The Hollywood Touch

In Los Angeles, Adlai Stevenson was suddenly exposed to the Hollywood atmosphere. Like many another visitor, he found it unsettling at first, but not unpleasant once he got used to it.

The Democratic candidate's first brush with the magic touch was provided by chunky John R. McFaden, a pressagent hired by the California Democratic Central Committee. Moved by the dramatic possibilities in Stevenson's scheduled visit to his birthplace on Los Angeles' Monmouth Avenue, McFaden wrote out a script for the occasion. The pressagent was particularly inspired by a vision of Stevenson marching up the walk to his childhood home. "This," read the script, "should be done with reasonable reverence in such a manner as to give cameramen a dramatic shot of a historical figure returning to the place of his birth. Stevenson is met at the door by Miss Bertha Mott, current occupant of the house, who says, 'Since I was a little girl, it has been my ambition to fetch a glass of water for a President. May I have that honor now?' "

Shortly before the visit, the Stevenson party learned from grinning newsmen of the existence of the McFaden drama. While the governor preserved a stony silence, one of his aides hurried out to Monmouth Avenue to inform McFaden that Stevenson wouldn't follow the script, and didn't want any glass of water. Half an hour later, Stevenson himself appeared, went through a scriptless visit.

That afternoon the governor was guest of honor at a monster cocktail party given by MGM's Production Chief Dore Schary. Hollywood offered comforting evidence that many a torrid summer romance with Eisenhower had ended in a reconciliation with the Democratic Party to which most screen people have been attached since New Deal days. Gathered on the Scharys' lawn were more than 600 of Hollywood's big fry. Moving through the crowd, Actress Lauren Bacall excitedly told of her shift from Ike to Adlai. "Bogie hasn't switched yet," she explained, "but I'm working on him."

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