Evening star., 1951-05-16

meets lots of writer's, playwright:
their autobiographies, and some
times Thornton Wilder. Mr.. VIII
der is a better writer than the
retired spies who write their mem
oirs.
Well, to come to the point and
take Senator Kefauver OF the
hook. one has to do something
while waiting for writers to come
to meeting places. That is why we
bet on whether writers will look
like writers.
Latest bet concerned Robert
Pirosh who wrote "Go for Broke"
the big Metro movie which will
have a fittingly big premiere here
tomorrow night at the Capitol
Theater.
This correspondent took the
negative on Mr.. PiroSh. his wife
the affirmative. This correspond
ent lost. Mr.. Pirosh looks like a.
literary man.
v q =
It would not be cricket, Of
course, to keep an author IN thel
dark on how he runs in a sweep
stakes like that. Accordingly, the
gamblers took Mr.. Pirosh into
their confidence. He was more
curious than f1attered by the news.
'But how do you tell?" he
wanted to know. what does q
writer look like? I'd like to take
you to a meeting of the screen
writers in Hollywood. say. and
give you 600 faces from which to
select the literary-looki ones"
"We have not the slightest no.
ton what writer's look like" the
wife who won the bet on Mr..
Pirosh said. eve only know what
writer's do not look like. We elm
mate these one by one-the apo
thecaries. dairy farmers, large and
small bureaucrats, etc.-untl we
have left only, well, the author
type"
Mr.. Pirosh nodded. for all the
world like a professional wordmen
at a loss for the word.
Mr.. Pirosh talks even more like
a writer which is to say like a
man who has made a profession
ais notes about many things, the
nature Of humans, the qualities
of other writer's, the overratedI
virtues of green salads, the COM
plexities of movie-making and
writing in collaboration on movie
scripts, the function Of entertain
ment, and the charm Of family
life in a relatively isolated area
such as Vaudeville canyon west
of Hollywood.
These are only a few of the sub
jects covered during a three-hour
dinner. They reflected, among
other things, Mr.. Pirosh's prefer
ence for keeping the talk away
from himself, at something more
than arms length. The modeStyI
of it is pleasant and not at all
false.
Near home, however, he is re-
luctantly willing to say such
things as that he greatly enjoys
having written two such realistic
films as battle-ground" and GO
For Broke" He wishes critics
would not take the literal qualities
of these to mean they are docu-
mentaries, or that other word,
emi-documentary." It is a form
Of praise for their lifelikeness, and
he appreciates that, but he feels
they are more than screen jour-
nalism or reportage.
Mr.. PiroSh is not fearful that
two successive films of such dra-
matte impact will type him as a
specialist in this field. The fact is
he likes fantasy, whimsy, and all
forms of ight-hearted comedy. If
he has an idol among f1lm-makers
and he frankly admits he has
1t Is Rene Clair, the French direc-
tor. M. Clair makes life dance and
makes audiences see his dancing
images of it as life's realities.
Mr.. PiroSh thinks like this, too,
and his admiration for Clair is
boundless.
X
How does it feel to work for a
studio whose executive head is
another writer, Dore Schary?
Fine" says Mr.. Pirosh. writers
understand other writers-how
their minds work-even when they
disagree on specific points Of writ
ing. Dore and I do not always
agree, but our mental processes
are alike. Naturally, he has a
great respect for writer's. He
chooses them carefully, I think,
AN6rYCENKEAyrC