March 7, 1944

Notes of an Innocent Bystander

The Magic Lantern: Danny Kaye, who knocked off B’way in his first start, put Hollywood in his pocket the same way. His starter, “Up in Arms,” makes him a Milquetoast in khaki and gives him a chance for his grand clowning and his jabber-jive. Constance Dowling and Dinah Shore breeze home with him…. “The Curse of the Cat People” is a floorer to the claim that you meet nicer people in your dreams.

Too many radio jesters really believe the studio audiences’ howls as legitimate. The result is that the comics are getting careless. What brings laughter in studios often brings yawns in the parlor.

The Love Letter of the Week: From Quentin Reynolds’ book “The Curtain Rises”: “Most of what I wrote in the diary is nothing but gossip. Still, I suppose if a thousand years from now someone were to dig up the Winchell columns of the 1920s, he would get a pretty clear picture of life here during those hectic days. You cannot dismiss gossip columns by saying they discuss only trivial things. To a great extent they reflect the age in which we live.”

From the St. Petersburg Times.