Evening star., 1955-05-09

press agents ONeI LIlcIe llSAG I
quick as their movie brethren
to clutter mans desk with
useless mementoes of some show
or other and a mans mind with
miscellaneous interviews and
screenings.
There is a difference, though.
Television, for all its popularity,
Is shade too self-conscious
about it's position among the
American entertainment arts.
Having evolved from radio at
a time when almost everybody
was sneering openly at radio,
television is sensitive.
1t would rather show its 10
than its shapely cams any day
in the week. Let a TV critic
display an interest in the more
serious aspects of the medium
and he soons finds himself con-
sorting with producers. direc-
tors, writer's, executives and
even vice presidents.
The movie press agents, how
ever, have been around. They
are not taken in by serious
critics, at least not so much that
they forget what kind of uplift
is more likely to capture a Seri-
Gus critics attention. While the
communications minded TV pub
licity folk arrange long distance
telephone interviews, the motion
picture boys take the direct ap-
proach.
Two of them are taking it
right now. United Artists has a
Mickey Spillane shocker called
kiss Me Deadly" to sell and it
is not doing it with telephone
interviews with Ralph Meeker,
the star of the affair. 1t is send
ing platoon of girls described
as beautiful, luscious Spillane
Danes" around the country,
either to call movie reviewers
attention to the picture or take
their minds off it. 1t doesn't
much matter which.
Two of these are coming to
Washington on Wednesday and
Thursday of this week. They are
Maxine Cooper, who plays a
leading role in Kiss Me Deadly"
and ElySe Novy, who doesn't play
any role in it. Miss Novy's ap-
parent claim to fame is that
she "is known for her clever
caricatures of the Spillane char
acters." Come to think OF it.
that's no mean claim to fame.
X + \ II
Another film studio resorting
to this same dodge is RKO Ra-
dio. which is no surprise since
Howard Hughes is its head man.
Hughes girls are anonymous.
described merely as -four cos
TUNED harem beauties" out
peddling a film called Son OF
Sinbad." They are touring the
country in chartered airplane
named son of Sinbad's Flying
Carpet" which, even If you
think carpets can't produce off,
spring, is no sillier than some
of the names airplanes were
given a decade or so back.
The girls Washington visit is
set for May II. Between now and
then they will be in other cities,
meeting civic leaders. modelling
at department stores, appearing
on TV and indulging in other
merchandising schemes.
In all of these. the advance
word says, "the beauties will ap-
pear in their harem costumes
short Jackets with flowing gos-
samer skirt below a bare mid
riff-at the cooperating stores" !"
The store that wouldn't CO.
operate is made of stone.
This may all seem pretty silly
to you. which is not surprising
either, because it is pretty silly.
1t has its advantages, though,
over the 3.000-mile telephone
interview. The TV people can
have those things. The movie
press agents bring around real,
live girls. It's a much neater
arrangement.
TRIPLETS, MAYBE?-This Is
an area in which no gentlemen
would dare tread. but Mama Ga.