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(Upper Left) John Barclay himself, lean and fall and bearing a resemblance to the younger Lincoln. (Upper Right) A sympathetic camera study of the actor in his home, with his little six-year-old daughter, Mary Cornelia, to whom he is devoted.
drama and song. London English is no more pure than Nashville English." From the way he said it I had a sneaking suspicion that he really meant it, heretical as it sounds. I made a noise like a reporter, poised a sharpened pencil and made one more attempt to let John Barclay revert to type.
"Do you find many things wrong with America?" I murmured.
America?" he said, brightening up visibly. "I've always been terribly enthusiastic about America. I came to New York in June of 1921, after a season of opera in the south of France. I've been here ever since and I haven't the slightest desire to go back."
"You mean you like the United States?"
"I think it's swell," he said. "Here nobodv depends on background for a living. The man himself counts. He's judged by what he can do. not by who he is. The man who can provide something that meets with popular approval, something that the public wants, is a success. The hifalutin artist starves to death." There was no question about the sincerity in John Barclay's lean, deeply lined face; his eyes were lighted with interest in a favorite topic.
"Perhaps the main reason I'm fond of America is because I'm interested in the future rather than in the past. I think "You're the Top" is vastly more important and interesting musically than the bleary old sob ballads that used to be the favorite repertoire of the song recitalist. Highbrows say 'you can't do this' — I say let's have a modern idiom that the man in the street can appreciate and enjoy."
Mr. Barclay continued enthusiastically . "George Gershwin or Jerome Kern are doing far more for music than — well, say. those who cling tenaciously to the past. Popular music of today has a genuine beauty, a real melodic quality and the lyrics (Continued on page 54)
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