CALIFORNIA S'I'ATE UNIVERSI'f.'Y, .NORTHRIDGE

'l'HE USE OF THE COMMON·-·HiA.GE REFERENCE

IN THE A:r.lliRICAN COMIC THEA'l'R}!: 1 1.925-1970, AS

RELA'l'ED TO THE GROWTH OF '1'IIE C0r1II:.UNICATIONS HEIHA

A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction c.>f t:he requiremen.ts for the degree of t-1a.r:::ter of A:rts in Theatre

by

Ronald Feinberg ......

August, 1977 The Thesis of Ronald Feinberg approvP.d:

California State University, Northridge

ii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page ,,,jl LIST OF CHARTS, TABLES AND GRAPHS tv ABSTRACT v

I. INTRODUCTION . . . • • . • • . . . . 1

II. THE USE OF COMt40N-H1AGE REFERENCES,

1925-1970 . 0 0 0 • • • 0 • • 0 • • 12

III. THE tllEDIA--BROADCASTING, PUBLISHING ili~D COI~lERCIAL DISPLAY, 1925-1970 63

IV. SUMY~RY AND CONCLUSIONS 82

NOTES • 95

BIBLIOGRAPHY 105 A. Plays 105

B. General Works 108

APPENDIX 111

iii LIST OF CHARTS, TABLES AND GRAPHS

Page

A. Charts for Theatre Seasons

1925-26 • 14

1935-36 • 20

1945-46 • 27

1955-56 30

1960-61 • 36

1965-66 • • 43

1970-71 • 52

~rotals 61

B. Tables and Graphs

I. Broadcas·ting Stations and Cable 'Eelevision Systems, 1925-1970 . . . . . 66 II. Households with Sets and Cable Households, 1925~1970 . . . . . 66- III. Newspapers 1925-1970 ...... 71 IV. Periodicals 1925-1970 ...... 71 v. Standardized Poster Advertising and Outdoor Advertising Revenue . . . . 75

VI. .Hot ion Picture Th(~atres a.nd Weekly Attendance ...... 78 VII. Graph of Media Audience Growth and Common~ Irnage Use • • • • • 89

iv ABSTRACT

THE USE OF THE COMMON-IMAGE REFERENCE

IN THE AMERICAN COMIC THEATRE, 1925-1970, AS

RELATED TO THE GROWTH OF THE COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA

by

Ronald Feinberg

Master of Arts in Theatre

This study is designed to examine one area of inter­ action between the primary creator in the theatre, the playwright, and the mass communications explosion, as exemplified by The Media. The investigation of this possible interaction centers on the use by the playwright of the common-image reference, ·which is a special type of topical reference. One kind. of common·- image reference, called the image~required reference, demands a specific shared visual image to complete the thought and provide understanding~ The other kind, which carries specific visual connotations but does not absolutely require the audience to visualize a particular shared.image, is called the iiDage-enhanced reference.

v The study concentrates on the parallel development of the media and the American comic theatre during the period between 1925 and 1970, a period of substantial media growth which also produced a body of popular comedies likely to reflect topical awareness. Selected comedies are studied for numbers a.nd rate of use of common-image references and selected media components are examined for indications of growth in size and in audience. The survey of both subjects, sampled first at 10-year and then at

5-year intervals, reveals considerable grow-th in media activity on the one hand, and an increase in the rate of cornmon·-image reference use on the other.

Since there is a surprisingly small number of refer­ ences throughout the survey, no direct relationship can be shown between the two phenomena. Because of the number of references used that directly rela·te to mo-tion pictures and television, further investigation of this particular subject might indicate some relationship between these media components and common image use, but such an indica­ t.ion vwuld depend on an examination of a more comprehensive sc.mpling of all types of plays.

vi Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

The playwright, besides telling a story and structur- ing the dramatic action on the stage, is able to conjure complicated visual images for his audience with words. The fields of Agincourt are painted with exquisite care by

Shakespeare in the words of Henry V's Chorus. The play- wright, like the novelist and the poet, makes wide use of this magic conjuring of places and things; the country churchyard, the foggy moors, the lonely expanse of open sea, a battle, a brothel, heaven and hell and everything in between can all be drawn in words, and each individual reader or audience member can "see" in response his own personal answering mental image.

When the playwright makes a topical allusion, he is evoking a different kind of response from his audience.

Instead of painting word pictures for individual image- making, he seeks a more uniform response, by calling upon shared knowledge of events or people or places or things.

That this unifying topicality is a helpful tool is con- firmed by the consistent use of topical references throughout theatrical literature. A translator of

Aristophanes observes that

often it [the Parabasis] was made the vehicle for special appeo.l to the sympathetic consider;­ ation of the spectators for the play and its

l. - 2

merits. These ·' parabases, ' so characteristic of the Aristophanic comedy, are conceived in the brightest and wittiest vein, and abound in topical allusions and personal hits that must have constituted them perhaps the most telling part of the whole performance.l

Naturally, the potential for using shared knowledge as a sort of shorthand, to convey ideas to the theatre audience,

is dependent in part on the quan·tity of common knowledge possessed by that audience.

This study will center upon ·the development of yet another semantic device, the common-image reference, employed by the playwright to evoke a specific response from his audience. It is an even more sophist.icated verbal shorthand that depends on C1 combination of specific pictures on the one hand and specific information on the other. In other words, the playwright paints a picture by making a topical allusion. He calls upon a ready-made visual image already planted in the spectator's mind. The sort of common knm-vledge ·this device requires is essen- tially visual in nature, and is always dependent on the availability of specific visual images to the audience.

Therefore, increased use of this device is likely to be a direct function of drastically increased dissemination of visual images, such as has been made possible by the advanceme~t of science and technology in the past fifty years.

The effects of·communications technology on every a,J:"ea of human cornmerce have been a source of much conjecture and 3 what seems to be limitless research. Mid-twentieth

century Americans have not only been bombarded by what we

have all come to know as The Media; we have been bombarded with talk about the bombardment. This study is designed

to examine one small area of interac·tion between the

primary creator in the theatre, the playwright, and the mass communications explosion, as exemplified by The Media.

