Evening star., 1943-03-14
A Busy Man
On the Blue Net
Is Paul Dudley
An Informal Course
In Barrymore School
Broadened Scope
NEW YORK.

Broadened Scope
NEW YORK.
BY the word, Paul Dudley Is one
OF the highest paid writer's in the
country, yet few of the people who
hear his words ever heard of him.
He's one Of those boys America
used TO specialize In, the kind who
prove that the phrase. this is the
land OF opportunity" isn't an Amer
ican hoax. At the moment he Is
proving 1t to the resounding tune
Of go. 900 a year.
Dudley started out IL years ago.
spinning phonograph records for $40
. week at Boston radio station.
Probably no one around was opt-
mistic enough to foresee the day
when he would be the executive pro-
ducer, director and writer of the
spotlight band show six nights \
week. and the Morton Downey show
five afternoons week.
Then came the terrible night he
got up In front of what he foolishly
thought was a dead microphone to
entertain the boys around the con-
troll room with an imitation Of Gov.
Curley Of Massachusetts.
The text of his playful spiel was
spicy political revelation and all
Boston was treated to the expose.
1t was a perfect example Of the ex-
preston. more mimic than wit,
more wit than wise" Dudley was
out Of work.
At about this time Elaine Barrie
pulled into Boston in her first show
and teeded technical radio training
for the radio series The Great Ro-
mances OF History" which she was
to do with the late John Barrymore.
Dudley coached her in radio tech
nique and then the fun began.
Life With Barrymore.
Barrymore hired me to 70 to
California and adapt Shakespeare
for his early radio programs. I
went by way Of New York and had
may pockets picked in a dim-a-
dance place so I arrived at the
Beverly Hills estate in a bus"
For year he lived with the
Great Profile" was the master
mind behind Barrymore's ariel and
caliban romance with Elaine. sharp
ened up Shakespeare for radio con-
sumption, managed to keep his own
identity intact-and was denied life
Insurance by companies who figured
any house guest OF Barrymore must
be a poor risk.
Commentaries on Shakespeare
never have Jared very well except to
show how inferior every other writer
Is to the great bard, but Barrymore
was 80 pleased with Dudley's revis-
ion Of Hamlet that he wanted a
credit line inserted "Hamlet's solilo-
guy by William Shakespeare with
additional dialogue by Paul Dud-
ley" More conservative minds In
terfered.
He likes to remember one year,
the trips on the yacht Infanta (once
to Alaska, nights at the house
(Which Barrymore once described as
a Chinese tenement) when John
reminisced about his family or read
aloud or just ragged.
Before I got too used to all that
luxury which I couldn't possibly pay
for myself. I got out and went to
work installing refrigerators. And
then I answered an ad for a radio
announcer and beat the other IS
applicants because the man who
interviewed us said looked the
hungriest."
The job turned out to be practi-
cally as ir-raising as working for
Barrymore. He had the mild title
OF special events director and the
bold obligation of reporting tunnel
explosions, airplane crashes and like
catastrophes. Once he was shot at
while covering q maritime strike.
When he puts together a program
around big-name orchestra for the
nightly Spotlight Band show, he
wants that band on its mettle even
II it Is the hundredth time the boys
have played the same tune. And
wher he gets through rehearsing
them they are on mettle and stay
that way for the broadcast.
Conscientious Aranxer.
The Spotlight Band show is put
into a different camp, base or war
factory every night. and engaging
orchestras for this special events
show is one of Dudley's chores; so is
picking the tunes to be played. His
own whims in this matter have
nothing to do with 1t. Rather he Is
guided by the written requests of the
boys in the camps and the factory
workers.
After the groundwork has been
laid, he wires or telephones for the
individual background of the spot
where the program Is to take place,
writes a personalized script for the
program and eases in the CONNER
ciaL.
Spadework on the Morton Downey
show involves reading Morton's fan
mail and building the program along
the expressed desires of his women
listeners.
The Dudley's (the distaf side of
the firm is Joy Hodges. the actress
do not have much of home life. In
the 10 months they have been mar.
ried, Miss Hodges has been on the
road three months with Best Foot
Forward" and even when she's home
Dudley puts in a l4-hour working
day.
Neither of their jobs is the kind
that can be left behind at the ONCE
so the conversation is all lively pro-
fessional talk. Joy says she knows
just enough about radio to drive
Paul crazy. And he says II die at
her criticisms"
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