Show I gr j 40 Looking at III II 0 Il L Y V n 00 D TilE VIlE public thinks of Monty Woolley as a middle middle- I aged brat with a beard who has made good In a big way Although Monty who ho was as chris chris- christened Edgar will probably deny it much of this Is due primarily to the Beard Deard himself Just now it pleases him to be besick sick and tired of of the tag t II a II g and threadbare jests about his hirsute adornment D U u t r j there was a day when Monty l wel el- el 1 I Mont Monty j Woolley I corned any flip filp re- re remark remark mark malk about his t chin curtain aS al a furthering h 1 I ill 9 s name and fame J. J t If It youre you're for for- Grade Gracie Melds Fields enough to tor catch Edgar Mon Man Wooley on one of his talka talkative tive days hell he'll give you a story of the weird UPS uns and downs that have beset him from the cradle Hell He'll tell you the way was not smooth for Woolley even before he became the bearded half halt of the Oracle Grade Monty Fields Woolley team which Is box office honey right now That combination which has just culminated In Molly and Me has pro provided vided the Beard Bea rd with a new screen personality It has sandpapered down n the cutting edge of his acidulous lous bus screen personality to a likable old devil whose bark barlt is louder than his bite Hut regardless of this his beard that beard that hated wooing wind-wooing alfalfa fa fa to hear him talk talk still still figures as the most salable feature of the Wool Wool- Woolley ley personality Get Out of My Beard When Woolley once told me Im Imsick Imsick sick and tired Ired of this printed drool died about my whiskers For heavens heaven's sake Hedda fledda keep my beard out of your jour typewriter So far as the pub pub- public lic Uc is concerned Ive I've ceased to be an actor or even a man with any per Im I'm just lust a beard now and andin andin andIn in the future I want no more talk of it I I I fell for it head over heels Imagine then my surprise to find Molly and Me featuring a scene- scene one of the funniest in the pic pie picture picture ture tore incidentally pitched entirely around Monty's chin wool Then I learned he turned down a starring role in Colonel Effing- Effing Effingham's Effingham's hams ham's Raid because it called for fora a l smooth face At the time Woolley became pro professor fessor of English at Yale university sity that seemed a career worthy of fighting for In the suave superiority of his classroom position Monty gave deep thought to the finest nuances of the language Spoke his sentences with elegance and precision But Dut the theater was strong at the back of his mind and he asked for forthe forthe or orthe the post of dramatic director George deorge Pierce Bakers Baker's appoint appoint- appointment appointment ment to the post precipitated Mon Monty's tys ty's resignation Brought on a penni penni- penniless less ess and dispirited period in which Monty appealed to his fi friends lends in the theater They didn't fail him he ended this phase by directing Fifty Million Frenchmen Champagne Sec See and Jubilee no Jubilee no mean rec rec- record ord But Dut nis Ils friends in hi Hollywood were directing pictures at plush sala salaries ties ries So Monty landed in I That Beard Again I INow Now the beard comes into the pic plc picture picture ture lure once again The beard got Monty his first job lob in movies a movies a Rus Rus- Russian Russian sian Impresario But Dut Walter Connolly Connol Connol- ly a ly-a a fat at man without a beard con beard con continued to get the parts Monty had his eye eje on Monty turned back to the theater for tor solace Was on the eve of re returning re- re returning returning turning to Broadway to direct an an- another another another other play when Moss Hart rang him asking him to play the lead role in a play called Strange Peo Peo- pie if I remember correctly The play turned out to be The Man Who Vho Came to Dinner It put the Beard right In hi the bead of the spot spot- light Hollywood didn't see him again until Warners determined to tomake tomake tomake make the picture with Belle Dette Davis But Bette demanded him and got him Then Century got Monty for The Pled Pied Piper signed him to a long out of which came a unique romantic team the team the Grade Gracie Fields Monty Woolley combination These two invest an autumn love story with a sprig of spring Why not shouts the veteran of many bitterly fought artistic battles All things being considered a beard covers almost any facial de defect feet and In the long run makes its wearer look younger Yes and feel younger too So there therel S S STo To a Great Gal Fibber McGee has written a song My Molly dedicating it to his wife ife ife Molly's a star wherever she goes It doesn't matter what glam glam- glamour glamour glamour our girls girl's in the room when room when Molly starts using her bel little girl voice everybody stops to listen laugh and to applaud Thomas Mitchell goes right back where he belongs belongs- in the big time with Clark Gable and Greer Garson Carson In In Strange Adventure Ray nay Collins plays plas the district attorney att mey in Leave Her Herto Herto Herto to Heaven Hea |