How to Handle an Actor

Sir:

Your July 23 article on the fascinating Rex makes me long to be among the lucky ones who have been and will be enchanted by My Fair Lady. But why not mention the unforgettable performance in Pygmalion by the late Leslie Howard as Professor Higgins ?

MRS. PHILIP G. TERRIE Charleston, West Va.

Sir:

Concerning the Rex Harrison story: in the words of Pogo's turtle Churchy, "Oh, how could you of!"

CHAS. M. COOK

Falls Church, Va.

Presidential Pulse

Sir:

Why should so much be written about President Eisenhower's operation when it was a success? Practically nothing was printed about President Roosevelt's health before his last election, and it was known among a number of physicians that his health was very poor. Certainly President Eisenhower is much stronger and more able to endure the strain of another four years than President Roosevelt was.

MRS. OLIVER D. SEWALL Dedham, Mass.

Portrait of a Candidate (Contd.)

Sir:

You are to be congratulated on your fine cover of Stevenson and its intelligent analysis of Democratic pre-convention strategy. I am in favor of Stevenson, but why does he have to resort to those pitiful campaign tactics as shown by your pictures?

CHARLES STEELE St. Joseph, Mo.

Sir:

After seeing Adlai Stevenson's pictures in your story, one would like to ask: "Does one have to become a buffoon before he becomes the President of the U.S.?"

A. RAHIM KHAN Karachi, Pakistan

Sir:

You outdid yourselves. The cover portrait looks exactly like Stevenson, from his bald pate down to his tiny chin. Congratulations to TIME and James Chapin.

GLEN PITTMAN Casper, Wyo.

Sir:

It is nice of you to have Adlai Stevenson's name on your cover, but why the picture of Milton Berle?

ANGELA ZERAD

Wrestchester, Ill.

Sir:

Apropos of the Democrats and their advertising agency, which "made the Maidenform bra a symbol of the American Dream": the theme was used four years ago during the national nominating conventions.

AL ZIFF Philipsburg, Pa. --I For 1952's dream, see cut.--ED.

Sir:

Instead of slyly coupling the Maidenform ad drive with any contemplated campaign for Adlai Stevenson, wouldn't it have been more newsworthy to pick up a Timelier peg for Norman, Craig & Kummel, Inc.--the agency that masterminded and launched The $64,000 Question! Nothing wrong with Maidenform, but surely you'd have chosen a different type of account to characterize N. C. & K.'s opposite number and to try to dignify what promises to be a dilly of an ad promotion for the Republican Party. Going to tell your readers about "hard sell"?

CAROL GREITZER New York City

Sir:

Like a breath of clean air in a swamp comes your damning with faint praise of Adlai and the Democratic Party. I did not think that you could stop glamorizing Ike long enough to do this.

LYOM J. HERRON SR.

Flora, Miss.

Sir:

If President Eisenhower had some of Mr. Stevenson's moderation, we wouldn't be in so much trouble with the neutrals of the world.

FRED GOLDBERGER The Bronx, N.Y.

Lessons in History

Sir:

The Honorable Harry S. Truman has probably forgotten more U.S. history than I will ever know, but he certainly slipped when he was quoted by New York Post Publisher Schiff as saying that "a once-defeated presidential candidate has never won in American history except in the strange case of Grover Cleveland." Historian Harry has evidently overlooked at least three other instances:

In 1824 John Q. Adams won the election after having been defeated by James Monroe in 1820. Andrew Jackson was elected in 1828 after having been defeated by Adams four years previous;--serving two terms. Again, in 1836, Martin Van Buren defeated W. H. Harrison, but in the next election the "once-defeated" Harrison won an overwhelming victory (234 to 60 electoral votes), defeating Van Buren.

I. A. ROBERTSON Ronan, Mont.

Rembrandt

Sir:

Your June 16 report on Rembrandt is in the finest tradition of art journalism, and I wish to express my sincere appreciation. The reproductions are excellent and the story a model of fine writing. I hope we can look forward to others of a like kind.

NORMAN KENT Editor

American Artist Magazine New York City

Arsenic & the Ambassador

Sir:

The story of the poisoning of our Ambassador to Italy reported in TIME, July 23, would make a great mystery play. Why not call it Arsenic and Old Luce?

GERSON FADEN, M.D. Ebensburg, Pa.

Life in Chicago

Sir:

Why did you see fit to tell the nation about Chicago in your July 16 issue? As for Chicago's Scotland Yard--our chief of police isn't interfering in your business, so just you let him run his.

EDITH JOYCE

Chicago Woman's Civic League Chicago

Sir:

It's about time that someone published something like "Daley Life in Chicago." Keep up the good work!

D. H. REYNOLDS Bensenville, Ill.

Dollars & Scholars

Sir:

In your July 16 issue a reader named James Norman expresses his opinion that most intellectuals are "laggards who think the world owes them a living," and boasts that he is a diecaster with a $14,000 home and a new Buick. If it were not for intellectuals, neither Mr. Norman's new Buick nor his lucrative job as diecaster could exist. This is something for Mr. Norman to think about the next time he is tempted to invite comparisons of who has got both front feet farthest into the trough.

CHARLES R. SLEETH

Northampton, Mass.

Sir:

In this country almost any clod who is in good health and is willing to work can own a $14,000 house and a new Buick.

EDWARD C. HOLT JR.

State College, Pa.

The Little Giants (Contd.)

Sir:

Heinz Nordhoff of Volkswagen hit it on the nose when he said, "The longer and sleeker they build cars in the U.S., the better we like it." I'm in the market for a new car, but these overhung American multiple-toned wedding cakes leave me cold. Every year they get longer, wider, lower, chromier and more expensive. Isn't there anybody who'd like to make a sturdy, relatively inexpensive car about the size of the British Ford? At today's gas prices, a car like this should really sell.

F. C. HARRIS

Los Angeles

Catastrophic Zero

Sir:

The "catastrophic" fall in British worldwide automobile exports [July 16] is mainly due to a catastrophic typographical error by TIME. The correct figure for January to May 1956 is 140,000 autos, not "14,000."

I. P. GARRAN

Minister (Commercial) British Embassy Washington

P: TIME erred; a garbled cable transmission dropped a catastrophic zero. --ED.

G.l.s Abroad

Sir:

Three cheers via TIME [July 16] to West Germany's Kaseler Zeitung and their apparent approaching fight to calm down the American servicemen in their country. Having spent four years in the U.S. Navy, I have seen broken and ruined furniture in some of the finest hotels in Europe, all left behind by G.Ls. As a lot they are a group of vulgar-mouthed, bragging, drunken apes who roam the streets of foreign countries seeking someone to insult or something to destroy.

CHARLES E. FOLEY New Harmony, Ind.

The Press & the Baby

Sir:

Your July 16 story on the handling by the press of the Weinberger kidnaping is very distressing. This latest episode harks back to others, which would lead one to believe that some newsmen would sell their mothers into prostitution for a good story. Isn't the time ripe for pressmen to organize an ethical standards committee with power to censure such practices?

FERDINAND L. PICARDI Syracuse, N.Y.

Refreshing Beauty

Sir:

A tribute to TIME [July 23] for its salute to the National Park system; it was truly refreshing to be reminded of the beauties of our country as we plod through the often depressing news of the world.

DOROTHY E. LARSEN Woodbridge, Conn.

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