Evening star., 1945-02-12
By SHEILAH GRAHAM.

AAoiiy WScN"
Van Johnson, Metros biggest
money-maker, does not have a
dressing room in the studio build
ing He has to share one with
Basil Rathbone or Lewis Stone
Il use one when the other is not
here" Van tells me. "One day they
both came to work and / had to
dress in my carl" When the war
is over, I guess they'll have to
build some more dressing rooms.
Van, incidentally, takes to the wide
open spaces soon, playing cow
boy in his first Western, Colorado. -
Myrna 10y is wasting her time
being in love with Capt. Gene Mar
key. Myrna, like Genes previous
wife, Hedy La Mari, is home girl.
The handsome captain is not.
Judy Garland's engagement ring
from Vincente Minnelli is a pink
pearl, designed by Vincente Pearls
are Judy's birthstone. Maybe Vim
cente has started a new fashion.
Before Sonia Henie left. for
the East a..j her skating tour, she
bought Norman Taurog's house for
500, 1000. 1t cost Norman S225 900.
But he was glad to unload it, after
his divorce. He's married again
now, and looking for something
smaller in the estate line.
Peter Lawford escorted June Ally
son to the sneak preview of The
Clock" Peters a nice boy, but the
girls here use him as a sort of
date filler-iner. Lana Turner had
Peter fetching and carrying for
her-before she found Turhan Bey
And June is trying to get over her
romance with Dick Powell.
The Fanny Brice Baby Snooks
number that goes so well on the air
failed to come through in celluloid
and was cut out after the previeW
on "ziegfeld Girl" Fannys a
granny and is hard to take visu-
ally in Baby Snooks outfit.
keenan, Wynn has now been upped
to the Ia draft bracket and ex-
poets to be tapped for service any
day now. Susan Peters is
looking for two rooms on one down.
stairs floor. To save her the diff
Guilty of going up and down stairs
In spite of the recent report, it
is feared that Susie will never be
able to walk again as a result of
that accidental shooting. But then
as Van Johnson points out, they
said he would never live after his
auto accident, And since then he's
made at least Is pictures.
Constance Golfers bronchitis
held up the Week End at the
Waldorf" finish. But she shouldn t
feel too badly because every one
else in the film also has been sick
Ginger Rogers had cold and was
out for several days; so we're Lana
Turner. Walter Pidgeon and Mr..
V. Johnson. The latter had intes-
final flu, not ptomaine poisoning
as reported Director Bob Leonard
was also at horne sick at the be-
ginning of the nln1. All this has
cost the studio an extra $75 900.
Clark Gable is telling his friends
that he returns to picture making
around March Is. Which is very
good news. Lucille Bremen
goes to New York after finishing
''Yolanda and the Thief" 1t will
be her first trip to the big city
since hitting the Hollywood fame
trail. She will call on the Radio
City Rockettes-Lucille used to be
one.
Merle Oberon is distressed that
news of her romance with Camera
man Lucien Ballard leaked into
print. She was hoping to save it
until after her divorce from Sir
Alexander Korda. And those re-
ports that Korda will convalesce
at Merle's house are nonsense
When he leaves the hospital, Korda
will return to England. He's a
rich man and Merle should get a
handsome settlement. Korda re-
Gently made another 100000 by
selling the reissue rights on his
pictures-but only for a period OF
five years After that he gets 'em
again. There's only one person
know who strikes better bargain
and that's Mary Pickford.
Grace Mcdonald is living with