A MAttER oF SpEaKinG...: ...june allyson

It took me days before I begin to write about one of my top favourite movie stars. I need to clear my mind, get into the mood and think straight.

In her earlier career, she was known as "the girl-next-door" and later, "the perfect wife". The petite June Allyson (who was born Ella Geisman 7th October 1917 - 8th July 2006), had the perfect wholesomeness and the sweet and sunny disposition screen image. She did not have the glamour of some of her peers of the 40s like Hedy Lamarr, Veronica Lake or Linda Darnell but she had the charms and warmth.

June was born to Robert Geisman, a Dutch-descent janitor and Clara in the

Bronx, New York. Her parents were seperated when she was six months old. When she was nine years old, a lightning struck and old oak tree and the heavy limb fell on her. She spent the ne

xt four years confined within a steel brace. Her stubborness and persistence started her doing exercise everyday and later swimming.

She proved to be an excellent scholar and studied piano when she was at the Bronx Public School. June, who was keen with dancing, never had enough money for private tuitionand learned most of her step from watching movies. She then entered Theodore Roosevelt High School which gave her an opportunity to study dancing which she excelled. Now in her mid-teens, she became a fan of the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musicals and she mastered several routines after watching them over and over.

This stood her in good form to audition for the Broadway musical "Sing Out The News" in 1938, where she won a chorus spot. June made her screen debut in 1937 in a Vitaphone short - "Swing For Sale" and went on to make a few more shorts. She understudied Betty Hutton in musical "Panama Hattie" in 1940 and got to play her role for five performances. George Abbott spotted her and cast her in "Best Foot Forward" on stage in 1941 starring Rosemary Lane. During one of the shows, Rosem

ary asked June to her dressing room. There Rosemary introduced her to Dick Powell. Powell complimented her and offered to be of professional help should she ever go to Hollywood.

MGM bought the rights to "Best Foot Forward" and she would be among the original cast members making their film debut i

n it but Rosemary Lane was replaced with Lucille Ball. This Technicolor 1943 release showcased June, Nancy Walker and Gloria DeHaven in "The Three B's" (the boggie-woggie Nancy, the barrelhouse June and the blues Gloria) number. She had a show-stopping bit singing "Treat Me Rough" to Mickey Rooney at the beginning of "Girl Crazy" (1943). Her next was "Thousands Cheer" starring the beautiful Kathryn Grayson and Gene Kelly and a guest star of many. June, Gloria DeHaven and Virginia O'Brien were seen vocalizing in "In A Little Spanish Town" number.

In "Meet The People" (1944), she had one song but featured Dick Powell as the leading man opposite Lucille Ball. From there Powell and Allyson started dating much to the dismay of the studio's boss, Louis B. Mayer who tried to break up the romance as Powell was still married to Joan Blondell, although the marriage was on the rocks. When June was given the scr

ipt of "Two Girls And A Sailor" (1944), she approached Powell to read it. he suggested that she should try for the role of the older, plainer sister. Gloria DeHaven was the other sister and Van Johnson was the sailor. The response of the audience to her chemistry with Johnson led them to be the idols of bobbysoxers and also to a succession of films pairing these two.

"Music For Millions"(1944) cast her as the elder pregnant sister of Margaret O'Brien and two Robert Walker movies - "Her Highness And The Bellboy" (1945 - the title characters played by the glamourous Hedy Lamarr and Walker) and "The Sailor Takes A

Wife". A better movie starring Kathryn Grayson and June as sisters in "Two Sisters From Boston" ranked her higher in the MGM pedestal. She was seen dancing with Ray McDonald to the title number of the all-star Jerome Kern biopic "Till The Clouds Roll By" and singing "Cleopatterer" in 1946. One critic claimed that watching a June Allyson movie was like being drowned in treacle and someone else once commented she would like to dissolve her in a cup of coffee!!!

June yearned for a m

eaty dramatic role to break her image, so she signed on for "The Secret Heart" (1946) as a mentally disturbed girl. Claudette Colbert was Allyson's stepmother and Walter Pidgeon as the man they both love. In reality, Claudette and June becaome very good friends. Unfortunately, many critics were not in favour of June's role. So, she went back to safer ground to star in "High Barbaree" (1947) with Van Johnson.

