The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-09-28


Seoat down to lis Mulberry st
Just off Canal. Here stands Mar.
Goals Restaurant and PiIseria,
open until the wee small hours. n
you like to wind UP q gala night
with . late snack In a clean. roomV
food.fragrapt kitchen, this is your
spot; here you can sit and look
through a glass partition and see
Mrs. De CostanSo cooking an ltal.
Ian dish tit for king.
See that heavy wooden table In
the kitchenl That's used for pound.
ing the dough paper flat when she
hakes plaza pie. Plata pie is the
size OF an average nightclub table
for two and made OF dough. toma-
to sauce and q special Italian
cheese. Notice that juke box next to
the tsble' Well, when Mrs. Dl Cos.
tanEo's son, Patsy, used to help her
with the cooking, people would
come from miles around and drop
coins In the juke box just so they
gould see and hear Patsy Shaping
the plaza pie dough around In per-
feet rhythm to the music. Patsy is
still cooking, but not for Nom. He's
Cgt. Patsy now, company cook for
Uncle Sam somewhsrs In Italy.
Press agents never show hank
books unless they belong to eli
snts. They are q peculiar species
OF idsa-drunk worker, and barbs
neither scare nor scar them. Brash
in imagination, they recognize no
limits. and the license they take
in the name OF color" allows no
sanctuary, even for a Queen, a
President or Daryl Zanuck.
Racket.buster Dewey smashed the
six-for-five Shylocks, but no one
wants to smash the press agent
because he gives 100 to one. Ask
any star who came up the hard
way and he will attest to that.
For every dollar he paid out for
publicity, 1t returned 10 him a hun
dredtold.
This is no clannish group, the
league OF the pas. They travel
in the same limited Broadway cir
Gle, but no handshakes ever are
involved in their greetings. Each
knows what clients the other fell
low handles and checks on the
rivals work as closely, almost. as
on his own. This is a basic rule,
for the press agent feels that 1t
is only a matter OF time and good
salesmanship before that parti'
cular client switches to his fold.
adverse" publicity (there are
some on Broadway who hold that
there is no such thing, so leng as
the name 10 spelled approximately
right is the key to the approach
toward the theft. and you can al
most always detect his fine Fifth
Estate hand behind the knife that
is thrown.
But, paradoxically, In this bad
ger game II Is the client who con-
tinues to get his 100 for one
for controversy is the pollen that
flowers a career, particularly In
show business.
In this matter, to coin a clichs,
history repeats itself. A decade
ago, eFooneFs were born and got
as much space as Patton does to-
day. Several millionaires emerged
from the cocoon OF publicity
among them two who shall not
be nameless-Crosby and Valiee.
Lush days are here again for the
little singing men-and that re-
minds us OF the press agentry In
the far from haleyon days OF the
Groaner and the Adenoid.
Rudys shsky 'intinnabulations
In soto voce had set him on
pedestal erected by the housewife
clan In the apple-for.a-nickel era.
His campaign ignored the bobby
soxsF, for 1t was built around the
fascinating idea OF waiting the lit
tie woman away from the kitchen
sink and into the ephemeral plant
OF never-work- alwsys-dream.
Along came Russ Columbo with
his flacks stressing this theme
isn't he divinef And then the
pipe.smoking Bing with his china.
blue eyes and a bold pitch based
on nothing fancy, just here Is
guy who sings 'em the way that
won't make the boy friend angry!
Now came the attack and eoun.
ter.attack barrage from the press
agents. vallee got his peculiar
style by pushing lima bean up
one nostril! Con Conrad, Colum-
bo's eomposer.manager had to
hypnotic Columbo before he sang
and there was always a doctor In
attendance after every perform
ancs! Crosby couldn't sing a
note unless he downed a quart OF
whiskey to give him his husky
quality, and an inhalator was the
important part OF his backstage
equipment.
Talk OF libel suits filled the air
and fist fights were scheduled
that never quite came off, and
suddenly all three were on pedes.
tails made firm by hard box-office
dollars and long.term contracts.
The children OF that generation
have brought the singers into the
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