May 3, 1941: Novelist James Hilton fills in for Lee Shippey, who is recovering from surgery. (I must say, I’m impressed by the number of authors among Shippey’s friends).

Tom Treanor, who was killed covering World War II for The Times, files a report from Curacao, noting that Royal Dutch Shell maintains the world's third-largest refinery there. He watches the tankers leave for England and speculates on their chances against the Nazis.

“A certain number of tankers, loaded with high-octane gasoline, turn red and a certain number of seamen, a large number, die for England. It made us feel funny watching them go out so slowly and so bravely, so steadily for England,” he says.

BELLS TO 12-year-old Roddy McDowall for his one-man campaign, which broke down studio red tape and landed his chum, Wells Wohlwend, a 20th Century-Fox stock job, Jimmie Fidler says. 

Also on the jump: Bruce Russell’s editorial cartoon on fighting over Iraq’s oil.

May 2, 1941: Darrell Ware, filling in for Lee Shippey, writes about the opening of trout season.

I've yet to see Adolphe Menjou in evening attire sans a boutonniere, Jimmie Fidler says 

May 1, 1941: Alan Le May fills in for Lee Shippey, who is recovering from surgery.

S.S. Santa Rosa — Like your appendix, this cruise is just a vestige of time gone by. As we slide through the soft Caribbean, looking through the open roof of the dining room to the glitter of the Southern Cross, we're living in a half-forgotten glory that war has already destroyed. We're living in the just finished past. These careless, happy-go-lucky voyages seem almost certain to come to an end. They won't belong on seas maybe crawling with submarines.

I'm tipped (and I believe) the George-Raft – Edward G. Robinson feud stories are a publicity stunt leading to their fight scene in "Man Power," Jimmie Fidler says.

April 30, 1941: Horatio Winslow fills in for columnist Lee Shippey, who is recovering from surgery, with a piece about the Women's Ambulance and Defense Corps of America. The organization, unofficially supported by the Army, is intended to respond to local emergencies, Winslow says. 

Tom Treanor pays the price of not getting a visa when his ship visits Bermuda.

With George Raft and Edward G. Robinson refusing to speak, W.B. execs are punch drunk trying to soothe wounded feelings and get "Man Power" finished," Jimmie Fidler says.