Irene Dunne Credits Her Success to Varied Roles

Hollywood, Cal. -- "You´re one actress in Hollywood who´s never had even the mention of scandal attached to her." I told Irene Dunne as she sat in my living room in the same chair in which I first interviewed her 13 years ago. The Irene of 1932 was plumper but not a bit younger looking than the Irene of 1945, and without half the poise or humor.

 She laughed and said, "Don´t you remember the time it was printed I was getting a divorce? It was when Frank was so very sick in New York. He had undergone an emergency appendectomy. I was making "Back Street" and dashed to New York to see him, not telling anybody where I was going. I bought a paper and the first thing that struck my eye was my picture with the caption, `Actress Divorces Dr. Frank Griffin`I had a time keeping the paper from Frank. I didn´t want him to get worse."

 Irene, in the years, I´ve know her, has grown in character and in fineness.

                                               More Tolerant.

 "You and I have both learned tolerance, haven´t we?" she said. "I used to think that the only thing ever printed about me was that I was a lady. So I finally decided to say, `Well, yes, I´m a lady -- I was brought up right. Either you are or you aren´t -- it´s a matter of heredity,` but I do hope there is something else to be said about me now."

 Irene had planned to retire from the screen after "White Cliffs Of Dover."

 "I felt that would be my very last picture," she said. "Then I went on a bond tour through Texas. I visited camps, sang at hospitals, and all the commanding officers said, `You can´t retire now, the boys need your pictures for entertainment,` and so I felt that was little enough to do."

 "But Irene," I said, "You love your work. You really wouldn´t want to give it up, would you?"

                                                Cramps Style.

 "I don´t know," answered Irene. "I´ve thought about it many times. There´s something about being a motion picture star -- you have so few privileges, and you have to conserve your strength. I may sometimes feel I´d like to clean the top shelves or sleep late in the morning. There are a lot of things I´d like to do if I weren´t a picture actress."

 All of us at one time think "I´ll retire" but it´s only a passing thought. I, myself, want to be wheeled to a typewriter and be sitting there when Angel Gabriel summons me.

 I don´t know how many interviews I´ve done with Irene Dunne in the years I´ve know her, since she had her great success in "Cimarron", but I know on each occassion I´ve felt there was a different Irene. She´s a girl you can interview many times -- she always has something new to say. She and Claudette Colbert, of all the actresses, have continued to build their careers and are today, after many years, still great stars. Irene has perhaps been on the screen longer than almost any other feminine star.

                                            Variety Responsible.

 "Why do you think you´ve been able to stay on top so long?" I asked.

 "I suppose it´s because I´ve varied my characterizations," she answered. "I wouldn´t want to do all `White Cliffs Of Dover,` I´d like to vary it with `Together Again`or `Theodora Goes Wild.` I felt when I first went into comedy I was taking a terrific chance, but I knew I couldn´t continue to be dramatic and play heavy emotional roles if I wanted to hold public interest."

 "Do you select your stories?" I asked Irene.

 "No," she said, "but I do have the privilege of approving my director and Charles Vidor, who directed in `Together Again`is making my present picture, `Only Twenty-One.`"

 Irene came in from the studio with her hair tied up in a handkerchief, direct from make-up tests.

 "I always let them fix my hair the way they want, put make-up on to do the tests, and then go and do my hair my own way. I find it´s much simpler than to argue in the beginning. All I have to prove is that I, myself, know what´s most becoming to me."

 I´ll say Irene is not only a lady, but a tactful one!

(Waterloo Sunday Courier, Iowa, Sunday January 14. 1945)