When Gene found herself at one of Monolithic Studios head Ruben Lilienthal�s legendary Sunday brunches, she felt like a fish out of water. There she was, freshly arrived from the East, confronted with the best and brightest. Face to face with the faces she had so eagerly watched as they were projected on the silver screen.

Small wonder, then, that a quietly intense group of people gathered at the croquet court on Lilienthal�s lawn drew her attention. Tentatively, after noticing a lone mallet still in the rack, she asked the unfamiliar gentlemen if she might join the game.

�Know how to play this little game, sweetheart?� asked one of the players, unlit cigar clenched tightly in his teeth.

�I play a lot back home,� replied Gene, as she took up the mallet, using the Irish grip as opposed to the standard. Jaws dropped--and she was off!

Gene was soon to find out Hollywood was a croquet-loving town--and her fellow players were high-rolling studio executives. They started out amused at Gene�s skill on the court, but by the time she�d finished (and won) the match, they begrudgingly opened their hearts to the �new kid� (and their wallets to pay off their sizable bets!).