Cinema: Trio

Hollywood caught three of its best-known actresses last week in different poses—before, during and after—in the town’s real-life continuous performance of divorce.

¶ Judy Garland, 28, sued for an end to her five-year-old, separation-studded marriage to Director Vincente (Father of the Bride) Minnelli. Charging “extreme cruelty,” she asked for custody of their four-year-old daughter.

¶In one of the shortest (three minutes) Hollywood divorce hearings on record. Barbara Stanwyck, 43, freed herself of Robert Taylor, 39. A judge dissolved their eleven-year-old marriage, long considered one of Hollywood’s happiest, after Barbara testified that Taylor had enjoyed his freedom while making a movie in Italy and wanted “to continue his life without restrictions.” She added: “I was very shocked . . . For several weeks I was under the care of my physician.” ¶When a gossip columnist began commiserating with Linda Darnell, 27, who had just got her divorce from Cameraman Peverell Marley, 49 (TIME, Feb. 26), Linda cheerfully whipped out a copy of her wire to Marley in Florida: “Hi, dear. All went very smoothly. Congrats. You’re a free man. Have a drink with me at 8 o’clock your time tonight. Love, Linda.”