December 5, 1946
[This is syndicated columnist Erskine Johnson’s regular Hollywood column. The column was not always published on the same date in every newspaper. The column has been reprinted verbatim.]
Sir Cedric Hardwicke (1893-1964) was an English-born actor who had great success on stage and screen in England and the United States. At the time of this article, he had already been seen with Lucille Ball in 1942′s Valley of the Sun. During this interview, he was filming Lured (1947) which also featured Lucille Ball. The title was changed to “Personal Column” because staff at the Production Code Administration thought the word “lured” sounded too much like “lurid”. Director Douglas Sirk felt the title change confused potential audiences and led to the film’s box-office failure and the film eventually reverted to it’s original title.
by Erskine Johnson, Hollywood, Dec. 5 (NEA)
We were talking to Sir Cedric Hardwicke but looking at Miss Lucille Ball.
Lucille is much prettier than Hardwicke, and, what with the gown she was partially wearing for the movie “Personal Column,” it was very difficult not to look at her.
It was a very long dress from waist down, for it reached the floor. But from the waist up it was short so short that there was more of Lucille Ball showing than there was of her dress.
Anyhow, we were discussing the current inflation with Sir Cedric “I sometimes wonder,” he said, “how long it can keep up.”
“As long as the adhesive tape holds,” we suggested.
“Pardon?” said Sir Cedric. Then he noticed we were looking at Lucille Ball, and he turned to look at her, too.
“Anyway,” he said, “it can’t go on forever."
Then he took another quick look at Lucille. "Elastic, possibly,” he murmured. “Rubber elastic."
"Maybe spirit gum,” we ventured.
Down To Business
Lucille disappeared into her dressing room. We gave Sir Cedric our undivided attention.
“Who do you think is the best actor on the screen?"
Sir Cedric said that question was very difficult to answer. "I have my own opinion as to who are the top stage actors but it’s difficult to choose standards for judging a film actor. So many technical factors must be considered."
“Such as…?"
"The camera, lighting, the cutting room. About the time a film actor decides he has achieved quite a professional standing, along comes some actor even a child who has never acted before, and his simplicity and naturalness make the veteran look affected."
Lucille came out of her dressing room. "Celluloid, maybe,” Sir Cedric suggested, hopefully. “Or flesh-colored piano wire."
Lucille walked by. "Maybe it’s whale-bone,” we said.
“Could be,” replied Hardwicke. “Or just faith."
Sir Cedric Breaks Down
"Did you ever think you would like to direct a motion picture?” we asked.
“I wouldn’t mind if I didn’t have to be my own producer, too. I was one of the producers on a Hollywood made picture, but I was considerably handicapped in achieving the prestige our more prominent producers enjoy, ulcers, you know.”
"It was a humiliating experience. I didn’t dare show my face at Romanoff’s for weeks."
Lucille Ball walked by again, and this time she stopped.
"Do you mind if I ask you a question, Lucille?” said Sir Cedric, brashly. “We two have been wondering what is holding up your dress, and…“
"Oh, that’s easy,” said Lucille. “It’s concealed spring-steel wire.‘
She walked off, laughing. We blushed and looked at Sir Cedric. He was blushing, too, but much more than we were.
He has more to blush with having a very high forehead. It gets higher every year.
In the same newspaper, on the same page as Johnson’s column, was an ad for a cinemas showing a double feature including Cuban Pete, Desi Arnaz’s 1946 film. Lucy and Desi had just celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary.
This Arnaz double feature had its final screening on December 5, 1946, in a Michigan cinema. Ball’s The Dark Corner and Two Smart People had premiered earlier in the year and were still in cinemas nationwide.
Meanwhile, in a Hollywood newspaper on December 5, 1946, this made the news.
The INS (International News Service) fleshed out the item a bit, adding the name of her co-star and the nurse. Could it have been the same dress ogled by Hardwicke and Johnson?
While in the very same Hollywood newspaper on the very same date, this more lighthearted item about Lucy and the upcoming holiday.
Papermoon Loves Lucy 
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