THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
32 Friday, November 30, 1919
r
I
I
Insight Into History of American Theater
in Newest George S. Kaufman Biography
Oak Park Racquet Club
Offers Valuable Coupon
I By ALLEN A. WARSEN
"25% Distount"
on Tennis Membership
Bring in ad
today!!
Offer ex
pires
I THE MIME CLUBS
Oak Park Racquet Club
14320 Oak Park Blvd
Oak Park. Michigan 48237
Dec. 14th
398-2450
Malcolm Goldstein's vol-
ume "George S. Kaufman:
His Life, His Theater" (Ox-
ford University Press) por-
trays vividly and percep-
tively the career of one of
the great men of the Ameri-
can theater.
Born in Pittsburgh on
Nov. 16, 1889, Kaufman
lived to the age of 72.
As a child, Kaufman
enjoyed reading Carolyn
Well's "A Nonsense Antho/-
1 ogy" and Gilbert's rhythmic
a poems. In his teens, he liked
5 lbs. of MATZO
If I can't Beat Your Best Deal
Margolis Household Furniture
6 Mile, 1 Mk. W. of Schaefer
OUR 33rd YEAR
ARNOLD MARGOLIS
SHARPENING the PENCIL
INTERIOR
DECORATOR
SERVICE
On All Name Brands
Furniture and Bedding
•SCHOOLFIELD •SELIG •SIMMONS •SEALY •SERTA •SPRING AIR •LA-Z-
BOY •STIFFEL LAMPS •KROEHLER •AMERICAN •BURLINGTON •BASSETT
•BARCALOUNGER •LANE •UNIQUE
13703 W. McNichols 342-5351 Hrs. Mon thru Sat. 9:30 til 5:30
SUNDAY, DEC. 9, 1919
Day of
vo p,RITy
1:30 P.M.
ife
N.\
0
C-)
CONGREGATION DWI MOSHE
(Corner 10 Mile and Church Streets)
KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
JEROME LEVINRAD
National Executive Director
Jewish War Veterans of America
SSED
Convened by:
In Cooperation With:
Pioneer Women Metropolitan Jewish Community Council
Detroit Council
of Metropolitan Detroit
CO-SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS
Adat Shalom Synagogue
AKTSIA — University of Michigan
American Jewish Action
Anti-Defamation League of
B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation
Wayne- State University
B'nai B'rith Metropolitan
Detroit Council
B'nai Brith Women's Council
of Metropolitan Detroit
B'nai B'rith Youth Organization
Congregation Beth Abraham
,Hillel Moses
Congregation Beth Achim
Congregation Beth Shalom
Congregation B'nai Moshe
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Detroit Committee for
Soviet Jewry
Hadassah
Jewish War Veterans,
Department of Michigan
Jewish War Veterans, Department of
Michigan Ladies Zuxiliary
Labor Zionist Organization
National Council of
Jewish Women
Sephardic Community of
Greater Detroit
Temple Israel
United Hebrew Schools
United Synagogue Youth
Women's American ORT
Workmen's Circle, Michigan
District Committee
Zionist Organization of Detroit
adventure stories, light
verse and vaudeville shows.
At 14 he was confirmed
in a Reform temple, and
wrote his first play "The
Failure" in collaboration
with Irving Pitchel, the
future famous actor and
Hollywood director.
In 1912, Kaufman began
to publish in the Washing-
ton Times a humorous col-
umn that he dubbed "This
and That With Sometimes a
Little of the Other." How-
ever, he lasted on that job
only one year, as Frank
Munsey, the newspaper's
anti-Semitic owner fired
him for his "Jewish looks."
Soon afterwards Kauf-
man secured a position as a
reporter on the New York
Tribune. He also contrib-
uted humorous tidbits to the
periodical Puck.
Two years later, Kauf-
man made his first trip to
Europe. On the boat, be-
cause of his newspaper con-
nections, he was "seated at
the captain's table, along
with a baroness and the wife
of an admiral."
As he returned from his
European trip, Kaufman
became the Tribune's
drama reporter.
He married Beatrice
Barkrow of Rochester at age
28.