The investigation is devoted to examining the rela­

tionship between developments in communications that have

led to an efficient and all-pervasive system for image

delivery (television, radio, motion pictures, magazines, newspapers, outdoor advertising and all of the advertise­ ment contained therein) , and the use by playwrights of the

resul-ting :-:;hared gallery of specific portraits for commun­

ic:a·tion. The sophisticated verbal shorthand tha·t is made possible by this interrelationship depends, as suggested above, on a combination of specific pictures on the one hand and specific information on the other, corning together

in what viill hereafter be called a "coilli-non image." It is a high-speed analogical portraiture, in which the writer relies not only on common knowledge but on conunon visual images, supplied by the media and shared by his audience.

Ronald Peacock calls this shorthand "common-image reference," a device wherein " ••• the writer relies, not on a common language, but on a common-image reference." 'l'he image referred to must be so familiar that its mention 4

11 ••• secures vividness instantaneously so long as the 2 reference is known." Insofar as the common image referred to is necessarily well known, it is topical, but this study is concerned only with the image-sharing process. It considers two kinds of references which use this device: those requiring ·the audience to supply a specific image, without which the thought is no-t complete nor the meaning clear, and those which invite specific visual connotations

·that may enhance the meaning, but do not depend totally on the audience's ability to see a particular specific shared picture in order to make their point. For purposes of distinc~ion, the former will be termed image-required references and the latter image-enhanced references.

::n order ·to observe the interaction of image delivery systems growing out of the expansion of the media, and the playwright's use of the resulting proliferation of avail- able shared image references on the part of his audience, this study will concentrate on the parallel development of the media and ·the American comic theatre during the period between 1925 and 1970. The comic theatre has been chosen for this study because comic authors from Aristophanes to

Jules Feiffer appear to be more devoted to commenting on the fashions and foibles of their own times than their more serious dramatic contemporaries. One can trace this interest in the current scene through Jonson, Sheridan and

Sha•.v, to name only a fer.v. 5

Since the 1920's, when commercial radio broadcasting be9an in the United States, the growth of the communica­ tions media has been so rapid it suggests a trigonometric formula like the Richter seismic scale. The media, including the broadcasting industry, newspapers, motion pictures and advertising, have grown in influence to ·the point where their reactions and effects are frequently a first. consideration, not only in the commercial life of the United States, but in the market place of ideas as well.

'l:he 1920's also mark the advent of a more realistic social comedy i~1 the American theatre. With the success of SlJCh plays as George Kelly's T~e Shmi 9ff in 1924, the

A..rnerican comic theatre gained new scope in its treatment of character and subject mat·ter. in a realisJcic setting, and that freedom has been enjoyed by American comic dramatists ever since. Here, then, is an opportunity to

examine two concurrent phenomena of the twentieth century 1 a.nd perhaps to discern some relationship between the media,

during their period of meteoric growth 1 and the comic t:heatre, a form of theatrical activity which is likely to

~-eflect popular knowledge and interests, and in which the playwright is relatively free to take advantage of devel­ opments in audience awareness.

'rhe study is divided into two parts: first, the identificat-ion and quantitat.ive ana],.ysis of common-image 6 references in the plays, and second, the identification a.nd analysis of the growth of the media. By establishing an average use per play of common-image references, and the potential for image delivery by the media, the study will then examine the likely effect of the media on the playwright's use of common-images.

The plays, beginning with the 1925--26 Broadway season, will be limited to comedies by American authors or adaptors given their first production during the period covered by the study. The plays must have run for at least 100 regular performances, to demonstra·te popularity, and the fin..1l criterion for their identification as comedies vlill be their representation as such by a majority of drama critics of the New York Daily newspapers with circulations of at least 100,000. 'rhe coraputation of common-image references from the plays will be done on a Broadway­ season basis. The Broadway "season" in all cases runs from June of one year to June of the next, a designation recognized both by tradition and by union employment contracts (Equity run-of-the-play contracts terminate on the first of June), as well as by the Burns Mantle Series, an annual summary of each Broadway season since the turn of the century.

The sampling of plays will be taken from the 192.5-26 season and every tenth season thereafter through 1965-66.

Hmvever r the 1965-66 season offers only three plays which 7 meet all the criteria for inclusion in the survey, and this would seem to be an unsatisfac-torily small sample.

For that reason the 1960-61 season has been included at the mid-point in that decade, and the 1970-71 season has been added at the end in order to provide as recent a sample year as possible for which media statistics are readily available, withou-t employing still ano·ther time interval. The 1965-66 and 1970-71 samples will also be supplemented by long-running productions continuing into those seasons from previous seasons, which in other re­ spects meet the criteria for investigation. This augmen­ tation--five plays in 1965-66 and four in 1970-71--is made to afford a large enough sampling for each of the seasons, without departing from the primary criterion of popularity

'"•hich is reflected in the 100--performance minimum. 'l'he ma·terial to be covered in the compilation of common images r,..rill thus be limited to a sampling consisting of more than forty playscripts. While all of the topical references in all of the scripts have been considered, only those references which are specifically image-sharing will figure in the compilation.

During the period under investigation, from 1925 to

1970, each sample group of scripts contains all three kinds of topical references: (1) those which refer to current events, people, places or things and which only require shared information of a non-visual nature, without 8 @ ' specific shared image references, the topical allusions;

(2) those which demand a specific shared visual image to complete the thought and provide understanding, the image­ required references; (3) those which carry specific visual connotations but do not absolutely require the audience to visualize a. particular shared image, the image-enhanced references.

