Presenting the Lady Called Jonesby Howard Thompson
(New York Times, May 25, 1952)
The striking and expensively clad young woman entered the library, shook hands formally and proceeded to solve the mystery of the trayful of round lumps on the Capehart. "Have a popcorn ball," Jennifer Jones offered. "Sugar, molasses and popcorn. Mother used to make these for us when I was a child back in Tulsa," she added rather hesitantly. The somewhat ethereal introversion marking a good many of the actress' screen portrayals became increasingly apparent as she made herself comfortable in the luxurious uptown apartment of her husband, producer David O. Selznick. As obvious, say, as the lady's general appearance: jet-black hair, green eyes and features devoid of any make-up and assuredly requiring none.
Miss Jones was nursing a head cold. Seated at a luncheon table that commanded a magnificent view of the East River and the teeming parkway below, she began to discuss her two forthcoming films, "The Wild Heart" and "Carrie", the first of which arrives in town this week. "In a way, I'm not sure how to start this," she admitted. "I made them both several years ago, the first one for Mickey Powell and Emeric Pressburger. We went up to Shropshire for several months of location shooting. The picture has some fine supporting people in the cast, so I'm rather hopeful of the results - even if I can't recall it too vividly," she added with a modest giggle.
Credits
Asked to compare English and American behind-the-camera activity, Miss Jones compromised. "The director is really the difference," she decided. "No two of them work alike. William Wyler, on "Carrie" has his own way, for instance. We go in more for rehearsals on this side, for another thing. We spent two weeks acting out "Carrie" - at David's suggestion," she added quickly.
Has Miss Jones ever felt herself to be at the crossroads? "In a way - now," was the placid reply. "When you're young you're full of hope and dreams. Later you begin to wonder. I did "Song of Bernadette" without knowing what was going on half the time. In those day I would have tried "Romeo and Juliet" without blinking. Anyway, thank the Lord for Henry King", she said of the man who directed her Oscar winner."Another fine director is Vincente Minneli," she went on, "even though I wasn't right or ready for "Madame Bovary". David knew it and I knew it, but the picture was on that - just had to be done."
Miss Jones came to films by way of amateur plays in the Midwest stock and cooperative theatre groups around New York City, and one uncompleted year with the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. "I made some Westerns and a Dick Tracy picture when I first went to the Coast, too." She smiled. "Oh yes, I had to come back East and meet David and start it all over again. We spend a great deal of time traveling all over the world now, when David's business allows it, and next week we'll be going back home for the first time in several years." The actress' next starring vehicle, she noted, would be "Ruby Gentry" at Twentieth Century-Fox, selected by the Selznicks during a recent vacation in Jamaica.
Leading the way into the elegantly appointed living room, Miss Jones settled on a divan, her flame-colored attire making a radiant blend with a particularly green landscape, immediately overhead, one of the many canvases and art objects banking the room.
"No, I don't play," she admitted, eyeing the framed photographs atop the grand piano, those of her two young sons, Robert and Michael, by a previous marriage to the late Robert Walker. "Just a 'Narcissus' and a a tired 'Blue Danube.' David and I love the time we spend here in New York because so many of our friends live here too. And we do have fun. The other night we decided to walk around in the Village." Miss Jones previously had mentioned a fruitless apprenticeship at the tiny Cherry Lane Playhouse. "Yes, we walked by but we didn't go in," she said casually. "I wonder what it's like now."
