Above: Former Prohibition agents Isidor "Izzy" Einstein (right) and Moe W. Smith meet at a New York City bar in 1935. Known for their clever disguises and unorthodox tactics, from 1920 to 1925 the duo confiscated roughly five million bottles of illicit liquor and arrested 4,932 people. (Wikipedia)
Legendary Americans come from all walks of life—sports stars, movie actors, political and business leaders—and they also come from unlikely places; take for example a pushcart peddler and a cigar store owner who became national celebrities for their exploits during the first years of Prohibition.
June 6, 1936 cover by Constantin Alajalov.
Prohibition agents Isidor “Izzy” Einstein (1880–1938) and Moe W. Smith (1887–1960) were known for their clever disguises, but the author of their “Where Are They Now?” profile was also in disguise—the piece was written by James Thurber under the pseudonym Jared L. Manley.
Einstein was 40-year-old pushcart peddler and postal clerk when he applied for a job as an enforcement agent at forty dollars a week. Although the 5-foot-5, 225 pound Einstein wasn’t the agency’s “type,” he convinced the feds that there was an advantage to not looking the part (the Austrian-born Einstein also spoke six languages). After landing the job, he asked if his friend, cigar store owner Moe Smith, could join him, since “he doesn’t look like an agent, either.” Some brief excerpts from part one of “Where Are They Now?”
TRICKSTERS…Clockwise, from top left: Isidor “Izzy” Einstein (right) and Moe W. Smith; the pair sported hundreds of disguises (Einstein on the left); Einstein’s badge and his bestselling 1932 book Prohibition Agent No 1; Daily News clipping from September 1920 showing results of a raid—Izzy and Moe are at right and left. (history.com/Library of Congress/Wikipedia/goodreads.com/nydailynews.com)
In her 2012 article for Smithsonianmagazine (“Prohibition’s Premier Hooch Hounds”), Abbott Kahler notes that the agents were victims of their own success. “Superiors grew to resent their headlines, and other agents complained that their productivity made their own records look bad…In November 1925, Izzy and Moe were among 35 agents to be dropped from the force.” Both men went on to successful careers as insurance salesmen. Want to know more? Read Kahler’s excellent account of the duo at the Smithsonian magazine’s website.
TRIBUTE ON THE TUBE…In 1985 Art Carney and Jackie Gleason starred in CBS’s made-for-television film, Izzy & Moe, which was loosely based on the exploits of Izzy Einstein and Moe Smith. (imdb.com)
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At the Movies
Two of the better films playing in Manhattan cinemas featured murders and matrons, the matrons played by Britain’s top female screen star, Madeleine Carroll, and America’s queen of screwball comedy, Jean Arthur. Critic John Mosher observed that their films were the only ones with any “life.”
TRADING GALLOWS FOR A GROOM…Top, Madeleine Carroll portrayed a “lady of privilege,” accused of murder, who falls in love with the prosecuting district attorney (George Brent) in The Case Against Mrs. Ames—Scotty Beckett played Carroll’s son; below, Jean Arthur and William Powell in the comedy-mystery The Ex-Mrs. Bradford.(imdb.com/mikestakeonthemovies.com)
Other films reviewed by Mosher were rated as “negligible” and “disappointing,” despite their talented casts…
TRAIN SPOTTING…Clockwise from top left: Esther Howard portrayed a “flirtatious dowager” who worked her charms on Jack Oakie (center) in Florida Special; Sally Eilers prepares to board the Florida Special with Dwight Frye and Claude Gillingwater; Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell in Trouble for Two; Montgomery (left), Leonard Carey, and Frank Morgan in Trouble for Two. (pinterest.com/imdb.com)THE OLD PRINCESS IN DISGUISE TRICK…From left, Grace Moore, Eve Southern, and Franchot Tone in The King Steps Out. (IMDb.com)
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From Our Advertisers
Last week Lois Long mentioned the return of famed Greenwich Village restaurateur and Sheridan Square funboy Don Dickerman. The June 6 issue featured two back-of-the-book ads placed by Dickerman that promoted his latest venture at Port Chester…this ad was on the bottom of page 75…
…and turning the page, you’d find this at the bottom of page 76…
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN…In 1916 Don Dickerman (1893–1981) opened a tearoom called the Pirate’s Cave at 133 Washington Place in Greenwich Village. The 6-foot-6 artist and entrepreneur was famous for his many themed establishments as well as for his eccentricities. Obsessed with pirate life, he dressed in full pirate gear in both public and private life. (facebook.com)
…Pacific Pottery was among firms in the 1930s marketing informal dinnerware featuring vibrant glazes and Art Deco streamline designs…
…you don’t hear much about the “June Bride” these days, but 1930s advertisers played up the tradition to sell everything from fashions to refrigerators…here the folks at Fisher made sure they connected their solid steel “Turret Top” to the safety of newlyweds…
…Stage magazine promoted its extensive coverage of “After-Dark” entertainments at home and abroad…
…the brewers of Pabst joined a handful of other beer companies promoting their product in newfangled cans…
…Dr. Seuss continued to find new gags to promote Flit insecticide…
…James Thurber kicked things off for the issue’s cartoonists…
…Charles Addams took in the sites along with some June brides at Niagara Falls (the barrel in the water reads “Just Married”)…
…W.P. Trent contributed this caption-less cartoon…
…Carl Rose continued to document the strange happenings of an election year…
…William Steig got superstitious…
…one of Helen Hokinson’s “girls” gave props to lemon meringue…
…and Hokinson again, and an unlikely claim at the salon…
…Alain presented an artist’s greatest challenge…
…Otto Soglow gave us an ideal sandwich board duo…
…Alan Dunn illustrated a “selfless” act…
…a moviegoer found a derivative moment at the cinema, per Whitney Darrow Jr…
…and we close with some idle chat, courtesy of Barbara Shermund…
Above: Pierre Lelong painting (circa 1950s) of the outdoor café at New York's Hotel St. Moritz (left); view of the St. Moritz and Café de la Paix, 1944.
After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, nightlife in Manhattan slowly picked up steam. By 1936 things were swinging, and although the club scene wasn’t as heady as the Roaring Twenties, there was still plenty to entice New Yorkers into the night air.
May 23, 1936 cover by Perry Barlow. The Texas-born Barlow (1892–1977) published 135 covers and 1,574 drawings in The New Yorker from 1926 to 1974. According to the late Lee Lorenz, Barlow’s drawings were elegant and deceptively casual, “delineating the absurdities and frustrations of the suburban middle class.” Barlow’s wife, Dorothy Hope Smith (also a successful artist) collaborated with her husband on many of his covers. Lorenz noted that “being partly color-blind, [Barlow] depended on his wife to provide the color for his drawings.”Before we get to our top story, here is a self portrait of Barlow featured in the April 26, 1941 issue of Colliers (via Mike Lynch Cartoons):
Lee Lorenz described Perry Barlow as a modest man: “Tall, lean, and soft-spoken, he seemed to many of his friends the image of the laconic Texan…(his) drawings remain fresh, and the generous and civilized sensibility behind them is a reminder of a quieter, kinder world.”
Now let’s enjoy a relaxing evening with the world’s greatest nightlife correspondent, Lois Long, who checked out the latest outdoor drinking and dining options in Manhattan. Excerpts:
AL FRESCO…Clockwise from top left: Whimsical illustration of the outdoor cafe at the Hotel St. Moritz by French Post-Impressionist painter Pierre Lelong, circa 1950s; view of St. Moritz Hotel and Cafe’ de la Paix, 1944 (in 1997 Donald Trump planned to gut the St. Moritz and cover it in glass; fortunately it was sold before that could happen); circa 1940s postcard depicting outdoor dining/dancing area at Tavern on the Green; dancing and drinks at Tavern on the Green, 1963. (scan by author/mcny.org/ephemeralnewyork.com/nytimes.com)
DANCING WITH THE STARS…Clockwise, from top left: The Waldorf’s Starlight Rooftop in the 1930s; Lois Long referred to the Waldorf’s multi-talented bandleader Orville Knapp as a “handsome dog”; actress Mary Taylor makes an entrance at the El Morocco in the 1930s; color image of the El Morocco’s Champagne Room, 1960. (notjustalabel.com/findagrave.com/facebook.com/life.com)
* * *
Keeping the Flame
E.B. White began his column with a hopeful message regarding the power of truth in the face of Nazism:
OH SHUT UP…Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels giving a speech in Lustgarten, Berlin, August 1934. (Wikipedia)
…White also commented on some “unnerving” moments while encountering quadruplets and a Nazi dirigible…
SISTER ACT…At left, the Keys Sisters circa 1936—Leota, Mary, Mona, and Roberta—were a national sensation and America’s most famous set of quadruplets. They were the first quadruplets in history to graduate from college (Baylor 1937), and they traveled thousands of miles on “goodwill tours” to promote Baylor University and the Texas Centennial Exposition of 1936; at right, the Hindenburg looms in the night sky just minutes before it was destroyed while attempting to dock in Lakehurst, N.J. (baylor.edu/British Pathé)
…and one more from White, here musing about Lucky Luciano’s residence at the Waldorf (Penthouse 39C, where Luciano was registered as “Charles Ross”)…
WALDORF ROUND TABLE…Lucky Luciano (back, center) with associates at the Waldorf-Astoria, circa 1936. Luciano regularly entertained prominent mobsters like Meyer Lansky and Frank Costello at the hotel. (dc.lib.jjay.cuny.edu)
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Headline Acts
From 1935 to 1939, the WPA’s Federal Theatre Project gave work to more than 12,000 unemployed actors, directors, writers, designers, stagehands, and seamstresses while staging more than 1,200 productions across twenty-nine states. Although Wolcott Gibbs wasn’t too impressed with the project’s “Living Newspaper” performance, he deemed it worth seeing as the best thing on stage in the waning days of the theater season.
