The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

"Soundies" got to be a pretty big thing, as coin-op machines went, by the mid-forties, when performers more colorful than Mr. Lopez got involved. He was the house band in the Grill Room at the Hotel Taft, and specialized in pleasant, sedate dance music for pleasant sedate people. Here's one of the Soundies he made today in 1940....

The Soundies really took off, though when they brought in more hepcat-oriented acts. Fats Waller made a bunch of them, and seemed to have a great deal of fun doing it...

(This one is a home-movie reissue print --when the Soundies Corporation of America folded in the late forties, they sold their library to a company that distributed them for years on 16mm for home use. Although they weren't licensed for television use, some of them turned up there as well.)

 

[Fading Fast]

"Soundies" got to be a pretty big thing, as coin-op machines went, by the mid-forties, when performers more colorful than Mr. Lopez got involved. He was the house band in the Grill Room at the Hotel Taft, and specialized in pleasant, sedate dance music for pleasant sedate people. Here's one of the Soundies he made today in 1940....

The Soundies really took off, though when they brought in more hepcat-oriented acts. Fats Waller made a bunch of them, and seemed to have a great deal of fun doing it...

(This one is a home-movie reissue print --when the Soundies Corporation of America folded in the late forties, they sold their library to a company that distributed them for years on 16mm for home use. Although they weren't licensed for television use, some of them turned up there as well.)

Fats Waller has an outstanding personality for videos. He was just forty years too early for MTV.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

OH NO! Joy's got the measles. So close yet so far away.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Social distancing makes for a challenging honeymoon.

 

[Fading Fast]

Who'd she catch them from? Just askin'.

 

[Fading Fast]

We all know the horrible history, but there is something about seeing it in a 1940 paper - knowing that it was happening at that exact moment - that makes it feel more real.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Jewish Christians" in that context are persons of Jewish ancestry who converted to public Christianity, so called, in an effort to conceal that ancestry. But since it was ancestry that mattered to the Nazis and not doctrine, it was usually to no avail. Their "one drop" approach to determining who was Jewish was inspired by and taken directly from the Southern United States' "one drop" policy for determining African descent.

 

[Harp]

Nude blondes do pop up in the most inconvenient places.

Apparently, nude ones anyway.

Coffee, blonde & sweet.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Eagle, as noted, does not fly today because of the holiday, but the News pushes on as ever. And as a Christmas bonus, we'll spread out more pages over multiple posts....

Ho. Ho. Ho.

And we complain about 2020.

I keep reading this guy's name as "William F. Buckley Jr.," which would make it even funnier.

"Hey," says Sally. "Assagooddeallonnemshoits." "Nah," says Joe. "I guttanuff doity shoits."

If in this careworn world of trouble and of strife, all that it takes to make you happy is a color portrait of Don Ameche, maybe there's hope yet.

I'm sensing a common trend in some of these productions. But hey, that Benny-Allen picture only came out last week, and already it's playing Brooklyn? Merry Christmas, Mr. Schroth.

And again we have a winner!

So much to do, so little time. But the opening night of "Pal Joey" would be quite a thing to see -- Gene Kelly and Vivienne Segal in a Rodgers-and-Hart musical based on John O'Hara's short stories. I mean, seriously.

And there's a few movies coming out too. By the way, "Doris Blake" is really a bitter, divorced, middle-aged, cigar-smoking man from Elmhurst.

"Hear the actual voice of Pope Pius XI, presented by Finkenberg's" may be the most New York thing ever.

(to be continued)

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Poor li'l Giant Fan." Hehehehehhe. Hey, Bill Terry, are the Giants still in the league?

Migawd, Slap-Happy is a real person! Hey, be sure to sling Sparky and Doc lots and lots of coal!

Nothing says Christmas like watching a guy get the spit kicked out of him. Ho Ho Ho!

If his dialog in panel two is any indication, Krome is being played today by William Powell.

Hu Shee isn't really up for the proselytizing, while Terry worries that maybe he shouldn't have dropped out of Sunday School after all.

The worst part of it is they made Andy actually go out and catch the lobsters himself.

"Yeah, Merry Christmas kid -- this call is costing us a bundle, so good-bye."

