Show Elsa Maxwell Happily Married Charles Boyer Tops All Romantic Stars Charles Boyers Boyer's friends friend all re refer refer re- re fer fedo fer to him as the great lover sarcastically since off the screen he never wears his glamorous glamorous glam- glam orous irous toupee and is half half bald The fact remains however that hat Charles has raised more feminine blood pressure per square foot of celluloid than any movie actor since Valentino And his most recent film The Constant Nymph he is 18 said to have live achieved his romantic peak Determined to find the basic reason eason for this undying appeal I conducted a a. woman one-woman poll I recently By asking all the women women wom- wom en n I met why they found Charles Boyer so fascinating I received a variety of answers that all added up to the same thing Its them bedroom bedroom bedroom bed bed- room eyes was the quick answer answer answer an an- of one of the maids at the hotel Mel I inquired of an eld elderly matronly friend of mine He always seems so sad you want to comfort him she An An- Intellectual middle aged authoress authoress au- au supposed it was because PI of the intimate quality of his voice Oomph yol Oomph dont don't they call I iii A secretary said his charm charms Was s in his tender courtesy He makes you think the age of chivalry chiv- chiv fry siry is not quite dead My second query to all of them was jas didn't they realize that Boyer B yer a has been happily married mar mar- ried for the last 10 years to Pat Patterson atterson Patterson b that he is overl over over over- 40 l c that he wears a toupee To a girl my knew lew all this but it didn't change their weir minds a bit So what 1 Was Vaa the consensus But fut from these and others I r deduced that the one quality about Charles that appeals to all womankind from 8 to 80 is hi his gentleness Even at his most passionate passionate he is compassionate There here Is ls something touchingly Kind about him True his soft caressing voice r his s Gallic politeness the tho restrained restrained restrained re re- re- re strained fire In his dark eyes and the Pe present ever-present hint of melancholy melancholy melan- melan choly suggest things to the laes ladies la- la dies es dies There is always the underlying underlying underlying under under- lying hint that Charles as a lover Would be infinitely tender This rj so in all his roles whether roles whether he Plays lays the mad prince in Mayerling Mayerling Mayer ling the thief Pepe le Ie Moko Mako an fn exiled Russian duke as in or the lost monk inThe in inThe The The Garden of Allah If Actually his romantic reputation reputation tion is a blight blight almost an annoyance annoyance annoy- annoy ance to Charles who considers k himself a a. serious actor He dis- dis likes ikes always being cast as the ardent lover and would prefer character parts If you remember remember remember ber him as Napoleon opposite Garbo In hi Conquest you will recall how his excellent portrayal portray portray- al of the rough Tough and tough Bonaparte Bonaparte Bonaparte Bona Bona- parte almost stole the show from the he Swedish star In private life Charles is a gentleman of as much culture as charm Shortly before the war he started collecting a kind of reference library in Hollywood to make available to all studios data on costumes s furniture and art of France throughout the centuries He is still sUlI adding manuscripts to it and has already already already al al- al- al ready spent something like on it All this thiS' because he deplored the countless technical technical technical cal errors in American historical movies abo about t France Another quality that endears Charles to his friends is his his his- naturalness He checks that faintly superior air with his false h hair i at the studio and in company company company com com- pany is as unaffected an actor as you will ever find He has been accused so often of having a phony French accent that Id I'd like to cle clear r. r up p that point once and for all an The une adit son SOIL slurring syllables are his own own own- the Way he talks all the time lime He has' has been in this country about 15 years years but but a citizen only for the last two In 1939 he joined the French army but was as released a year later with the over 40 class He has become one of the most a appealing speakers speak speak- ers for democracy war bonds and the Fighting French Quite the nicest news Ive I've heard in a long time time and and a happy happy happy hap hap- is py ending to today's story that he and Pat are expecting a achild achild achild child very soon now If It it is a aboy aboy aboy boy he will almost certainly be called Charles de Boyer But the results of my poll show that even fatherhood cannot cannot cannot can can- not reduce Boyers Boyer's feminine fol fol- fol lowing |