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assistant manager of Grauman’s, who testified that he asked O’Hara and her companion to leave the theater when things between them got too intimate. “The gentleman was facing the screen and Miss O’Hara was lying across the seats, across his lap,” Craig told the jury in an impeccable British accent. “Her blouse was undone.” Craig fixed his flashlight on the twosome, he said, and eventually O’Hara and her boyfriend “got back in their natural positions.” Before long, however, Craig received a complaint that “they’re at it again!” He returned, he testified, to find “Miss O’Hara sitting on his lap … I told myself ‘This can’t go on.’ And I politely told them that I thought it best to leave.” Craig drew charts and diagrams of the alleged incident and a female court employee was recruited to re-create the various positions that O’Hara had allegedly assumed atop her boyfriend. The jurors then requested a trip to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, where they got a first-hand look at the seats where O’Hara reportedly had her necking session.
    Dorothy Dandridge, the elegantly beautiful star of
Carmen Jones
and the first black ever nominated for an Academy Award as best actress, also testified against
Confidential.
Dandridge had filed a $2 million lawsuit against the tabloid over the article, “What Dorothy Dandridge Did in the Woods.” The case was settled out of court—Dandridge received an apology and $10,000. The actress told the jurors that the settlement proved that the story about her was a lie.
Confidential’s
lawyer, however, insisted that Dandridge was given the relatively small sum of money because settling was much cheaper than a court fight would have been. What’s more, the defense argued, by discussing the case, Dandridge had violated the terms of the agreement and
Confidential
wanted its money back. Even worse for Dandridge, the defense produced the source of the story, bandleader Dan Terry, and an affidavit from him declaring that he had the romp with Dandridge described in
Confidential.
Terry had been paid $200 for his story.
    During the trial, a
Confidential
editor testified that the magazine got stories on Clark Gable because one of its regular sources was having an affair with the actor. The source, actress Francesca de Scaffa, was on the lam in Mexico, where she had attempted suicide. Reporters couldn’t locate de Scaffa, but when they tracked down Gable in Hawaii for comment, he, like Arnaz, developed a memory problem. “I think I would remember her,” Gable said, “but to my knowledge I never met the lady in my life.”
Confidential
editors also claimed that Mike Todd was a big source for the magazine; Mr. Elizabeth Taylor at first denied the story, but then, when presented with detailed evidence of his participation in stories, he issued a “no comment.” Scandals came out from stories that
Confidential
had decided not to publish, such as how one of Joan Crawford’s adopted children ran away from home because the actress was “cruel to them.”
    The prosecution’s star witness was former
Confidential
editor Howard Rushmore, a former Communist turned “anti-Red” crusader who had worked with Senator Joe McCarthy. Rushmore had resigned from
Confidential
in a huff over a number of disputes, including Harrison’s decision to kill a lurid story Rushmore wrote about Eleanor Roosevelt’s sex life. During the trial, it wasrevealed that several New York City and Los Angeles cops were on
Confidential’s
payroll. A well-known Texas DJ had supplied the magazine with stories about Elvis Presley’s outrageous sexual appetite.
    The testimony in the trial was so ribald that newspapers around the country grappled with how to cover it. Some tabloids exploited the revelations with lurid banner headlines like: “Elvis Wriggled on Mag’s Hook,” “V-Girl Tells of Desi Smear” and “Clark Gable Linked to Vice Mag Party Girl.” In Los Angeles—where many readers were