ecstaticSome have viewed that remark as a rather pithy comment on Powell's approach to intimacy (remember that he was more than a decade and a half older than his bride). More likely, it was Carole's way of disguising her rather shaky health now that she was a newlywed. Lombard -- always a contradiction in that she was active and athletic, yet often laid low by illness -- had apparently caught some sort of malady (possibly food poisoning, perhaps the flu) that kept her Hawaiian fun to a minimum.
With that in mind, I'd like to present an artifact of that honeymoon that I only recently discovered -- a rare photograph of Lombard and Powell. Each are wearing leis, so there's a good chance that it was taken soon after they had arrived in Hawaii, with the bride's medical troubles yet to come:
This was one of many pictures in a scrapbook of celebrities visiting Hawaii during the 1930s -- most of them film stars, but also including a few shots of Franklin D. Roosevelt (I'm not sure whether they were taken before or after he became president -- we know he wasn't campaigning in Hawaii, because it wouldn't become a state until 1959). Lombard was listed as "Carol" in the scrapbook, several months after she had adopted the "e"; she was far less established than Powell, still perceived as a budding star.
You can find these pix at "Give Me The Good Old Days!" ) http://www.elbrendel.com/2009/01/hollywood-in-hawaii.html), at a site that describes itself as "A blog about El Brendel, old film, and any other s--- I feel like writing about." (El Brendel was a comic actor in early talkies known for speaking in a mock Swedish dialect, though I don't believe he himself was actually Swedish. His best-known film is probably the 1930 sci-fi musical -- yes, you read that correctly -- "Just Imagine.")
A great find, and a nice addition to our collection of Lombardiana.
