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Page 40,

cY

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE

"Death of a Salesman" is seised.
uled for production this summer,
in Chicago, London, Stockholm,
Prague, Paris, Rome, Budapest
and Mexico City.
• • •

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'Salesman' Marks Miller
as Top U. S. Playwright

(In 'Liberal Judaism')
journey of a man from self-assur-
I STRIKING CONTRAST with ance to doubt and then to despair,
A the story of failure, embodied
with infinite resourcefulness.
in this season's most provocative
Already familiar to theater-
play, "Death of a Salesman," its goers, Cobb, a Jew, is presently
author, 33-year-old Arthur Miller, achieving greater popularity
has the distinction of capturing through his fine work in the films.
all major dramatic awards, and
• • •
is considered the brightest star in 'AS THEY ARE'
the firmament of the modern
IN ALL HIS writings, Miller
theatre.
has looked at people as they
Last month, Mr. Miller's mod- really are: their hopes, their de-
ern tragedy was awarded the 1949 sires, their faults, their petty
Pulitzer Prize for the best dra- dealings.
matic play.
He brings a rich understanding
Opening in New York on Feb. of the mind and heart of man to
10, at the Morosco Theater, the written word, full of pity but
"Death of a Salesman" also re- offering no moral precepts.
ceived top honors from the New
As he himself defined it, at
York Drama Critics Circle, the recent Book and Author lunch- a
American Theater Wing (Antoin- eon: "True drama must give a
ette Perry Award); the Theater full explanation of characters who
Club and the American News- are real and who are put into
paper Guild. It is the first play real situations ivhich bring out
ever to take all these honors.
their potentialities and their
In addition, it is the first pub- weaknesses.
Such a tragedy
lished play ever to be chosen as a shows us what we are and what
Book-of-the-Month Club selec- we are striving to become—where
tion, the publication being we may fail and how we can suc-
handled by Viking Press.
ceed in trying to find a right way
• • •
to live."
WINS ACCLAIM
But most important, he empha-
"DEATH OF A SALESMAN" sized, is that the tragedian be-
won immediate critical acclaim lieves that there is such a thing as
following its first performance. "the right way to live," if only we
Combining the essentials of a can find out. He pointed out that
Greek tragedy, it moves inexor- those who had a cynical lack of
ably to the final denouement.
faith that life has meaning would
It deals with an ineffectual remain but reporters rather than
father, a veteran Brooklyn travel- true tragedians.
ing man, who after years on the
Pursuing the "right way to
road with "a smile and a shoe- live" philosophy still further,
string" discovers that he has been Miller, in an interview, with Dr.
a failure and has outlived his use- Frederic Wet- than, New York psy-
fulness.
chiatrist, called special attention
Living in his own dream world, to his characterization of the old-
he has always refused to face est son of the salesman, Willy
reality. Finally the phantom of Loman, as one of the most im-
his life overtakes him, and he is portant sectors of the play.
through. Suddenly there is noth- .The son rejects the attitude of
ing left.
life represented by his father and
Miller's play achieves full dra- insists that his future stability and
matic breadth•and scope through sanity lie in production, in achiev-
the warm and understanding por- ing a connection with the crea-
traiture by an excellent cast.
tion of things rather than at-
Singled out for top acting tempting to live by manipulation
honors is Lee J. Cobb in the role of things.
of the defeated salesman. Al-
I believe that one of the basic
though the characterization is things from which all Willy Lo-
familiar in its detail, Cobb has mans suffer is that their inner
brought it something of the grand need to create and to give is con-
manner, the deep tone, and an tradicted by their way of life. I
effective blend of shabby vigor think that when the audience
and groping frustration.
weeps, they are weeping for
He plays the long, hard role, the themselves."

'ALL MY SONS'
IT WAS IN 1947 thet Miller
first proved that controversial
and tragic themes could be
-brought successfully to the stage.
His "All My Sons," a compell-
ing and pitiless analysis of war
profiteering, became a smashing
box office hit and won him the
New York Drama Critics Circle
and Donaldson Awards.
John Mason Brown, president
of the Critics Circle, stated the
play had been chosen "because of
the frank and uncompromising
presentation of a timely and im-
portant theme; because of the
honesty of the writing and cumu-
lative power of the scenes; be-
cause "All My Sons" reveals a
genuine instinct of the theatre in
an intelligent and thoughtful
playwright."
The movie version of the play
was released the following spring.
Tall and rangy, this playwright
extraordinary was born in upper
Manhattan, moving to Brooklyn
when he was 13. After graduat-
ing from Abraham Lincoln High
School, he went to the University
of Michigan.
There he soon indicated his ex-
ceptional abilities- by walking off
with two literary prizes, two
Avery Hopwood drama awards
and Use $1,250 Theater Guild
prize.
Following that, he authored a
number of radio scripts for the
Columbia Workship, the screen
play for "The Story of G. I. Joe"
(based on Ernie Pyle's writings),
"Situation Normal," a book about
army living, and "The Man Who
Had All the Luck," a short-lived
play of a few seasons back.
His controversial novel "Focus,"

an expose of bigotry and the de-
OMEN OF GOOD LUCK
velopment of f asc is m, first
In the Middle Ages it was the
brought him national attention.
custom to cat on Rosh Hashonah
•
grapes, figs and a calf's head as an
omen 'of good luck to all Israel.
WORKS IN FACTORY

• •

TO THE REPEATED counsel
given to aspiring writers: in order
to write about life you first have
to live it; Miller adds his own
practical approach by taking
periodic turns as a factory work-
er, explaining: "Anyone who
doesn't know what it means to
stand in one place eight hours a
day doesn't know what it's all
about."
His own varied experience in-
cludes jobs as a dishwasher, stock
clerk, truck driver, waiter, sea-
man and ship fitter.
A skilled carpenter and me-
chanic, he practices these avoca-
tions on his farm in Roxbury,
Conn., where he also does some
of his writing. He married a
former classmate at the Univers-
ity of Michigan and they now
have two children.
• • •

ROLL OF JEW
RECENTLY THERB has been
much discussion in the press con-
cerning the role of the Jewish
writer in America today. There
has been much lamentation over
(Continued on Page 41)

WISHES TO EXTEND
41210
TO ALL ITS MEMBERS AND THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
MAX TENDLER
LOUIS FRIEDRICH
President
Vice-President

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