"Some women call themselves 'golf widows.' I'm almost a 'movie widow.' I'd really be one if my husband didn't like a quiet evening at home after his seven to seven work days, which occur day after day. Suppose he cared about nightclubs and parties? I'd never see him alone.
"You see Duke - everyone who knows him at all well calls him by that nickname which dates back to college - is so really interested in motion pictures that he works and works and works. Much harder now than before he had his big success. It's not that he's concerned only with acting or the money he can make; he wants to do as many things in movies as possible and know all about them.
"You know he has been producing pictures for the past few years. He has just completed his first production in which he did not also act, 'Torero' which was filmed in Mexico and stars Bob Stack. Soon he will also try his hand at directing one, on which he will also be producer - and star! That will be 'Alamo' and also shot in Mexico. Meanwhile he has starred in 'Rio Grande Command,' directed by his good friend John Ford, and has finished 'Jet Pilot' at RKO. For the next several years, he will make one picture a year for Warners, RKO and Republic, plus whatever ones he has time for with Jack Ford. That is a schedule, no es verdad?
"When Duke used to have time off between pictures he went hunting or fishing with friends in the High Sierra or Idaho for deer, off Baja California for Marlin or swordfish. He's not had a chance in two years. Sometimes I went along for dove hunting in the desert, but he's not had time for that in a while either. We have a very small speed boat, The Apache, moored down at Newport, only about 45 miles from home, but haven't used it since it was overhauled and painted in the late spring!
"People think all movie stars have such an easy life, that although they work hard during a film they can vacation for a long time. Well, some of them can, I know, but not all. My husband cannot. Not since he's taken on the worries and work of producing and directing.
"Fortunately his is muy simpatico. Muy, you may now means very. Simpatico is not just sympathetic. It means agreeable, friendly, easy to get along with, nice to have around. Duke is all that and more. He is honest and outspoken; he never does what you call 'mincing words.' If he makes a decision, he sticks to it. His temper is usually even and under control, but he will lose it if someone tries to make him change a decision. He is causal, informal and likes to laugh but he is not a storyteller. He likes to talk about real things: world affairs, politics and government - and of course picture business in which he's worked 20 years.
"He is definite and not afraid to take sides. Some actor think that anything apart from acting is 'not their business.' But not Duke. He is now serving his second term as president of the Motion Picture Alliance for the preservation of American Ideals, an organization designed to expose and combat communist and their propaganda.
"His sense of humor is very good. (I don't think that all his work is making Duke a dull boy.) He loves a good practical joke, whether he is the perpetrator or the victim. He thought it was so funny when about a year ago Stephan Ames bought a hundred keys put tags on them saying 'If found please return to John Wayne. Reward.' He added our phone number and address and then scattered them all over Los Angles. For days and days we had inquires. I never learned what Duke did in retaliation; I'm sure it was something equally bothersome.
"I had a horribly embarrassing experience recently as the result of Duke's sense of humor. We have a Brittney Cocker spaniel which he named Brainless because its so smart. Then we have two Cockers that he named for two mascots that he entertained overseas. The boy's dogs were Fearless and Half-As, so that's what Duke named our dogs too, knowing people would misunderstand or misinterpret the name of our poor little second pup that was half as fearless as his brother.
"But it was I who bore the burnt of the joke one day when I was taking Half-As to the veterinarian's office. Part way there I had realized that I had no money and stopped at the bank to cash a check. I took the dog in with me and directed him to sit while I cashed the check. He did, for a second. I had trusted his obeying me and hadn't put on his lead, but he's used to romping in our yard, not seeing so many people and suddenly he was playfully chasing a little boy. I went after him, excitedly calling "Here Half-As, Half-As come here." Maybe it was my accent or people just wanted to misunderstand, but soon everyone in the bank was laughing. When I caught the dog I was so embarrassed I fled without cashing the check. I went home with no stop at the vet's. When I told Duke he howled with laughter.
"You might not believe it but Duke is a very sentimental man. For example he always calls me 'Chata' which is a Mexican pet name for a little girl, although I am quite tall, or it also means pug nose and mine isn't exactly that. I love the idea because he frankly doesn't know too much Spanish. Oh he gets along in Mexico because English is spoken so widely, but if there is any need I act as an interrupter when we are there, which has been quite often lately.
"Quite in keeping with his informality is our home, which is of the rambling ranch style, furnished in early American antiques. The chairs are big and comfortable with colorful but durable covers that can stand hard ware; the plants are copper and brass with many of them planted. Books and magazines are everywhere for Duke is an inveterate reader.
"He is inclined to drop things and leave them there for me or the housekeeper to pick up. He has a trick of flicking the ashes of his cigarettes by snapping his fingers but has an accurate aim. Duke isn't exactly a hobbyist; his only collection is guns, between thirty and forty of them.
"Duke is always forgetting his keys and when we go on always forgetting to take his cameras and he has several. He is devoted to 'window shopping' in magazines, continually sending off for things he sees advertised, everything from clothes to kitchen gadgets.
"He has a way with children, they are attracted to him like nails to a magnet. His own four children, though they spend most of their time with his mother adore him, visit us often and have spent long vacations with us at Catalina, until this last summer when it was impossible because we were in Mexico. Incidentally the oldest boy Mike had a small role in an MGM picture and his brother Pat performed with his father in 'Rio Grande Command' in a bit role. Duke wants them all -there is also Toni and Melinda - to follow whatever careers they chose; if it is acting he'll encourage them.
"Duke isn't interested in any kind of jewelry for himself and likes me to wear just one piece. He seldom comments on my clothes but I know he prefers me to wear well tailored simple things. He is a wonderful dancer but isn't too fond of dancing. He likes plain American cooking.
"I had been acting in pictures, mostly in my native Mexico but some in Hollywood, for six years before we were married; then I gave up my career. I think one actor in the family is enough. If we both were working we'd see even less of each other. I want to be relaxed and untired when Duke comes home in the evening and be free to go on location trips with him - and most of his pictures have long location schedules. Duke has never said anything about my continuing or discontinuing my career but I feel he's glad I gave it up.
"Perhaps it is prophetic that when we met we where both very fond of the song 'J'Attendrai.' You may have heard the Jean Sablon recording of it; it means I'll be waiting for you. For a wife of a man as busy as Duke is, I think it is very fitting. I now say it is my theme song."
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| Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin, 1950 |
-Michael J. Ruhland
Sounds like a smart cookie. Did she mean 'interrupter' or 'interpreter', or is it just a typo? Or perhaps she was being humorous?
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