Her second 1947 release was also very popular with audiences. The college musical "Good News" starred her with Peter Lawford and along with Patricia Marshall, Mel Torme, Ray McDonald and the energetic dancer, Joan McCracken

reaped in high profit to the studio. Although cast a college girl, June was actually 30 years of age!!! June had some great numbers to warble "The Best Things In Life Are Free", "Just Imagine" and the wonderful ending, "Varsity Drag".

She was back with Van Johnson the third time, this time in a romantic comedy "The Bride Goes Wild" (1948) which included Hume Cronyn, Arlene D

ahl and Una Merkel. In Alexandre Dumas's "The Three Musketeers" (1948), she was cast as the goodie Lady Constance. The movie had a great cast - Gene Kelly, Lana Turner, Angela Lansbury, Van Heflin, Gig Young and Vincent Price. "Words And Music" (1948) with Tom Drake and Mickey Rooney as Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart boasted an impressive guest star like performing their songs. June partnered by The Blackburn Twins sang and danced a lively rendition of "Thou Swell".

Dick Powell, whom she married in August 1945, adopted a daughter, Pamela in that year. She was told during her childhood that the accident would prevent her from having children. In 1950, however, she gave normal birth to her son, Dick Powell Jr.

Critics were amass c

omparing her to Katharine Hepburn's Jo when she made "Little Women" in 1949. Some critics preferred the 1933 version, but they were in the minority. There were many that gave her glowing reviews, including Variety. She could cry on cue, a talent she shared with Margaret O'Brien. Allyson's method for triggering tears was to "try very, very hard not to cry . . . So the more I thought about not crying the more I cried." According to Allyson, during

O'Brien's death scene, they "could not stop" crying. This version starred June as Jo, Margaret O'Brien as Beth, Elizabeth Taylor as Amy and Janet Leigh as Meg. Mary Astor played their ever understanding mother and Peter Lawford and Rosanno Brazzi supplied the sisters' love interests.

Her next movie set her in a new pace, as the perfect wife. With James Stewart, they triumphed in the baseball drama, the bio of Monty Stratton in "The Stratton Story" (1949). "The Reformer And The Redhead" (1950) and "Right Cross" (1950), had the husband and wife as co-stars but they are strictly for their fans only. She was back with Van Johnson in a better "Too Young To Kiss" (1951), a comedy where she dresses as a twelve

year old! She did not get good reviews starring in "Battle Circus" (1953), a Korean-war love drama with Humphrey Bogart. Her co-starred with Van Johnson for the last time in "Remains To Be Seen" (1953).

She was back in another biopic with the lanky James Stewart in the classic "The Glenn Miller Story" (1954) as his wife. She had to compete with a strong cast (William Holden, Barbara Stanwyck, Fredric March, Walter Pidgeon, Shelley Winters, Paul Douglas, Dean Jagger, Nina Foch, Louis Calhern) in "Executive Suite" (1954). "Woman's World" (1954), gave her a good role as the wife of Cornel Wilde. "Strategic Air Command" (1955) was her last teaming with James Stewart as husband an

d wife. She tried once again to shake off her good-girl image by accepting the role of a vengeful wife of Jose Ferrer in "The Shrike" (1955) without success. "The McConnell Story" did not further her career but she had an affair off screen with her leading man, Alan Ladd.

Then came a string of remakes starting with "The Opposite Sex" (1956 - a remake of "The Women" 1939, in the role of Norma Shearer but it was fun and colourful with a good cast like Ann Sheridan, Joan Collins,

Dolores Gray, Ann Miller, Agnes Moorehead and Dick Powell's ex-spouse, Joan Blondell). "You Can't Runaway From It" (1956) was a remake of the award winning, Claudette Colbert's role "It Happened One Night" (1934). She was the madcap heiress in Carole Lombard's role in "My Man Godfrey" (1957).

June Allyson was rewarded with "The Dupont Show With June Allyson" on televisio

n. She filed for divorce once during her marriage to Dick Powell, but the turbulent marriage lasted until his death from cancer in 1963. She struggled with alcoholism for years following his death. During these years, she guest starred on television.

She made a comeback to the big screen in the murder mystery "They Only Kill Their Masters" in 1972 for MGM without a bang. "Blackout" (1978) did not sum up much. Her last movie is in 2001 in the low budget comedy drama "A Girl, Three Guys, And A Gun". In between, June Allyson can be seen on TV,