Evening star., 1952-06-01

over again in Hollywood -- Tor
the movies, that is-and
studio heads who. heretofore
considered q simple romance
something almost too plebeian
to bother with during the "great
social problem era just passed,
have suddenly switched in their
thinking.
y Now. to help Offset declin-
ing box Office. they are figuring
more ways Of getting Ava Gard
ner into Kirk Douglass arms
and are giving Shelley Winters
more kisses per reel than any
girl had in the John Gilbert hey
day Of romance in the gaudy
For this year alone. film ex-
ecutives have budgeted an ex-
ira $40 million for love scenes.
Where a movie, a few months
ago might have only one or
two romantic sequences, goth
Century-Fox has II between
Gregory Peck and Susan Hay
ward in 1.-THE Snow of Kill
manjaro." To indicate the new
trend, q producer boasted re-
Gently that he had the best
script in town-an eight "hug-
ger"
Book to Bosic
1--WE are returning to basic
fundamentals" said Director
Richard Sale. Most of the
love scenes today are of the
moonlight and roses variety.
For a time we tried to be orig
inal. We sat around think
ing up new ways of going into
a clinch and one writer even
had Van johnson kissing a girl
while on a swing, but a kiss is
never trite, an embrace never
hackneyed. Love is always fresh
and exciting as the people
themselves"
Most actresses are happy to
see the prop men exhuming the
big yellow moons and the gar
deners planting rosebushes on
the sound stages.
For a time" said Anne Bax-
ter, "the writer's worked on the
theory that a girl likes to be
roughed up - that she knows
the hero loves her II he socks
her occasionally. I once finished
a scene with Gregory Peck,
sporting a black eye, an assort-
ment Of bruises and a few roam
Ing vertebrae. I should have
worn a football suit instead of a
dress.
But that was so unreal to
life. Do you think any girl
would marry a man if he hit her
the night he proposed? I'm
glad to see gallantry coming
back. I've been afraid I'd get a
broken jaw one Of these days"
Woe to the Toll Men
The tall men. though, groan
over the new regime. Six-foot-
four Dan Daley. who recently
finished "The Girl Next Door"
with pint-sized June sHaver.
towers so far over all his leading
ladies that he looks like a con-
tortioniSt when he bends over
to kiss them.
They're always bringing me
down to their level" said Dan.
Like the day June and I were
sitting on one Of those divans
that has three sections. The
cameraman moves in for a
closeup. He says he's either
going TO cut my head of If he
gets June, or leave her out of
the picture II he gets me. So
what do they do? They take
away my section of the diyan
and sit on hard board all day."
While the tall actors NAV
groan. the trend toward more
love scenes actually has been
rougher on the girls.
Every time I get q script"
said Gene Tierney, II find an
episode that calls for the man
to bend me back when he
kisses me. Maybe it looks torrid
on the screen. but the facts of
life are that a girl simply
doesn't bend that way, not too
far. I can only think of one
thing during such scenes of
great passion. My back. Is it
going to stay in place or isn't
1t? After a day Of that, I feel
like I've been riding q mule for
a week"
Visiting Notes Morred
With more love scenes be-
ing packed into each scenario.
the men stars have become wary
about their mates visiting them
on the sets. Most Of them have
pacts that their wives won't
come around when they are
kissing Lana Turner, Tyrone
Power is an !. exception. He
doesn't mind at all if Linda
Christian puts in an appear
ance, but many feel the same
way one actress does who said:
IF my husband showed up
when I was in JEFF Chandler's