Bing's New Leading Lady

Parade West Coast correspondent Lloyd Shearer met with twenty-two-year-old Inger Stevens to discuss her role as Bing Crosby's love interest in Inger's first motion picture Man on Fire. Shearer describes Inger in the following way:

...Inger remains herself. She wears little makeup, looks more like a coed than an actress who studied under Lee Strasberg of the Actors' Studio in New York. She speaks openly and honestly in simple sentences; she dresses in uncolorful clothes; she lives modestly in a small Westwood apartment, owns no automobile and says candidly, 'Although I'm earning $600 a week, I'm not too crazy about Hollywood.'

When the topic changes to Inger being a bit unreadable, especially as starlets go. Inger responds:

I'm a mixture of many heritages and environments. In particular, the environmental changes I've made have always been drastic. I'm sure they've affected my personality. 

Producer Sol Siegel happened to see Inger in a television production and felt she would be perfect in the role of Nina Wylie opposite his partner Bing. Siegel recalls:

I was also told she was one terrific actress and that she was under contract to my old studio, Paramount. So, I gave her a test. I liked her. Then I discussed her with Bing.

In the interview, Inger talks about the film but mostly she talks about Bing, with whom she was smitten at the time:

The first day of rehearsals I was so nervous I thought he'd fire me. Instead, he was very quiet. I found out later that Bing Crosby takes a good deal of knowing. He weighs things very carefully. He's cautious. If he likes someone, he opens up. But this takes time. He's extremely likable and an extremely fine actor. Essentially, he's an instinctive actor who doesn't realize how good he really is. He's not impressed with himself at all. The one thing that bothers him in front of a camera is a lot of takes. He gets stale quickly. The first take is usually the best for him.

I'd been on the film two days when I had to go to the hospital for an appendectomy. When I came back, Bing greeted me like an old friend. We'd all have tea at 4 o'clock, just sit around and talk. I've dated him several times and for an actor he's unusual. He doesn't like to talk about himself. He's extremely well-read and interested in more subjects than show business. He knows so much about politics, sports, painters and writers you wouldn't believe it. He's one of the most well-rounded gentlemen I've ever met. After you go out with Bing, you're spoiled for young men, of, say 25 or 26.

Right now I consider myself a very fortunate girl. I'm doing what I like best—acting. In Man on Fire I play a lawyer's secretary who saves Bing Crosby from making a lot of mistakes. In the end we wind up together. It's a good part, but the picture is basically a Crosby vehicle. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my young life playing opposite Bing. I hope I'm lucky enough to do it again.

Source: Shearer, Lloyd. "Bing's New Leading Lady." The San Bernardino County Sun. June 16, 1957. 
Note: The two photos featured in this post were included with the original article.