Whatever happened between them, it was enough to create a lasting bond. They did not communicate even though Hollywood was a small and tight-knit community. They were cordial when they met socially. Colleen was acquainted with Vidors wives, though it is unknonw if any of them jknew or suspected there might have been a romance. Years later Colleen and King would meet again and eventually end up with neighboring ranches in California. No doubt someone knows what happened, but they’re not talking… Colleen was the sort who engendered that sort of loyalty in people.

The Lotus Eaters

The next stop for Colleen after her return to Hollywood was Catalina Island to do location work on her upcoming film with John Barrymore, “The Lotus Eaters,” and then from there to New York for more location work. The film was being produced under the title of “The Lost Paradise,” and Colleen played a young woman raised on an island populated by long-ago shipwrecked sailors. As usual, her part was the part of the pure unspoiled girl, in this case entirely unspoiled by civilization. She wrote of Barrymore being very generous with his advice, helping he determine her best angles for the camera. In May, 1921, the Atlanta Constitution published a letter written by Colleen (or perhaps a press-agent in her name) wherein she described New York: “Great buildings edge each other resentfully—with never the space for so much as a friendly alley between them…. Broadway is a sea of white light by night—that light seems to shoot into the face of the sky and demand an explanation of the stars…. The subway is like the whale that swallowed Jonah; it swallows Jonahs by the million and coughs them all up at their proper destination.” This was Colleen playing up her reputation; she had been to Chicago many times and was inclined to be an explorer. Certainly she had any sights in Chicago, a city of industry and important men, that rivaled the more glamourous city of New York.

While in New York, she wrote that she actually had an opportunity to enjoy herself as a celebrity for a time, enjoyed a social life, went out on dates. She had always written that her movie career had been all-encompassing, to the exclusion of all else, though in fact she had enjoyed a social life suited to the time and place. She could go on weekend excursions, if not with family, then with friends. Marshall was part of a social circle and would no doubt have invited her along for drives out to the beach, sailing and so forth. She had won a prize for dancing with Richard Dix at the Sunset Inn. Even so, nobody can resist a story about an unspoiled young woman tempted by the glamour and razzle-dazzle of New York and Broadway. Newspapers reported that New York producers were trying to tempt her to the stage, but before she could seriously consider any offers she was back in California. Marshall was going to put her to work in “Slippy McGee.” However, upon her arrival Marshall wired her again, told her to ship out for Mississippi. On August 14, 1921, Grace Kingsley wrote in the Los Angeles Times: “The people don’t see a bunch of actors once in a blue moon, for the op’ry house is mostly given over to pictures and magic lantern shows with an occasional regular troupe performing some play not more than five years old.”

An article from the Oakland Tribune of Sunday, October 23, 1921, about Colleen's reported plans i the near furutre. The paly mentioned at the end did not happen.

It was into this setting that Colleen and the company set to work. She celebrated her 22nd birthday that month, though it was reported at her 20th, and the Boston Evening Globe wrote: Colleen had to escape Rush Hughes (son of Rupert) and Tom Gallery (screen actor) who both threatened to kiss her 20 times without a break as her gift. Before long, Colleen would be in several Rupert Hughes productions.

The Los Angeles Times had said Colleen “is a southern girl, and took naturally to her surroundings. She was one of the people, as it were, and understood and respected all their traditions and customs.”

Her southern background notwithstanding, she said something to raise the ire of the locals. This time the Times ran “Natchez Resents Opinion of Motion-Picture Star.” Some of her jokes did not go over very well. Of her, it was written: “Natchez, with it’s beautiful and cultured woman, it’s gallant men, and surroundings of picturesque beauty is famed in song and story for its unstinted hospitality, but for that hospitality to be accepted and used to the fullest by an inappreciative recipient, and then, at a safe distance to be traduced and gibed at, is indeed a glaring illustration of ill-breeding.”

Presumably things were smoothed over before the production left town; in early October the Atlanta Constitution wrote that Colleen was the inspiration for new hairdo in Natchez. Her hairdo, imported from the salons of New York, and the local girls reproduced it, calling it the “Colleen Curl.”

"His Nibs," with Chick Sales was released in late October, her only other film to be released in 1921 aside from "The Sky Pilot."