Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-06-10
English Near
Correct Idea
OfAmericans
Distortion Abroad Really
Misrepresented
By DAMON RUNYON

IA ciety is always a little vexS
ing to your good old Uncle
Samuel because his kinfolks
start preaching to him to mind
his manners and bawl him out If
he wants to take off his shoes
and sit around in his stockinged
feet.
They are afraid his homespun
ways will annoy the neighbors
and give them a wrong inn
preston of the entire family.
The fact that any pretense to
worldly polish and refinement on
Sans part must be utter n.y.
pocrisy makes no difference to
the folks because in times like
these hypocrisy Is practically an
essential industry.
Perhaps I am being trifie OBJ
scure but an article that ap-
peared in Variety the other day
may clear up my meaning. This
article said that high officials of
both the United States and Eng
land are greatly concerned about
the unrealistic picture of Ameri-
can life that our films give the
average Briton.
II reports a meeting of off,
Gals Of the two countries in the
United States embassy In Lon
don recently on ways and means
of slipping word to Hollywood
to cheese il on these films.
They want Mr.. Average Ameri-
can played seriously and without
distortion for the enlightenment,
as I take it, of Mr.. Average
Briton.
"DIsToRTED view of the
~ United States given for
eigners via film is, OF course, an
old story" the articles say.
american diplomats and ma
tionals abroad have been mildly
squawking about IL for years.
But IL has taken on q new and
overwhelming Importance ut the
moment so far NJ the two
English-speaking nations are
concerned because permanent
world peace may hang In the
balance"
AS you can see, ladies and
gentlemen, this is a mighty
grave situation. 1t is high time
the distortion of Americans to
the British be taken care of.
especially as it has been going
on over there for a hundred
years or more. abetted in the
past by such British writer's as
Charles Dickens and Rudyard
Kipling.
I am glad the visual evil
dence of the films has finally
made the distortion completely
apparent.
suppose the officials also
had something 10 say about the
way Mr.. Average Briton is Of
ten disclosed to Mr.. Average
American by British films,
which is an 18-karat moolie,
though 1 find nothing in the
article on this point.
NOR do I find any suggestion
~ as TO how Mr.. Average
American can be played seri-
ously without distorting him. ]
suppose the Hollywood scena-
rists can handle that. Maybe
they can make him like those
officials of our country who
are reported TO have found
time TO meet and discuss a mat
ter like this with the world
afire.
I notice that I am indicted
along with the films for distor-
ton by an anonymous writer in
something called The Outpost, a
London news letter published by
and for Americans in England,
which is quoted by Variety as
saying British views of Ameri-
cans fall roughly into four
groups. 1t says:
"Group IL, the intel ligent
but literaI-mlnded moviegoers.
These firmly believe that every
city Is alive with gangsters, that
the citizens talk like Damon
Runyon and chew gum"
I FEEL highly flattered by this
L statement. particularly the
suggestion that the group of
Britons / have influenced is in
telligent. However, I wish the
bloke had not brought me into
the discussion. He has put me
to the trouble of looking up
some statistics.
l want the members of my in
telligent group IL to know that
while not every American city is
alive with gangsters, the popula-
ton of our various penal insti-
tutions, now the largest in his
tory, is not in durance vile be-
cause they sold Gideon Bibles.
And / also wish to advise group
ii that only about 80 per cent
of the citizens talk like Damon
Runyon but that 1914 per cent
really do chew gum.
Copyright. 1912. nv King Features