TOO SUCCESSFUL…As the director of the WPA’s Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939, Hallie Flanagan (left) oversaw the hiring of thousands of unemployed theater workers and the production of nearly 64,000 theatrical performances. At right, a scene from a “Living Newspaper” performance in the 1930s. Despite its enormous success, the project was abruptly shut down by Congress on June 30, 1939, due to its progressive social commentary. (nara.gov/loc.gov)
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At the Movies
The romantic musical Showboat was a big hit with Broadway audiences after it premiered in 1927, but the play’s first film adaptation in 1929 fell flat; it was shot as a silent and then partially re-shot to incorporate sound dialogue and singing. Film critic John Mosher referred to that version as something “made awful on the screen,” and wanted his readers to know that the new 1936 adaptation had been “magnificently handled” by director James Whale (perhaps best remembered for 1931’s Frankenstein).
THE OLD MAN…Clockwise, from top left: the show boat Cotton Palace sets out on the Mississippi River to much fanfare in 1936’s Show Boat; Jeanette Dickson and Jimmy Jackson kick up their heels before the boat departs; Irene Dunne (right) and Helen Morgan in a dramatic scene; Paul Robeson performing his iconic rendition of “Ol’ Man River.” (collider.com/criterion.com/nystagereview.com)
Mosher also reviewed the musical It’s Love Again, finding the comedy “cumbersome,” filled with “very British stuff of the kind we don’t understand over here at all.” He also had little to say about And So They Were Married, expressing sympathy to actress Mary Astor as “the conspicuous victim of effort…”
NOT PLAYING DOCTOR…Folks of certain age will recognize Robert Young from the 1970s TV series Marcus Welby, M.D. Prior to that he appeared in more than one hundred films. Top photo, Athene Seyler, Robert Young, and Jessie Matthews in It’s Love Again; Below, Mary Astor and Melvyn Douglas with child actors Edith Fellows and Jackie Moran in And So They Were Married. (imdb.com)
And then there was Speed, Jimmy Stewart’s first leading role. Mosher couldn’t make sense of it, but the film did launch Stewart into bigger roles.
OUT OF GAS…Jimmy Stewart as race car driver Terry Martin in Speed.Wendy Barrie played the love interest Jane Mitchell, who was secretly the heiress Jane Emery. The film received tepid reviews, but it helped launch Stewart to stardom. (collider.com)
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From Our Advertisers
The folks at Hormel were back on the inside front cover with another tale from the annals of onion soup…
…and summer fashions once again dominated the opening pages of the magazine…
…Packard answered Cadillac’s pastoral ads with one of its own…
…while the distillers at Seagram’s wanted to reassure thirsty Americans that there was plenty of the hard stuff to go around…
…anticipating the season of the June bride, this ad helpfully suggested the Toastmaster toaster (and accessories) as the ideal gift for the newlywed…
…this ad for Stage magazine featured actress Lynn Fontanne as the mysterious countess Iréne in Idiot’s Delight…
…Fontanne’s play, along with several other stage and screen diversions, were advertised in the back of the book…
…pin-up artist George Petty drew up another odd couple for Old Gold cigarettes…
…While the makers of Lucky Strike cigarettes gave their smokes a homey appeal…
…on to our illustrators and cartoonists, we have spot art from Susan Willard Flint…
…and Christina Malman…
…and Daniel ‘Alain’ Brustlein (for the “Theatre” section)…
…this next bit of spot art has me confused…the signature appears to belong to Arthur Getz, yet the image suggests an early drawing by Ludwig Bemelmans…Getz and Bemelmans were contemporaries at the New Yorker, and both were prolific spot art contributors…
…the drawing seems to anticipate Bemelmans’ 1939 children’s book Madeline…
…Richard Taylor found inspiration on the Broadway stage…
…Peter Arno showed us a sugar daddy receiving an earful (via ear trumpet)…
…Carl Rose offered some Southern-style electioneering in this lively illustration…
…by contrast, James Thurber’s spare lines told us everything we needed to know about this couple…
…Ned Hilton spotted an outlier at an outdoor café...
…Alain again, here anticipating a big surprise…
…Helen Hokinson offered a helpful fashion tip…
…and we close with Mary Petty, and a motherly retort…
Above: At left, the Nazi Party sought to remake Christian holidays such as Christmas into Nazi-themed, pagan events, even trying to redefine St. Nicholas as Wotan, the ancient Germanic deity; at right, Adolf Hitler rejected Christianity, calling it a Jewish plot to undermine the heroic ideals of the Aryan-dominated Roman Empire. Here he is seen meeting the nuncio to Germany, Cesare Orsenigo, on January 1, 1935. (reddit.com/Wikipedia)
For the March 7 issue we look at the second part of Janet Flanner’s profile of German dictator Adolf Hitler, in which she attempted to identify the social and political influences that led to his peculiar vision of the world.
March 7, 1936 cover by Constantin Alajalov.
Flanner noted that Hitler’s ancestors were intermarrying, pious Roman Catholic peasants, including his parents, second cousins Klara Pölzl and Alois Hitler. While Klara was a doting parent, Alois was often abusive and distant. And so it began.
MOM AND DAD…Adolf Hitler’s parents were second cousins Klara Pölzl (1860–1907) and Alois Hitler (1837–1903). Pölzl was the third wife of the much older Hitler, who was a stern, mid-level Austrian customs official. (Wikipedia)
Flanner described Hitler’s struggles as an artist (rejected twice by the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts), however his real disappointment was nationalistic; serving as a courier (and wounded) in World War I, he blamed internal traitors for Germany’s defeat. To bolster his patriotic ideals, Hitler turned to books, and particularly to poet and dramatist Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805)—the Nazis would later manipulate Schiller’s works to fit the Party’s themes of nationalism, struggle, and obedience. Hitler would further hone his world view through the works of white supremacist Count de Gobineau (1816–1882), nihilist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), and philologist Max Müller (1823–1900), whose work inadvertently contributed to the idea of a superior “Aryan” race.
REWRITING HISTORY…Clockwise, from top, a 1940 Nazi propaganda film, Friedrich Schiller— Der Triumph eines Genies, portrayed Schiller (played by actor Horst Caspar) as an idealistic Übermensch; Hitler and the Nazis were also influenced by white supremacist Count de Gobineau; philologist Max Müller; and the nihilist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. (film portal.de/Wikipedia)
In her conclusion, Flanner noted Hitler’s dislike of jokes at his own expense, and she was surprised that German comedian Weiss Ferdl, known for his “Führer gibes,” wasn’t in a concentration camp with cabaret singer Claire Waldorff (somehow both survived the regime and the war). Flanner also touched on Hitler’s antipathy toward Christianity.
SURVIVORS…At left, Weiss Ferdl (1883-1949) was a German actor, humorous folksinger known for his jibes at Hitler; at right, Claire Waldorff (1884-1957) was a famous cabaret singer and entertainer in Berlin, known for performing ironic songs with lesbian undertones. (Wikimedia Commons)I’LL TRY TO KILL YOU LATER…German Chancellor Adolf Hitler greets (l to r) Roman Catholic Abbot Albanus Schachleiter and Protestant Reichsbischof Ludwig Müller, outside the Frauenkirche in Nuremberg, September 1934. (Wikipedia)
* * *
Thrill Ride
In his “Notes and Comment,” E.B. White described “one of the strangest nightmares of motordom”…
THE GREAT WALL…E.B. White feared whatever might pop out of the dark tunnels on the northern stretches of Park Avenue. Clockwise, from top, an 1876 illustration of the new viaduct through the Harlem Flats; E. 108th Street pedestrian tunnel between Lexington and Park; Park Avenue Viaduct–La Marqueta. (Wikipedia/manhattanwalkblog.com/6tocelebrate.org)
* * *
Ding-dong
Robert Benchley filed a brief review of The Postman Always Rings Twice, a stage adaptation at the Lyceum Theatre of James M. Cain’s acclaimed novel. Although the play was well received by audiences, many reviewers found the subject matter distasteful. Cain would later describe the 1936 production as “a dreadful experience from beginning to end.”
SCHEMERS AND DREAMERS…Richard Barthelmess and Mary Philips portrayed star-crossed lovers in the 1936 stage production of The Postman Always Rings Twice. Philips was a noted Broadway performer and Humphey Bogart’s first wife. (Wikipedia/imdb.com)
* * *
At the Movies
Critic John Mosher commented on familiar Hollywood tropes (doctors chasing nurses, execs pursuing secretaries etc.) and offered up the “tepid” example of Wife vs. Secretary, which featured three of Tinseltown’s top stars.
MILD HIJINKS…At left, Clark Gable and Jean Harlow in a scene from Wife vs. Secretary; at right, Gable with Myrna Loy.(faintlyfamiliar.com/facebook.com)
Mosher didn’t find much excitement in the dog-themed picture The Voice of Bugle Ann, and was left flat after seeing Road Gang and the German film Liebelei.
SWEET AND SOUR…Lionel Barrymore and Spring Byington were on one side of a feud over a special dog in The Voice of Bugle Ann. (tcm.com)WELL THIS SUCKS…At left, Donald Woods and Carlyle Moore Jr. find themselves behind bars in Road Gang; at right, Paul Hörbiger and Olga Tschechowa in 1933’s Liebelei (aka Playing at Love). (rotten tomatoes.com/screenslate.com)
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Language Arts
H.L. Mencken continued his exploration of American English by taking a look at past attempts to simplify spelling—most of them unsuccessful. Excerpts:
NOT ONE FOR GIMMICKS…H.L. Mencken at his desk at the Baltimore Sun.(Paris Review)
Mencken noted the Chicago Tribune’s radical approach to simplified spelling in 1934, and the lasting effects of Noah Webster’s American dictionary.
