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.