Yeah, nice haul and all, but c'mon -- wouldn't it have been nicer to give the poor kid an actual bed?

Gee, I wonder how Senga's spending Christmas?

 

[Fading Fast]

... And we complain about 2020....

Hess' and Petain's comments are not surprising but still jarring.

... "Hey," says Sally. "Assagooddeallonnemshoits." "Nah," says Joe. "I guttanuff doity shoits."...

Can't imagine a store using "soiled" in an advertisement in any way today.

... If in this careworn world of trouble and of strife, all that it takes to make you happy is a color portrait of Don Ameche, maybe there's hope yet....

Interesting that every Santa answered yes. Either they know where their bread is buttered or those who choose the job have a predisposition to have a positive view of kids.

...[
And again we have a winner!...

Good on H&H, it knows its market well. Plus, you have the fun of putting nickels in the slot and getting your food from behind a glass door.

...[ And there's a few movies coming out too. By the way, "Doris Blake" is really a bitter, divorced, middle-aged, cigar-smoking man from Elmhurst....

Having more-pedestrian tastes than Lizzie, I'll pass on "Pal Joey" as I'll be at Radio City Music Hall taking in the Christmas Show and "The Philadelphia Story." (Plus, future me was underwhelmed with the movie version of "Pal Joey.")

... "Hear the actual voice of Pope Pius XI, presented by Finkenberg's" may be the most New York thing ever....

No kidding.

 

[Fading Fast]

[ "Poor li'l Giant Fan." Hehehehehhe. Hey, Bill Terry, are the Giants still in the league?...

Record W. Va track take: we see it in stock trading at Robinhood today, Humans love to gamble and will find a way.

... If his dialog in panel two is any indication, Krome is being played today by William Powell....

Good call, very "The Thin Man."

...
Hu Shee isn't really up for the proselytizing, while Terry worries that maybe he shouldn't have dropped out of Sunday School after all....

[Panel 4, Dr. Ping has left the house] Hu Shee: "Terry, with the world 'such a mess,' shouldn't two people find joy and comfort wherever they can, for whatever brief moment they can? [said as she begins to slip the robe off the shoulders of a deer-in-the-headlights-faced Terry]

... Gee, I wonder how Senga's spending Christmas?

Since she's already blown through Harold's $200, my guess, taxi-dancer is her absolute best option, but nothing says she went with her best option.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A bitter attack accusing the Rapp-Coudert Committee of "rough house tactics" marked a stormy hearing this morning before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Benedict D. Dineen on a motion to jail five Brooklyn College instructors who have refused to comply with an order that they testify concerning alleged subversive activities at the school before a one-man subcommittee in private closed sessions. Attorney William G. Mullin, representing the Teachers Union, denounced the panel for its practice of "Couderism," which he defined as "a new technique in Anglo-Saxon law which is marked by deceit and rough house tactics. It is time," he added, "for someone to stand up and tell this committee 'No.'" Mr. Mullin told the court that he himself could bear witness to those tactics, stating that when he asked for permission to cross-examine a Committee witness at a hearing earlier this month, he was "bodily ejected from the hearinig room by four husky attendants." The Justice reserved a ruling on the motion, and gave both sides until January 3rd to file briefs in argument of their cases.

A sad-faced man whom passers-by saw sitting on the curb this morning at the intersection of Utica Avenue and St. John's Place in Crown Heights got up and stumbled across Marcy Avenue into oncoming traffic -- and then, as horrified onlookers watched, hurled himself into the path of a Reid Avenue trolley. He was caught on the safety catch and dragged five or six feet before the car came to a stop. Police say the man identified himself as 50-year-old Julius Gipsowitch, homeless and unemployed, and declared that he wanted to die because he has nothing to live for. He told police he had just eaten a Christmas dinner at a Salvation Army shelter in Manhattan, and that with no job and no home, he didn't want to be a burden to anyone. Mr. Gipsowitch was taken to Unity Hospital with a punctured lung. He had 30 cents in his pocket.

(What a great setup for a Preston Sturges comedy. Let's get Betty Hutton as Miss Ageloff, and William Demarest as her dad. And Mischa Auer as Trotsky.)

