New-York tribune., 1918-11-03
Rv Iiarriette Underhill

Aa.oa Herman "no
r.;.ss yith Sam shipman, sounds as
- ..h he would be tall and lean anc
,.sefeal looking.
" yau would fancy that he lived in
...,w;cA Village, or, at least, IL
~..s;rgtbn Square, and ate no meat
49,. his hair was long and brushed
.;rbt back from forehead that was
s..s and serene. You would fancy
T.. T., be read the plays of dead and
4 morbid minced persons. and hoped
.ne day to emulate them. This, mind
: is not because he wrote "Friendly
s..mies.v but because his name is
..,oo Hoffman. Now, there is Sam
s,;rman, We fancy him plump and
..oa natared. and not at all high brow
~ yery entertaining, just because his
ns * Sam Shipmal. And probably
!. ;.r,t like that at all. because Aaron
u.sman is like that, and not in the
49,. like the beautiful, cadavorious
:, whom we had pictured going about
III a.portfolio containing manuscripts
sndcr~his arm.
Ne should have suspected that he
&c. Of the earth earthly, when we
AIMED that he conducted mis- busi-
,..s IN an office on the fourteenth
soor III the Times Building, instead of
!, n studio in Washington News; but
shen re stepped from the elevator and
sto his office we carried with US the
,,ion Of a tall, foreign looking youth,
x;th black hair brushed straight back
iom high, oble brow. And then we
vera ushered into Mr.. Hoffman's office,
and because pleasant, well-fed, up-to-
4 a,te person greeted US we said: "Our
,uuointment is with Mr.. Hoffman,
u.s.e." And the up-to-date person
aid: "Ycs, am Mr.. Hoffman"
j We stood up under the blow without
trushipg our hands in front of our
eyes the way Madge Kennedy does
shsa she is adjusting her equilibrium !;
1 and, having fully recovered our savoir
hire, we said "Oh."
aNow," said Mr.. Hoffman, "sit
down." We sat down. "You came to
interview me, didn't you. And its cer-
| isinly very kind of you, but Pm not
! good talker," and then Mr.. Hoffman
rxseded to prove that he was.
he talked along, skipping lightly
| from subject to subject and interrupted
only by the roar OF the new subway
1 shich is almost like the roar OF
/ Niagara Falls.
"You know, I've been in this business
all my life and I've done burlesque,
musical comedy, vaudeville and every
thing, as we'll as serious drama. l
must tell you about writing Friendly
Enemies
Sam and were so used to working
together that it was the easiest thing
in the world to write that play. First
he wenld think of good line and then
would think of one, and every time
either of US would think of a new
i comedy line both of US would throw
up ou- hands and groan.
Where, now you've done it, Sam
would cry. There's a corking line for
Louis Mann and where's one for Sam
bernard? Get busy now and think up
as good one for Bernard. Remem-
her, @Friendly. enemies" must not be
merely titular.'
So would set to work and think
wNmething, and Sam would say, No.
ihaiTon't do. 1t isn't clever enough.
aad finally be would come out with a
male Of line and then would groan
ad say That's for Bernard. Now, we
acves can match that for Mann
And that's the way we wrote the
pay. And after it was finished we
aaaght We had suretire hit, and we
put II on without even the usual
sneun. of trepidation, and after the
'nf uight in Atlantic City" Cat least,
nshink he said Atlantic City)" every
we on earth had suggestions to make.
Vnt it here! Cut it there. The first
1sosght to be where the third is, and
'ss versa. You've got a great idea,
"1 ts all worked out wrong. Now, if
suh take my advice and SO on.
well, we all got panicky, including
AS-'"cods, and, will you believe it:
"1rote that play all over and started
sshearse it SO that we could use the
~ version in New York.
ana then along came little George
s'asn. You know who George is? Yes,
.a0usht so. He's fairly we'll known
~'0r. Well, George came over to see
= Play, and when the curtain went
~'n on the last act he rushed to Mr.
s''s and said: Great. You've got a
ss'e tn'ng there. Don't let any one
s~Ase line, word or a syllable