Topical allusions of the first kind are very numerous in all of the plays included in the sampling, and annotated volumes fer future readers may well be as weighty •JoTith explanations of the "topical" as any annotated volume of l\ristophanes. In fact, the 1925-26 season offers many more examples from that category than from the two common-· image ca·tegories. In Kenneth Webb's One of the Family, the scion of the Adams Family of Boston asks a visitor, "You've 3 never read Freud or Haverlock Ellis?" The allusion calls for specific knowledge from the audience, but not for shared portraits of the two gentlemen, either to complete the thought or to provide a visual connotation that might enhance the meanin9. In George S. Kaufman's ~he .J3Rtter

~.!].-~ !!:Si5I !J_a~, the fast-talking producer, Lehman, says "Say--ask Sam Harris what he's knocking down out of this

'Rain' show! Ask t.hat woman what she's making out of

'Abie 1 s Irish Rose! ' Ask Bill Brady wha-t he cleaned up 4 out of 'The Man Who Come Back!' " Here again, the audi- ence is asked to supply much information, but not any 9

shared images. Mr. · ~aufman even depends on the audience to supply the identity of "that woman," the very successful 5 Anna Nichols, but only as information, not in the form of a specific shared portrait. In Howard Irving Young's

Not Herbert, Tracy, the second leading man, remarks, "But you must have noticed the ring I have her, a big diamond solitaire three carats set in platinum by Cartier after my 6 own design of course." The reference to ·the famous jeweler requires common knowledge in the audience, but once again a shared visual image is neither demanded nor invited.

These are only a few examples of the topical allusions

·that appear in that season's productions, and throughout the entire sampling of playscripts. They occur in great numbers in every test year and include people, places, things, institutions, and even events. They are not, however, the subject of this investigation.

Examples of the two categories of references which are the Bl.Jbject of ·this study also appear throughout the sampling, but in much smaller numbers. The entire 1925-26 season, for example, offers only four in the image-required category and three in the image-enhanced category, but

·they do seem to represent most of the areas of common kno'tlledge upon which the comic authors investigated draw.

Mary Pickford, in P~ Mart's ~1an, is such a required image that the playwright directs that a picture of her be 10

7 exhibited on stage. As a superstar of silent motion pictures, Miss Pickford undoubtedly had one of the best- known faces in contemporary life. There is one historical reference, also in the image-required category, and one fictional reference in the image-enhanced category. Both characters referred to, Napoleon Bonaparte and Sherlock

Holmes, are so strongly identified with particular physical idiosyncracies or characteristic wardrobe that the poten- tial for shared visual references is undeniable. The reference to Bonaparte in "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em," is image-required because the meaning of an exchange of dialogue is unclear unless the audience knows that a particular character is imitating Napoleon by turning his 8 hat sideways and placing his hand on his chest. On the o·t:her hand, the reference to Holmes in Puppy Love can be understood on a purely literary basis. A shared image of the fictional detective, in his oft-described wardrobe, enriches the humor of the line but is not essential to its meaning, and therefore this reference falls into the image- enhanced cat:egory. 9 In this example, and ·throughout the survey, the playwright's apparent intent in offering a reference is what finally determines its inclusion in either of the common-image categories. He must expect his audience to see, and no·t merely to know.

'J~he media growth survey corresponds with ·the play selection sequence. The survey is directed to the years 11

1925, 1935, 1945, 1955, 1960, 1965 and 1970, and includes the total nurr~er of newspapers published, with the total number of daily papers and circulation figures; the total number of periodicals published, with the number of weekly periodicals and circulation figures; all AM and FM radio stations licensed for regular operation and households equipped for reception; all UHF and VHF television stations licensed for regular operation and households equipped for reception; all cable systems with households equipped for reception; all commercial four-wall motion picture theatres and all drive-in theatres with weekly attendance figures; and the total number of standard billboards and local and national revenue figures for the outdoor advertising industry. These limits on the media components covered afford a significant national sample in all of the years under consideration.

Subsequent chapters will treat, in order: t.he com.rnon­ image references, season by season and category by category; the growth of the media year by year; and a discussion of the possible interrelationship of the two. Chapter II

THE USE OF CO~~ON-IMAGE REFERENCES 1925-1970 .

This chapter is devoted to an examination of the

image references contained in the forty-nine plays vlhich meet the criteria for popularity outlined earlier. 1 The

sample seasons are listed chronologically. A chart for

each seaso:::1 lists the plays in the order in which they 2 opened on Broadway and the image references in them in each of the two categories--image-required and image- enhanced. Following each chart is a brief discussion of the individual references for that season by categories:

(1) t.he image-required, and (2) the image-enhanced.

Obviously some measure of subjectivity is implicit in the choice of those particular references which do seer::t to rc.~q11:i.re a visual image for· underst.anding in the audience, or to have understanding significantly enhanced by an available visual image. In either case it is the use of the reference within the context of the play that has de·termined its selection in either category.

The investigation of the 1925-26 season yielded more than eighty topical references for consideration as image- required and image-enhanced possibilities, and every season thereafter was, proportionately to the number of productions, as rich in t.he number of possible references.

For example, two of the references included ir"!. ·th!::~ chart for 1925-26--Sherlock Holmes and Napoleon--appear elsewhere

12 13 in the 1925-26 plays, but their use in those cases is strictly topical and therefore does not qualify that use as a common-image reference. 1925-26 SEASON

Title--- Author Image-Reauired Image-Enhanced 3 1. The Butter ~n~ ~ Han Kaufman Swanson (Gloria) 2. A Han's Man 4 Kearney Mary Pickford Annette Kellerman 5 3. Easy Come, Ea_§y Go Davis 4. Laff That Off 6 Mullally

5. A1 las• rrne • Deacon 7 Hymer -- . and Clemens 8 6. One ---of the Familv- Webb 7. The Patsy9 Conners 10 8. Not Herbert Young 9. PuppY._ Love11 Matthews Sherlock Holmes and Stanley

10. "Love 'Em and Abbott Keystone Comedies I:eave -, Effi"I2 and Weaver Napoleon Jackie Coogan 11. The Wisdom Tooth 1 ~ Connelly 14 12., Square Crooks Judge

l-' .;;::., 15

The 1925-26 season contains a total of twelve plays, with four image-required references and three image- enhanced references. The average use per play· in the ·two categories combined is .58. The references are of three kinds: one historical, one fictional, and five contem- porary of which four relate ·to motion pictures. Of the

·twelve plays, eight contain no conunon-image references at all.

A Man~ Man is the source of the first image-required reference, Mary Pickford. Hazel, the pitiful wife who dreams of a career of glamour and excitement, asks,

•• ... don't you think ... I look kinda like ... Mary Pickford?"

