The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-04-06
THE PRIVATE PAPERS OF A
CUE REPORTER

Last week Il was reported that
certain political quarters were again
veadying 10 discredlt the movie and
stage figures The abuse tossed
as Col. Daryl Zanuck Is q starter
The FB1 now has Ia lis files
q letter written BY Nagl agent
George sylvester Vlereck,, which for.
INFLATED the attack to be made on
Hollywood and Broadway /. The
bitter irony Is this: The same page
that carried the story Of the poll
ticlans attempting to discredlt the
movie people-carried one about
three USO performers killed In q
plane crash while flying to enter
tain troops In far away places :.
Not forgetting those talented people
who died with Tamara In that LIS
bon plane wreck :. That noise you
Just heard was Carole Lombard
turning over In her tomb.
You win soon be thrilled at the
actual battle scenes Of the British
Sth Army (chasing RommeO In the
film, desert Victory. It will be
released nationally on the 18th :.
We discussed It following q prevlew
with the officer who directed It
"When we captured Bengal the
first time" he said, I'VE found hur.
riedly prepared signs nearly every.
where. They read: DO Not Touch.
VIII Be Back In IA DaysP :. The
Germans were back In L."
Several play doctors were sum.
moned to attend a show that de.
veloped aches and pains during the
out-of.town tryouts It was o
pretty sick baby, so they all spurned
the producers offer to cut them
IN on the royalties -. They want
ed cash AS one Of them put
it: "Its easier for q show to die
broke than for me to live that way"
Editor and Publisher reports that
a photographer was guiding a guest
through q Detroit newspaper plant.
When he came to the city room lay
out he said: ION this side are the
reporters. They write, but can't
spell. On that side are the copy.
readers. They spell, but can't write"
Then there's the editor, who
(deleted by the EDITOR.
They didn't pay big wages back
in the day when Eugene Field was
doing O column out In Denver -.
Field found IL necessary to live
economically Once, In mid-win-
ter, he was invited to dinner,
where big, lucious strawberries were
on the menu :. To everyone's sur
prise Field refused to eat any :.
"It would spoil my appetite" he
explained, "for prunes."
A colleague reports that Bennett
Cert. the isher-columnist, re-
ceivtd $40 from Readers Digest for
O ultap II was the one about
the man who was asked what he
though Of q show and said: II hate
to say, saw 1t under bad condi-
tions, the curtain was upl" !.
It was the gag that got us barred
out Of one producers theater about
ten years ago, when we credited It
to cIroucho Marx. Groucho told 1t
during intermission in the Globe
theater lobby i. . ShucRs, our men,
ory Is getting as good as Milton
Berle's.
In many cases great events ore
shaped because Of a personal grew
ance For example: Herr Won
Rihbentrop became violently anti
British because London society
snubbed him when he visited there
:, Vincent Sheean's new book, BE-
tween the Thunder and the sun"
BRANDON House,, Spotlights the
legend that France fell because Of a
French leaders mistress :. Sheean
says this womans' affair with Pre-
mier Paul Reynaud changed history
=. Nine. Helene de Portes was not
q Hollywood version Of femme
fatale Nobody" writes Sheean,
'.seems to have found the lady at.
tractive. She was q midle-aged wo-
man, with q Shrili voice and a clam
orous demanding manner, who chat
tered like o magpie and lost her
temper with ease. She was not chic.
she was not charming, and she was
not intelligent" Only Reynaud
was attracted to her-so France
died.
Novelist Louis Bromfield was tell
ing some of us that long before Hit
Ter invaded rance, he softened up
her leaders, whose weaknesses were
known to his intelligence agents ). :.
Hitler hired the loveliest women
from Rumania, Hungary and other
Balkan places Gave them young
fortunes for spending money and
nnn a