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Show Parenthetically I might -add in a typographical aside, "Bob, I told you so!" It's Too, Too Bad Bill Goetz is doing a slow burn over Orson Welles' antics. If Orson doesn't feel like it, he just doesn't show up for work on "Tomorrow Is Forever." His sponsor got fed up. That's why Herbert Marshall is doing do-ing "This Is My Best." Three technicians techni-cians who've been devoted to him walked out on his last show. . . . Charles Koerner seeks the impossible. impos-sible. He's trying to find a young Ronald Colman for "Power of Darkness." Dark-ness." Rosalind Russell's next for RKO will be "Sister Kenny." . &J Poking at HOLLYWOOD T OBERT CUMMINGS is one man in Hollywood who's not only happy he's got documents to prove it! Wherever it is he keeps such things, Cummings has three pieces of paper, all signed and sealed, ' which would be to any one a reasonable rea-sonable guaranty of happiness. The first is his newly acquired marriage license, the party of the second part being be-ing ex - actress Mary Elliott (ex" because she ' ft promised Robert Robert Cummings to give up her career when they were married). That document also is signed by Bob's mother, Mrs. Ruth Cummings, Cum-mings, who at 71 is an ordained minister in the Science of Mind church in Los Angeles. Mrs. Cummings Cum-mings performed the wedding service serv-ice at Mission Inn, Riverside. The second document is a four-year four-year term contract with the Hal Wallis productions which guarantees Bob the opportunity of reestablishing reestablish-ing himself in pictures. The kid's been away from the screen for two years, serving as an air flight instructor in-structor with the United States air forces. i He's Got Everything The third bit of paper is his medical certificate attesting that he passed the air forces' most rigid examination with points to spare thus Cummings officially is healthy, he's in love, and he's got a good paying job. "Those papers mean a lot to me," he said, "but they wouldn't guarantee guaran-tee a thing except for my philosophy." philoso-phy." It's a little odd to talk to Bob about philosophy. His words and thoughts just don't seem to fit his face. At 37 he looks like a college sophomore. sopho-more. He hasn't the sign of a night club bag under his eyes. The makeup make-up man doesn't have to camouflage a network of crow's feet. His voice is pitched in boyish enthusiasm. He i.even stammers occasionally, when words bottleneck and jam in their eagerness to overflow. He's the type grandmothers describe as "that nice young man!" On the set of "You Came Along," where Bob is making his screen ( reappearance for Hal Wallis, Bob'l ( mind took a philosophical turn. "Tardiness. ' think, is the cardinal cardi-nal sin," he r id. "People who get a lot of bad breaks usually have only themselves to blame. It's be-cau? be-cau? they're most always a few behind the normal rhythm of life, and they get into trouble because be-cause they're always hurrying to get caught up." A simple thing like getting up in the morning a half hour earlier than is necessary, Bob believes, would straighten out most people and change the course of their lives. It's Worth Trying "It's this way," Bob explained. "You approach your day unhurried. You have the opportunity of planning plan-ning your course of action. No need to rush and fumble. Each task gets the benefit of your complete com-plete mental and physical energy. Your work improves, no matter what it may be. Your projects begin to succeed. The result is that people peo-ple begin to look at you and say, 'What a lucky guy he is!' "It's timing, that's all." Bob declares that acting isn't nearly as important to him now as it once was. "The main reason I'm back in front of the camera now in 'You Came Along' is that the government govern-ment feels it will aid the war effort, ef-fort, and that's the only kind of pictures I want to appear in for the duration."' Although Bob's contract with Wallis Wal-lis is for four years, he is at liberty to act only by permission of the army air corps, from which he has been granted leave. When the picture is finished he expects to report re-port back for active duty. It's a far cry from the time when I first saw Bob. then an unknown, working with Deanna Durbin in 'Three Smart Girls" at Universal. At that time I saw him in two small scenes, but the kid had something and I wondered where in the world they'd been keeping him all this time. I told Bob that day that he eventually would be making ?4,000 a week. He blushed and laughed it off. |