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UNCLE JIMMY VERSION—Santa Claus, in the person of Bob Collins, Wichita second-year law,
Thursday. Dec. 17, 1959 University Daily Kansan
upholds the lawyers' version of Christmas merriment.
Khrushchev Is Top Name In News of the Year
By Jack Morton
The world's top Communist, Nikita Khrushchev, has been chosen as top name in the news by a unanimous vote of Daily Kansan editorial writers and editors.
Not far behind Khrushchev in the balloting was Mao Tsetung, perhaps the world's second-ranked Communist.
Soviet Premier Khrushchev was chosen as the top name because many people have come to feel that the chance for world peace lies in Khrushchev's attitude. His jelly face was displayed on the front pages of the nation's newspapers this fall as he visited the United States for the first time.
He also made a dramatic proposal for total world disarmament before the United Nations while on his trip. His proposal raised the hopes of many people, although it brought forth grunts of distrust from many others.
Mao Tse-tung, prime minister of Communist China, placed second because of his leadership of the world's most populous and potentially most powerful country, a country in which communism seems to be entrenched. Mao is feared by Western peoples because China is now making progress in building up its industry. Observers report it is possible that not even Russia will be able to restrain China if she continues her climb to power in Asia.
Fidel Castro, Cuba's emotional prime minister, took third place. Castro has been in the news this year for his agrarian-reform program which has caused many Americans and Cubans to lose their property. Castro's denunciations of the United States have become more bitter as he struggles to save his nation from an economic crack-up being spurred on by unemployment and inflation.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower placed fourth in the voting, chiefly because of the more direct role he has taken in respect to this country's domestic and foreign policy. The
President has assumed more of the responsibilities of dealing with foreign nations since the death of John Foster Dulles.
Prime Minister Harold Macmillan of Great Britain placed fifth. His Conservative party scored a victory over the labor party in this year's election, reversing the prediction of many political forecasters. In addition to his victory at home, Macmillan led the parade of Western statesmen to Russia. His visit set the tone for the friendly exchanges that have taken place between Russia and the Western world this year.
President Charles de Gaulle of France, a proud man leading a proud nation, placed sixth. At present, de Gaulle is in the news for his intention to test France's first atom bomb just as Russia and the Western leaders seem to be working in earnest for a disarmament plan and a permanent ban on nuclear testing.
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who placed seventh, became a dramatic figure in the news this year as he altered somewhat his policy of strict neutrality. Red China's attack on India's northeastern border jolted Nehru's neutrality enough to cause him to criticize the Peking regime. He sent troops to the border and warned China that India would defend her borders.
Vice-President Richard Nixon
took eighth place, chiefly for his visit to Russia. Nixon's vigorous debates with Khrushchev in Russia increased his popularity with many Americans. At home, Nixon has taken a leading role in the bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer took ninth place, because his country and its largest city, Berlin, will be crucial subjects of discussion at the impending summit talks.
An American intellectual who flirted with the entertainment world entered the ranks of world statesmen to take 10th place. He is Charles Van Doren, former Columbia University professor of English literature and quiz show contestant. His testimony admitting his role in fixed quiz shows touched off a public controversy about ethics in the television and radio industry. The story continues as investigations reveal more evidence of fixes and "payola."
Persons receiving too few votes to place in the top ten were:
Dag Hammarskjold, secretary general of the United Nations; Nelson Rockefeller, Republican governor of New York; Democratic Sen. John Kennedy of Massachusetts; David MacDonald, head of United Steelworkers Union; Roger Blough, chairman of U.S. Steel; and Willy Brandt, mayor of West Berlin.
Hot Year for Entertainment
By Dick Crocker
For the world of entertainment and literature, 1959 was a year of controversy and scandal.
The controversy centered around the belated introduction of D. H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterly's Lover" to the American
The scandal arose after a Congressional committee investigating television discovered widespread "fixing" of television quiz shows and the use of "payola" to promote popular records.
Early in 1959 Grove Press, a relatively new publishing firm, released the first United States edition of "Lady Chatterly's Lover," which had been banned from the country for decades. Immediately, Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield refused the use of the mails for distributing and promoting the book.
In a historic decision, a district court ruled that the book was not a work of pornography, as Mr. Summerfield claimed, and the mails were opened to the book. Grove Press then issued the book in a pocket edition, an example that was soon followed by other publishers.
Other 1959 bestsellers in fiction are:
"Advise and Consent," a novel of Washington politics by Allen Drury, a New York Times correspondent; "The Ugly American," by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer; "The Cave," by Robert Penn Warren; "The Mansion," the last of William Faulkner's trilogy on the Snopes family; "Hawaii," by James Michener; "The War Lover," by John Hersey, and "Henderson the Rain King," by Saul Bellow.
Non-Fiction Listed
Non-Fiction bestsellers include:
Non-Fiction bestsellers include: "Act One," an autobiography by Moss Hart; "For 2 Cents Plain," by Harry Golden, "The Status Seekers," by Vance Packard and "The Coming of the New Deal," by Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
The scandal in the broadcasting industry was triggered when a Congressional committee began investigating T.V. quiz shows. Witness after witness admitted that he had, in one way or another, participated in rigged programs. The investigations reached a peak when Charles Van Doren, a high money-winner on NBC's "Twenty-One," admitted that he had been given answers in advance.
