John Payne: "Woman is a remarkable creature"

Gloria DeHaven and June Allyson in "Two Girls and a Sailor" (1944) directed by Richard Thorpe

"The studio had cast me as the beautiful sister and Gloria DeHaven as the plain one. The plain girl had spicier lines but the parts were equal. They were grooming Gloria DeHaven for stardom. Dick Powell: "There are two lines in the script that absolutely negate your doing the role of the beautiful sister and they are when the grandfather asks Gloria, 'Is your sister as pretty as you?' and she says, 'Oh, prettier, much prettier.' Nobody is going to believe that. Gloria is a real beauty".

In rapid succession came Music for Millions, Her Highness and the Bellboy, The Sailor Takes a Wife, and Two Sisters Thorn Boston. I loved hearing all the inside stories around the studio.

Several of the stories concerned Gloria DeHaven and me. One was that we were feuding because of the switch in our "Two Girls and a Sailor" roles with Van Johnson. That wasn't true. We were and are good friends. Another was a story of the flying teeth and that one was true.

It happened in a scene with Jimmy Durante in "Two Girls and a Sailor". We were in an empty warehouse and Jimmy was hiding there and supposed to frighten me and Gloria. He certainly did. He let out such a bloodcurdling sound that Gloria screamed for real and the caps she was wearing over her teeth to make them look perfect flew out and went sailing right to me before landing on the floor. The horrified look on my face as I watched the teeth sail by stayed in and remained as part of the movie. -"June Allyson" by June Allyson (1982)

John Payne returns in fast paced musical "Good News" with Alice Faye (1974)

The familiar face of the 40's flicks crinkles with wrinkles as a smiles melts into a broad grin and he makes his deliberate point about the art of successful living. Payne, 61, and physically fit, was hit accidentally by an automobiles ten years ago while crossing Manhattan's Madison Avenue during a misty-dusky evening. Now he dances with Alice and it's a bit of a lark every step is an attempt to reinstate a once-sizzling career. But back home in Hamilton (Montana) he's building a big stone-glass estate on a sprawling 55-acre site.

Gloria DeHaven was awarded a divorce from John Payne in 1951, asking for 500 $ monthly in support of the couple's kids Kathleen and Thomas. They sold their 47.500 $ Beverly Hills home and took separate ways.

John Payne's best known wife was his second: Gloria DeHaven. Mention Gloria to him and he claims to draw a complete blank - "I know nothing of her present life. It has been 25 years since that marriage. I hardly remember her at all".

John Payne, whose third wife is an ex-fashion designer from Buenos Aires, says woman is man's creative faculty and power -and the balancer of his trials and tribulations. "Woman is a remarkable creature", Payne says, "She has the power to lift man's spirit and psyche. She's the fountainhead of his joy and must be wooed on all levels". (Interview by Marian Christy, February 7, 1974)

John Payne and Susan Hayward on the backlot during production of the 1948 movie "The Saxon Charm"

Audrey Totter: I made "The Saxon Charm" (1948) at Universal -- Bob Montgomery was a ruthless Broadway producer patterned after Jed Harris. You should catch it -it's splendidly bitchy and it was made before "All About Eve" (1950). Susan Hayward played the solid wife of playwright John Payne. I dated John Payne, who was a control freak. He phoned me one night and said, "I can't make dinner. I'm getting back with my wife.'' That was Gloria DeHaven, but they eventually did divorce. I ran into her recently and told her how controlling John was. And she said, "Tell me about it.'' Source: www.thecolumnists.com

John Payne and Faith Domergue in "Santa Fe" (1955) directed by William Witney

Faith Domergue, queried about “Santa Fe Passage”: “Oh yes, that was lots of fun to do. John Payne was a great big guy, so handsome. His wife Sandy and I had known each other since the late ‘40s when my husband and I were in Buenos Aires. The location work was done at St. George, UT. Sandy came up and we had a great time. We were there so long, in fact, that we turned golden red from all the dust! I saw the film again recently, and I still consider it my favorite feature.” Source: www.westernclippings.com