The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1942-08-07
BY PETER EDISON
Monitor-Leader Washington
CORRESPONDENT

This is by way of checkur
on Melvyn Douglas - remem-
Der? OF course you can't forget
Melvyn Douglas of Hollywood
but not much has been heard OF
Melvyn Douglas of Washington
since last February, when he
burst on the capital screen right
at the moment when the Office
of Civilian Defense was going
through its worst fan dancing
troubles.
That's all over now, and In
the meantime Mr.. Douglas has
been saving lot of wood for
himself, between making pic
lures. He took six weeks off late
in the winter to do one job in
Hollywood and has a couple
weeks more to do in finishing
up a second. The rest of the
time he had been in Washing
ton. He AIRED a house in
Georgetown for a while, but
gave that up and now lives in
a hotel. The crowd around the
OCD headquarters Say he burns
more midnight oil in his office
than almost any other execu-
tive.
His office is just another room
in what used TO be a small suite
in the DUPONT Circle Apart
ments. His staff is seven people,
two in New York, five in Wash
ington, including two assistants
and three secretaries and clerks
Everybody gets paid except the
boss, who draws only $40 a day
subsistence, when he works.
The Douglas bur- au in OCD
has been rechristened from the
81 40 WAR Council of the Arts
to the humber and much more
effective tWo-bits- including tax
title of Volunteer Talents I'm
it," And if you have talents that
can be put to use to help your
country win the war, this is the
place where they can be put to
work. Conversely, if you want
talent, this is the place to get
it.
IMPRESSIVE LIST
The list of major activities
and accomplishments of t n S
Volunteer Talents Unit in the
past six months, since Mr.. Doug
las took over, fills several pages
and it covers odd jobs done in
the fields of writing, art and en-
tertainment.
Here are a few typical exhib-
its:
For the Army Air Force, the
VTU lined up writer's to COM
pose slogans, write articles and
even fiction publicizing the fly
ing service. 1t got people like
Dorothy Thompson, v n &c n
Sheehan, Katherine Brush and
Edna Furber. Similar jobs were
done for the Signal Corps.
1t talked Rodger; and Hart
and others into writing bonn
bardier songs.
For the OPA, the Douglas Of
flee had Janet Flanner prepare
a speech on price sterilization.
This was sent to state and local
defense councils for the use OF
local speakers.
For the Treasury's war bond
mpai ign, volunteer talent
wrote some 800 slogans, and
prepared minute-man speeches.
Mary Roberts Rinehart, j. p.
Marquand, Elmer Davis and 9TH
ers of that stripe wrote 'em ar
ticles for "Our America" and
Stephen Vincent Benet wrote a
half-hour script for network
broadcast on the anniversary OF
the German book burning.
Whooping up holidays h s
been one Of the biggest activi-
ties of the volunteers. For the
United Nations celebration or
June Ia, it was the Douglas Of.
flee which lined up Eric Bar.
now to do a Is minute radio
sketch for local production
Maxwell Anderson prepared q
pageant for local community
use. early l 900 copies OF
these two opuses were distrib-
uted.
The Hollywood Writers Mo-
bilization Committee has kicked
in with a lot of this preparation
Of scenarios and scripts for To-
cal use, too.
ACTIVE IN ART
Another theater eff fort has
been in preparing scripts for
USO camp shows.
Mar gare Leech wrote a
speech on Lincoln which Ray
mond Massey delivered on Me-
mortal Day.
Foreign language writers have
been lined up to help with the
propaganda efforts of the Office
Of War Information.
RI