“PEDAGOGUE” was one of the milder insults cast at Noah Webster by his peers. (National Portrait Gallery)
* * *
First World Problem
Food critic Sheila Hibben looked into the complexities of tea-drinking during the cocktail hour, and vice-versa.
CHOOSE YOUR MOOD…The Plaza Hotel offered the ideal setting for whatever libation one chose at tea time. At left, the Plaza’s Persian Room, 1934, and the Palm Court, undated photo. (cooperhewitt.org/mcny.org)
* * *
Finer Things
Rebecca West was a brilliant journalist and gifted prose writer, and when she published something people took notice, including critic Clifton Fadiman, who noted her return with The Thinking Reed. A brief excerpt:
A MIGHTY PEN…Rebecca West (1892-1983) was considered one of the finest prose writers of twentieth-century England. This 1934 photograph was produced by Howard Coster. (National Portrait Gallery)
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From Our Advertisers
The March 7 issue opened to this sumptuous image of luxury travel aboard the Normandie…
…the salons of Dorothy Gray returned with another tale of a magical transformation, here the plain “Miss Adams” suddenly becomes lovely and exciting thanks to the illusion of cosmetics…
…the makers of Packard automobiles took out this full page ad to gently chastise Time magazine for questioning the carmaker’s adherence to a timeless, “basic design”…
…although in Time’s defense the Packard didn’t look much different from this Lincoln…
…what did look different was the Chrysler/DeSoto Airflow, which had disappointing sales due to a streamlined design that was a bit too radical for consumers…
…actress and costume designer Kate Lawson (1894-1977) made her image available to promote washable wallpaper…
…in addition to calming nerves and boosting energy, Camels apparently aided one’s digestion, or so this ad claimed…
…Liggett & Myers stuck with the homespun approach, here three generations light up Chesterfields in the warm glow of the parlor…
…did you spot the cigarettes in the ad?…
…on to the cartoons, we have Al Frueh’s take on the Ziegfeld Follies…
…James Thurber contributed this to the calendar section…
…and Thurber again with his beloved dogs…
…George Price found a glitch at the weather bureau…
…Californians circled their wagons in the hostile Midwest, per Carl Rose…
…Alain saw a trip to the dentist in this man’s future…
…Helen Hokinson lost us in the peculiarities of needlepoint…
…Barbara Shermund found a bargain in portraiture…
…and Shermund again, in the dress department…
…and we close with Whitney Darrow Jr, and something to write about…
Above, left, Janet Flanner regards the cover of the Sept. 13, 1931 issue of The New Yorker; at right, Adolf Hitler's chosen filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl at Nuremberg's "Shovel Day" parade, 1936. (Library of Congress/Sueddeutscher Verlag)
The February 29, 1936 issue stands out from pack not only for its cover—James Thurber’s first—but also for the magazine’s first in-depth look at a man who would spark the deadliest conflict in human history.
February 29, 1936 cover by James Thurber. This was the first of six covers Thurber contributed to The New Yorker. You can see all six covers at Michael Maslin’s Ink Spill, the go-to site for all things Thurber and so much more. UPDATE: Also check Maslin’s post regarding the repeat of this cover on Sept. 4, 2023. Fascinating read!
Before we jump in…Thurber’s close friend E.B. White noted another unusual fact about this issue…
…twenty-eight years later, and a dime extra (cover by Garrett Price)…
* * *
Inside the Feb. 29 issue, The New Yorker’s Paris correspondent Janet Flanner published the first part of a three-part profile on German dictator Adolf Hitler. In this first excerpt she described the Führer’s ascetic diet and personality (caricature by William Cotton).
NAZI NUM NUMS….Adolf Hitler with one of his official food tasters, Margot Woelk, during World War II. Woelk later claimed she was the sole survivor from a group of food tasters who were summarily executed by the Red Army after the fall of Berlin. (warfarehistorynetwork.com)
Flanner described Hitler’s relationships with influential women, particularly filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.
FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS…Adolf Hitler had influential admirers both in and outside of Germany, including, clockwise, from top left, filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl (in the white skirt described by Flanner) at the 1936 “Shovel Day” in Nuremburg; Winifred Wagner, daughter-in-law of composer Richard Wagner, in 1925; Hitler with Unity Mitford, one of six aristocratic Mitford sisters and a fanatical Nazi; Ernst Franz Sedgwick Hanfstaengl with another Mitford sister, Diana Mitford, at a 1934 Nuremberg rally. Diana as married to Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, and Hanfstaengl was the son of Katharina Wilhelmina Hanfstaengl, a prominent Munich art publisher who helped finance Hitler’s rise to power. (Sueddeutscher Verlag/Wikipedia/historyreader.com)
Flanner concluded the piece with a look at Hitler’s sexuality, which seemed non-existent, and drew an ominous conclusion about his personality type.
EXPENDABLE…Ernst Röhm with Adolf Hitler in 1933. Although Hitler knew Röhm was gay, he also valued Röhm’s leadership and organizational skills, that is until his presence proved a liability. Röhm was murdered by the SS in 1934 during the “Night of the Long Knives.” (Wikipedia)
As part of a centenary series, The New Yorker’s Andrew Marantz recently looked at Flanner’s profile of Hitler, noting that she was “neither an antifascist, like her friend Dorothy Parker, nor a Fascist, like her friend Ezra Pound; she was against crude bigotry, but she was not the world’s greatest philo-Semite.”
* * *
Lamour Amour
In his “Notes and Comment,” E.B. White pointed out the challenges of expressing physical beauty over a non-visual medium like radio:
TELEGENIC…Hopefully E.B. White managed to see Dorothy Lamour on the “television waves… bumping along over the Alleghenies.” At left, publicity photo of Lamour from 1937; at right, Lamour appeared as a mystery guest on What’s My Line?, Feb. 20, 1955, seen here with host John Daly. In later years Lamour was a guest on a number of television shows, ranging from Marcus Welby, M.D. to Remington Steele. (Wikipedia/YouTube.com)
* * *
Shadow Plays
Morris Bishop (1893-1973), a noted scholar of the Middle Ages as well as a writer of light verse, offered up these lines after screening early silent films at the Museum of Modern Art. The screenings were curated by Iris Barry to showcase MoMA’s new film library and to advance the study of film as a serious art form.
TIME CAPSULES…The Museum of Modern Art was a pioneer in the study of film as a modern art form. Among the films screened at MoMA in 1936 (clockwise, from top left): famed stage actress Sarah Bernhardt as Queen Elizabeth in the Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth (The Loves of Queen Elizabeth) with Lou Tellegen, 1912; Bernhardt in the film Camille (La Dame aux camélias) with André Calmettes, 1911; Theda Bara’s 1917 take on Camille, in a scene with Alan Roscoe; Gloria Swanson in Zaza, 1923. (Wikipedia/imdb.com/YouTube.com)
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A Reporter’s Chops
With so much attention given to James Thurber as a humorist, it is easy to forget that he was an experienced journalist, and that he could apply his considerable gifts as a writer to narrative non-fiction. For the Feb. 29 “A Reporter at Large” column, Thurber penned “Crime in the Cumberlands.”I can’t do it justice through excerpts, but I highly recommend giving it a read as a prime example of Thurber’s skills as a reporter.
SERIOUSLY SERIOUS WRITER…You can find both humorous and not-so-humorous crime stories (and drawings, of course) in 1991’s Thurber on Crime, edited by Robert Lopresti. “Crime in the Cumberlands” is included in the collection. (jamesthurber.org/barnesandnoble.com)
* * *
At the Movies
Not so serious were the films being churned out by Hollywood, including the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers toe-tapper Follow the Fleet, set to an Irving Berlin score that featured the hit “Let’s Face the Music and Dance.” Critic John Mosher was on board for the ride.
GOOD CLEAN FUN…Dance partners “Bake” Baker (Fred Astaire) and Sherry Martin (Ginger Rogers) find love during shore leave in Follow the Fleet.(Toronto Film Society)
Bandleader Harry Richman, well known in the New York nightlife scene of the 1920s and 30s, showed his acting chops in The Music Goes ‘Round…
I CAN SING TOO…Rochelle Hudson and Harry Richman in The Music Goes ‘Round. (imdb.com)
…Fred MacMurray, Sylvia Sydney, Henry Fonda and Fred Stone appeared in living color in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine–it was just the second full-length feature to be shot in three-strip Technicolor and the first to be shot outdoors in Technicolor…
LIFELIKE…Clockwise, from top left: Fred MacMurray; Sylvia Sydney; a Paramount movie poster; Henry Fonda and Fred Stone.(moviesalamark.com/imdb.com)
…the 1936 film Rhodes (aka Rhodes of Africa) featured the massive acting talents of Walter Huston and Peggy Ashcroft; not surprisingly, the subject matter of the film has not aged well…a 2015 review in The Guardianis headlined: “Rhodes of Africa: only slightly less offensive than the man himself”…
COLONIAL KLINK…Walter Huston and Peggy Ashcroft in Rhodes.(imdb.com)
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From Our Advertisers
We begin with a Stage magazine ad from the inside front cover, featuring an illustration by Alexander King…
…only new-money swells would be seen doing this…old money wouldn’t dare enter the kitchen, unless they needed to sack the cook…
…on the back cover of the Feb. 29 issue you would find this elegant woman taking a break from her vanity to enjoy a “toasted” Lucky…
…we join our cartoonists, starting with this spot by Richard Taylor…
…Garrett Price got stuck over the frozen falls…
…George Price drew up a sandwich board competition…
…Al Frueh continued to illuminate “The Theatre” section…
…James Thurber posed a loaded question…
…Denys Wortman got down to some debugging…
…Carl Rose offered up another example of rugged individualism…
…Charles Addams came down to earth…
…Alain illustrated a case of jury tampering…
…Helen Hokinson demonstrated the allure of a netted hat…
…and Hokinson again, doing some early spring cleaning…
…and Barbara Shermund explored the idyll of wanderlust…
…and before we go, here is the New Yorker cover—by Helen Hokinson, Sept. 12, 1931—that was the object of Janet Flanner’s attention…
Above: Eddie Cantor (left) consulting his "confidence book" in Strike Me Pink; at right, Dona Drake and the “Goldwyn Girls” performing “The Lady Dances." (cometoverhollywood.com)
You don’t hear much about him today, but in 1936 Eddie Cantor was a household name, an entertainer who seemed to do it all—comedian, actor, dancer, singer, and songwriter were just a few of his trades.