On Sept. 10, 1917, Kauf-
man quit the Tribune to be-
come the New York Times
drama editor. He continued
on that job until August
1930. By that time, Kauf-
man had become one of
Broadway's most successful
playwrights "with an in-
come that made possible a
domestic staff of three ser-
vants and a nurse for his
child."
His play, "Someone in the
House," produced in 1918,
started him in show busi-
ness. And the play "Dulcy,"
a satire on the business
world, written in collabora-
tion with Marc Connally,
became a theater favorite.
One of its sarcastic
dialogues reads:
Gordon: (A bit cheerily.)
Oh I don't know —I have an
idea it may be picking up
presently.
Bill: (Tapping the
newspaper.) You've been
reading Mr. Schwab (He
quotes.) "Steel Man- Sees
Era of Prosperity."
Gordon: Well — I think
he's right at that.
Bill: Yes (A pause.) Roc-
kefeller expects to break
even this year, too. -
"This sort of verbal
thrust," comments the biog-
rapher, "became the iden-
tifying feature . . . of Kauf-
man's comedies . . . A snap-
ping, jumping kind of line, it
gives a nervous rhythm to
the plays."
The comedy "The But-
ter and Egg Man" Kauf-
man composed without
collaborators. Its theme
is the creation of a
"Broadway production,"
and its title was invented
by a woman night club
operator, one of New
York's "most successful
defiers of the 18th
Amendment."
"The Cocoanuts," a musi-
cal with songs by Irving Be-
rlin, performed by the Marx
Brothers, was one of Kauf-
man's most popular prod-
uctions. Its setting was a
run-down hotel in Cocoanut
Beach, Fla. Groucho played
the role of the hotel's prop-
rietor, Harpo and Chico
were the guests, and Zeppo
the desk clerk.
Incidentally, "The
Cocoanuts" was Irving Ber-
lin's only musical.
The comedy "A Night at
the Opera" that became a
Marx Brothers film classic,
Kaufman wrote in Hol-
lywood.
Altogether, Kaufman
wrote 40 plays, several in
collaboration with other
playwrights. Of these, 25
were Broadway hits.
They were played all over
the United States and
Europe. Kaufman never
allowed his plays to be
produced in Germany
and Austria, a fact of
which he was proud.
The biography depicts
and
eloquently
engrossingly Kaufman's
private life, and provides
behind-the-scenes fascinat-
ing facts on the theatrical
performances of his plays.
This review would be in-
complete hadn't it named
some of the collaborators.
They included Moss Hart,
S.N. Behrman, Irving Be-
rlin; Edna Ferber, Ira and
George Gershwin, Dorothy
Parker, Robert E. Sherwood
and Alexander Woolcott.
The biography's
lightful photog 'aphs
complement the text.
The biographer, Malcolm
Goldstein, is professor of
English at Queens College
and author of "The Political
Stage."
FOOD & PASTRIES
FOR ALL OCCASIONS
By
RHONDA ADM.
851-7070
•• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
•
•
•
•
•
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
•
SON
THE ONE AND ONLY
11111111111111111111111111111111 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
:1:;;:;Illtilitflliili1111111111111111111 1 ❑
1 1 1 1 1 1 111 111 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 111 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 111111111111111 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 111 1 1 1 1 1 11111
•
•
•
•
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
1 1 1 1 1 1111111E1111
1111 1111 11 11 11 1 111 1 1! !
•
BUY NOW
• • AND SAVE
1980
MODEL.
• Sony Trinitron with remote control, of course. This •
KV-1943R, a 19" (diagonally measured) color TV
•
' •
• comes with the brand new Express Commande0 )
• remote control.
•
•
•
•
•
TELEPHONE SMITH-CORONA
• QUARTZ WATCHES ANSWERING ELECTRIC
•
•
OFF - MACHINES TYPEWRITERS • •
• 40%
Sugg. list
SEIKO
•
•
•
•• GOLD CHAINS
•
3406 W. 12 MILE, BERKLEY, MICH.
Canter Bucaaigham, 8 Blocks E. of Greenfield
Hours: Mon. to Sat. 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
•
•
•
••
EUREKA PAC's
•
KITCHEN AID:
•
•
•
OSCAR BRAUN'S
•
•
•
•
•
BIG DISCOUNTS • •
•
II
0
•
•
•
•
0