If You Had a Date with Joan Leslie By Alyce Canfield Our redheaded Cover Girl won't be ready, but why worry? -- she'll be dressing for you If you had a date with Joan Leslie, you'd have a date with a redhead -- an honest-to-goodness, authentic, non-dyed redhead. But with that fine, lovely complexion, those piquant features, those direct, level, honest hazel eyes, there is in Joan nothing of the femme fatale that the word "redhead" so often conjures up. She is as naively charming as a Dresden milkmaid. You'd meet her in the oddest ways. On trains, perhaps. At other friends' homes. Or maybe you'd be the son of friends of her parents. But you wouldn't meet her on a movie set, because Joan doesn't date Hollywood men as a rule. She doesn't know why, but the average male is more appealing to her than a Hollywood hero. Therefore, you're in luck. You're apt, to run into this gorgeous girl anywhere at all. If you met Joan Leslie on a train, accompanied by her mother, and if you were grabbing at straws to get acquainted, you might even start making remarks about the landscape. Joan would take one look at you, and would immediately ascertain with frightening accuracy whether or not you were being friendly or obnoxious. If the former, she'd take up the conversation from there. She's naturally friendly; and would be charmed by your wit and humor as you hoped she would be. If you had a date with Joan Leslie, you'd probably have a date with the whole darned family, for Joan is a family girl. Her sisters, her mother and father are all part of her design for living. She loves them ardently. If you don't go for families, reunions and Sunday dinners, Joanie is not for you. If you met her away from Hollywood, you would call her the day you arrived in town for a date that evening. It wouldn't do you much good to call long distance anyway, for if she had been working hard all day, she'd rather not go out. She has to feel like a date, dress just right for one, get into the spirit of the thing. If you had a date with Joan Leslie, you'd have to sit in the living room with her family while Joanie finished getting ready. She's perennially late. This shouldn't upset you, because it would be because of you that she wouldn't be on time. She loses minutes here and minutes there trying to decide what to wear, thinking what dress would look just right in such and such a place. Should she wear a hat? Things like that. Her hair, all golden red and gorgeous, is never a problem; she just piles it atop her head. Her make-up is a small matter because she has naturally pink cheeks , wears very little lipstick and has a complexion that's out of this world. But clothes! There you have it. Joan takes her ensemble, where she will be going, how the light will affect the color of her dress -- all these things -- into serious consideration. Of course, she just might be on time. In that event, she would open the door and say, "I don't want to amaze you, but I'm ready. Just let me get my coat." Should this be the case, she would be very proud of herself and would look at you rather expectantly, wondering where you were hiding her halo and wings. As a rule, Joan likes to go some place where she can show off a favorite new dress. Her favorite right now is a pale pink formal, literally a dream of a dress. With it she'd even wear pink shoes. Her hair would be up. She'd be wearing a mink coat. Naturally, in a knock-'em-dead outfit like that, she'd like to show it off. She'd think you were pretty astute, therefore, if you planned an early dinner at some not-too-Hollywoodish spot like the Town House and went on from there to the theatrer. Los Angeles doesn't have lots of legitimate shows, like New York, but there is generally something interesting playing at the Biltmore. Whatever it would be, Joanie would know some of the members of the cast. The big thing about going to the theater, she thinks, is not so much the play, but going backstage afterward. She spent so many years on tour that she really loves backstage life. She'd have to compliment her friends on their performances, visit them in their dressing rooms, exchange gossip. She would sparkle with excitement. After the theater, she'd love you if you took her dancing some place like Ciro's, where the music is meant for dancing. Since she'd want to do her new pink formal justice, she'd particularly like Ciro's because of the steps. Then she could make a real entrance. Casually, of course, and in the most well-bred manner. It would be definitely more exciting for her then if you secured a table, ringside. You'd help her off with her wrap and be proud as punch of that gorgeous redhead sitting opposite you -- her shoulders bare and creamy white, her eyes warm and gay, her feet tapping tapping beneath the table. For Joan Loves to dance. She still remembers Fred Astaire in that picture they did together and she might mention this in passing, but during the evening you would be surprised to learn that Joan doesn't talk shop. She talks business at the studio all the time, but on a date she likes to forget about it. The Hollywood gossip doesn't intrigue her, either, except in a general way. If you started talking about Hollywood marriages, she would admit that she has given a lot of thought to other people's marriages. She thinks the reason so many marriages fail in Hollywood is because like marries like. "It's difficult for two people who act to make a go of things," she might say. If you got around to asking her if she had ever been in love, she'd grin and say, "Nineteen times!" Since she's just exactly 21, that might seem more or less fickle, until you discovered her great secret: she gets crushes on the men she plays opposite. Never was there such a crush as 15-year-old Joan had on Gary Cooper when they made Sergeant York. Although that was when she first came to Hollywood, the memory lingers on. She thinks one of her very worst (or best) crushes was James Cagney. "He's such a wonderful man, so kind and sweet. He is also understanding, and his knowledge seems endless." Ah, yes, Joan has had her crushes. But real love? It hasn't come along as yet. Because you had planned the entire evening so carefully, and Joan had worn just the right dress for the right place, you might think she wouldn't go for anything unexpected. That's where you would be wrong. She thinks it's fun not to know where you're going, sometimes. At first she might look at you aghast when you announced your plans for the evening. "You didn't tell me!" she might gasp. "I'm not dressed for that!" But then something of the adventurer would come into her face, a speculative look. "Let's do it. It'll be fun!" she'd grin. You would find, too, if you had a date with Joan Leslie, that she has grown up. She would love you if you told her she looked the mysterious enchantress. She isn't quite, but she is mature. It's very evident in little things. When she was 15, she was very careful of the impression she made wherever she went. At 15, everything in unusual. There are a lot of "firsts." She wanted to do the right thing the first time she did it. She didn't want anyone to laugh at her, so she would imagine her dates beforehand. By the time the date was real, she'd be prepared for it. Things are different now. She is more assured, less aware of appraising eyes. Not that she isn't every bit as circumspect as she has always been, but something new has been added: poise. If you were winding up a gay evening dancing at Ciro's, with Joan Leslie, you would order pink champagne for her. That seems very grown up to Joan. You'd also look directly into her eyes. She doesn't care whether you are tall or short, handsome or not, just so long as your glance is direct. She hates evasiveness. The time you'd get home would depend on what you had been doing. If you had just gone out to a movie and stopped by for a soda somewhere, you'd probably been home before midnight. But if you were out doing the town, it would be closer to 2:00. Joan has left her teens behind her, and along with them, her uncertainty and her fears. She's come of age. She might wind up one of these days being exotic and mysterious. But if you had a date with Joan Leslie, you'd have your doubts. She's too fresh and lovely. |
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