The ridiculousness of this comparison simply does not work without the audience's being able to supply the celebrated star's image, and indeed the exhibition of her photograph on stage, as men·tioned in the previous chap·ter, seems to be the author's way of assuring that the image will be present~ The use of such a device suggests two things: that in this season, the earliest of the survey, there is some doubt in ·the playwright's mind of the: audience's shared awareness of Miss Pickford's image, and also that that awareness is essential to understanding the reference.

The other three image-required references occur in

"Love 'Em and Leave 'Em. 11 All of them specifically demand visual connotations. In the first, Mame, the tough and down-to-earth second leading lady, is talking about the 16 complications of an informal party. "What do you think this is, a Keystone Comedy?" The audience must have. a mental picture of the Keystone one-reelers, or there is no joke. One must remember that sound plays no part as yet in any reference to motion pictures, so that the reference is strictly visual, but the impression of chaos and idiocy available at the neighborhood nickelodeon must already be vivid enough in the spectators' minds to make the mere mention of a Keystone Comedy, in this context, amusing.

The reference to Napoleon is in an exchange between bm characters who are auditioning their material for the company shovl.

Jim

All right now--right after the duet. Now ta-dah! (They bow) How are you Mr. Bones?

Kenyon

Why, I'm--pretty good.

Jim

Well, well, well. How is good Old Boney?

Kenyon

(Puts on hat sideways, does Napoleon, hand at breast) Boneypart! That's the wow! Houldn't that knock them off their seats?

Because the two ingredients of Kenyon's pose are so irreme- diably associated with Napoleon in people's minds, the image is instantly available both to the spectators on 17

stage and to those in the audience, and the line is mean-

ingless without it.

The final image-required reference in ""Love 'Em and

Leave 'Em" also depends on the way a character looks, as

much as on what he says.

Aiken

Is that what you call promptness, Billingsley--is this--My God! (Bill enters up i. in suit that is ill-fitting. Wears moustache. All laugh except Miss Streeter and Aiken.)

Miss Streeter

You look absolutely ridiculous. What does this m~an?

Bill You told me to put them on, and I did it. I feel like ten cents' worth of baloney. (Walks upstage showing split down the back.) ~Jho do they think I am--Jackie Coogan?

The line makes sense only if the audience has a visual

image of the diminutive child star and can therefore

appreciate the absurdity of Bill's appearance.

Of the three image-enhanced references in the 1925-26

season, the first appears in ~he Butter and Egg Man.

Lehman, the producer, remarks about the future possibili-

ties of the play--script he is trying to promote, 11 Can you

imagine what a picture it'll make for this Swanson baby? 11

In this case it is not essential that the audience share a mental image of the beautiful Miss Swanson, because a 18

simple knov-lledge of who she is gives meaning to the line.

We are specifically invited to imagine her by means of

the question, "Can you imagine," and mentally casting the

glamourous and magnetic star in the terrible vehicle,

obviously unsuited to her, which Lehman's description has

already painted, does enhance the humor of the question.

The same thing is true of a reference in A Han's Han:

;ri'm Annette Kellerman. I'm going to slide down the

bannister." This line is spoken by a character identified

only as "Amorous Girl" in ·the script, who is carrying on

and trying to gain attention at a drunken party given by

the naive hero and heroine of the play. The contrast

between the world-famous swimmer and vaudeville star and

the sleazy Amorous Girl is immediate, and a topical aware-

no,ss of ·the former is enough to assure understanding of

the line. Nevertheless, an available image of the renowned

beauty, called "The Perfect Woman" and confident enough of

deserving the appellation to have introduced the notorious

one-piece bathing suit to the ~orld, further dramatizes 15 the contrast. It is specifically invited by the character as well, in a way that demonstrates the playwright's intent to make a visual comment.

The last reference is made by Merk, a young Lochinvar

in Puppy Love. "I've been a regular Sherlock Holmes."

Although it is not necessary for comprehension, a shared visual image of the fictional detective's fore-and-aft hat, 19

Norfolk coat, Meerschaum pipe and magnifying glass supplies

delightfully comical exaggeration, when superimposed upon

the adolescent in the play. Merk's first entrance is

described this way in the script: "(Arthur Merk is

adrnitted by Medora at back. He wears the most correct

canoeing costume, carries a ukelele, which he leaves on

small table left center.)." The contrast offered by the

bumbling efforts of this young man to our mental image of

the mas·ter sleuth of fiction at work is amusing and help­

ful.

In the first year of the survey, then, we have seven

individual references which either demand a shared visual

response from the audience or are significantly enhanced by specific visual connotations. 1935-36 SEASON

Title Author · ;r:mage-R.::quire

1. Hoon Over Mulberry Cosentino ---str"eetT5"

. t L ~ 17 2 • F1rs ~ Kaufman George Arliss and Dayton Father Coughlin

Shirley Temple 18 3. Boy Meets Gir! Spewack, Bella Academy Award Clark Gable and Sam 19 4. Co-respondent Unknown Harris and Robert Montgomery Goldman 20 5. ---End of Summer Behrman Karl Marx 21 6. Idiot's Delight Sherwood Hell's Angels Nazi salute

N 0 ' ' 21

The 1935-36 season contains a total of six plays,

with two image-required references and seven image-enhanced

references. The average use per play in the two categories

combined is 1.50. The references are of two kinds: one

historical, and eight contemporary of which six are mo·tion

picture-related. Of the six plays, there is only one which

contains no image reference.

Boy Heet.§_ Girl offers the first required image. A

stage direction at the beginning of Act I describes a

"bronze nude astride an ash tray," as one of the items on

the desk, and later in the play the following exchange

takes place:

Law

(takes a statuette from top of desk) Mr. Benson, for the most brilliant script of the year, the Academy takes great pleasure in presenting to you this little gargoyle--

Benson

Wrap it up, please. {Law drops it in Larry's hat and stands back of couch. Nusic plays.)

Law

(rising in a dither) Now, listen--{C. F. crosses below desk, retrieves statue, places it back on desk.)

There is no sense, let alone humor, in the situation

unless the audience can supply a shared mental image of

Oscar to substitute for the ludicrous object offered as an

Academy Award.