Nazi leaders in Rumania were reported in diplomatic dispatches today to have ordered a major speedup in production of war materials, even as crowded trains carrying the vanguard of some 300,000 fresh German troops crossed Hungary into the Balkan kingdom of King Mihai. The massive transport of troops and equipment may mark an impending showdown between powers with conflicting interests in the Balkans.

The White House reported today that more than 150 prominent American citizens have petitioned the President to "make it the settled policy of this country to do everything that may be necessary to ensure the defeat of the Axis Powers." The group, comprising editors, authors, lawyers, educators, actors, and religious and labor leaders, set forth their appeal in a letter to the President, urging that "all possible be done to promote resistance to the plausible but fatal arguments of appeasement."

Famed theatrical producer Daniel Frohman died this morning at the age of 89, ending a career of more than sixty years on the legitimate stage that included creative clashes with Mark Twain and the discovery of such stars as Maude Adams, James Hackett, Alison Skipworth, and Margaret Illington, the latter of whom he married in 1903. Mr. Frohman retired from active producing in 1912, but remained prominent in the theatrical world as president of the Actors Fund, of which he was the last surviving founding member. Mr. Frohman's last words were reported to be "the curtain's coming down."

Drastic reductions on individual political contributions may be imposed by the Senate Campaign Expenditures Committee in an effort to rein in the cost of national elections. At present the Hatch Act limits party committees to a maximum expenditure of $3,000,000 and caps individual contributions at $5000, but it is reported that the 1940 Presidential election was still the most expensive ever, with more than $20,000,000 spent.

Women will have a greater share in 1941 in making the laws of the nation. The League of Women Voters reports that a total of 140 women were elected to legislative seats in a total of 29 states. Although the number of women in state Senates dropped from eleven to nine, that total still represents a net increase over the previous total of 130 women serving in state legislatures. In addition, eight women -- five Republicans and three Democrats, will take seats in the U. S. House of Representatives for the new term, and twelve women will be sworn into major State offices. The one female newcomer to the House of Representatives will be Miss Jeanette Rankin (R-Montana), who is returning to the House after serving twenty-two years ago as the first woman ever elected to that body. She is a noted peace advocate who was well-known for voting against the United States entering the World War.

"Pal Joey," the Rodgers-and-Hart musical based on the New Yorker short stories of John O'Hara opened last night at the Barrymore Theatre, and Arthur Pollock reports it's quite unlike any musical you've ever seen. The songs are sophisticated to the point where radio vocalists will have problems with them, and the book deals with a thoroughly unlikable lead character -- a heel, a liar, a four-flusher, and a no-good who does not reform at the end of the play. "This is not the stuff," comments Mr. Pollock, "of which musical comedies are usually made." Gene Kelly, who attracted attention last year in William Saroyan's "The Time Of Your Life," has everything the role of Joey requires, Vivienne Segal is at her easy best as the rich married lady "who has tried a good many things more than once," and June Havoc adds merriment as a night club girl named Gladys. "You have never," states Mr. Pollock, "seen anything like it."

(Ah, now. Mr. Powell's band has clearly not gotten word that swing is on the way out, and are well worth hearing. But the real stars here are the Rollini Trio, who are superb. And for twenty cents, yet.)

(Well, being right near Borough Hall, it'll be really convenient for Mr. O'Dwyer, Vice Crusader, to raid them.)

(Or you could just go to H&H.)

(Tsk. Stealing gags from "Lum and Abner.")

Silent screen star Agnes Ayers, best remembered as Rudolph Valentino's leading lady, died on Christmas Day at her Hollywood home from a cerebral hemorrhage. She was 42. Miss Ayers retired from films with the coming of the talkies, but made an unsuccessful comeback attempt several years go. Miss Ayers lost most of her film wealth in the stock market crash of 1929, and has been in poor health in recent years.

Pitching will be the real difference for the Dodgers in 1941. So notes Tommy Holmes, who observes that the coming season will find the Flock with an unexpected abundance of mound riches, starting with the one-two punch of Whit Wyatt and the newly-acquired Kirby Higbe. There is no reason to think that Luke Hamlin and Hugh Casey, the staff stars of 1939 won't recover their form in 1941, and Lee Grissom may make up a worthy fifth starter, giving the Dodgers a solid foundation of strong hurling. The second tier will be headed by Fred Fitzsimmons, who will move from spot starter to relief specialist under manager Leo Durocher's new order for 1941, with additional veteran mound power offered by Curt Davis, Tex Carleton, Bill Swift, and, possibly, depending on how his rebuilt arm looks in spring training, Van Mungo. Add in a good crop of rookie talent, and Durocher has a total of sixteen pitchers to look over before Opening Day. When's the last time the Flock ever had such mound depth?

