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Show J Lookiisg at I II 0 LL Y W 0 0 II ! DOKING FUN at our hats is even i 1 superseding the mother-in-law jokes these days, but, masculine scoffing to the contrary, to women hats are the staff of liie. You'll see 'I'm not the only zany female in Hollywood. Ask Irene Dunne. ! She owes her career to a hat. If it hadn't been for a big one in !i---'i,fav-...fewiftl pale blue, Flor-enz Flor-enz Z i e g f e I d would never have noticed her; she'd never have won the lead in "Show Boat'; Hollywood would have missed her; and but for a hat the cinema capital capi-tal would have Irene Dunne kept her in musicals musi-cals instead of giving her the plum role of Sabra in "Cimarron," a picture which changed the entire course of her life. How It Started She'll never forget the day she earned her first money Singing hymns in the Indianapolis Baptist church choir hymns taught her by the nuns at the Loretto convent in St. Louis. Her reward was a crisp new $10 bill, and just enough to purchase her heart's desire a new hat. "The hat was large, of silky straw, a pale blue affair with long streamers stream-ers and extravagantly painted flowers flow-ers under the brim. I truly believe that from the day I wore it I subconsciously sub-consciously decided that I might really earn my living by singing. sing-ing. The hat did it," says Irene. Perhaps she was thinking of that hat when she won a voice contest at the Chicago Musical college, and so the ambition which had lain dormant since childhood crystallized into a genuine aim to become A singer. On Her Way A year later, after hard study, she was singing the lead in the road show of the musical comedy "Irene" at a salary of $150 a week. Back in New York, Henry W. Savage Sav-age gave her a chance to understudy under-study Peggy Wood in "The Clinging Vine." When Peggy's father died Irene stepped into the lead for a single Broadway performance! It was enough to win her a chance at a summer of light opera sponsored by the Chandlers in Atlanta, Ga., a similar stint in St. Louis, and the lead in "The City Chap" for the Dillinghams, which was followed by the lead in "Sweetheart Time." This called for a new hat and a party at the New York Biltmore. A strange gentleman noticed the hat first, and requested an introduction. Three years later she married Dr. Francis Griffin the same gentleman. gentle-man. The bridal couple boarded the Berengaria and sailed for a European Euro-pean honeymoon. "The day after I returned home wearing a beautiful new blue hat purchased in Paris," recounts Miss Dunne, "was the day I met Flo Ziegfeld in an elevator. Before I left the building he sent for the girl in 'the blue hat!' " A Dream Come True Because of that hat, Edna Fer-ber's Fer-ber's glorious "Show Boat" was Irene's for the asking. The opening night of "Show Boat" marked the starting of a rich and varied career for the pretty girl with a voice and pretty hats. When the search for the heroine of "Cimarron" began, Irene inveigled a test and there was an astounded gasp from producers. Sabra, a straight dramatic role, the emotional emotion-al plum of the year, to a musical comedy actress? Nonsense! Nonsense or not, she wanted it, and got it thanks to a hat which she borrowed from a wig designer. Trail Blazer "Cimarron" started an entirely new cycle. "Magnificent Obsession," "Back Street," "Symphony of Six Million," "The Secret of Madame Blanche," "The Silver Cord," and so on. Then Irene had a hunch it was time to try comedy. She accepted the harum-scarum girl of "Theodora Goes Wild." "The Awful Truth" followed, fol-lowed, and she found herself hailed as a comedienne. Critics are again pointing with pride to her as an emotional actress for such romantic roles as the girl of M-G-M's "A Guy Named Joe," opposite Spencer Tracy, and that veritable cavalcade of a woman's lifetime, "The White Cliffs of Dover." Irene Dunne, accompanied by Dr. Griffin, went east for the premiere of the latter picture. She's back home now, ready for either drama, comedy, musical, or romance. Snooper-Dooper Too bad that "Here Come the WAVES" isn't ready for release now. It would help recruiting. I visited vis-ited the set the other day. Betty Hut-ton Hut-ton had them play back the record she made singing a duet with herself. her-self. It's her first doubling job. She plays a blonde and redhead. Sometimes Some-times she switches from one role to the other four times a day. That means new makeup and blonde hair washed and reset. She was grateful for the patience of Mark Sandrich. |
