"Tyrone Power?s mother is known as one of the most charming, talented parents in Hollywood. This story tells why she is also known as the most successful mother-in-law in the town."

?But aren't you worried?? a friend cried when Patia Power allowed son Tyrone, just out of high school at 17, to leave home in search of an actor?s career.

?Not a bit,? Mrs. Power answered, ?I?ve had him for 17 years and I think I?ve given him the right advice and upbringing to carry him safely through?And if I haven?t, then it?s TIME he left home!

In reality, when you see Tyrone Power on the screen, you?re seeing his mother. Not that Ty isn?t an individual in his own right, but the fact that he is a definite individual, traces back largely to Mother Power. Ty would be the first to say it. The way she brought him up is the chief reason for his film success, and for the success of his marriage.

If you want to know about Tyroen, it?s his mother you should ask, as I did the other evening. She?s an expert on the subject, an expert who can stand off and see him from an impersonal viewpoint-no mean feat for an affectionate maternal parent. Actress and dramatic coach herself, she trained Ty in more than his profession. She trained him also (during the long absences on tour of his famous father, Tyrone, Sr.) in what she considers a still greater art?being himself.

As a mother, Patia Power never tried to dominate her son. ?He wasn?t the kind you could dominate,? she said, but the point is that she never tried. Logically, she turns out to be the ideal mother-in-law, for she doesn?t try to dominate his marriage or his home. A successful Hollywood mother-in-law happens to be as rare as-well, as a successful mother-in-law anywhere else. No wonder daughter-in-law Annabella is among Patia Power?s most enthusiastic friends!

?As a matter of fact, I fell in love with Annabella before Ty did,? Mother Power confided, eyes sparkling in the firelight, ?my first glimpse of her was on the screen of a Hollywood theatre where I?d gone to see her in Wings of the Morning. I stopped right in the aisle.

?People with me whispered, ?Come on?-but I stood there, murmuring to myself, ?An actress!? And I came home and raved about her. It was her freedom and freshness, I think, that appealed to me most. Then when Ty began being interested in this same girl, that was perfect! It wasn?t until the production of Suez, however, that I finally met Annabella. Off the screen, I liked her even better.?

Incidentally, when you say? Mother Power? (as many do, to distinguish her from Mrs. Power, Jr.), you perhaps give the impression of a comfortably plump, chimney-corner sort of person, content to bask in the aura of her movie star son and let the world go by. Ha! No impression could be further from the truth.

In a peach taffeta hostess robe, and gold sandals that reflected the gleam of the wide gold bracelet on her arm, Tyrone Power?s mother welcomed me into a modernistic apartment with which her sophisticated charm was in complete accord. She?s a vital personality whose achievement stand on their won feet, however high any child of hers may climb. To the old-fashioned fundamentals of mother-love and helpfulness, she adds the thoroughly up-to-date outlook of a woman whose days are full of study, of charity work, and of such social events as she permits within her routine. ?If only,? she says, ?the days were 48 hours long, instead of 24!?

She is handsome, with those dark eyes and dark brows, and that exquisitely coiffed dark hair streaked with gray. Yes, but more. Well-bred, gracious, with smartness of grooming and mind and dress. The kind of mother a son would be glad to take out to dine and dance. The kind of mother who has a wide awake sense of humor. The kind--

Why, one night at half past 11, with Mrs. Power sound asleep after a hard day, Ty bounced home on his motor-scooter. At the time he was delivery-boy for a drugstore and the scooter went with the job. This was the night of the Fourth of July, and Ty had bought at terrific bargain prices the entire leftover stock of fireworks at the drugstore. Cheerfully Mother Power climbed from bed, though she wanted her sleep, and applauded the purchase. ?Splendid!? Only thirty minutes of the Fourth remained. ?But we went out in the yard and got them all shot off before midnight,? Mother Power reminisced amusedly.

Reflecting its owner (who honestly doesn?t like noise, fireworks or otherwise), that modernistic apartment of Patia Power?s is one of the few serene spots in Hollywood. Its lofty ivory walls have upon them three or four good paintings in restful greens and blues. Its furniture is bright with rust-rose and cream. There?s a deep fireplace, and a mellow glow of lamplight.

?I hunted apartments while Ty and Annabella were getting engaged,? she explained,? of course it was useless to consult those two-they couldn?t hear anyone but each other! I told them to keep a certain evening open, for dinner. ?Where?? they asked. ?You?ll see,? I answered. The evening came and I gave them this address. When they arrived, Ty stared in astonishment. ?Mother!! do you live here? When did you get the furniture? When did you move in?? ?I did all this while you?ve been making love,? I told him. They were quire amazed that so much could go on under their noses without their being aware of it. But people in love-you know.?

