Cal York's Gossip of Hollywood: May 1938

 USE YOUR OWN JUDGMENT

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Joan Crawford will divorce Franchot Tone.

Gossip sheets flung the familiar old story to the breezes again this month with rumours and ‘I-told-you-sos’ going the rounds.

A friend, wishing to verify the item but without offense, phoned Joan the morning the item appeared in print.

“What are you doing?” he began, trying to appear very casual.

“Oh, I’m just squeezing icing on a birthday cake,” Joan laughed. “Icing bags always fascinate me.”

“Is it somebody’s birthday?” the friend asked.

“Yes, it’s Butch (Cesar) Romero’s. Franchot and I are giving him a birthday dinner. Come on over and help us lick the icing pan. The cook always leaves some over.”

“Well,” said the friend afterwards, “there goes your divorce story up in smoke.”

But Hollywood is still hard to convince. “Remember how Joan denied her intentions to divorce Doug Jr.? There couldn’t be all this smoke without some fire.”

And thus the latest Hollywood divorce rumor stands.

THE NEW NORMA SHEARER

They speak of her in Hollywood as the ‘new Norma Shearer’ and explain that by ‘new’ they mean the actress who has become more woman than actress, even in the midst of a busy motion-picture set.

Undoubtedly, one needs only to look at Norma today to see how her deep sorrow has softened and molded her anew. Her beauty has never been so pronounced. She glows with an inner radiance that shines from her eyes. On the set, she has an ever-ready smile for Director Van Dyke’s ready quips. Between takes she’ll rush over to greet Clark Gable or some other friend who comes a-visiting to the Marie Antoinette set.

A MAN—AND HIS DOG

We’ve always respected Humphrey Bogart’s artistry in portraying the cynical, tough-guy roles he takes on the screen. But don’t let them fool you. Bogart is one of the most sensitive souls in Hollywood. For example, his champion Sealyham dog died the other day and Humphrey not only hung a small black crepe on his front door in honour of the animal but had him buried in an all-steel vault in his back yard.