The second image-required reference of the 193!?-36 22

season is in Idiot's Delight. In the final scene of the play the irrepressible Harry Van says to Irene, "It _looks

to me exactly like 'Hell's Angels'. Did you ever see

that picture, babe?" The offstage action he refers to is

an air attack on the nearby airfield. This is a specific

attempt to describe action, not only for a character on

s·tage but also for the audience in the t.heatre, by means

of a visual reference to the aerial corr~at film, Hell's

Angels, and the author's desire for a vivid image response

is quite clear. Without it we cannot really appreciate

either the battle outside or Harry's typically undaunted

reaction to it.

Several of the season's image-enhanced references

occur in Firs·~=: _!;ady. 'rhe first occurs in an exchange

between Er.uny and Lucy, who are discussing a younger Senator.

Emmy

I remember him. Gordon Keane. He's the Boy Senator from that old State out West.

Lucy

Must you talk in captions, Emmy?

Emmy

\\Tell, I expect he wouldn't be a boy anywhere but in the Senate--! mean not in the movies. Because most Senators are pretty near as old as George Arliss.

Although one mig·ht understand the line with t.he barest knowledge o:C who Mr. Arliss was, a visual image of t~1at interpreter of the great as a prototype for senators lends 23 substantial enhancement: to the comparison. By that time

Mr. Arliss had already portrayed on the screen the Duke of Wellington, Rothschild and Disraeli, among others.

Later in the play Ganning, discussing the fickleness of the electorate, describes a popularity poll.

Ganning

No: no. But recently we conducted a scientific inquiry: Who is the most popular person in America?

Lucy

How interesting!

Ganning

And what was the result? The winners v1ere Father Coughlin and Shirley Temple.

Lucy

Well, then the thing for Carter to do is to turn his collar around and wear curls.

The humor in this case results from the ludicrous combin- ation of the fiery rabble-rouser and Little Miss Marker, and a visual image of the two celebrit.ies, shared by the audience, can only enhance the·idea behind the juxta- position.

~n Boy M~ets Girl, Susie says to Larry, who expresses fear of being mobbed by high school girls for autographs,

"All the girls are crazy about Clark Gable." This is not the only reference to Gable in the play; only moments earlier Rosetti has spoken of borrowing " ... Clark Gable or 22 Gary Cooper for Happy's next picture," but in that case 24 he is referring to the two stars as properties in a busi-

ness sense. Susie's line~ on the other hand, benefits

from a shared image of the star most likely to excite

high school girls, as a gentle, unintentional putdown of

There is one image-enhanced reference in Co-respondent

:Qnknovn:~, in a scene between the hero of the play, Martin,

and t.he young lady, Hattie, who has volunteered to act as

the co-respondent necessary to secure a divorce in New

York.

Hattie

That's right. You know when I first me·t him I thought he looked like Robert Hontgomery so I fell for him.

t1artin

Robert Montgomery? Who's he?

Hattie

You mean to tell me you never heard of Robert Montgomery? What's the matter, Mr. Bishop, don't you ever go out or anything?

Martin

I'm sorry, Hattie, I guess I don't get around much.

Hattie

My goodness. Well listen next time there's a picture with him I'll take you, you'll just love him.

Martin

Do you krim.v Mr. Montgomery? 25

Hattie

Hell no! He's a movie star.

This reference operates in several ways. The idea that

Hartin, a very sophisticated lawyer, doesn't even recognize the name of the popular star is a source of amusement in a purely topical sense, but the implication that because

Hattie's husband looked like Montgomery he ought to have acted like Montgomery, is aided inuneasurably by a shared visual image of the star. Hattie's reply to the question,

"Do you know Mr. Montgomery?" is particularly revealing of the image-response potential of all, including the play's spectators: "Hell no! He's a movie star." She doesn't know him, but the mere fact that someone looked like him was enough to make her fall in love.

End of Summer contains one image-enhancing reference made by Leonie, the heroine of the play. "I saw a picture of Karl Marx the other day and he looks like one of those advertisements before you take something." Understanding of the line as a strictly topical allusion is certainly possible, but the comment, supplemented by a mental image of the dour, bearded philosopher in the spectators' minds, becomes amusing on a richer, more sophis·ticated level.

An equally irreverent political reference occurs in

Idio'c' s _Q~lJ-ght_, when Quillery bit:·terly speaks of

"Malignant bacteria---millions of little germs, each one trained to give the Nazi salute and then go out and poison 26 the enemy." The gallows humor of this line is unquestion­ ably enhanced by the available image of storm-trooper germs with arms raised in the "Heil Hitler" salute. 1945-46 SEASON

---Title -----Author Ima<;re--RE!quired Image-Enhanced . 23 1. You Touched Me! Williams Union Jack -- and Windham 24 2. State of the Union Lindsay --- and Crouse 25 3. Dream --Gir1 Rice 4. The Magnificent Lavery Franklin Roosevelt ---:yankee26 27 5. Born Yesterday Kanin 28 6. Apple of His Eye Nicholson Abraham Lincoln and Robinson

N -...] 28

The 1945-46 season contains a total of six plays, with one image-required reference and two image-enhanced references. The average use per play in the two categories is .SO. The references are of two kinds: one historical and two contemporary. Three of the six plays contain no image references.

The single image-required reference of the season occurs in ~he Magnificent Yankee. The whole final scene of the play, in Oliver Wendell Holmes's study, depends on his anticipation and ours of the arrival of Franklin D.

Roosevelt. The fact that Roosevelt, following his inaugu­ ration, has as a first order of business a visit to the venerated former Supreme Court Justice is crucial to the scene. At last the Housekeeper says, "Oh no, sir. It's not Theodore Roosevelt--i-t's Franklin Roosevelt--and they're taking the elevator down for him now." Everything has built to the final tableau of the play, with Holmes stand­ ing at at.·tention and waiting to salute his new Commander­ in-Chief, and it absolutely demands the audience's ability t.o visualize the en·trance of FDR in his wheelchair.