Ty and Annabella drop in at Patia?s apartment from time to time. Whenever they are out for a drive or shopping, they come by. Mother Power drops in on them, too-no regular days for it, the latchstring?s always out-to her. Sometimes the three of them get together twice a week or oftener, sometimes once a fortnight, but at least twice a month ?the children? take Patia to dinner. ?Some place where there?s good roast beef,? Mother Power laughed, ?I?m afraid my appetite is mannish, and roast beef never tastes so god at home as in a restaurant?.Naturally, I don?t see Ty so much as when he lived at home with me. But,? added this paragon of mothers and mothers-in-law, ?he has his life. I have mine.?

While Patia doesn?t interfere at all with this life of her son?s, she does look on with interest and appreciation. ?Annabella makes it very apparent that she regards Tyrone as head of the house. You can tell by the way she defers to his opinion. French girls are brought up like that, don?t you think? Anyhow, Annabella wants things this way.

?It pleaser me to watch them entertain. They gave a cocktail party for Charles Boyer and his wife, Pat. I hesitated when they asked me to come, because I felt it would be the younger crowd, but they said, ?Mother, do come over and look on, anyhow?, so I went. Annabella and Ty had their eyes upon everyone but watched no one (my own idea of correct entertaining); they were everywhere, making sure each guest was happy, but without obtruding themselves on anybody.

?They used the new glassware which they brought back from Europe. Really lovely dishes, especially the red plates with the white ?paper dollies? blown into the glass. Nearly every guest, lifting a cup form the plate, tried to lift the doily, too.

?Yes, they entertain cordially, and so easily, too. On another evening, when their guests were the Snacks, I noticed that they didn?t try to figure how the Snacks would entertain, but did it simply and naturally, just as they always entertained. It was Annabella and Tyrone giving a party without trying to be suddenly grand. And I think the party was a success because they were themselves.

To be oneself is so important In Patia?s scheme of things that she?s always believed her children (Ty has a younger sister, Ann) ought to be free to do what they seriously decided was best. This liberty of decision stood as Rule 1 of the code by which Mother Power brought them up to be independent individuals.

?They could always come to me for advice, yes. But I tried to let them make their own decisions, even though sometimes I could feel my stomach turning over and my hair pulling out at the roots!?

In accordance with Rule 2, she always told Ty and his sister the truth, so far as they were able to understand it at the time. ?They could ask any question they liked and get a correct, if not always a complete, answer. Then, as they went on and learned more, they never had to unlearn anything. I never had to say: ?Well dear, I told you such and such a fable because you were too young-? and so forth.

?Tyrone is a ?why? person. I?d say, ?I want you to do this,? and he?d say, ?Why?? So I?d say: ?Let?s sit down and talk it over?. Now, in my experience, I?ve found that if you do thus and thus, then so and so will happen. Here?s what I think, and I?ll never say, ?I told you so,? but just remember, if things turn out wrong, what I?m telling you now.??

Generally, Tyrone took her advice. Not always, though. There was the time when he rode the bike on Sunday. ?Not that I expect you to keep still like a statue all day,? Mother Power said-this was back in Cincinnati, when he was a small boy-?but there?s a certain standard of Sunday behavior in the neighborhood, and I?d rather you wouldn?t race round on your bicycle.?

While Mother was busy, Tyrone mounted his wheel and set off gaily down the street. Looking in one direction to see if he remained unobserved, and speeding in another, he ran full tilt into a parked car.

?When he came into the house, he was the strangest looking sight,? Mrs. Power remembered, ?half of one eyebrow had been sheared off by the edge of a fender, and with half that thick eyebrow gone his face looked so bare. ?What happened to you?? I asked. He told me. ?You weren?t supposed to ride your bicycle today?? ?No, mother.? ?And you did?? ?yes, mother.? ?Well, that?s it, isn?t it?? I said ?you?ve had your punishment.? It took quite a while for the eyebrow to grow back. Long enough for him to think things over.?

A second occasion on which Ty didn?t think things over first, but made up his mind without benefit of advice, was when at an early age he decided to bob sister Ann?s hair. Sister Ann had lovely, long, dark curls-she looks like Tyrone and bother look like their mother.-but if Ty said the curls should come off, that was alright with Ann. She has always worshipped Ty. Scissors were procured, and a very ragged job of barbering accomplished. Friends exclaimed over the sacrifice of the curls, but Sister Ann refused to feel dashed. Ty could do no wrong.

