Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1963)

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Continued from page 11 interview. At any rate, their war was raging as this Innocent Bystander bossanova’d to press — breathlessly waiting for Round Two. New Yorkers Are Also Talking About: the Hedda Hopper book. “Nothing But The Truth.” It is gossipier than all the gossip-columns in the fifty States. She reveals many inside things many editors wouldn’t dare. . . . Especially the item about a famed movie star (scolded by Hopper for husband-theft) who plaintively alibi’d: “What do you expect me to do — sleep alone?” The Big Burg is tchit-tchatting about the profanity in several hit plays. Some of the gutter language makes you wince. Me, anyhow. Broadway people applauded respected playwright S. N. Berhman, who walked out on a confrere’s opus, so disgusted was he with the low state of the stage this season. In William Inge’s play “Natural Affection” we saw actors and actresses do “things” in public they probably wouldn’t do in private. I mean, not for money. In Edward Albee’s hit “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” two couples carry on (right before your eyes) and say things you’d expect to find scribbled on fences — not on a legit theater podium. Oh, I know some people are like Mr. Albee caricatured them, but I don’t want to be reminded of it. Incidentally, “ Virginia” is acted by four talented people, who are on stage nearly all evening. So strenuous are their performances that the management has a completely different troupe to play the show for the matinees. The evening cast features Uta Hagen, Arthur Hill and Ben Piazza. It is a smash. The President and Jackie attended a Broadway play together for the first time since he was elected Chief Magistrate. The attraction was “Beyond the Fringe” at the Golden Theater on W. 45th St. It is not a play. It is a series of spooftoons acted by four talented lads who slice up their British peers. From Her Majesty to the man in the street. The New York reports had it that Mr. Kennedy and his wife enjoyed the show very much. Mebbeso. I wish I had. Nearly all of it seemed amateurish — the sort of stuff you find in high school or college productions. There was a guffaw here and a howl there, yes, but at wildly scattered intervals. I could not recommend it — not at those prices, dearie. “The Heroine” was a new entry as we went to the portable to do this epic. It is risky to write about Broadway shows when you write for a magazine. Too often the show has departed by the time you reach the newsstands. But “The Heroine” had a lot of loud laughs on opening night. f Even the pickiest critics had to note that it was very funny most of the time. The author, Frank Tarloff, toyed with this amusing theme: The wife of a man who has had his ego trampled (and is such a timid fellow) schemes to rehabilitate him. The wife retains a lovely thing who doesn’t mind being described as a call girl (or as the N.Y. Times man said, a hooker) but shudders at the icky phrase “daughter of joy.” Kay Bedford (as the Mrs.) milks the audience dry with her flair for comedy, and you can imagine the hokum that comes from this plot. ❖ The New York restaurants (the smarter spots) have banded together to combat the Governor’s tax threats (on autos, liquor, etc) and the Federal Government’s cracking down on “expense” accounts. The restaurateurs came up with a corking bit of public relations. They placed memos on tables reminding patrons that one may still entertain potential customers with lunch or dinner (plus a nip or so) and write it off. The fact is that Uncle Sam will permit you to entertain lavishly. All he asks you for in return is a receipt — to show that you spent the coin trying to make your business prosper. The only thing different, as we see it, is that the Internal Revenuers are not going to allow “swindle” sheets, as expense accounts are nicknamed. * Orson Welles recently wailed that he dreaded appearing on Broadway because “critic Walter Kerr hates me.” The play he appeared in (“Moby Dick”) made a quick exit and would have — whether or not Mr. Kerr covered it. It was dull. But Orson has another critic to add to his little list of men who terrify him in New York. That critic is Bosley Crowther of the N.Y. Times. Mr. Crowther, reviewing Welles' film “The Trial,” found it a bore. Mainly because so much of it was not simple to savvy. The same movie-murderer was irritated by “Diamond Head.” He described it as “standard” and “obvious” and the acting as “hackneyed as the surf at Waikiki.” The Times’ undertaker glumly concluded: “Only the scenery in Hawaii looks real.” ❖ Frank Sinatra’s favorite late spot in Manhattan is Jilly’s on West 52nd Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue. If you’re an autograph fan and are in New York when Frankee is, that’s the best place to trap him. He never fails to make that spot when in Our Town. In Hollywood his favorite restaurant is Patsy D’Amore’s Villa Capri. It is here that the management affectionately refers to Sinatra as “The Pope.” His songwriter pal Jimmy Van Heusen is hailed as “The Bishop.” Probably two of the unlikeliest religious members of the Clan. ❖ If you happen to be one of the many people who enjoy reading about the downfalls of those playboys, Adolf and Benito, by all means read “The Brutal Friendship” by F.W. Deakin, the British historian. The title comes from Hitler himself, who referred to his alliance with Mussolini as a brutal friendship “imposed on me.” Their friendship began inauspiciously in 1926, according to the author. Hitler, then an obscure admirer of II Duce, wrote to the Italian Embassy in Berlin requesting an autographed photograph of Mr. Fascist and was politely turned down. ❖ It is very difficult for this observer to believe that Ethel Merman is serious when she says she is resigning from the Broadway stage. I know she was hurt deeply when Hollywood gave the role she created in the hit show, “Gypsy” to Rosalind Russell. And while she was a click in a smart night club at Vegas, I guess Ethel considered it “somewhat of a comedown” but it wasn’t, at all. They paid her $50,000 a week (or so I read) and I do not think anyone ever was paid that much in Vegas or anywhere to sing some songs or even do card tricks. One of the best things Dezi Arnaz did before he resigned from Desilu was to arrange for Merman to make a pilot for a new TV series. As we went to press the reports on the pilot were exciting. Perhaps a hit series will give Ethel what she needs more than money. P.S. : Ethel Merman has appeared in over a dozen hit shows on Broadway. They usually were clicks because she was the star. When the right show comes along you can safely bet she will appear in it. Nothing, Ethel will confirm, can take the place of deafening applause at a Broadway 1st Night. ❖ We caught “Capone” (the movie) again the other night. We saw it a few seasons ago when it was born. This picture reminded worried showmen that if the show is good, business will be, too. “Capone,” according to insiders, cost under $200,000 to film. It grossed over $6,000,000, they say. Rod Steiger portrayed A1 Capone, the gang chief of the 1930’s. Mr. Steiger was a kid not yet in show business when Capone was in the headlines. When I interviewed “Al” at his Miami Beach residence in 1930. But nobody in the movies or on any stage played ( Continued on page 14)