Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), Wednesday 28 November 1951, page 33


QUEEN ELIZABETH greets Joan Rice, a rising film star who was a teashop waitress three years ago, at the Royal Film

Performance at London's Odeon Theatre. Character actress Margaret Rutherford is on the left, with handsome young

actor Peter Reynolds next to Joan. Merle Ober on is next to Peter.

Stars glitter for Royalty

By BILL STRUTTON, of our London staff

THE Royal Film Per-

formance is the

world's most glittering premiere.

This year, at Leicester Square's streamlined Odeon

Cinema, chosen British and American stars performed be-fore the Queen, Princess Mar-prct, and a glamorous audi-nce.

Michael Wilding danced a square dance, Jane Russell pulled a revolver on Dan Duryea. Fred MacMurray song cowboy songs, and Her-mionc Baddeley turned up as a Piccadilly flower-girl.

Richard Attenborough, arodying his present radio pularity in England, walked in to the stage wheeling a gramophone in a pram in his

part of a broken-down disc

jockey.

The ubiquitous Orson Welles did magic tricks, and a squad of the screen's leading the-men were dressed up as chorus girls.

The film chosen for the pre-miere as Eating's African

epic, "Where No Vultures Fly." Its star, the handsome, newly popular Anthony Steel, was present with a high temperature. He was suffer-ing from malaria, which he caught on location in Africa.

Thousands of fans milled

about in the pouring rain as the Queen and Princess Mar-garet arrived and stepped through a guard of honor of

58 actors and actresses.

Blonde Sharman Douglas, a friend of Princess Margaret and daughter of the former

United States Ambassador to

Britain, was escorted by Michael Wilding, who usually

escorts Marlene Dietrich and

Elizabeth Taylor.

Peter Lawford arrived with Lady Elizabeth Clyde.

Because the Odeon was

booked out for charity, none

of the stars had a seat. Be-

tween their arts, they sat around in the basement drink-ing black coffee.

Jean Kent, in fifty yards of sequined tulle billowing over seven petticoats, took up a fair

amount of space.

JANE RUSSELL, in scarlet velvet with a mink-edged hood, arriving with Dan Duryea. Her charm and good sense, in direct contrast to her publicity build-up, made her the most

popular Hollywood envoy to this year's Performance.

BALLERINA Ludmilla Tcherina, a new

star, had two miniature white doves tinging to the tanned skin above her

jewelled off-the-shoutder bodice.

LIZ ABET H SCOTT, escorted by Fred MacMurray, almost fainted with excite-ment. Jane Russell revived her with a bottle of smelling-salts from Jane's bag.

VAN JOHNSON, with bedecked wife, Evie, drew enthusiastic greetings from the crowd of onlookers. There was a wonderful supper party after the show.