In You Touched ~e! there is a reference to an object rather than a person, and it is in the image-enhanced category. E1mnie, concerned about the welfare of the young

Matilda, remarks, "During the rest of Hadrian's visit,

Matilda, you must keep yourself wrapped up in the Union

Jack." The highly visual connotation of the advice 29 contributes much to its meaning; since Emmie's concern is to arm Matilda's virtue against the possible advances of a lusty soldier arriving home from the war, the picture of the attractive young lady swaddled patriotically in the colors of her country should be most amusing.

Apple of His Eye contains the second, and last, image-enhanced reference of the season. Sam, the more- than-middle-aged Lochinvar, has tried to best a take-all- comers wrestler at the fair in order to impress the very young lady he is nervously courting. He has been injured in ·the process, and seeks rather desperately to justify himself.

Sam

And look at Abraham Lincoln! I bet. you he could wrestle even after he got to the White House!

·Lily Abraham Lincoln!

The fact that Lily reiterates the name, taking time to digest the image of the dignified Lincoln of the White

House years, wrestling, qualifies· this example as an image- enhancing reference.

The 1945-46 season offers the fewest common-image references of all the seasons surveyed. Possible reasons for this will be discussed in the fourth chapter. ..

1955·-56 SEASON

Title Author Im:age._-R8quired Image-Enhanced

1. Will Success Spoil Axelrod Bogart in Casablanca ~ck Hunter~ From ~ere to Eternity

Spencer Tracy in Bad Day at Black Rock

2. No T1me. F or S ergeants 30 Levin Mickey Mouse 31 3. The Desk Set Marchant Iron Lung Vodka Man

"Think 11 Sign 32 4. Janus Green Statue of Liberty

Benjamin Franklin

5. The Great Sebast~ans 33 Lindsay Danny Kaye and Crouse . 34 6. The Ponder Heart Chodorov and Fields

(A) 0 31

The 1955-56 season contains a total of six plays, with six image-required references and four image-enhanced references. The average use per play in the two categories is 1.66. The references are of two kinds: one historical, and nine contemporary of which five are related to films.

Only one of the plays is without any visual references.

The first image-required reference, in Will Success

Spoil Rock H~nter?, is one of the most illuminating common-image uses in the study, and it occurs in a specific stage direction to the actor. "(He lights it--striking the match on his thumb nail. Finally, he speaks with a sexy growl. He is suddenly Bogart in Casablanca.)

George: Hi ya, kid--." The words "Bogart in Casablanca" are intended to call forth behavior so specific from the performer, as he responds to his own visualization of that vivid personality, that his reading of the line that follows will summon exactly the same visual response in the spectators. It is taken for granted by the playwright tha·t (a) the actor can deliver a reasonable impression, and (b) the audience is able to respond to it. Unless both things take place, the auth0r's intent is definitely not fulfilled.

The next reference also requires a motion picture image. The secretary remarks, "I mean like when I saw

Frol!_l: Here To Eternity I just laughed and laughed. That scene on the beach. I sent it to Sidney Skalsky as a 32

'Movie Boner.'" The crass secretary happens to be describ­

ing the central scene in a film which received multiple

Academy Awards, and which relied heavily in its advertising

on a still photograph and drawing taken from the very

beach scene described. The shocking effect of the secre­

tary's statement requires that the audience have in mind

an image, not only of the film, but of the specific scene

in the film, and the author is obviously confident that

the audience will.

Later in the same play, Irving, in order to impress

George with what can be achieved in the most uneven-seeming

fight, asks, "Do you remember dear Spencer Tracy in an

amusing little film called Bad Day at Black Rock?" The

image of Tracy's performar..ce as the one-armed man who

becomes the unlikely instrument of retribution is a very

strong one, and the idea of calling him "dear," and the

picture "an amusing little film." sets up a humorous

visual contrast in our minds. However, there is no joke

without a shared mental image of the performance.

The fourth image-required reference is one that has

gone from motion pictures to near-universality; Mickey

.House has been known to large segments of the world's

population for more than forty years. At the end of

N<2_ Time !i:_or Sergeants Will Stockdale tells the audience,

"Well, I guess I better qui·t now, because-- (Looks carefully

at watch.)--Mickay Mouse got his hands up to gain' .home 33 time!" This watch has been the subject of talk and action throughout the play, and much admired by Will, and when it turns out to be a Mickey Mouse watch, the fact that the audience can instantly visualize it is essential to the humor of the moment and our insight into Will's naive character.

~he Desk Set offers two required images that are things rather than people _or films or cartoon personali- ties, and they are presented in exactly opposite ways.

Bunny says in Act I, "Tell me, Mr. Sumner--what would a methods engineer be doing in our little iron lung?" and a bit later a stage direction says that "(Richard goes into vestibule, tacks up a CARD 'THINK,' the Girls watch him open-mouthed .... )." In the first case, the shared image of the iron lung is called upon to describe the scene on stage, with both the confining and the life-sustaining qualities it brings to mind, and in the second case the

"Think" card on stage must summon an image of IBM and the dehumanized world of computers~ in the minds of the girls and of the audience.

The first image-enhanced reference of the season occurs in the same scene in The Desk Set. The girls in the office are discussing Richard Sumner, who has just left the scene.

Ruthie

Golly, he's attractive! 35

Franklin looks, especially on the currency in question, does add to enjoyment of the comment.

The last image-enhanced reference is made by Sebastian of ~h~ ~reat Sebastians, in order to secure instant recall of their appearance in a London engagement. "Well perhaps you would remember it better this way--there was an

American on the bill with us--his name was Danny Kaye."

Not only does Sebastian expect immediate recognition of

Danny Kaye, sufficient to guarantee recall of his own act, but in the circumstance the playwright also expects a strong visual response from his audience. It is not essential to understanding of the line, but it is helpful and enhancing to compare the image of the zany ccmedian and star of several dozen films with the elegant and stuffy mentalist, Sebastian. 1960-61 SEASON

Title 1\uthor Imas:e-Reguired Image-Enhanced 35 ...... , The 49th Cousi:1 Lowe and ----- Francke 2. Period of Adjustment36 Williams 37 3. Under the ----Yum-Yum Tree Roman 38 4. Critic's Choice Levin Philip Morris Co. Kewpie Dolls - - - Dick Tracy Dr. Frankenstein 39 5. Come Blow Your Horn Simon Herbert Hoover Ivy League ---- Frankenstein 40 6. Mary, Mary Kerr Mrs. Roosevelt Joan Fontaine Jackie Coogan Merle Oberon

w 0'1 37

The 1960-61 season includes a total of six plays, with four image-required references and six image-enhanced

references. The average use per play in the two categories

combined is 1.66. The references are all contemporary;

five of them are motion picture-related and three are

fictional characters. Three of the six plays have no

common-image references.

