The Washington times., 1936-12-12
THE VOICE OF
Broadway
BY Louis SoboI-
Casual Comment!

profession to Scurry through their
files when a big story breaks, in
the hope that perhaps some time
in the dim past they may have
been the first to have given the
hint. . am, I admit with blush
ing face, as guilty as my impetu-
Gus conferseS of this obnoxious
and boring practice, and so when
each of the boys, as was to be
expected, began blasting modeStly
that he was the first to announce
the Kings friendship with Mrs.
Simpson, 1 searched through my
files only to discover that the first
mention in this department was
not until after April IS, 1885. {.
This has let me down consider
ably, because the romance had
been aired long before that, &C.
cording to the announcements Of
my rivals. However, ever
jealous where records are con-
cerned, I did little research, and
this I find-and give credit where
credit is due-the very first men,
ton in the public press of the
world that the King, then Prince
CT Wales, was finding comfort in
the company of a certain Mrs.
Simpson appeared in the depart
ment of Cholly Knickerbocker in
the N. Y. American on July 10,
1884.
Among other things, he said:
''The Prince of Wales, who once
was noted as the frequent dancing
partner Of Lady Furness, is .low
tripping the light fantastic every
where with a Mrs. SimpSon-and
the air becomes frigid whenever
Lady Furness and Mrs. Simpson
happen to meet - which fortu-
nately is not often" In April
of the following year, on the 5th,
to be precise, Cholly Knicker-
booker ran the first picture OF Mrs.
Simpson, in which the caption
openly stated the great friendship
with the Prince of Wales"
incidentally, but interesting to
note, are the current department
and fashionable dress shop ads
appearing in the daily gazetteS
-. Study the faces of the ladies
upon whom the lovely gowns
hang and you will observe that
they are all Mrs. Simpson.
A poll among newspaper men to
determine the most popular
cinema executive would undoubt-
edly result in one-two standing
for Daryl Zanuck and Mervyn Le-
Roy There is a reason for that
The MeSsrS. Zanuck and Leroy
not only answer personally every
letter sent to them by people of
the newspaper profession (inStead
of having some assistant secretary
or yes-man answer for them to con-
vey the dignity of their lofty posi-
tions), but whenever a line of
criticism appears, favorable or ad-
verse. the reporter is certain to
receive letter, either of appreci-
ation-or, in the case of unfavor-
able criticism, complete explana-
tion and occasionally of rebuke
Their motives may not be alto
gether altruistic-but it leaves
nice impression.
John Rose Gildea, colorful hab-
itue for the past 10 years of Village
biStroS, where he read his poetry
for coffee, ging and a flop, now
has a fortune of $4,000, which
proves that even loyalty to your
poetry can pay-if you inherit
money-Which Gildea did the other
day. Vernon Duke, who COM
posed practically the entire score
of '"The Show Is On" is not listed
among the composers of that revue
in the December stage Maya
zines section tagged Promised
and Hoped For" The Broadway
punSterS are now plucking their in
Spiration from Europeans muddle.
and so we inflict just one sample,
offered by Harold Stern and prom
Use not to repeat the offenSe:
Maestro SternS offering: France
gives Germany Spain in the
neck; England is being franc with
Italy; Italy is lira according to
France, and Germany had better
mark what is going on; France is
asking England to Russia a bit on
her rearmament" YeSSir, and
pretty soon cannon will be Bel
GUM death and things will be
Sweden hot.
Broadway, insists Jack Pearl,
is where they take your ideas as
soon as your ideas take Too
many Hollywood actresses pose
for stills instead of being still ..
The trouble with Hollywood is
too many supervisors are cut
ting thrOatS instead of paper
dolls A pal is a guy who
breaks your fall instead of your
heart A giggle is the little
commercial war raging on 7th
ave., between 4Oth and 41st SITS.
Among three hOle-in-the-
wall watch repair shops
Each one has a sandwich man
in front of his store with signs
reading respectively: watch Re
pairing-45c" watches Re-
paired-4O Cents" "AH
Watches repaired-25c"
With the furry of WagerS being