Many love affairs begin on a movie
Many love affairs begin on a movie when a glamorous male is working in close proximity to a glamorous female for several months. Then, when the movie ends, so does the relationship when new friendships are made on new movies.
Such was the case in 1940’s Typhoon, starring Robert Preston and Dorothy Lamour. They quickly became an item and the press wrote at the time, ‘’Here are Robert Preston and Dorothy Lamour, who met and fell in love during the making of the Paramount production, “Typhoon,” together at a farewell party for Dorothy before she left for a vacation in Honolulu. Friends gathered at the Cocoanut Grove to bid her bon voyage, Preston abandoning his work in the San Jacinto mountains on Northwest Mounted Police to keep the date.’’
Just months after the photos were taken Robert married fellow actress Catherine Craig. They would remain married till Robert’s death in 1987.
Robert, at the start of his career, was lucky enough to catch the attention of director Cecil B DeMille who took a shine to him casting him in several pictures such as Union Pacific. These friendly feelings were not reciprocated as he later wrote, ‘’He was no director. For over two weeks of shooting, Stanwyck and I were alone in a boxcar, and because there were no crowd scenes, no special effects, just two people acting, you’d never have known the old man was on the set. He didn’t know what to do with it, except just roll and print. He didn’t know what to tell us. Also, he was not a nice person, politically or in any other way. I think the only man DeMille ever envied was Hitler. It’s no secret how I felt about him. Eventually, by turning things down, I’d insulted him, and so we had no relationship at all in the last years.’’
He never achieved star status in this period, being cast mainly as the hero’s friend, or brother, such as the marvellous Beau Geste. Becoming disillusioned with Hollywood he gave it up for Broadway eventually starring in the smash hit The Music Man. Sinatra was slated for the movie as it was considered Robert was not a big enough name. The creator of the show insisted on Robert and he finally became a star.
Dorothy would marry for the second time in 1943 and remain married till her husband died in 1978. She passed away in 1996.


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