With that disclosure, the world of TV quiz shows crumbled. Quiz shows were yanked off the air and a great outy arose for "honesty" in the broadcasting industries.
It was revealed that a flourishing business in "payola" has been taking place in the recording and broadcasting industries.
Despite the charges of "payola," the quality of music released by the recording industry was improved, mainly through the release of several excellent records.
The top single record of the year was Bobby Darrin's "Mack the Knife." The record showed that Mr. Darrin was beginning to reach maturity as a performer after such early efforts as the unforgettable "Splish-Spash." Another excellent
popular record was Nina Simone's mournful version of "I Loves you Porgy."
"Porgy" became the big word in the recording industry in 1959. The release of a number of albums based more or less on George Gershwin's folk opera "Porgy and Bess" coincided with the release of Samuel Goldwyn's motion picture based on the opera.
"Porgy and Bess" became one of the top domestic films of 1959. The American films of 1959 showed a new frankness as a result of the loosening of such restraints as the Production Code. However, the most frank and the best films continued to be the imports.
Top Movies Are:
The top American pictures of 1959 are:
"Porgy and Bess," "Anatomy of a Murder," "The Diary of Ann Frank," "The Nun's Story," "Some Like it Hot," and two late releases "Ben-Hur" and "On the Beach." The imports are
"Room at the Top," British; "Bitch" the 400 Blows," French; "Aparajito," Indian; "The Roof," Italian; "Wild Strawberries" and "The Magician," Swedish, and "The Black Orpheus," French.
The year 1959 brought a great number of musicals to Broadway to compete with the perennial "My Fair Lady" and "The Music Man." They are:
"La Plume de Ma Tante," a Gallic import which was awarded the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award; "Take Me Along," with Jackie Gleason and Walter Pidgeon; "Fiorello," with Tom Bosley, "Gypsy," with Ethel Merman; and "Redhead" with Gwen Verdon. "The Three-penny Opera" continued into its fifth successful year. The ten dramas of the year are:
The top dramas of the year were "Raisin in the Sun," termed "Best Play" by the New York Drama Critics; "Sweet Bird of Youth," by Tennessee Williams; "The Marriage-Go-Round," with Charles Boyer and Claudette Colbert; "The Miracle Worker," with Anne Bancroft, and "A Majority of One," with Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Gertrude Berg.
Outstanding TV Shows
Despite the quiz show scandal, TV still mangued to be applauded for its presentation of several outstanding shows.
Fred Astaire danced his 'way through a second "Evening with Fred Astaire." Ingrid Bergman appeared in her first TV dramatic show, "The Turn of the Screw," and Sir Laurence Olivier appeared in "The Moon and Sixpence," based on Somerset Maugham's novel.
"Playhouse 90" the only hour and a half dramatic show left on TV, pioneered with a two-part version of Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls," with Maria Schell and Jason Robards Jr.
Man-Like It's Around 1959
It was Dec. 31, 1958. Philleas Khrisus adjusted his cravat. Mein Gott, he thought, like, man, it's a jolly evening. Like, I'll scibble over to Buddy's Idiot Kid for a demitasse of expression.
Sitting cross-legged on a fat, red pom-pom, Khrusike stirred his cafe, cough, with a heirloom swizzle. Niked-Beat (he had cut himself while shaving)—his valet, appeared in the doorway.
Phil, he asked, like, what's new? Khrusike, pulling himself up with the aid of a handy TV table, said, I've just made a bet-nik that I can get around 1959 in 80 events.
Borrow Friend's Reindeer.
Harnessing the winged reindeer, which Phil had borrowed from a Castro-bearded friend, he and
Niked-Beat orbitedlike way out to Washington. Stopped for repairs on the bells, the pair acted like tourists, man, and took a 97 cents tribble through the capitol. Censored, if it isn't Morse calling Clare Booth Luce a horse on the Senate floor. On the Senate floor? And, censored, birth control had become a public issue, and reporters are quizzing John Kinsey (D-Mass) about his feelings on the matter.
Dorothy Kilboylan has described Mrs. K. in the most glowing terms and has incurred the wrath of the nation's intellectuals. Middle-aged men are running out of steel for their toy trains and the President or somebody has enforced the Tough-Hardly Act.
Congress voted a lei-shaped star to be added to the Grand Old Flag,
and all the representatives are doing hulas on the House floor. On the House floor?
Please. Charlie
The President or somebody is censored because it's winter and the golf balls get stuck in the snow. The President or somebody's wife went to the South for a beauty treatment.
"Say it isn't so, Charlie"—The cry rang from the dome and rustled across the nation slapping down TV shows as it went. The Castro-bearded friend laid his finger aside of his nose and asked toy-makers if they could get crooked quiz show games in the stores before Christmas. Cosmetic makers wondered if they could create as many red faces as did the shows which they sponsored.
The bells were well again and Phil Khrusike and Niked-Beat headed for the Southland to the strains of "The Battle of Baton Rouge."
They stuffed the ballots so the people wouldn't know
Weren't as many as there were Long before.
Ran once more for governor of the state
Knew the people thought that he was pretty great.
Ran to Texas where there was a booby hatch
And in the newsmen, he finally met his match.
Oh, newsmen in the briars Newsmen in the brambles. Newsmen in the bushes where
Newsmen in the brains
Newsmen in the bushes where
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