January 25, 1936 cover by Constantin Alajálov.
Critic John Mosher marveled at the energy Cantor (1892–1964) brought to his latest film, Strike Me Pink, in which Cantor played a mild-mannered manager of an amusement park infested with mobsters. The film was a “convulsion,” Mosher wrote, packed with action on “the grand scale” with occasional interludes by co-star Ethel Merman, who portrayed Cantor’s love interest.
FINDING HIS MOJO…top and below left, Eddie Cantor and Ethel Merman in Strike Me Pink. Bottom right, Cantor, Sally Eilers and Helen Lowell in a scene from the film. (Wikipedia/tcm.com/imdb.com)
Bette Davis wasn’t the only Hollywood celeb known for her peepers. After artist Frederick J. Garner published a big-eyed caricature of Cantor in 1933, those “Banjo Eyes” became Cantor’s trademark.
BANJO EYES…at left, Frederick J. Garner’s caricature of Cantor. After he published the drawing in 1933, other artists followed suit with their own interpretations of the “Banjo Eyes.” At right, movie poster for 1934’s Kid Millions. (npg.si.edu/laughterlog.com/imdb.com)
Cantor would pack a lot into his seventy-two years, a regular with the Ziegfeld Follies (he would repeat his routines in numerous films), he would also appear in other stage productions, on the radio, on television (hosting The Colgate Comedy Hour) and recording hit songs like “Makin’ Whoopee.” He wrote or co-wrote seven books, was the second president of the Screen Actors Guild, and a co-founder of the March of Dimes (Cantor came up with the name as well). He also appeared in numerous cartoons, and even wrote the Merrie Melodies/LooneyTunes theme song, “Merrily We Roll Along.”
DOWN AND OUT…Eddie Cantor was caricatured along with, from left, Al Jolson, Jack Benny and Bing Crosby in the 1950 Looney Toons short “What’s Up, Doc?” The scene depicts a low point in Bugs Bunny’s career when he spends the winter with fellow struggling actors in Central Park. (Warner Brothers)
In 1934 Cantor was depicted as a balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the only full-size balloon to represent a real person.
MY, WHAT BIG EYES YOU HAVE…Eddie Cantor looms over the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1934. (Ephemeral New York)
* * *
Fishing For Buyers
The Thirty-first annual Motor Boat Show was on at the Grand Central Palace, featuring everything from yachts to tiny sailboats. Excerpts from a report by a correspondent who wrote under the name “Bosun.”
FOR LANDLUBBERS TOO…The New York Motor Boat Show began in 1905 at Madison Square Garden before moving to the resplendent surroundings of the Grand Central Palace. Clockwise from top left, undated photo from the Grand Central Palace; advertisement in Yachting magazine; a 1935 Elco Cruisette. (offthehookyachts.com/antiqueboatamerica.com)
* * *
Cultured Congress
Hard to believe that ninety years ago the U.S. House of Representatives devoted considerable time and attention to a proposed bill for a “Department of Science, Art and Literature.” E.B. White covered the hearings in an extensive two-part report for “Onward & Upward With the Arts.” Here is a brief excerpt from part one.
ARTS FANATIC is how E.B. White characterized New York Congressman William I. Sirovich (1882–1939), who proposed the establishment of a Department of Science, Art and Literature. (findagrave.com)
* * *
A Really Big Show
“The Talk of the Town” paid a visit to the Adelphi Theatre to see how preparations were going for opera-oratorio The Eternal Road. Conceived by journalist and playwright Meyer Weisgal to alert the public to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany, it featured a score by Kurt Weill with libretto by Franz Werfel (translated into English by Ludwig Lewisohn).
Directed by Max Reinhardt on an imposing set designed by Norman Bel Geddes, The Eternal Road would take time to produce, finally premiering at the Manhattan Opera House on Jan. 7, 1937. It ran for 153 performances.
ON THE ROAD…Key figures in the production of The Eternal Road included, from left, director Max Reinhardt, composer Kurt Weill, and set designer Norman Bel Geddes (who here bears an uncanny resemblance to New Yorker founding editor Harold Ross). (weillproject.com)DRAMA QUEEN…Among the 245 actors in the production was Lotte Lenya, who portrayed Miriam. An acclaimed Austrian singer and actress, Lenya was also Kurt Weill’s ex-wife, and is probably best known today for her role as the sadistic Rosa Klebb in the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love.MAKE NO LITTLE PLANS…At left, a sketch by Harry Horner of the The Eternal Road’s five-level set designed by Norman Bel Geddes for the Manhattan Opera House; at right, massive set piece from the production. (Kurt Weill Foundation kwf.org)
* * *
Location, Location, Location
“Talk” also looked at property values in the city, noting that the site occupied by the Hell Gate power plant was assessed at nearly $57 million (roughly $1.3 billion today). Excerpt:
PRIME REAL ESTATE…Artist’s rendering of the Hell Gate generating station, circa 1922. (T.E. Murray, Power Stations 1922)
* * *
A New, Improved Carmen
Music critic Robert Simon (writing for “Musical Events”) was delightfully surprised by the Met’s latest production of Carmen, and namely by the performance of Swedish mezzo-soprano Gertrud Pålson-Wettergren:
HUMOROUS AND HEROIC were just two for the adjectives Robert Simon used to describe an interpretation of Carmen by Swedish mezzo-soprano Gertrud Pålson-Wettergren (1897–1991). She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in December 1935. (Wikipedia)
* * *
At the Movies
We rejoin critic John Mosher for a look at the rest of the cinema lineup, beginning with King of Burlesque, which featured Alice Faye and “everything but the kitchen stove.”
FACES IN THE CROWD…Mosher found a film crowded with talents in King of Burlesque, including Fats Waller (performing “I’ve Got My Fingers Crossed”), Warner Baxter, and Alice Faye. (YouTube.com/IMDb.com)
Mosher found a “stimulating” gangster flick in Exclusive Story…
DRESSED TO THE NINES…Franchot Tone was clad in his usual Sunday best, here flanked by Madge Evans (left) and Louise Henry. (themovied.org)
…and a “trifling” horror movie, The Crime of Dr. Crespi…
I’M NOT DEAD YET…Evil Dr. Crespi (Erich Von Stroheim) gives fellow doctor Stephen Ross (John Bohn) a drug that induces a state of apparent death in The Crime of Doctor Crespi. (moma.org)
* * *
A Hot Hobby
St. Clair McKelway filed the second of a two-part profile on New York’s Chief Fire Marshal Thomas P. Brophy (1880-1962). McKelway wrote, “How to stop a fire is the fire chief’s problem; how it got started, that of the fire marshal, Thomas Brophy…Brophy’s specialty, however, is pyromaniacs— it is almost his hobby.” Hugo Gellert supplied the drawing.
* * *
From Our Advertisers
We begin with the inside front cover, and this colorful illustration of Fanny Brice by Abe Birnbaum for Stage magazine…
…the makers of budget automobiles such as Nash, Plymouth and Hudson were all on the same page when it came to marketing their automobiles, namely, that their products suggested luxury despite the bargain price…a “Motor Car by Hudson,” the ad proclaimed, is “worthy of its place in the New York style ensemble”…
…the makers of Pierce Arrow had a solid reputation as the Rolls-Royce of American automobiles, so they took the safety angle in this understated, hyperbole-free advertisement…(however, cheaper cars like Hudson would survive the Depression, Pierce-Arrow would not)…
…this Scotch whisky ad recalled the days when “rolled hose” could create a scandal, underscoring how things can mellow after ten years, including whisky…
…in this back cover advertisement, Vivian Dixon (apparently just eighteen years old) was the latest New York debutante to invite young women to join her in smoking Camels…
Vivian Dixon (1918-1974) circa 1940. You can read more about her here. (stoningtonboroughct.com)
…the Major continued his quest for fresh peas in this ad from the Minnesota Valley Canning Company (aka Green Giant)…
…on to our cartoonists, beginning with this spot drawing for the boat show by Constantin Alajálov…
…this spot by Abe Birnbaum broke up the text for James Thurber’s “Nine Needles” short story…
…Perry Barlow gave us a gentleman attempting to explain the subtleties of ice hockey…
…Barlow again, where seeing is not necessarily believing…
…James Thurber contributed a serenade, accompanied by dog…
…Peter Arno bid farewell to honeymooners destined for Niagara Falls and the Shredded Wheat factory…
…besides the falls, the Shredded Wheat factory was a big attraction in the early 20th century…
A 1905 postcard touting “One of the Wonders of Niagara.” (Niagara Falls Public Library)
…George Price illustrated the hazards of bargain shopping…
…and Price again, with a lucky streak in Atlantic City…
…Carl Rose continued to offer examples of rugged individualism…
…Charles Addams explored some exotic thrills…
…Mary Petty found nuance among youthful suitors…
…and Petty again, and the complexities of hat shopping…
…Alain paid a visit to the boat show…
…Ned Hilton drew up a mail-order mix-up…
…and we close with Alan Dunn, and a matter of the heart…
Above: Portrait of Georgia O'Keeffe, 1935, by Alfred Stieglitz, gelatin silver print; at right, O'Keeffe's Ram's Head, White Hollyhock-Hills, 1935. Oil on canvas. (National Gallery/Brooklyn Museum)
Over the seven decades of her career, Georgia O’Keeffe created works that did not necessarily follow the art movements of the 20th century. Critic Lewis Mumford referred to these works as “autobiographies in paint,” every painting “as enigmatic as the Mona Lisa.”
