The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-04-20

 HOLLYWOOD, April eO-Despite her denials, pals of Ida Lupino and Louis Hayward predict they'll re- concile Uncle Sanl's Treasury Dept, sleuths are Investigating the !, income tax returns of several stars !. who accepted stocks and real es- :. tate, in lieu of cash pay, for le45 screen work. .Altar-bound: Mare shall Thompson, MCNE's new hope, and Ruth Jean Snow, a Salt Lake City socialite. Hal Dorothy Lac mour is writing Q book about her climb to fame and will title 1t "A Sarong to Remember"
 1ngrid Bergman and Irene Dunne are feuding for the Cop role in RKO's screen version of the New York stage hit, "Mama's Bank As- count. Romantic Olga San Juan and Bob Graham. ..Liflda Darnell has shed 12 lovely pounds; diet did 1t. .Gareth Hughes, erstwhile silent screen star who'e now monk in a Nevada monastery, Is writing his memoirs.
 Veronica Lake and hubby Andre de 10th have bought Q big slice of land near Death Valley and will operate a dude ranch A thief who rifled Marilyn Maxwelrs park ed car added insult to injury. The only thing he neglected to filch was ! an album of her recording--across which he scrawled the comment Swing, phooey!" Patti Andrews (of "The Slsters'D and agent Marty Melchoir will wed in June--unless the house he is building runs into construction delays. Friends who have been trying to reconcile Diana Barrymore and BraInwell Fletcher say it's "no go," with Fletcher the holdout.
 Perry Como and his missus, ale ready the parents of six-year-old son. are adopting Iline-year-o French war orphan. <. Fan letter of the week: Dear Janet Blair: You have a wonderful shape; please send me a photograph of same"
 PREVIEW NIGHTS: Pic of the week: MGM's Easy To Wed (Van Johnson Esther Williams Lucille Ball-Keenan Wynn. Mile -minute comedy that's easy to cheer, .... Recommended: Universal's Might In Paradise" (Merle Oberon- Fur. han Bey). Fun-tastically entertain ing. So-So: Monogram's "'T'he Gay Cavalier Colbert Roland- Ramsay Aines). The Cisco Kid rides again-over the same old story trail. |. {. RKO's The Falcons Alibi" CTom Conway-Rita Corday). One of the better entries in a time tested series, |. Republics Alias Billy The Kid (SllnSet Carson. Peggy StewarU. Another cowboy hero establishes the law West of tho Pecos"-and does 1t more be- lIveably than most, ... .Universals Strange Conquest" .S tJane Wyatt Lowell Gilmorel.. Run-of-the-mill fare for second billings BEST PERFORMANCE: Lucille Ball in Easy To Wed" One of Hollywood's deft.st scene-stealers makes an- other haul
 Far be 1t from me to decry enter. prise, but I'm commencing to won- der about the expansions of that pint-si7ed ex-GI,, Mickey Rooney. Since his return from overseas he has been plunging into new sideline businesses at the rate Of one a week, many of them completely foreign to his own career. I'm not concern ed about the financial hazards; Mickey is still young enough to benefit by, rather than suffer from a few monetary disasters. But being true believer in his genius as an entertainer, am concerned about the diffusion Of his interests. There's a wise old adage about the advisibliity Of cob. blers sticking to their lasts.
 It's amazing how quickly child ren born into show business pick up the viewpoints of their elders. Witness, for instance, remark credited to { l-2-year-old Jerrilyn, the daughter of George Jessel and Lois Andrews. When l grow up," she gravely informed neighbor the other day, I'm going to do an aNt with Papa. We're going to call our team Jessel and Jessel, because that wey we won't have any fights about billing" Out of the mouths of babes!
 Tn MGM's announcement that H. ona Massey has been lifted to top- flight stardorn, only one factor amazed me. That was the tardiness of the decision. If remember cor- rectiy, Miss Massey first joined Metro in 1889. She had, at that time, every asset for screen suc- cess that she has today. What acc cured to stynie her career has never been satisfactorily xplained, but certainly the trouble has noth- ing to do with audience disapproval. for she was a click in her first 1 picture, ''Balalaika." It's a shame that her talents have been wasted for so many years.
 A movie trade paper proudly re- ports that the fire hazard in mod.
 POLL