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Many readers have told me they consider this to be the most memorable sentence in all of John O'Hara's writings:
"The door was then opened by the most beautiful girl Alfred had ever seen."
The novel is From the Terrace, and the beautiful girl was Natalie Benziger, who was to become Alfred Eaton's mistress and later his wife.
Quoting John O'Hara in Selected Letters of John O'Hara:
"In 1922 I was in love with a girl named Gladys Suender, who was known in our set as The Creole. A real beauty, and to some extent the Natalie in FROM THE TERRACE."
In the 1960 movie version of From the Terrace, Natalie Benziger was played by Ina Baylin (1937-1990), who in my opinion was perfectly cast for the part; she looked exactly like the Natalie I'd pictured in the novel.
THE JOHN O'HARA SOCIETY celebrates the life and works of John O'Hara, Pennsylvania's pre-eminent contemporary author and America's greatest short-story writer. The JOHS studies, publishes, and diffuses works by and about the author. Membership is free. For details, contact the JOHS's Corresponding Secretary, Richard Carreño, via Philabooks@yahoo.com. © MMXXIV John O'Hara Society.
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