with McLaglen. for
merly of Birmingham. England, who
plays tough-guy Basil with a culti-
waited accent. Vic was Just about
settling into retirement from social
and picture life. He was always
being attacked in public places by
men-usually drunks-who wanted
to prove something they never could
But it bored Victor. So he more
or less withdrew from public life to
his 750-acre ranch, raising wheat,
vegetables and pigs. There he hoped
to live happily ever afterwards. But
now there is the shortage of male
actors, and Vic is back in the pic
tune swing again. After the Touhy
film, McLaglen portrays a marine
sergeant in "Guadalcanal Diary"
X
Lois Andrews. who will be free
from her marital bonds with George
Jessel in August, says she hasn't
heard from George for quite awhile
At the moment she appears to be