Baseball writers need to get over themselves, according to columnist Ed Hughes. Many of the New York writers, in recognizing Bob Feller as the Player of the Year for 1940, have deigned to "forgive him" for his role in the Indians' "Cry Baby Rebellion" against manager Oscar Vitt. But Ed says better they should *commend* him for having the courage to stand up for his fellow players against what he believed was an unjust situation. About half the Indians roster rated Vitt "no good," and felt he was hampering their ability to win games, and Feller was well within his rights to speak out against him. "He was one of the Revolutionists," says Ed, "and as such I honor him."

Bing Crosby will present "Ballad For Americans," the thirteen minute composition by Earl Robinson and John Letouche, first introduced on the air by Paul Robeson, on his Music Hall broadcast tonight at 10 on WEAF. It is believed to be the longest single selection ever performed on the program. The Ballad will get another treatment next Sunday by Lawrence Tibbett over WABC.

("Aunt Willie?" Boody's trying to tell us something, I think.)

(And if there's one thing Jo doesn't like, it's weird stories. Right, George?)

("Stupid kid! No wonder I walked out on you!")

(Half the men I knew growing up wore their caps exactly like that. I thought it was just to keep the rain from dripping down in front of their faces. I had no idea they were all CONVICTS.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Daddy, what's an 'anullment?'"

"Daddy, what's 'vice?'"

"Daddy, what's..." "SHUT UP KID!"

Is that REALLY how Invader commandants swear?

"It's almost like somebody's -- lookin' down on us! Somebody -- with a way a' gettin' things DONE."

"That's right, the THINGS. You did bring the toy kangaroo, right?"

If this ends up with the owl sitting on Andy's nose and mercilessly pecking his knob of a head, I for one will laugh and laugh.

"We're not one of those terrible companies that fires people when they're on vacation, oh nooooo..."

Always stay one step ahead of the game.

No doubt about it, she's Snipe's long-lost sister.

 

[Fading Fast]

..."Pal Joey," the Rodgers-and-Hart musical based on the New Yorker short stories of John O'Hara opened last night at the Barrymore Theatre, and Arthur Pollock reports it's quite unlike any musical you've ever seen. The songs are sophisticated to the point where radio vocalists will have problems with them, and the book deals with a thoroughly unlikable lead character -- a heel, a liar, a four-flusher, and a no-good who does not reform at the end of the play. "This is not the stuff," comments Mr. Pollock, "of which musical comedies are usually made." Gene Kelly, who attracted attention last year in William Saroyan's "The Time Of Your Life," has everything the role of Joey requires, Vivienne Segal is at her easy best as the rich married lady "who has tried a good many things more than once," and June Havoc adds merriment as a night club girl named Gladys. "You have never," states Mr. Pollock, "seen anything like it."...

Nice sharp elbow to the "radio vocalists."

...[ ("Aunt Willie?" Boody's trying to tell us something, I think.)...

It's good to see our friend the turtle finally get a mention.

... "Daddy, what's an 'anullment?'"....

Good job by the patrolman. From what we know, he was just walking his beat, noticed something suspicious, prevented a crime and arrested three suspects.

... Is that REALLY how Invader commandants swear?...

You gotta love when an occupying force is offended that the conquered people resist the occupation. I get that the occupier needs, for its purposes, to stamp the resistance out, but that it finds the resistance itself immoral is one self-absorbed and twisted way of looking at it.

One very good Hollywood effort looking at the moral complexity of an occupying force can be seen in the movie "This Land is Mine." (comments here #27906)

... No doubt about it, she's Snipe's long-lost sister.

