Mary and the Movie Mobster

Madeline Webb spent 1936 to 1939 in Hollywood, and one of her best friends during that period was Mary French Field. Mary was the wild granddaughter of poet and children’s author Eugene Field of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod fame.

Mary grew up a tomboy, preferring slacks and blouses to dresses, and going barefoot whenever possible. A mane of thick hair cascaded down past her shoulders, and she would stand every day and brush it until it glowed.

In 1936, Mary ran off to Arizona and married a naval officer, Robert Beer. She was 19. He was 25. She followed him to Hawaii when he was stationed there but preferred beachcombing to the Navy social life.

Within a year, Mary fled back to California. The trip was written up as a homecoming in the society pages, but the couple divorced soon afterward.

Mary settled in the Pasadena area where an uncle and two aunts lived. She often visited Los Angeles and frequently stayed with Madeline when she did.

Mary French Field with brother Fred (center) and cousin Eugene Englar in 1962.

Madeline’s phone rang at 5:30 one evening when Mary was staying over. It was Joe Gray, one of the two brothers who looked after George Raft.

“Are you busy tonight?” he asked.

Madeline said she was not.

“We’re all here,” Gray said. “George just got back from another trip. He’d like to see you. I’ll come over and get you.”

She asked if she could bring a friend. Gray said yes.

She hung up and told Mary they were going to Raft’s.

“What would I want to meet Raft for?” Mary asked. “Those actors, I can’t stand them.”

“Mary, he’s not like that. He’s a very fine person,” Madeline said. “Raft said to me, ‘Anything I’ve accomplished in my life, any refinement I’ve had, has been given to me by women.’”

Mary relented.

At Raft’s apartment, Madeline noticed the actor’s eyes would often slide in Mary’s direction.

Raft was married, but had long before separated from his wife, Grace Mulrooney. She refused his entreaties for divorce and he made do with a series of highly publicized affairs. At the moment, he was dating Virginia Pine.

Mary asked Raft for directions to the bathroom, and he pointed her down a hall. “Just go to the one by my bedroom,” he said. “Just go on through.”

She was gone a long time. Madeline always considered Mary a bit of a devil. After her divorce, Mary had fallen in love with a writer but the relationship ended badly. So badly that Mary told a group of friends, “I think I’ll go out and get syphilis and give it to him.”

Mary was five years younger than Madeline and taller, with straight hips and a full bust. Her year in Hawaii had given her a permanent honey-colored tan that intensified the aqua blue of her eyes.

When she finally reappeared, she was wearing a slack suit of Raft’s.

“I’ve been looking in your closet,” she told the actor.

Raft looked her over. “That’s one I haven’t worn yet. Come on, let me show you some more things you might like.”

Madeline and the two Gray brothers sat and waited in the living room. Madeline had a drink. Joe Gray and his brother, Mack, had a drink. They waited some more. They raided the refrigerator for a snack of pot cheese, sour cream, and chicken livers.

“I have to go to bed,” Mack finally said. “Listen, Joey, you might as well come to bed with me because nothing is going to happen out here with Madeline. You’ve been trying too long.”

Madeline asked, “What am I going to do? I ought to go home but I should wait for Mary.”

Mack went to a closet and brought out a full-length coat. “You rest here on the divan,” he told Madeline. “Just go to sleep.”

“Oh, not that coat,” she protested. It was fur.

“Sure, this coat. Just go to sleep.”

He covered her with the coat and she drifted off. Mack and Joe woke her in the morning. They went into the kitchen to fix breakfast. There was still no sign of Mary. Madeline laughed and told the brothers, “I really had to argue with her to come.”

When Mary finally joined them in the kitchen, she reminded Madeline of a cat, stretching and purring. Her tousled hair caught the morning sun. She had orange juice and a cup of coffee, then Joe got the car and drove them back to Madeline’s apartment.

Once inside, Madeline looked at Mary. “So you didn’t want to meet George Raft, huh?”

“He’s the most marvelous man,” Mary said. “I’ve never had such an experience in my life!”

Raft opened a charge account for her and told her to buy as many tailored slack suits as she wanted. He took her out several times before turning his attention back to Virginia Pine.