Word: despots
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...actors who play the dictators are more impressive. Alexander Wells, as the three-headed dragon, changes his character slightly each time he changes faces. First as a self-satisfied military officer, then as cowardly tyrant, and finally as a simpering, giggling despot who knows he has crippled the souls of his people, Wells is a perfect villain. David Reiffel is equally good in his role as the not-quite-sane mayor, who switches mental illnesses to suit the moment. Charles Weinstein, as the mayor's conniving son who gives up his fiancee to the dragon in return for a position...
...start things rolling, the Kinks will be appearing tonight at the Orpheum where they will perform the uncut version of their latest rock operetta, Schoolboys In Disgrace, or The Making of a Despot a la Gilbert and Sullivan. This is a marvelous opportunity to trace the psychological components which led directly to Mr. Flash's demise and at the same time enjoy one of the finest rock/theater troupes in the business...
...Dominican Republic's Rafael Trujillo. Some CIA agents knew that Dominican dissidents, who had enjoyed U.S. support, intended to kill the despot. The Americans supplied them with three pistols and three carbines. There is "conflicting evidence" as to whether the weapons were knowingly supplied for an assassination and whether any of them were used when Trujillo was shot down...
...because assassinating rival monarchs inevitably invited retaliation. In the Italian city states of the Renaissance, of course, the Medicis, Viscontis and Sforzas practiced murder against rivals in politics, love or family quarrels with satanic ardor. The first and possibly the worst was Ezzel-ino da Romano, the 13th century despot of Padua and Verona. "Here for the first time," wrote Historian Jacob Burckhardt, "the attempt was openly made to found a throne by wholesale murder and endless barbarities." Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia), with his children Cesare and Lucrezia, used assassination for political ends when they eliminated...
...Film Genius Orson Welles has been on the enemies list of the Hearst press since 1941. Reason: his movie classic, Citizen Kane, a powerful profile closely based on the life and times of Founder-Despot William Randolph Hearst. For 33 years, even after the boss's death in 1951, the Hearst newspapers scrupulously observed his edict and barred Welles from their pages-except for an occasional slip, usually followed by an editorial inquiry. Then six months ago Entertainment Editor Ray Loynds of the Hearst Los Angeles Herald-Examiner began the vindication of Welles on his own initiative by finally...