Hopefully, Ed will build out the character as he seems vested in her right now. It might just be to show that she takes her work seriously, or that outfit (she's worn a similar one before) could be code.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A ship that shelled the island of Nauru shortly after daybreak this morning flew the Japanese flag, according to Austrialian Prime Minister Robert G. Menzies. The island, a former German possession surrendered to Austrialian forces in 1914, has been administered since 1920 by the British under a League of Nations mandate. Considerable damage was reported in the shelling, but no injuries.

German sources claim that the Royal Air Force struck the city of Bordeaux in Nazi-occupied France last night for reasons of "no military or practical meaning." German reports claim several French civilians were killed or wounded in the raid. British sources confirm the raid, following a one-day informal "Christmas truce," and note that a German plane struck the English isle of Sheppley.

The fall of the beleaguered Libyan port of Bardia awaits only the go-ahead from General Sir Archibald B. Wavell, according to reports from British military circles. British planes and ground forces continued their bombardment today of the estimated 20,000 Italian troops bottled up in that port.

Up to 350,000 German troops continue to flood into Rumania, even as the Soviet Union masses a similarly-sized force of its own along the Bessarabian frontier in anticipation of a possible confrontation with Nazi forces. Twenty full Soviet divisions are now reported to be in position, numbering about 300,000 men, and are reported to possess full mechanized equipment.

Do old-fashioned boiled shirts possess unique acoustical properties that justify Maestro Arturo Toscanini's requirement that his musicians must wear them during performances? That was the theory under investigation by two Brooklyn high school students in a demonstration yesterday at the Junior Science Congress at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. Miss Therese Zingini, a seventeen-year-old junior at Girls' Commercial High School in Flatbush, demonstrated that sound waves are absorbed by unstarched fabric, and therefore it follows that Toscanini's musicians, by wearing stiff shirts, cause their music to be reflected outward, to be better picked up by the radio microphones overhead. But Seymour Golub, sixteen year old sophomore at Brooklyn Technical High School, disputed Miss Zingini's findings, arguing that sound reflecting off multiple stiff shirtfronts would in fact create audible sound-wave distortion, and would therefore be a disadvantage to the musicians and not a benefit. Maestro Toscanini, for his part, declares the whole controversy "ridiculous."

A Federal case brought by U. S. Attorney General Robert H. Jackson against four parties involved in the dispute between broadcasters and songwriters is welcomed by the key party in the case. A spokesman for the American Society Of Composers, Authors, and Publishers declared that ASCAP looks forward to the opportunity to lay out its case in the ongoing contract dispute pitting the organization against the National Broadcasting Company, the Columbia Broadcasting System, and Broadcast Music, Inc., the latter a rival performance-rights agency formed under the auspices of the National Association of Broadcasters. Attorney General Jackson, declaring that the rights of radio listeners would be interfered with unless the dispute is settled, filed criminal charges this week against all four parties to the case in Milwaukee Federal Court in Wisconsin. The present five-year contract between ASCAP, NBC, and CBS expires on December 31st, but the networks have already banned the performance on any ASCAP-licensed music from their programs. The case filed in Milwaukee accuses all the parties involved of attempting to "eliminate competition" in the music business in violation of antitrust laws. Meanwhile, independent radio stations not bound by the networks' contract with ASCAP indicate that they plan to take advantage of the situation by emphasizing the performance of ASCAP selections, with both WNEW and WHN, both of which heavily feature recorded music, having both announced new contracts with the organization. City-owned WNYC announced plans for a new regular program series designed around ASCAP music, but will also present selections licensed by the new BMI organization.

(What, no mention of the Dodgers finishing second? Buncha bitter Giant fans wrote this.)

(Whattaya bet they shine up the trade-ins and put them out on the floor as "unadvertised specials?")

A dispute between Bronx Borough President James Lyons and Parks Commissioner Robert Moses over bridge tolls led Mr. Lyons to denounce Mr. Moses in a letter for "Hitler-like" methods in a dispute that has boiled over into a full confrontation. Mr. Lyons had proposed cutting tolls on the Manhattan-Bronx spur of the Triborough Bridge from fifteen to ten cents, only to be ridiculed by Mr. Moses, who declared that "the city would be mad to consider such an arrangement," and predicted that such a reduction could only lead to a flood of reductions of other bridge and tunnel tolls. Mr. Lyons responded by declaring that in spite of Mr. Moses "Hitler-like tone of finality," the people themselves will have the final say. "The fact that Moses says a thing will not be done is by no means final as far as I am concerned!"

