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University Daily Kaansan Friday. Jan. 6, 1956.
a bit o' blarney
Time Makes Farce Of Man Of Year
By LEO FLANAGAN
(Daily Kansan Editorial Editor)
Time magazine has done it again. Purporting to be "the weekly news-magazine" it has once again demonstrated, by its selection of General Motors' Harlow Curtice as its man of the year, that it is a propaganda organ for big business.
We do not argue that Mr. Curtice was not one of the outstanding men of 1955. In a poll of editors and editorial writers of the Daily Kansan, he placed among the top 15 men in the world.
We do argue though, with his selection as No. 1 man of 1955. Our selection was Dr. Jonas Salk of polio vaccine fame. We believe that certainly Dr. Salk's contribution to mankind is now and will continue to be, of more real significance than that of Mr. Curtice.
In attempting to justify its selection Time has said that its man of the year "could be chosen only from among the captains of the U. S. economy."
Time said further that Curtice was selected "because, in a job that required it, he has assumed the responsibility of leadership for American business."
This sounds similar to the "what's good for
General Motors is good for the country" statement made by then GM president and now Secretary of Defense, Charles Wilson.
Such a philosophy is reminiscent of the Jay Gould-J. P. Morgan era which eventually brought about anti-trust legislation. Mr. Curtice has already appeared before a congressional committee to answer charges that GM was forcing its dealers to take unwanted cars. Also, the Justice Department has been keeping close tabs on General Motors' activities with regard to monopolistic practices.
Probably the greatest bit of nonsense in Time's article on Mr. Curtice was its referral to him as "Red." This attempt to personalize to Americans a man who makes $300 thousand plus per year is senseless. Except for a few intimates, no one would think anymore of calling him "Red" than of calling Commie Khrushchev "Baldy."
For too long now, Time has editorialized and slanted reporting of news towards big business. We will defend the magazine's right to have and express an opinion, but we will just as strongly object to the inclusion of this opinion in its reporting of facts, which practice attempts to analogize the two.
1955 Movies Bigger, But Not Better
Censorship, sentiment, CinemaScope, and controversy marked the motion picture industry in 1955. Movies were bigger, but not better. There were numerous good films, few outstanding ones.
A fight against state censorship seemed won when the Supreme Court made the Kansas Board of Review—which had tried to do in "The Moon Is Blue" and "I Am a Camera"—a board in name only. But the big fight remained—that against the industry's own Production Code, which refused a seal of approval to "The Man with the Golden Arm."
The sentiment came in large soapy batches— "The Long Gray Line," "Interrupted Melody," "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," "Good Morning. Miss Dove."
CinemaScope continued, of course, and Michael Todd made screens wider than ever with Todd-AO. Introduced in the film version of "Oklahoma." Todd-AO had violent partisans and violent opponents.
The controversy came from several pictures, but especially from "Blackboard Jungle." The debate: is "Jungle" a valid picture of our schools? Ignored was the simple fact that "Jungle" wasn't supposed to be ALL schools, just some of them. Screen violence was deplored by many, but violence seemed necessary to the depiction of the evils of society represented in "Jungle." "Trial," "Rebel Without a Cause," "The Phenix City Story," "The Desperate Hours," and "The Night Holds Terror." Controversial pictures, admittedly, were on safe topics—it's easy to be against juvenile delinquency, communism, gang rule, and in this enlightened era, even bigotry.
Hollywood made some good musicals, some taken directly from Broadway, though two—"Daddy Long Legs" and "It's Always Fair Weather"—were original film entertainment.
Broadway provided four of its few 1,000-run hits for Hollywood fare. All were successful, though not landmarks. They were "The Seven Year Itch," "Mister Roberts," "Oklahoma!," and "Guys and Dolls." Other stage dramas that came to the screen with varying degrees of success were "Summertime" ("The Time of the Cuckoo"), "The Shrike," "I Am a Camera," "The Desperate Hours," "The Big Knife," "The Tender Trap," "Kismet," and "The Rose Tattoo."
Best-selling novels also took the place of original screenplays of other years. "East of Eden," "Not as a Stranger," "The Cobweb," "The Night of the Hunter," and "The View from Pompey's Head" were among the novels moved to the screen.
Foreign countries, lacking in really great pictures in recent years, did well in 1955. From France—"Letters from My Windmill" and Clouzot's horror films; from Japan—'Samurai'; from Italy—'Umberto D.,' the last of that country's great realistic films; from England—'The Prisoner' and "The Divided Heart"; from Sweden—'The Great Adventure.'
It was the year of the Audience Awards. The choices of the fans (Jennifer Jones, in particular) and the fact that the year's best picture, "Marty," didn't steen rate a nomination, indicate that if some fans have their way Liberace's dream sometime may come true. After "Sincerely Yours" appeared, the beloved artist predicted he'd win an Oscar some day.
"Bad Day at Black Rock"—Spencer Tracy fights fascism in a desert town.
The year's best, chronologically listed, were:
"East of Eden"—father-son relationship in the bean fields of Steinbeck's Long Valley.
"The Wages of Fear"—a load of explosives travels a rocky Latin American road.
"Blackboard Jungle"—Glenn Ford fights off a classroom of hoodlums.
"A Man Called Peter"—Richard Todd depicts a minister who understands the meaning of religion.
"Love Me or Leave Me""Jimmy Cagney slaps around an ambitious young singer.
"The Great Adventure"—the world of nature without the usual Disney hokum.
"Marty"—a fat little butcher looks for love at 35.
"The Seven Year Itch"—Marilyn Monroe competes unsuccessfully with actor Tom Ewell.
"Summertime"—a spinster finds love amid the beauties of Venice.
"Mister Roberts"—Fonda, Cagney, Lemmon, potted palms and rowdy sailors.
"The Shrike"—June Allyson turns from seeing off Air Force husbands to making life miserable for Jose Ferrer.
"The Night of the Hunter"—an artistic camera follows a crazy preacher and the flight of two children.
"The Sheep Has Five Legs"—France's Fernandel cavorts in six roles.
"The Phoenix City Story"—blood, hate, violence in sin town.
"The Divided Heart"—an occupation judge poses a problem fit for Solomon.
"Trial"—Hollywood tackles, with some confusion, communism and bigotry.
"Oklahoma!"—a handsome musical classic done up brown in HUGE screen.
"Umberto D."—Italy probes unmercifully into the problem of old age.
"The Desperate Hours"—a father protects his home against mob invasion.
"Guys and Dolls"—Runyon's folks successfully transplanted from the big town.
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS by Dick Bibler
"Diobolique"—two French ladies find the corpse keeps bobbing up.
"The Prisoner" -Alec Guinness faces the Communist inquisition of Jack Hawkins.
"The Rose Tattoo"—Magnani gives an acting lesson to most American actresses.
"The Man with the Golden Arm"—narcotics proves too hot a topic for Hollywood's decrepit censorship body.
—Calder Pickett
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