January 18, 1936 cover by Robert Day, illustrating the days before the invention of the Zamboni (in 1949).
O’Keeffe was married to art dealer and photographer Alfred Stieglitz, who exhibited her works at his “An American Place” gallery at 53rd and Madison. The couple had a complex, open relationship (Stieglitz had a number of affairs) that proved painful to O’Keeffe, and in 1933 she was hospitalized for two months after experiencing a nervous breakdown; she did not paint again until the following year. Although Mumford did not directly reference this episode in O’Keeffe’s life, he did note that “Certain elements in O’Keeffe’s biography were plainly visible” in her paintings.
PAINED PAINTINGS…Clockwise, from top left, Georgia O’Keeffe’sEagle Claw and Bean Necklace, 1934; Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. IV, 1930; Purple Hills, 1935. (MoMA/Phillips Collection/San Diego Museum of Art)
Mumford noted that O’Keeffe’s newer works revealed a “resurrection of spirit,” such as the painting of a ram’s skull, “with its horns acting like wings, lifted up against the gray, wind-swept clouds…”
GLOWING WITH POETRY AND TRUTH is how Lewis Mumford described Georgia O’Keeffe’s latest work. Clockwise, from top left: Ram’s Head suggested to Mumford “a resurgence of life and a resurrection of spirit” in the artist; other bright works included Sunflower, New Mexico 1, 1935; and Hill, 1935. (National Gallery/Cleveland Museum of Art/ Denver Art Museum)
* * *
Lights Out
In the previous issue E.B. White noted that the Edison Company was threatening to cut off electric service to the magazine’s offices due to nonpayment. This “Notes and Comment” update cleared up the matter.
THE PRICE FOR POWER…Above, an aerial view from 1926 of New York Edison’s East River Power Station at 38th Street. In 1936 it was powered by coal, which burned pungently and created problems with soot throughout the area. (tudorcityconfidential.com)
* * *
Revisiting a Pint-size Poet
“The Talk of the Town” paid a visit to Nathalia Crane (1913–1998), who became famous after the 1924 publication of her first book of poetry, The Janitor’s Boy, at the age of ten. Excerpts:
PIXIE POET…Nathalia Crane published her first poems in The New York Sun when she was only nine years old, the paper unaware that she was a child. She later became a professor of English at San Diego State University. (gutenberg.org)
The fledgling Crane received a very different New Yorker reception in 1928, when Dorothy Parker took her to task for contributing to the collapse of grammar and civilization in general. Here’s an excerpt from Parker’s Jan. 7, 1928 “Reading & Writing” column:
GRUESOME was the word Dorothy Parker chose to describe chocolate-covered olives and bad poetry. At left, Parker in 1928. At right, a contents page from The Spirit of St. Louis, a collection of one hundred poems selected from thousands in a poetry contest celebrating Charles Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic. (literaryladiesguide.com/ebay.com)
* * *
Order in the Court
Howard Brubaker commented on a recent ruling by the Supreme Court regarding the ongoing fight by Republicans to curtail FDR’s New Deal.
* * *
Cinderella Stories
For his Jan. 4, 1936 “A Reporter at Large” column Morris Markey visited “Major Bowe’s Amateur Hour” at NBC’s Rockefeller Center radio studios. He was so impressed by the rags-to-riches stories that he shared a few in his Jan. 18 column, titled “The Crystal Slipper.” He warned readers that the stories were “sentimental,” but not in the vein of A Christmas Carol: “Tiny Tim, asking God to bless every one, regardless, was a pious little fraud,” Markey noted. Excerpts:
Markey shared the story of a garbage collector turned opera tenor, and a wealthy debutante who was encouraged to “stay off the stage” by “Major” Edward Bowes himself.
CUT THE TRASH TALK…Joseph Rogato told the Amateur Hour audience that his job as a “garbage man” was no laughing matter, and went on to wow them with his singing voice. At left, a detail from an ad for Chase & Sanborn coffee, the show’s sponsors. At right, show founder and host “Major” Edward Bowes with the gong he used to abruptly end acts he deemed poor—he soon abandoned the practice after listeners objected. (eBay.com/Facebook)
Markey next told the story of Marguerite Ryan, the “Singing Housewife”…
FROM RELIEF TO RICHES…This Chase & Sanborn advertisement described Marguerite Ryan’s brush with fame and her deliverance from poverty thanks to her appearance on the Amateur Hour. (newspapers.com)
Finally, the story of Rhoda Chase, whom Bowes promoted as a “penniless orphan.” Born Anna Blanor, her stage name, Rhoda, was selected by a psychic, while her last name was inspired by sponsors Chase & Sanborn.
VELVET VOICE…At right, detail from a Chase & Sanborn ad that promoted Rhoda Chase as a “Penniless Orphan” who made the big time thanks to the Amateur Hour. At left, a 1944 newspaper ad for the Zombie Club in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Known as “The Blue Velvet Voice”, Chase was a radio, stage, nightclub and USO blues singer. (Wikimedia Commons/eBay)
* * *
At the Movies
Film critic John Mosher found some bright spots at the movies, praising René Clair’s The Ghost Goes West but feeling sorry for Jean Harlow in her “thankless” role in Riffraff, a film about the tuna-fishing industry.
THE FRIENDLY GHOST…Robert Donat and Patricia Hilliard in the romantic comedy The Ghost Goes West. (IMDB)FISH OUT OF WATER…Spencer Tracy, Jean Harlow, and Joseph Calleia in Riffraff, a drama about a strike at a tuna fishery. “Just why a life of tuna-fishing should be chosen as background for Miss Harlow’s vehicle I can’t imagine, but there it is,” wrote critic John Mosher. (IMDB)
Mosher didn’t know what to make of Katharine Hepburn’s latest film, Sylvia Scarlett, in which she portrayed a con artist disguised as a boy hiding from the police. Despite its major star power and George Cukor as director, the film was a flop.
Mosher also reviewed Last of the Pagans (also about a labor dispute!) and The Private Life of Louis XIV (released in Germany in 1935 as Liselotte von der Pfalz).
SHE’S A MAN, MAN…Clockwise, from top left, Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant in Sylvia Scarlett; Lotus Long and Mala in Last of the Pagans;Renate Müller in The Private Life of Louis XIV (Liselotte von der Pfalz). Müller would die in 1937 at age 31 under mysterious circumstances. Many believe the Nazis had her killed because she refused to appear in their propaganda films. (academymuseum.org/MGM/IMDB)
* * *
From Our Advertisers
General Motors promoted their Buick Eight in a two-page advertisement that called out Eustace Tilley and reprinted a Carl Rose cartoon from the Nov. 2, 1935 issue…
…here is the original cartoon…
…with the holidays a memory and the Depression still lingering, most of the automobile ads touted economy over luxury, however Chrysler claimed you could have both with this $760 model…
…by the looks of this guy, he probably added three fingers of vodka to his pineapple juice…
…as noted before, the folks at World Peaceways pulled no punches with their anti-war appeals…
…the makers of Lux were still rolling out Broadway stars to endorse their toilet soap…(Betty Lawford, #5, was an English film and stage actress and a cousin of actor Peter Lawford)…
…the inside back cover belonged to Stage magazine…the illustration, “Amateur Night at the Apollo,” is by Alexander King…
…the Grand Central Palace was hosting the thirty-first annual National Motor Boat Show, a rare back cover not taken by a tobacco company…
…a couple of ads from back of the book…at left, an Anglophilic appeal from Miami’s Roney Plaza Hotel, and, at right, pre-revolutionary days at the National Hotel in Havana (I had a drink there a few years ago during the Obama thaw…the lobby is beautiful, a classic from another era still hanging on thanks to Canadian and European tourists)…
…William Steig continued to illustrate these one-column ads from Pilgrim Rum…
…which segues to our cartoonists…on the bottom of page 3 was this one-column drawing by Peggy Bacon…
…Norwegian opera singer Kirsten Flagstad (1895–1962) was a famous Wagnerian soprano who made a triumphant debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1935…
Kirsten Flagstad circa 1940. (Wikipedia)
…we continue with Helen Hokinson soaking up some sun…
…Robert Day cracked the whip in the steno pool…
…originally published sideways, another look at club life by Gluyas Williams...
…James Thurber offered up a toast…
…Richard Taylor looked into an auction mystery…
…Barney Tobey gave us a friendly greeting on the slopes…
…Perry Barlow was lost in a department store…
…William Crawford Galbraith continued to probe the woes of sugar daddies…
Above: Photo of the Hoboken Four as they appeared on the "Amateur Hour with Major Bowes" in 1935. At center is "Major" Edward Bowes, and at right is Frank Sinatra. The other three members of the Hoboken Four were Frank Tamburro, Patty Prince and Jimmy Petro. (knkx.org)
Nearly seventy years before American Idol appeared on our TV screens, a hugely successful and influential talent show filled the airwaves from NBC’s radio studios at Rockefeller Center.
January 4, 1936 cover by Constantin Alajalov.