Mother said nothing much, for hair comes n again and Patia Power doesn?t waste time fretting over non-essentials. ?Why do we take life so grimly?? she said, commenting upon the crowds that rush by along the street, ?life is something to be lived. Why not live it happily and with a good air? Have you noticed on the street, how few people smile??

Tyrone needed all the smiles he could muster when-thanks to the habit of making his own decisions-he first came to Hollywood alone, looking for a job in the movies. After Hollywood?s crazy pattern, he didn?t prosper in the film capital until after he?d gone to New New York and -spotted by producer Darryl Zanuck in a Twentieth Century-Fox screen test-been summoned back again.

But during the interim, while he was finding out how cold Hollywood can be, his mother arrived on the Coast to manage a little-theatre at San Diego. She spotted for a few weeks in Hollywood en route. ?Mother, these breakfasts are wonderful!? Tyrone said when with a chum he had sampled his mother?s cookery for several days.

?Just the conventional breakfast,? his mother protested, ?fruit, cereal, eggs, toast, coffee?.Nothing unusual.?

?you?d think they were unusual,? Ty retorted with emotion, ?if you?d breakfasted on coffee and doughnuts every day for six months.?

Not until then did Mother Power realize that Ty was truly having a struggle. ?Not that it hurt him,? she remarked, ?it did him good-as it does any young fellow-a lot of good.?

She thinks of those days when she pastes the clippings now into Ty?s scrapbooks. As Keeper of the Clippings, Mother Power-aided by Sister Ann (who, by the way, paints and writes with real talent)-has an important job. Each picture rates its scrapbook, sometimes several scrapbooks, and the tomes are painstakingly filed in such a way that any desired clipping may be found almost immediately. Mother Power admits that 20 years from now, Ty will probably appreciate these records more than he does today, but at least, today, he admires the neat and businesslike appearance of the files.

?Tyrone?s a very orderly person,? Mother Power said with a twinkling her eye, ?his sense of order developed rather early. He discovered that if he threw a favorite coat or pair of trousers on the floor, he wouldn?t? find the garment next time he wanted it. He had tossed his things helter-skelter-how could ha expect anyone to know where they were??

It isn?t his sense of order, though, which Mother Power judges to be her son?s best trait. ?What satisfies me most in Tyrone,? she said, ?is his ability to go straight to a point.

?He takes time to consider all sides of the matter, he listens to what you have to say, but once his mind is made up, once he?s sure of his decision ,he drives directly for his objective. No matter what difficulties bar the way, he climbs over them or around them and keeps on.

?The second trait that gives me great satisfaction is Ty?s ability to take a beating gracefully.

?He will fight and argue to the last minute, but if you can cap his final argument, if you convince him that you?re right, then he yields-and does it well. I?m glad he has this quality.?

Yet, it is characteristic of Mother Power that she isn?t ?proud? of these traits, nor of her son?s rise to stardom. ?I?ve never felt that sense of pride about which you hear,? she said thoughtfully, ?what I?ve felt wasn?t surprise, either. It was satisfaction.?

You gather that she rather expected Tyrone to mount to the heights. And that she expects him to mount still higher. ?I can see real growth in his acting since Lloyd?s of London, she remarked. She goes over Ty?s pictures with him after each preview, points out what she thinks particularly good in his characterization, what could be improved; giving him the benefit of her expert professional criticism.

?He was a boy in Lloyd?s and a man in The Rains Came. I saw him do thing sin The Rains which I knew he was doing independently and not because he?d been told to do them. As in the scene outside the hospital, when the heroine dies and he rather goes to pieces.

?To me,? said the professional dramatic coach, not the mother, ?this proves that he?s maturing as an actor. He?s becoming self reliant. It shows in his character and his work. Marriage has done this for him.?

She sat a moment in silence, the peach robe golden-pink in the fire flicker. Her voice, friendly and magnetic, took on a deeper tone.

?I think Ty grew up,? she said softly, ?when Annabella left him so soon after the wedding to go to France, to visit her people and settle various business affairs over there. For the first time he realized his responsibility as head of a household.

?Always before, there had been Mother to see that things ran smoothly. Now, in spite of servants, there was no one but himself. Yes, that?s when Ty, grew up. Marriage did that for him, too.?