One of the most complex demands made on an audience's

catalogue of visual references occurs in Critic's Choice.

The director Dion, who is having great difficulty in

getting anything by the precocious child of the critic,

remarks with disdain, "That's a clever little fellow you've

got there. How did you get him away from the Philip Mon:is

people?" The obvious reference is to the trademarked

representative of Philip Morris cigarettes, "Johnnie," the

uniformed page boy who had been "stepping out of millions

of store windows" for some· years. In order to understand.

the line, it is necessary to know.Philip Morris cigarettes

and their spokesman, and then be able to connect the small

boy in the play with' the ubiquitous, aggressive page boy.

It is a fairly complicated response, since Johnnie is not mentioned by name, and it is impossible without the visual

image of Johnnie, which is assumed to be a part of the public consciousness. When one compares the risk this playwright takes in making that assumption with the caution shown by Patrick Kearney in 1925, when he saw fit 38

to include an onstage picture of Mary Pickford so that the

audience would be certain to know just what she looked

like, one sees a definite increase of confidence in the

availability of common images. In Come Blow Your Horn, an exchange between Alan and

his younger brother provides another required image

reference.

Alan

Sure look at the way you dress. Why does a young boy like you wear a black suit?

Buddy

It's not black. It's charcoal gray.

Alan

Whatever it is, you look like Herbert Hoover.

Here the playwright is specifically asking the audience to

visualize the round-faced conservative politician. The

comparison of the young Buddy and Herbert Hoover on the basis of a charcoal gray suit is amusing, and the strong common-image reference makes it amusing whether Buddy looks

something like him, or nothing like him.

There are two image-required references in Mary, ~ary.

The first one also compares a character on stage with a well-known figure in politics. Bob maintains that he used to tell his ex-wife Mary that she was beautiful.

Mary

Like Mrs. Roosevelt! 39

Bob

You didn't think Mrs. Roosevelt was beautiful? Ny God--the character in that face ••• !

Only by visualizing "that face" can we understand the sincerity of Bob's compliment, or Mary's outrage at it.

Later ii1 the action, Bob says to· Mary, "I refuse to talk about anything with you in that damn coat. You look like

Jackie Coogan in The Kid." This is also a forced compar- ison, depending for its meaning upon a shared image. No amount of description could take the place of the picture that flashes through the mind of almost any movie enthu­ 41 siast at the mention of those two magic words, "The Kid."

Of the season's image-enhanced references, two occur in Critic's Choice. Parker, the critic of the title, says in describing the characters of a play, "These are

Kev~pie dools [sic], all of them." The comment implies several things about the characters--that they are infantile, ·that they are drawn vlith very broad strokes, that they are silly or stupid or perhaps old-fashioned. wnatever the implications, they are greatly reinforced and enhanced by the shared visual image of a row of chubby baby dolls with the familiar topknot, the trademark- protected Km,7pies.

Critic's Choice also contains a stage direction requiring an actor to impersonate a well-known character; in this case it is the ultimate cartoon detective. "(into 40

a recorder a la Dick Tracy.) Parker: Watch out for

short butcher. That is all." Once again the response is

a double one, in the performer who imitates and in the

spectator who recognizes.

The next two image-enhanced references use the same well-known fictional name, although they use it in very different ways. The first comes from a speech in which

the critic is quoting his own review of his wife's obviously-inferior play.

John (quoting review)

I think it's time for all us Transylvanian peasants to pick up our torches and march menacingly up to that castle on the hill, because Dr. Frankenstein is making monsters again. This time he's attached the arms and legs of Agamemnon to the torso of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

The gibe can be understood as a purely topical allusion, but it is substantially enhanced if the audience canrespond to a shared recollection of that very scene in the film about the Doctor and his monster. It adds substantially to the humor of the review, and of the moment in the play.

The second reference, in Come Blow Your Horn, makes the common and widely-accepted error of calling the creature by its creator's name. Alan, once again referring to his younger brother, says, "The theatre, the latest styles, Sardi's. I've created an Ivy League Frankenstein."

It is an example of the birth of a co~~on image, in that the monster so captured the public imagination that he 41

took over the identification of Doctor, book and film.

The humor of the comment lies in the juxtaposition of

Frankenstein-monster and Ivy League qualification, which

immediately conjures up a picture of conservative dress,

propriety and savoir faire.

One usage of "Frankenstein" is technically correct,

and the other is popularly embraced, but both offer visual

images to the audience which enhance the lines in which

they occur.

Two more enhancing references concern two extremely

popular film actresses in two of their most popular roles.

In Mary, Mary, Bob's young fiancee, Tiffany, expresses her apprehension about his former wife, Mary.

Tiffany

I won't. I am not going to turn into Joan Fontaine.

Bob

What the hell are you talking about?

Tiffany

Don't you remember Joan Fontaine in Rebecca? She was always thinking about the first Mrs. de vlinter.

The joke is immediately accessible to anyone who has seen the appealing star as the second Mrs. de Winter, cowering

in the shadow of her predecessor, the dynamic and deceased

Rebecca. For the benefit of those who may not share that

image, including Bob, Tiffany clarifies: "Don't you 42

remember Joan Fontaine in Rebecca? She was always thinking

about the first Mrs. de Winter .•.• "

The second reference, from the same play, takes

exactly the same kind of image reference and uses it in a

reversed order.

Mary

And I imagined all the time I was really Catherine Earnshaw.

· Dirk

Catherine who?

Mary

The girl in Wuthering Heights, Cathy.

Dirk

Oh, Merle Oberon.