Millions tuned in each week to the Major Bowes Amateur Hour, which got its start in 1934 at radio station WHN before moving to NBC the following year. Created and hosted by “Major” Edward Bowes (1874–1946), Bowes would chat with contestants before listening to their performances, which could be cut short by the Major’s gong (see below). For his “A Reporter at Large” column, Morris Markey paid a visit to Bowes during evening auditions at the NBC studios. Excerpts:
THE GONG SHOW…At bottom right, Edward Bowes with the gong he used to abruptly end acts he deemed poor or inept—he abandoned the prop in 1936 after receiving thousands of letters from listeners who objected to the premature termination of acts (apparently the concept was a direct inspiration for Chuck Barris’s 1970s TV program, The Gong Show). At left, a July 1936 Women’s Home Companion advertisement from the show’s sponsor, Chase & Sanborn. The ads highlighted the rags-to-riches stories of the more successful contestants. (eBay.com/Wikipedia)
Markey ended his piece noting the reality of the many contestants who, unlike Frank Sinatra, would not go on to successful entertainment careers.
STARMAKER…Clockwise, from left: Major Edward Bowes and returning Amateur Hour performer Frank Sinatra in 1943; in 1935 eleven-year-old Maria Callas performed the Madama Butterfly aria “Un bel dì vedremo,” on the Amateur Hour; actor/baritone Robert Merrill performed on the show in 1936. (winnetoba.com/mariacallasestate.com/Wikipedia)
* * *
Fleeing the Limelight
In December 1935 Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh secretly boarded a ship in New York and headed to England, seeking to escape the media frenzy that followed their son’s kidnapping and the subsequent trial. Thanks to connections through Anne’s family, they were able to move into a secluded estate in the Kent countryside. In his “Notes and Comment,” E.B. White explained:
HIDEOUT…From 1936 to 1938 Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh lived in a secluded English estate called “Long Barn.” The estate in County Kent was owned by a friend of Anne’s family. (waverlyhs.weebly.com)NOT HIS FINEST HOUR…In July 1936 Luftwaffe commander Hermann Goering (right) presented the Sword of Honor of the German Air Force to Charles Lindbergh during a visit to Berlin. Anne Morrow Lindbergh is to the far left. Goering would also present Lindbergh with a high-ranking Nazi-era civilian medal, the Service Cross of the German Eagle, during a 1938 visit. Anne presciently referred to the medal as “the albatross.” (Library of Congress)
According to White, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia cited lax police control of the media in the case of the fleeing Lindberghs. In turn, White attempted to explain the unique temperaments of Irish police officers.
GIVE US A BREAK…E.B. White noted the courage and wisdom of Irish cops, but also found their lassitude “almost theatrical.” Pictured above is Irish immigrant Patrick Leddy, who joined the NYPD in 1910 and remained on the force for more than thirty-five years. (Courtesy of Margaret Fitzpatrick Leddy via nyirishhistory.us)
A final note on the Lindberghs from Howard Brubaker, a snippet from his “Of All Things” column.
* * *
Italian Swashbuckler
The Italian fencer Aldo Naldi (1899-1965) won three gold medals and one silver at the 1920 Olympics before turning professional. According to West Coast Fencing, Aldo traveled Europe like a prizefighter, “competing in well-attended matches for cash purses…in a world of travel, glamour, drinking, womanizing, gambling and fencing, Aldo Nadi reigned supreme, going nearly eight years without a defeat.” “The Talk of the Town” was on hand for his American debut. Excerpts:
EN GARDE!…During the interwar years Aldo Nadi reigned supreme, going nearly eight years without a defeat. (dennishollingsworth.us)
“Talk” also examined the fuss being made over the Great Chalice of Antioch, which was on display at the Brooklyn Museum. Excerpts:
COULD IT BE?…Claimed to have been found in Antioch around 1900, this chalice’s plain silver bowl was ambitiously identified by some as the Holy Grail, the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper. It is displayed with the Metropolitan Museum’s Byzantium collection. (metmuseum.org)
* * *
Year, Schmear
To mark the New Year, Arthur Guiterman offered up one his humorous poems…
…Guiterman (1871–1943) was an early contributor to The New Yorker—the magazine’s very first issue, Feb. 21, 1925, featured the first installment of Guiterman’s recurring “Lyrics from the Pekinese,” which ran through the first eleven issues.
MEOW…Arthur Guiterman’s “Lyrics from the Pekinese,” featured in the first issue of The New Yorker. At right, Guiterman in an undated photo. (Library of Congress)
* * *
Before He Was Spooky
Robert Benchley’s review of the stage began on a bright note with Victoria Regina, which starred Vincent Price as Prince Albert and Helen Hayes as Queen Victoria. Benchley praised the realism Price and Hayes lent to the production. Excerpts:
A MATCH MADE ON BROADWAY…The 24-year-old Vincent Price and the 35-year-old Helen Hayes portrayed Prince Albert and Queen Victoria in Victoria Regina, which ran for 203 performances at the Broadhurst Theatre. Robert Benchley thought their casting was ideal. (Pinterest)
Benchley also sat through George White’s latest Scandals revue, finding it similar to White’s older shows—beautiful showgirls, various singers and dancers, and assorted comedians—with Bert Lahr shining above it all.
IT SEEMED LIKE OLD TIMES to Robert Benchley as he took in the latest edition of George White’sScandals. Bert Lahr (left) was among the headliners for the 1936 revue, which ran for 110 performances at the New Amsterdam Theatre before taking to the road. (Wikipedia/Playbill.com)
* * *
At the Movies
John Mosher had a busy week at the movies, finding “considerable pleasure” in the screen adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’sAh Wilderness!…
MILLER TIME…The Miller family attends a commencement ceremony that helps kick off the action in Ah Wilderness! From left, Aline MacMahon, Mickey Rooney, Spring Byington, and Bonita Granville. (IMDB)
Mosher also looked at films featuring leading actresses of the day—Barbara Stanwyck in Annie Oakley, Bette Davis in Dangerous, and Claudette Colbert in The Bride Comes Home.
A TRIO OF TALENTS…Clockwise, from top left, Claudette Colbert had her hands full with Robert Young and Fred MacMurray in The Bride Comes Home; Barbara Stanwyck took aim in Annie Oakley; and Bette Davis portrayed a down-and-out actress with trouble on her mind in Dangerous. For her performance, Davis won the Academy Award for Best Actress. (laurasmiscmusings.blogspot.com/girlswithguns.org/vanguardofhollywood.com )
* * *
Gaming the Games
In her “Paris Letter,” Janet Flanner noted the preparations for the Fourth Olympic Winter games to be held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
WINTER HAS ARRIVED…Adolf Hitler and his fellow Nazi thugs brought a certain chill to the 1936 Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Garmisch and Partenkirchen were separate communities until Hitlerforced them to merge in anticipation of the games. (arolsen-archives.org)
* * *
From Our Advertisers
From 1933 to 1939, Macy’s hosted a series of unique design exhibitions under the title “Forward House” that showcased contemporary furniture, decor, and architectural ideas…
…for reference, here is another “Forward House” advertisement from the February 1936 House & Garden magazine…
…the folks at Robbins Island Oysters employed the legend of Giacomo Casanova to market their tasty little rocks…apparently Casanova claimed that he consumed more than fifty oysters each morning to sustain his amorous adventures…
…with the holidays over, the number of ads decreased significantly, leaving readers with a mere sixty pages—less than the half the length of the fat pre-Christmas editions…the theme in the Jan. 4 issue was travel to warmer climes, these examples culled from several back of the book pages…
…the end of the holiday season did not stop tobacco companies from taking out lavish full-page advertisements targeting women smokers, this one gracing the back cover…note the implied medical endorsement at the bottom…
…we clear the air and move on to our cartoonists, beginning with spot drawings by D. Krán…
…and Christina Malman…
…one of Helen Hokinson’s girls sought an impromptu parking lesson…
…while another welcomed winter with her furry charges…
…Whitney Darrow Jr gave us a full-service information booth…
…Mary Petty illustrated a dowager with simple tastes…
…Gardner Rea was confounded at the hat check…
…Carl Rose offered up another example of rugged individualism…
…Alan Dunn served up a unique language challenge…
…Robert Day stood tall at a basketball game…
…William Crawford Galbraith was horsing around…
…Alain looked crosseyed at a store closing…
…and we close with Barbara Shermund, who sized up things at a hat shop…
Above: Margaret Dumont with Groucho, Chico and Harpo Marx in A Night at the Opera. A trained operatic singer, Dumont portrayed wealthy, regal women as comic foils to the Marx Brothers in seven of their films. Groucho once referred to her as "the fifth Marx brother." (Britannica.com)
If you were looking for a break from the doldrums of winter or the mad rush of the holidays, a ticket to the Marx Brothers’ A Nightat the Opera could fit your bill.
December 14, 1935 cover by William Crawford Galbraith. A New Yorker contributor from 1929 to 1940, Galbraith (1894–1978), illustrated 151 drawings and seven covers for the magazine.
With their move from Paramount to MGM, Groucho, Chico and Harpo Marx launched a new style of comedy with A Night at the Opera, one of 1935’s biggest hits. Critic John Mosher was pleased to see the trio’s familiar antics on the screen, but with more story structure than their previous films.
SWEET TALKER…In Night at the Opera, Groucho Marx (as Otis B. Driftwood) advises Margaret Dumont (as Mrs. Claypool) on how to be inducted into high society—Driftwood: “I have arranged for you to invest $200,000 in the New York Opera Company. You’ll be a patron…Then you can marry me and they’ll kick you out of society and all you’ve lost is $200,000.” (amazon.com)
Sure, there were some old gags, as one “youngster”—seated next to Mosher—noted, but even this newbie pronounced the film “excellent.” As Mosher observed, “It may not be new or surprising, but it’s quick and funny.”
