MARRIAGE: NOW, WAIT A MINUTE, SAYS DEUEL

by Dick Kleiner, D&C-Newspaper Enterprise Association

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, June 8, 1969

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HOLLYWOOD -- "Generation" is a film, about the generation gap and you can see the difference between the generations on the set at Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.

David Janssen, between shots, retires to his trailer and reads. He was reading Carlos Baker's new biography of Ernest Hemingway.

"I read all day," he says "I get up at 6:30 and read, I read between set-ups, I read when I go home at night."

But the younger cast members–Peter Deuel, whose home is in Penfield, N.Y., and Kim Darby--are using the film for courtship purposes. They've discovered each other, as the gossip, columnists put it.

"Kim's a very special person," Pete says, "and there aren't many around like her. But marriage -- well, we're making no plans. It's difficult. The death rattle of a bachelor is a long and painful thing."

Pete Deuel is one of the brightest, most sensitive young actors around. He's bright and sensitive enough to have looked around at the marital problems of other actors.

"When two actors marry," he says, "the problems are enormous. If I work with an actress in a film, I want to establish a good relationship for the sake of our performances. And, let's face it, the average girl in a movie is a lot more attractive than the average girl.

"You find yourself wanting to sleep with your leading lady. And more than that, you find a relationship developing. You find you want it to last. You find you're in love.

"Suppose you're married. Then you have to go home to your wife with that on-the-set relationship in your pocket. It's impossible --and so are the alternatives.

"The alternatives are -- you do it and don't let it bother you, which is bad for your conscience; or you build a wall around you on the set, which is bad for your performance; or you only work with your wife, which is practically impossible."

Meanwhile, back with the girl half of this romance, Kim Darby, has a different view. Kim has been married before, to actor Jim Stacy. And she's still promarriage.

"I think," she says, "it's wonderful when two people love each other so much they want to get married. I'm kind of old-fashioned, I guess, but that's the way I feel.