Evening star., 1941-10-08

right more often than not, but 1t
doesn't help to stir affection.
Immediately after Welles was told
he lacked breeding" whispers be-
gan bowling down the cutters of
the boulevards where many journal
istic ears are parked.
The immediate effect of the
whispers was to arouse the imagi-
nations Of the gossip to q
kind Of bilious-chartreuse fury and
to make secure the impression that
Welles was all through and on the
way out. This impression was so
widespread that an old-time bit
part actor stopped the boy big shot
on the street of the studio lot one
day and said, Got a match. SOM"
oh, yes sir, yes indeed, sir"
Welles replied jubilantly in that
extraordinarily deep baritone of his
the kind an adolescent changeling
emits between squeaks.
Welles seemed rather to enjoy the
subterranean flurries. Although. of
COuI llODNcIN dNtudhN lCClS via I
way, he gave the impression Of
greeting the knife in the back as
an old friend and, instead of whin-
ing or yelping with pain, he merely
beloved. His theory was that little
men, poor guys, hit big men where
they can reach them-which is be-
low the belt.
So the campaign became more
intense. A Welles script was alb
stracted without permission from the
mimeograph department and passed
/ around the lot to 4 number OF
producers. none Of whom had any
/ thing official to do with 1t. They
were to act as friends Of the man.
agement" and pass critical judg.
ment upon it the single worc
"stinks" being regarded as suitable
and this mass of opinion was t
arouse uneasiness in the head Office
However, Welles couriers got onto
the scheme in time and flung out
dragnet that rounded up th'
scripts.
After that. the delays started
Welles couldn't get starting date
He couldn't get sets built or cos
tunes designed on time. Tricl
effect shots were sidetracked in tn,
department responsible for same.
1t seems all the executive rabbl'
were hooting in cahoots. "Wha
ho!' beloved Welles, being of /,
rude nature. with q taste for menta
combat in the dark, and thought ul
his own confusions. He threw ex
ecutives of his lot. When the.
sneaked back. he'd climb on a plat
form and roar, Il am bored. I nee,
baseball. Let's all play baseball.
Whereupon the company woult
knock of work and scampe
through a ball game while the ex
ecutives sprinted back to their of
fees to write heated memorandums
Dorothy Comingore was Welles'
discovery" for Citizen Kane" Al
assistant director used to shuttl
back and forth between Miss Comm
gore and her discoverer, telling Mis-
Comlngore Wnat Welies was pan
ming to do to her in the cuttini
room and telling Welles what Mis-
Comingore thought Of him. How
ever. this game was caught on t,
before it involved the principal vic
tins too deeply.
But. Just before the preview, wheI
all the Welles publicity battery wa
sparkling up the discovery of Mis-
Comingore-the picture lacked box
Office names and needed such treat
ment-Miss Comingores option wa
allowed to lapse. This was an ex
cellent way to needle the Coming or
buildup into bust. 1t was only tn
Welles unit itself, with rage tina
caused all the moustaches in tn
unit to stand out and wriggle lik
eels, that prevented Miss Comingor,
from being dropped.
So the war went. And now. tn
question is, what? Welles himsel
takes the position that he doesn'
know anything about all this and
anyway. ne had a good time fighting
But it is possible that the serious