OH WHAT A NIGHT…Clockwise, from top left, during the overture to Verdi’s Il Trovatore, the sheet music is switched to “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” and Otis B. Driftwood (Groucho Marx) responds by hawking peanuts to the startled audience; lobby card for the film; the famous “Stateroom Scene,” written by gag man Al Boasberg; taking a break on the set are, from left, Groucho, Boasberg, Kitty Carlisle, and director Sam Wood. (onset.shotonwhat.com)
Mosher also reviewed the underworld thriller Show Them No Mercy!, which displayed some of the effects of the Hays Code…
TONE IT DOWN, WOULD YA?…From left, Cesar Romero, Rochelle Hudson, Bruce Cabot, and Edward Brophy in Show Them No Mercy! (rotten tomatoes.com))
* * *
Fond Memories
In his “Notes and Comment,” E.B. White recalled the good old days at a place called Tony’s on 49th Street. I couldn’t find any record of the place (or images), but apparently the new Tony’s lacked the smoke-filled charm of the original. Not to mention that the air-conditioning gave an earache to one of White’s acquaintances:
* * *
Gun Shy
James Thurber was also facing the challenges of the modern world, being the unlikely owner of a very old derringer and hoping to possibly get it repaired. He stopped in at Stoeger’s gun store on Fifth Avenue, where a salesman tried to sell him a newer model. Instead, Thurber opted for a copy of the catalog (which he found fascinating), and pondered the store’s various game calls, which he thought might make suitable holiday gifts. Some brief excerpts:
GUNS ON FASHION ROW…View from inside Stoeger’s Fifth Avenue gun store with manager John T. Meechan, undated; cover of the store’s 1936 catalog. (Facebook/ebay.com)
* * *
Hello Dolly
Dolls of all sorts—ranging from Popeye to the Dionne quintuplets—were all the rage for the holidays, according to the magazine’s third installment of its exhaustive Christmas lists.
RARE COLLECTIBLES TODAY, toys popular at New York’s department stores in 1935 included, clockwise, from top left, Ideal’s Shirley Temple baby doll, fashioned after a photo of the young actress at age six months; the Dionne Quintuplets craze continued with the growing quints now standing up; a Skippy velocipede; Buck Rogers Rocket Skates. (theriaults.com/ebay.com/MidwestModern via X/grandoldtoys.com)
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Some Light Holiday Verse
This poem comes courtesy of Phyllis McKinley (1905–1978), a children’s author and poet who lovingly satirized her suburban life, publishing in both popular as well as literary magazines, including The New Yorker.
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From Our Advertisers
Mixed in with the advertisements for last-minute Christmas gifts were a slew of ads beckoning those with wealth and leisure time to head south for the winter…
…Forstmann Woolens switched gears, replacing their lovely seasonal ads (featuring fall and winter fashions) with the latest in tropical togs…
…Bermuda beckoned to those fashionable folks…
…as did the cruise lines heading south…
…even the makers of the La Salle (Cadillac) were feeling the warmth with this image of the sunny Southwest (this was the left panel of a two-page spread)…
…Packard could sweeten a woman’s dowry, according to this holiday message…
…it looked like Grandpa had a bit too much of the Old Schenley…
…according to this Heinz ad, modernism should play a “minor role” on Christmas, so for a real “olden time” treat, you could enjoy some of their figgy pudding…out of a can…
…and leave it to good old St. Nick to push his bagful of cigarrettes…
…Old Gold also employed Santa for this GeorgePetty-illustrated ad…
…Mount Vernon continued its series of ads that idealized the days before Emancipation…
…the automatic toaster, still something of a novelty, was front and center at this holiday gathering…
…back of the book, single-column ads featured delights of the stage and screen and an appeal for Pilgrim Rum aided by the talents of WilliamSteig…
…Nikita Balieff’s La Chauve-Souris had seen better days when it showed up at the Continental Room…
…Balieff (1877–1936) was a Russian Armenian performer best known as the creator and master of ceremonies of the theatre group LaChauve-Souris. The company toured the U.S. six times from 1922–1929—including appearances on Broadway—presenting a variety of songs, dances and sketches based on Russian stories and legends. The troupe’s popularity even landed Balieff on the cover of Time (Oct. 17, 1927)…
The New Yorker’s Ralph Barton designed a curtain for the 1922 Chauve-Souris, and AlexanderWoollcott heaped praise on the performances. However, his fellow Algonquin Round Table wit, DorothyParker, was not impressed: it has come to the stage where these poor nerves jangle nastily every time the local cognoscenti hail as incomparable art any bit of literature, play, writing or stagecraft that comes out of Russia. ….. what I don’t really grasp is just why “Russian” and “great” should have come to be looked upon as synonyms…
Ralph Barton painted this celebrity curtain in 1922 for Chauve-Souris. (National Portrait Gallery)
…back to our ads…B. Altman had a suggestion for the last-minute shopper…
…a Robert Day cartoon was employed to advertise the latest New Yorker Album…
…Thomas Eastwood opens up our cartoon section…
…Maurice Freed tossed in this spot drawing…
…Perry Barlow got into the rhythm with the Salvation Army…
…Gilbert Bundy looked for some holiday cheer at a neighborhood tavern…
…Helen Hokinson gave us a generous spirit…
…Walter Lippmann’s column raised eyebrows at George Price’s breakfast table…
…Price again, on an urgent request…
…Ned Hilton did some peeking…
…Fritz Wilkerson showed us a couple in need of a dog whisperer…
…Carl Rose unmasked an imposter…
…and James Thurber presented a medical challenge…
…and before we go, another word on our cover artist, William Crawford Galbraith, who also created posters for MGM from the 1920s to the 1940s and drew cartoons for Harper’s Bazaar, Redbook, Vanity Fair, the Saturday EveningPost, and Cosmopolitan. He took over the nationally syndicated “Side Glances” comic panel from George Clark in 1939 and worked on it for two decades.
At left, Galbraith’s poster for Anna Christie, 1930; right, a 1946 Side Glances comic panel. The caption reads: “No, I’m not curious – I just like to hear Mom on the phone because her voice sounds so mellow compared to when she’s talking to us around the house!” (IMDB/comicartfans.com)
Above: Left image, coloratura soprano Lily Pons with Henry Fonda in I Dream Too Much;at right, Kitty Carlisle and Groucho Marx in A Night at the Opera. (rottentomatoes.com/IMDB)
The title of this post refers to two items below, which you’ll discover as we make our way through the December 7, 1935 issue of The New Yorker.
December 7, 1935 cover by Robert Day. A longtime contributor to The New Yorker, Day (1900-1985) contributed hundreds of cartoons as well as eight covers from 1931 to 1976.Robert Day (photo from This Week anthology via Ink Spill.)
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Our first night at the opera comes courtesy of RKO Pictures, which presented French-American coloratura soprano Lily Pons as the star of the musical rom-com I Dream Too Much. Critic John Mosher found the film enjoyable, singling out Pons for praise while chastising the screenwriters for interrupting the lively farce with some “social research.”
DREAM DATE…Clockwise, from top left: Henry Fonda in his third screen appearance as Lily Pons’ love interest in RKO’s I Dream Too Much; movie poster and publicity photo of Pons from the film; Lucille Ball (seen here with actress Esther Dale), appeared in a bit part as a gawky American teenage tourist in Paris (which was actually an RKO studio lot)…little did Ball know that one day she would own that RKO studio lot with husband Desi Arnaz as home to their Desilu Productions facility. (IMDB/Wikipedia/TCM)
Mosher also said farewell to Will Rogers in his final film, In Old Kentucky, which he found to be a “minor affair.” He also reviewed The Land of Promise, a film about Palestine that indicated to Mosher that “life there is highly successful for all present.”
THIS IS GOODBYE…Will Rogers in a scene with Dorothy Wilson in Rogers’ final film appearance, In Old Kentucky. (rotten tomatoes.com)ORIGIN STORY…According to the Israel Film Archive, Judah Leman’sThe Land of Promise “laid the cinematic groundwork for all subsequent Zionist propaganda films that would follow.” (IMDB)
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E.B. White keeps us on the cinema trail with some thoughts on the film, Mutiny on the Bounty, namely a certain historical inaccuracy:
AHEAD OF HIS TIME…E.B. White noted that Roger Byam (Franchot Tone) would have to wait seventy years to learn about germ theory. In addition, the trailer for Mutiny on the Bounty (above) incorrectly referred to Tone’s character as an ensign, when in fact Tone’s role was as a midshipman. (Wikipedia)
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They Had It First
The swastika was among the more popular designs incorporated into southwestern tribal art during the American tourist era (roughly 1890 to the 1930s). For the Navajo, the symbol represented humanity and life, and was used in healing rituals (it was also widely used by tribal peoples across Europe and Asia). Tourism promoters (called “hotel men” here) encouraged the symbol’s use until the 1930s, when it was increasingly associated with Germany’s Nazi Party. E.B. White explained:
TOURIST FAVORITE…Navajo blankets such as this example, made from 1864 to 1910, were popular with tourists. (Wichita State University)
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Lois Long’s fashion column continued to be dominated by exhaustive Christmas shopping lists, in this issue stretching from pages 58 to 97…here are the first and last paragraphs of the column…
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A Woolly Read
Perhaps your special someone was hoping for a thousand-page book under the tree; then look no further than The Woollcott Reader, a collection of stories, essays and other literary gems by New Yorker personality and former “Shouts and Murmurs” columnist Alexander Woollcott. In this excerpt, book critic Clifton Fadiman noted that a signed copy could be had for $7.50.
