Evening star., 1943-02-03

i So McEvoy Flees
l And, in Turn. Tokes
Il WoIIop at Movies
Henry McLemore Is on his
Uay overseas. For appSort-
nately t,co ,oeeks J. p. Nc.
Epoy. scell-kno,rn Uriter. Will
substitute for him.
BY J. r. McEvOY.
Here In Washington. unless you
are knocking the Government-but
out loud-you are looked upon With
suspicion a. an allen, . spy or .
possible saboteur. Everything u
going wrong-everybody Is either
an incompetent, fool or . crook
the only fight we are winning
Is the inter- r-departmental fight
for bodies" or authority. The War
Production Board Is falling down.
The War Labor Board Is wrecking
industry. The Army Is too big. Tho
Navy is too small. And there are
too many people In Warrington
complaining that there are too
many people in Washington.
Well, today there Is one less per-
son In Warrington. I managed to
get on = train to New York by the
simple device Of climbing into the
cab with the engineer and saying.
"Shush! Military secret!" every
time he asked me what I was doing
there.
But before I left Warrington I
managed to prove to everybody's
satisfaction that was Just - good
. patriot Is the next man-maybo
. little better. There wasn't any.
thing I didn't knock. The less I
knew about 1t the louder I sounded
on-and modestly can admit now
that nobody else has ever known
20 little about 20 much.
Qualified Critic.
Which qualities me, - you can see,
to criticize the motion picture prop
uganda which various branches Of
the armed forces and the super.
secret cloak and dagger agencies are
connecting to "sel" the United
States to our Allies. What they are
really setting out to do IL to ',msell"
our Allies ON the United States they
have already bought and sell" them
another country which they won't
like nearly 30 well. Let me Sc II
I can make that as clear to you -
1t was to me before I sterted TO
explain.
When I was in Java . few years
ago, Mae Vests latest picture had
Just been barred by . board Of
censors composed Of Chinese. .
Javanese and . Elrasian, on the
sround that 1T lowered the prestige
Of the white woman In the Fsr
East"
Some months later I attended .
movie house In Mexico City with
Diego Rivera. The Indians sat on
the moor, wrapped in their serapes
and eazed fascinated at the screen
where . gallant little group Of New
Yqekers. out Of college and out Of
jobs, were hrayely starving 70 death
in . five-room apartment fllrnkhed
In chromium and white leather.
They were having . last meal to.
sether In . white enameled kitchen
with IN electric stove and ice box.
out Of which they took ham, potato
salad, ice cream for dessert. FOL.
lowed coffee, cigarettes and cigars,
and then . discussion Of what to-
morrow would bring that poor, un.
wanted generation.
So this Is hunger and privation In
Los Estados Unidos? The Mexican
poems were impressed Mr.. Rivera
clutched me ansrily.
There" he said, "those are the
pictures that make communist"
"You are wrong" I replied. know.
ing my Hollywood. Those are the :
communists who make pictures.
What the World Knows
What am trying to say II that
all the world knows that the United
States Is . combination Of . Chi
cago gang fight, = party around
Cecil B. de Miles chinchilla- lined
swimming pool, an evening with
Gene Autry. the singing cowboy.
on the old Lazy-B (for bum) ranch
and every night We 1--WE and jam
with Cokey Sam and his Musical
Morons.
All the rest Of the world knows,
because we have used millions Of
feet Of flm to prove It. that every
American girl is Lana Turner q
Betty Grable-hold that thought,
comrades and every American man
is either Clark Gable. leering out
Of the corner Of hts eye. or Edward
Robinson. sneering out Of the cor.
ner OF his mouth.
All American wives and mothers
are addlepated. and al American
fathers are undersized and hem
pecked, like Ernest Truex-and al
American boys are little thugs.
called the Dead-End Kids. and al
little girls can tap dance and sing
like Shirley Temple. Every Amer
ican oface building il 100 stories
high.
Every American home has q mile
long driveway, 10 acres Of lawn. an
old Southern front-or one made
completely Of modern glass brick
and never comes with less than two
buffers. two swimming pools and an
extra husband or wife, depending
on whether the triangle" finishes
with Z murder OK . song and dance.
Now 1t Is proposed to make mo-
ton pictures to show our Allies that
America n not Ike this af All Wa