"She's a lovely girl, isn't she?"
"Are you asking or telling?" I kidded. It is difficult to describe the look that HERMAN gave me. Maybe you'll get the picture when I say that he looked like the kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. But whatever the look or the tone of his voice, Herman, as EVERYBODY knows, is devinely devine. There never was and never will be anyone with such a fantastic personality. Aside from his obvious good looks, there's a vast amount of GOODness in his boy-man face. You can see the honesty and integrity in his eyes and hear it in the tone of his voice. It is these outstanding qualities, plus his talent (oh, that TALENT!) that endears him to all who meet him. You land smack into Flipsville when you go under the spell of his charms.
I know. I've fallen victim. And I'm glad. It's a privilege to earn Herman's friendship and confidence.
But getting back to his question, "She's a lovely girl, isn't she?" let me tell you who that girl is. . . none other than HAYLEY MILLS! You see, she's not just any girl but a girl with the same high standards as Herman has; the same socko charm and talent. And to add to the excitement, Hayley is simply beautiful. I know Hayley and am in a position to tell you that she has inner beauty that lights up her whole face. So it didn't surprise me when I learned that Herman has a mad crush on her.
I spent a lot of time with Herman while he was shooting There's No Place Like Space. We found the oddest places to girl-boy talk. One particular day, for instance, we discovered a shady spot at the beach on a sort-of platform. True, it wasn't the most comfortable place, but it was quiet. His sandy-ish hair was tousled and he would occasionally push it from his forehead. When I asked him why he wore his hair long, he said: "It suits my face this way, as my face is very long. And besides," he smiled, "it's the fashion and I like it." Herman makes no bones about keeping up with the latest styles.
And oh, what elegant taste he has. When we got together he was wearing a tailored long-sleeved shirt with his monogram on the cuffs and a pair of very tight trousers. The shirt was light blue and his trousers dark blue. "As you can see," he said, "blue is one of my favorite colors and I also like red."
Even though I know you're just bursting to know more about Hayley, I think you'll also be interested in non-romantic items. Such as: "The Hermits and I have been together ever so long; two years. The reason I suppose I'm the head of the group is because I've got the biggest mouth and a vivid imagination.
"The boys all call me by my real name, Peter. We are friends as well as businessmen. We're very close. I confide in them when I need to and they confide in me. I don't know why, but they all seem to listen to me. Whenever a question comes up in a discussion, they ask me. As I said before, it's probably because of my big mouth.
"I have two sisters," he told me over lunch one day. "One is nineteen and is married and has one child. The other is a sweet baby and she is 20 months old. No, I never babysit, but sometimes I like to play with her; she's so pretty."
"And speaking of babes.. ." I left the sentence hanging in mid-air.
"Oh that," he laughed Hermanesquely. "I date a few different girls and I usually take them to a night club and dancing; or maybe to a party. I love parties and I also like to give them. Since we've been in the States I've given several." It's fun to be a guest at one of Herm's bashes.
It was at one of his parties that I met a young fellow who claimed to be the son of a famous actor. Herman and I discussed this and he said, "Oh yes, when I found out he was a fraud, I asked the blighter to leave. One evening, Hayley brought this fellow over to the house. You can imagine how she felt when she found out. That poor girl must have been very humiliated." It was here that a note of bitterness, envy, and I suspected, jealousy crept into Herman's voice. Up until this time, he had never dated Hayley alone. They would meet at various parties and it would seem in time that he - well, was rather shy around Hayley. I remember asking him once if he'd like to date her. He looked up at me shyly and smiled, "I sure would."
And then I said an awful thing: "But she's two years old than you are. . ."
He almost shouted: "So WHAT. . .what does that mean? Age doesn't mean anything." Then it happened. . .
"Do you know her? Don't you think she's pretty? Isn't she nice?" He bombarded me with questions about Hayley. He was also quite concerned about her being hurt by this imposter. All the time, the look in his eyes, the tone of his voice when he talked about Hayley gave his true feelings away.. "I'm crazy about Hayley. There's no other girl like her in all the world." And indeed there isn't.
GLOW is the word to describe Herman's marvelous face when Hayley joined him at the star-studded Coconut Grove opening. They chatted away like two magpies and hardly noticed the flashing bulbs. I think I was the only one who knew about Herman's crush on Hayley, though I was sure others might have suspected it the way he gazed and gazed at her. This is a night that Herman will long remember. Because he is young, There are many things that occupy his heart and mind.
"There are many things I like to do," Herman told me. "Motorbiking, which I really love; swimming and playing records. I've written some music, but no one good has ever recorded it."
Between scenes of There's No Place Like Space, he played soccer with a member of the cast. Once he yelled: "Just like I can't play baseball, you can't play soccer!"
About food: "I love fresh vegetables. I hate frigies (frozen foods). Out here we eat at home. We have a cook. Back in England, we have some good restaurants we patronize."
During one of our get-togethers, his attractive parents joined us. "My parents are chuffed with my career. I suppose you never heard that word." Herman is full of words I never heard of. Chuffed, he explained means pleased. Chessed off means to get tired of something. But there are words he used to describe his feelings for Hayley that could only mean one thing: he's crazy about the gal.
Herman and the Hermits record on the MGM label. He appears in MGM's When The Boys Meet The Girls and stars in There's No Place Like Space. Hayley is starring in Walt Disney's That Darn Cat and Bats With Baby Faces; also Mother Superior.
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