MY GIFT TO THE WORLD…Alexander Woollcott in 1939, as photographed by Carl Van Vechten, and the $3 brown cloth edition. (Wikipedia/Abebooks.com)
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From Our Advertisers
Colorful advertisements brightened the 149 pages of the Dec. 7 issue…we begin with this colorful array from Martex…
…the women’s specialty shop Jane Engel commissioned one of the best-known commercial photographers of the day, Ruzzie Green, to capture this glamorous image…
…Caron Paris offered up this cheerful bouquet…
…the makers of White Rock were enjoying the fruits of post-Prohibition days…
…the publishers of Stage magazine highlighted Beatrice Lillie’s Broadway revue, At Home Abroad…
…the Capitol Theatre took out this full-page advertisement to tout the opening of the latest Marx Brothers film…
…here is a close-up of the ad’s “testimonials”…
…and what awaited audiences…
(Wikipedia/thedissolve.com)
…the Lord & Thomas advertising firm imitated the New Yorker style in this full-page promotion…
…now who wouldn’t want a Philco “Radiobar” for the holidays?…
…found this one on 1stdibs.com…pretty cool…
…or you could get a little something for every one of your smoking friends (likely everyone)…
…and you could keep those holiday memories alive with a swell Kodak movie camera…
…Schrafft’s must have been something like an upscale Cracker Barrel…
…house ads from The New Yorker included this Otto Soglow-illustrated full pager…
…the magazine also touted books and poems by its contributors…
…and the Seventh New Yorker Album…
…more James Thurber here in this spot drawing for the “Books” section…
…and in this cartoon filled with holiday hijinks…
…Ilonka Karasz gave us a hockey goalie to open the calendar listings…
…George Price drew up this Depression-themed drawing at the bottom of the “Goings On” section…
…a great spot drawing by Aaron Sopher (1905–1972), who is perhaps best known for his depictions of everyday life in Baltimore…it was oddly placed amidst the “Christmas Gifts” section…
…according to Michael Maslin’sInk Spill, Sopher contributed just two cartoons to the magazine, in the issues of June 15, 1929, and December 6, 1930 (pictured below)…
…back to the Dec. 7 issue, and at the Velodrome with Robert Day…
…who also visited an ill-suited Santa…
…Helen Hokinson pondered gift ideas…
…Carl Rose illustrated an unspeakable act at a progressive school…
…Mary Petty gave us a straightforward diagnosis…
…Alain asked us to ponder the fate of one man…
…Whitney Darrow Jr eavesdropped on some child philosophy…
…and we close with Peter Arno, and a groom’s surprise at the altar…
Above: New Year’s Eve at the “El Morocco” Night Club at 154 E. 54th Street, New York, 1935. (Posted on Reddit)
Lois Long took her nightlife seriously, and when it didn’t live up to her standards—defined by the wild speakeasy nights she wrote about after joining The New Yorker in 1925 —she was crestfallen, to say the least.
November 16, 1935 cover by Leonard Dove. This is one of Dove’s fifty-seven New Yorker covers; he also contributed 717 cartoons to the magazine.Above: Leonard Dove’s self portrait, 1941; photo: 1947. Born 1906, Great Yarmouth, England. Died, Gramercy Hotel, New York City, 1972. (Thanks to Michael Maslin’s indispensable Ink Spill)
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When Long joined The New Yorker she was a 23-year-old Vassar graduate, and at age 34 she was not expecting to re-live those heady days; but nightlife in 1935 made her wonder where all the interesting people had gone. Instead of the smart and beautiful speakeasy set, she found people who couldn’t hold a conversation, who cared more about being mentioned in the newspapers by “Cholly Knickerbocker” (a pseudonym used by society columnists)—they simply lacked the “sparkle” she so craved. In this excerpt from her column, “Tables for Two,” she explained:
ALL SHOW, NO GO…Lois Long recalled the heady days of the original torch singer Helen Morgan, but her new club, The House of Morgan, offered up tired vaudeville instead of the singer herself. Above, images of the club from Christopher Connelly’sThe Helen Morgan Page. Top, center, detail of Morgan from the 1935 film Sweet Music. Next to Morgan is a photo of Long from the PBS documentary Prohibition. (helen-morgan.net/PBS.org)
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At the Movies
Our film critic John Mosher was in good spirits after taking in MGM’s Mutiny on the Bounty, and especially the inspired performance by Charles Laughton as the cruel, tyrannical Captain Bligh…
LET’S HAVE A STARING CONTEST…Clark Gable (left) portrayed Fletcher Christian, the Bounty’s executive officer, who disapproved of the cruel leadership of Captain Bligh, portrayed by Charles Laughton (right) in Mutiny on the Bounty. (theoscarbuzz.com)
…two other pictures reviewed by Mosher were less than inspired, but at least the George Raft/Joan Bennett gangster film, She Couldn’t Take It, offered a car chase, and the occasional surprise.
STERILITY ISSUES…Top, Gary Cooper and Ann Harding needed a bit more life in Peter Ibbetson; at least Joan Bennett (bottom photo) found some action in She Couldn’t Take It. (IMDB)
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From Our Advertisers
Not all fashion advertisements in The New Yorker were aimed at the posh set…Macy’s offered some thrifty selections, including a French-inspired “Theatre Curtain Blouse” that could be opened in the back “so as to reveal your own lily-white vertebrae”…
…I am puzzled by the “Duchess” types that appeared in food and beverage ads in the back of the magazine…we’ve seen some angry duchesses in ads for tomato and pineapple juice, and here we have one who has stooped so low as to shell her own peas…
…a side note, the Duchess’s peas came in a can bearing the old Green Giant logo, a savage, bearskin-clad figure…he was redesigned by ad executive Leo Burnett in 1935 to become the friendlier “Jolly Green Giant”…
…the makers of Camels presented football coach Chick Meehan in cartoon form to extol the wonders of football and smoking to a young woman…Meehan coached football at Syracuse, NYU and Manhattan College…
…the football theme segues to our cartoon section, beginning with this spot art by James Thurber…
…Christina Malman’s spot drawings could now be found in every issue, and usually more than one…
…this one by Robert Day also caught my eye, maybe because I like chickens, and dogs too…
…Day again, on the streets of Manhattan…
…Barbara Shermund showed us a wolf in wolf’s clothing…
…Alan Dunn seemed to be channelling Barbara Shermund here…or maybe Dunn’s wife Mary Petty had some influence…
…William Crawford Galbraith eavesdropped on some wagering waiters…
…Carl Rose found an outlier at the modern Walker-Gordon Dairy Farm…
…The Rotolactor featured in Rose’s cartoon was a mostly automatic machine used for milking a large number of cows successively on a rotating platform…first used at the Walker-Gordon Laboratories and Dairy in Plainsboro, New Jersey (pictured below), the Rotolactor held fifty cows at a time, and hosted about 250,000 visitors annually…
(rawmilkinstitute.org)
…and we go from cows to cats, courtesy Helen Hokinson…
…and Charles Addams booked an unusual perp…
…on to the November 23 issue…
November 23, 1935 cover by Antonio Petruccelli. Petruccelli (1907-1994) began his career as a textile designer, becoming a freelance illustrator in 1932 after winning several House Beautiful cover contests. This is one of four covers he produced for The New Yorker.Antonio Petruccelli. Here are samples of Petruccelli’s remarkable work.(Helicline Fine Art)
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Worth the Wait
The highly-anticipated circus-themed spectacle Jumbo finally opened at the Hippodrome. In his That’s Entertainment! blog, Jackson Upperco observes that Billy’s Rose’sJumbo was “more circus than musical comedy,” a production that “was largely an excuse for Mr. Rose to present a circus.” It was headlined by comedian Jimmy Durante and bandleader Paul Whiteman, with a score by Rodgers & Hart. Here are excerpts from a review by Wolcott Gibbs:
JUMB0-SIZED ENTERTAINMENT…Clockwise, from top left, Hippodrome billboard promoting Jumbo; built in 1905, the Hippodrome provided entertainment to thousands who couldn’t afford a Broadway ticket; a circus tent was erected inside the 5,300-seat theatre for the spectacle; Jumbo was one of the most expensive theatrical events of the first half of the 20th century. (Facebook/Library of Congress/Broadway Magazine/jacksonupperco.com)
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At the Movies
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1866 novel Crime and Punishment was adapted to film by both French and American producers in 1935, but critics including The New Yorker’sJohn Mosher mostly preferred the French version, titled Crime et châtiment.
DOUBLE FEATURE…American and French producers each turned out a film adaption of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment. Top photo, Marian Marsh as Sonya and Peter Lorre as Roderick Raskolnikov in Columbia’s Crime and Punishment; bottom photo, Madeleine Ozeray as Sonia and Pierre Blanchar as Rodion Raskolnikov in Crime et châtiment.(silverscreenmodes.com/SensCritique.com)
…Mosher reviewed another crime thriller, Mary Burns, Fugitive, but found some comic relief in two other films…
BAD CHOICE IN BOYFRIENDS was the theme of Mary Burns, Fugitive, starring (top left) Sylvia Sidney and Alan Baxter; top right, Joan Bennett and Ronald Colman in the romcom The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo; bottom, Fred Allen and Patsy Kelly provided some laughs in musical comedy Thanks a Million. (IMDB)
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From Our Advertisers
Readers of the Nov. 23 issue opened to this lovely image…
…which sharply contrasted with the clunky Plymouth ad on the opposite page…
…not so clunky was this colorful illustration promoting Cadillac’s economy model, the La Salle…
…the back cover was no surprise, with yet another glamorous cigarette ad…
…our cartoonists included Richard Decker, and a fashion faux pas to open a boxing match…
…George Price eavesdropped into some football strategy…
…Carl Rose spotted a canine unbeliever…
…Richard Taylor was back with his distinctive style…
…Al Frueh continued to illustrate the latest fare on Broadway…
…Otto Soglow crept in for a snooze…
…and we close with James Thurber, and some literary cosplay…
A New Yorker State of Mind 