A course offered prospective fathers by Methodist Hospital in Park Slope has graduated its first class, with 19 future papas having received certificates marking their mastery of the arts of diaper changing, baby-bathing, and bottle-feeding. The men practiced on dolls with nurses standing by to correct errors in form.

("Whatchat'ink, kid?" says Joe. "Ain'gon'benuttin' but ickies onnaradio. How'zbout Roselan'?" "Who's playin'?" asks Sally. "Redman." "Getchashoes shined.")

Katharine Hepburn is back in the movies after a two year absence, and it's grand news, says Herbert Cohn. And "The Philadelphia Story," now showing at Radio City Music Hall, is a grand picture. She's just as good in the film version of Philip Barry's lampooning of Philadelphia Main Line society as she was when she starrred in the original Broadway play last year, especially with George Cukor's precise direction keeping her reins taut. Cary Grant as ex-husband C. K. Dexter-Haven, John Howard as a frustated fiance, and James Stewart and Ruth Hussey as snooping newspaper reporters are all exactly as they should be, as is Virginia Weidler as the bratty little sister.

(Mr. Lichty offers an unexpectedly trenchant critique of US foreign policy in the Carribbean.)

A fluke of the rules unique to the National League gave Debs Garms of the Pirates the National League batting championship for 1940, even though he wasn't a regular. Pittsburgh picked up the 32-year-old journeyman outfielder on waivers from the Boston Bees during spring training, and little was expected of him other than fill-in and pinch-hitting duty. But he proved himself useful not just in the outfield, but also as a third baseman, and managed to get into 103 games for the Bucs in 1940 -- hitting a lusty .355 on the year in 353 at bats. The American League requires a batting champion to have at least 400 at bats to qualify for the title, but the senior circuit has no such rule -- and so it is that Garms, who is a bit bewildered by the honor, finds himself on top of the league's batting chart. The highest total for a batter with at least 400 at bats is the measly .317 logged by Stan Hack of the Cubs, so Garms at least spares his league the embarrassment of having such a lowly batting champ.

("Two thoity seven," tsks Joe. "Mmm, mmmmm. Ya know what MacPhail ottadoo? Heottatryta gettat Frankie Gustine offa t''Pittsboigs. Helluvagood fielda, an' boy, c'n he hit. I ottacallimmup, an' givvim t'idea." "Keep it up," mumbles Sally. "Keeeeeepitup, an' ya gonna be dancin' by yaself. An' I don' mean jus' at Roselan'.")

(You know, after reading Helen Worth all this time, I really admire her ability to say "GTFU" without actually saying "GTFU.")

Tick tick tick tick tick tick tick....

(Let's see now. We've got the whole rubber-map story, we've got Sybil Dardanella's mysterious connection to that office, we've got Crazy Dynamite Man, and now we've got Butch's frivolous lawsuit. There's enough Chekhov's Guns here to start a pawnshop.)

(Orrrrrrrrr maybe you should just not get involved at all. This cannot end well no matter what you do.)

("Pouf!" Well, that'll be dramatic to see.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

The News is really pushing hard to win that Good Samaritan Award for 1940.

Miss Bruce will enjoy a very long career in the theatre as "Not Quite Martha Raye but She'll Do," but I guess that's enough to afford a supper at Childs.

Well, at least he wasn't scalded to death by his wife.

Well, gee, Mr. Sleazylawyer, don't be so blase. How do you think he's gonna pay all those billable hours you've been putting in?

There really is an easier way to do this, you know.

That dunk-in-the-rain-barrel thing worked once. It won't work again.

Poor Skeez. He'll get off the train ,nobody will be home, and he'll run into Avery who'll tell him that they all went to visit Walt's mother in Wisconsin. And then Avery will bum half a buck off him because his car ran out of gas halfway down the street.

NO NOT THE OWL!

"Oh, and here's a dollar. Go buy a clue."

It's best not to take chances with a man who has only one facial expression.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(What, no mention of the Dodgers finishing second? Buncha bitter Giant fans wrote this.)...

I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't even remember the derailment story.

