Word: downrightness
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Kerouac's use of pure Americana makes his language an effective vehicle at times. But it becomes merely amusing when he borrows from advertisements (A piece of apple pie is "nutritious, and ... delicious"), and elsewhere downright sickeningly romantic. ("Holy flowers floating in the dawn of Jazz America.") And when he tries to describe jazz, he reaches the heights of the ridiculous. ("ta-tup-EE-da-de-deraRup ...") It's difficult to see why, in the day of LP's, he thinks it necessary to compete with Charlie Parker on paper...
Unfortunately, Susan Strasberg, the third star, seems a mere satellite. She is miscast, and downright dull, speaking in a disagreeable adolescent voice that fits Anne Frank perfectly, but adds little brightness to Anouilh. Fortunately, there are some extremely amusing supporting actors. Glenn Anders is ideal as the glorious Lord Hector, and Sig Arno serves his role as a timeless headwaiter with a skillful dash of farce...
...Burt Meyers and Jack Olsen-were marked men, thanks to Governor Orval Faubus, who blamed TIME for many of his self-made troubles in a radio-TV broadcast the week before. Reported Burt Meyers: "We found frequent references being made to TIME, few, if any, complimentary -and some were downright bloodthirsty. But we kept our mouths shut, dodged any questions about our connections and kept out of trouble." Even so, Meyers, for example, found himself swept into mob action directed straight at himself. Says he: "I was in part of the crowd that was looking around for a 'nigger...
...loyal as he is to the West, complained Tunisia's peppery President Habib Bourguiba, is "beginning to verge on downright sentimentality." He was angered by French troops invading Tunisia in hot pursuit of Algerian rebels (some of whom, say the French, make hit-and-run raids into Algeria from Tunisia). Independent Tunisia, snapped Bourguiba, must have guns, "no matter what the price...
...ours was mounting," Chicagoans read last week. "We have financed a six-lane highway in Portugal, numerous uncompleted projects in Iran and are now providing free airplane excursions for thousands of Arabs visiting Mecca. The record is filled with innumerable instances of 'foreign aid' so dubious and downright silly as to be almost beyond belief. It includes dress suits for Grecian undertakers, public baths for Egyptian camel drivers and even iceboxes for Eskimos...