Evening star., 1953-05-19

philosophy which makes these
NBC-TV interviewers so reward
ing. His politics, religion and
philosophy are closely inter-
twined in Mr.. Wright's archi-
tectural theories. He is, clearly,
a liberal who believes human
values should take precedence
over other values.
He speaks of his organic
architecture" as "the architec-
ture for freedom and democ-
racy." It was his revolution
against the fascist box" type Of
architecture.
Mr.. Wright and his thinking
are marked by a strong urge to-
ward unity. toward complete
ness and correctness. The first
factor affecting his design of
any house, he said, is "the
family it is designed for" The
house also must fit into its sur
roundings.
When he is successful at
achieving this unity. you can't
imagine that house anywhere but
right where it is"
r X
The reason Mr.. Wright fol-
lowed the innovator's path rather
than an easy one was simple, as
he explained it.
In my YOUTH" he said, moth
ing of the sort that I wished
existed" There was nothing for
him to do but create what he did
want.
EARLY in my life," Mr.. Wright
said a bit later, Il had to choose
between honest arrogance and
hypocritical humility. I chose
honest arrogance and have seen
no occasion to change"
For all his success, Mr.. Wright
has had his disappointments.
The greatest of these, he said
In answer to Mr.. Downs uues-
ton, was "a wave of imitation"
instead OF emulation. This is a
discerning man and we're quite
happy that NBC brought him
over to chat for awhile.
This "elder wise men" series
incidentally. has been marred
just a trifle on at least one oc-
caslon by an interviewer who
asked several questions which
could only be answered by a yes
or no and repetition of the
question. Mr.. Downs. happily, did
not display this fault. He played
the interviewer role elf-effac-
ing. He asked What do you
think?" questions and stayed out
of Mr.. Wright's way.
+ X
ONCE AND DONE-Before he
turned to television, Jack Benny
was discussing one day some of
the problems involved in the
change. One of the reasons he
liked radio (and probably still
does) Is that it permits a wide
play on imagination. It hasn't
always made the best use of this
quality. but it does make use of
Imagination possible.
"On RADIO" Benny said, "you
can walk on the ceiling. You
can do all sorts of things you
can't do on television." There
was, to cite one thing. he went
on. that business of his vault,
which was a continuing gag on
the radio show. Benny thought
the sound effects men had made
that into a tremendously funny
bit OF aural comedy. But, could
ne do it on television, a much
more literal medium? And could
he repeat it as running gag?
The answer would now seem to
be yes and no. He did a scene
in the vault Sunday on his last
CBS-TV show of the season.
With wild alarms, intricate locks,
crocodiles and an armed guard
to protect Benny's cash from
burglary, the special effects men
made this a highly comic pas
sage. It was very funny on a
novelty. f1rst-time basis, how
ever. AS far as television is con-
cerned. the Benny vault has had
it for some time to come.
This was. by the way, one of
the best Benny shows of the sea-
son, moving at such a clip that
the half-hour seemed to pass in
IS minutes. But it used up in
one showing q comedy which
served endlessly in radio.
" &EDNI0PE