Out On The Town


Night club shots in color have a certain magic that makes you feel as though you’re standing right there --- maybe in the role of a star-struck waiter or pesky photographer. Either way it’s Hollywood artifice at its most endearing --- each of those celebrity-studded booths has a story to tell. These shots weren’t captioned, so if I misidentify one of the luminaries, be sure to call me on it. First we have Joan Crawford and, I think, husband Phillip Terry. Phil’s always been a chameleon for me. He can look dashing, as here, or tentative, if not weak, in a part like The Lost Weekend, where he played Ray Milland’s upright brother. I do know he sat up, rolled over, and barked for Joan. I’d guess Phil was mostly his Lost Weekend self when they were at home. John Payne’s with Ginny Simms on a wartime date. I know Ginny by her toothy smile (now watch someone come along and propose another toothy actress). She’d been Kay Kyser’s band singer and off-stage amour. Payne was leading manning it opposite Betty Grable and Alice Faye at Fox. He’d achieve postwar greatness as a gone-to-seed noir dweller in Kansas City Confidential, Slightly Scarlet, and other 50’s faves. Jane Withers reached for the glamour ring but never quite caught it. She comes close here with bobby-sox idol Farley Granger, but what chance would any companion have against that way-cool suit Farley sports here?