And somewhere, enjoying her purloined wealth, a plump blonde bank robber smiles to herself knowing that no news is good news in her line of work.

....Lyons to denounce Mr. Moses in a letter for "Hitler-like" methods in a dispute that has boiled over into a full confrontation. Mr. Lyons had proposed cutting tolls on the Manhattan-Bronx spur of the Triborough Bridge from fifteen to ten cents, only to be ridiculed by Mr. Moses, who declared that "the city would be mad to consider such an arrangement," and predicted that such a reduction could only lead to a flood of reductions of other bridge and tunnel tolls. Mr. Lyons responded by declaring that in spite of Mr. Moses "Hitler-like tone of finality," the people themselves will have the final say. "The fact that Moses says a thing will not be done is by no means final as far as I am concerned!"...

This is going to be a fun one to follow. While my lean is toward the lower tolls as it's nice to see the regular people win one and a government to actually drop the price of some service, fee, tax, license, etc., my general understanding of Moses is that he doesn't lose often.

... ("Whatchat'ink, kid?" says Joe. "Ain'gon'benuttin' but ickies onnaradio. How'zbout Roselan'?" "Who's playin'?" asks Sally. "Redman." "Getchashoes shined.")...

Howard Johnson's would not have been my first thought as a place to go for New Years Eve dinner and dancing, but maybe it pulled it off okay, especially since this is not your average Howard Johnson's (note the tie-in to the World's Fair):

http://www.highwayhost.org/NewYork/Restaurants/RegoPark/regopark1.htm

"The Queens colossus was the culmination of Howard Johnson's development from simple beachside stand into the ultimate in dining experience. Described as Colonial architecture, the monument to dining was decorated with Venetian blinds, crystal chandeliers made to order in Italy, elaborate murals, and exuded an overall expansive and impressive atmosphere of luxury.

Moreover, the palatial thousand seat restaurant's main entryway was under a white-pillared portico which led into an elliptical hall of noble proportions. Within that entry hall was a wide grand stairway which wound gracefully upward toward a great rose and gold crystal chandelier, and along the walls were striking murals painted by the celebrated colorist, Andre Durenceau

. Like the progress promised by the much celebrated World's Fair, the Queens HoJo's pointed to a future that was not quite to be."​

The place itself (look at what's peeking out at the far left):

...Katharine Hepburn is back in the movies after a two year absence, and it's grand news, says Herbert Cohn. And "The Philadelphia Story," now showing at Radio City Music Hall, is a grand picture. She's just as good in the film version of Philip Barry's lampooning of Philadelphia Main Line society as she was when she starrred in the original Broadway play last year, especially with George Cukor's precise direction keeping her reins taut. Cary Grant as ex-husband C. K. Dexter-Haven, John Howard as a frustated fiance, and James Stewart and Ruth Hussey as snooping newspaper reporters are all exactly as they should be, as is Virginia Weidler as the bratty little sister....

This one deserves all the praise it received. A few years back, I caught a TCM-sponsored showing of it in a movie theater and posted these comments #24767.

... View attachment 295299
("Two thoity seven," tsks Joe. "Mmm, mmmmm. Ya know what MacPhail ottadoo? Heottatryta gettat Frankie Gustine offa t''Pittsboigs. Helluvagood fielda, an' boy, c'n he hit. I ottacallimmup, an' givvim t'idea." "Keep it up," mumbles Sally. "Keeeeeepitup, an' ya gonna be dancin' by yaself. An' I don' mean jus' at Roselan'.")...

"ottadoo?" "Heottatryta" and "ottacallimmup."

....
(Let's see now. We've got the whole rubber-map story, we've got Sybil Dardanella's mysterious connection to that office, we've got Crazy Dynamite Man, and now we've got Butch's frivolous lawsuit. There's enough Chekhov's Guns here to start a pawnshop.)...

Yes to all that and did we know his name was Butcherly Addle?

... The News is really pushing hard to win that Good Samaritan Award for 1940.....

It's really fortunate that the governor had just dealt with that situation in reverse.

...
Well, at least he wasn't scalded to death by his wife.....

True.

...[ There really is an easier way to do this, you know.....

Wile E. Coyote comes up with smarter plans.

.. NO NOT THE OWL!....

Fraid so.