In this case the character is mentioned first, and what makes the joke visual is that Dirk, himself a film actor, does not recognize the famous heroine except by the name of the star who portrayed her in the film. 1965-66 SEASON

Tit.le ---Author Image-Required Image-Enhanced 42 1. Generation Goodhart Buster Keaton Movie Saran Wrap 43 2. The Impossible Years Fisher and La Dolce Vita Ozzie Nelson Marx 3. The Cactus Flower 44 Burrows Botticelli's Marcello Springtime Mastroianni Band-aid Mister Clean 4. _B_a_r_e_f_o_ot__ i_n _t_h_e _P_a_rk_4.5 Simon Abraham Lincoln Douglas Fairbanks Al Capone 46 5. Any Wednesday Resnik Harold Lloyd 47 6. --LUV Schisgal Clark Gable 7. The O;vl and the Manhoff ----pussycat48--

8. The Odd Couple 49 Simon Mr. Maverick Marx Brothers Mr. Clean Playboy Bunnies

~ w 44

The 1965-66 season contains a total of eight plays, with eight image-required references and nine image- enhanced references. The average use per play in the two categories is 2.12. There is one historical reference, and sixteen contemporary of which nine relate to motion pictures or television. Only one of the plays in this season does not have a single visual reference.

Bolton, the distraught father in Generation, specifi- cally compares his situation to an image available on the movie screen. "Well, Winn, when your whole life has suddenly turned into an old Buster Keaton movie, what's one more precarious foothold?" The Keaton films, with their madcap pantomime action and wondrous last-minute escapes by the superb tumbler and gymnast, are strictly a

., visual reference. The picture of the woebegone clown,

Keaton, is also an apt comparison for the frustrated and downcast Bolton.

The next image-required reference is also framed as a direct visual comparison to a motion picture, and by another distraught father, Jack, in The Impossible Years.

He says, "Three hours later :Linda would look like the party scene in La Dolce Vita." Without some common know- ledge of the party scene in Fellini's film, the audience simply cannot imagine the way Linda would "look." We must respond on the basis of shared visual information, or not at all. 45 @ •

There are three required image references in Cactus

Flower, and they are all in areas other than motion

pictures. Harvey, the swinging buddy of the dentist,

Julian, describes a date to his friend: "She's

beautiful .•. think of Botticelli's Springtime. Great

figure--. 11 The meaning of the reference is lost unless

Julian can summon a mental image of the celebrated paint-

ing. The audience must share his vision of the promised maiden, too, or the idea is not complete.

Later on Harvey reacts to Stephanie, the nurse, who

is now dressed for an evening out. "They'll be here ..• Hey, you know, you look different tonight. Pretty good. All

dressed up. When you're in the office you look sort of

like a large Band-aid." The striking contrast bet'Vleen the .. coiffed and attractive Stephanie of this scene, and the

severely-dressed office nurse of previous scenes, is made hilariously vivid and immediate by our ability to picture

the Johnson and Johnson household staple. Someone who had never seen a Band-aid would be totally unable to appreciate the joke.

It is Harvey once again who says to Julian, 11 Last night you talked to me like I was dirt and you were Mister

Clean ... The use of capitals, making "Mister Clean" a proper name, leaves no doubt as to the author's intent.

When Harvey compares their conversation of the previous night to the relationship bet'\veen dirt and !-lister Clean, 46

he is obviously referring to the miraculous, animated, television-commercial purveyor of the product bearing his

name. The reference is positively visual, and Mister

Clean is presumed to be a common enough image so that Neil

Simon refers to it this same season in Th~ Odd Couple.

In Any Wednesday, the single common-image reference is

in the image-required category. The domineering executive,

John, comments on his young paramour's recent acquisition

of glasses: "Harold Lloyd didn't bother putting glass in

his. Just as effective." The reference to the silent

film star, so strongly identified with the owlish glasses

always carefully in place, whether he was running down a

football field or hanging from a building, demands a visual

response from the audience in order to make the line

understandable.

The very first line of The Odd Couple is a forced comparison of a character on stage to a well-known televi­

sion character. One of the poker players, speaking to a particularly inept dealer, say~, "Tell me, Mr. Maverick, is

·this your first time on the riverboat?" The question is meaningless unless the spectators can contrast the hapless

Murray with a mental image of James Garner as the suave riverboat gambler .in the long-running ·television success.

The final required image of the season, also in

The Odd Couple, is the second reference to Mr. Clean mentioned above. Oscar says to his fastidious roommate, 47

Felix, "I don't care if you take them [the dirty dishes] to bed with you. You can play Mr. Clean all you want.

But don't make me feel guilty." Once again, the reference

is designed to summon a shared visual image of the shaved­ headed wizard of antiseptic cleanliness, which is necessary to understanding and enjoyment of the intended insult.

This second use of the same animated commercial product

spokesman in the same season testifies to the image-making potency of television, the latest of the communications media components to develop.

The first image-enhanced reference of the 1965-66 season is a commercial product itself. Stan, the doctor in Generation, remarks about the mysteries of the modern young, "The only one of their secrets I know is that they use Saran Wrap for a contraceptive." Here is a reference which might communicate as a topical allusion, but visual­ ization of the contraceptive possibilities of Saran Wrap needs no support as an enhancing image.

In The Impossible Years, Alice is commenting about her psychiatrist husband's lack of objectivity in respond- ing to their teenage daughter's behavior. " ..• But once you step through that door ... you're about as psychiatri­ cally oriented as Ozzie Nelson." This is a difficult line in that its connotations are multiple. First one must know the reference in a general way, enoug-h to know that the star of Ozzie and Harrie~, a twelve-year television 48

success that brought prominence not only to Ozzie but to

the entire Nelson family, was the very personification of

the lovable, less-than-bright television family father.

The comparison of inept professional psychiatrist to

inept television father works in a topical sense, but it

is even more effective if one adds the image of the bland,

obtusely genial face of the television parent to the over­

wrought, anxiety-ridden parent Jack has become under the

pressures of his children's behavior. It seems likely

that an audience aware enough to understand the topical

allusion would also be able to appreciate the visual one.

Stephanie, the heroine of The Cactus Flower, offers

one image-enhanced reference when she is responding to

Julian's questions about her life away from the office and

says, of her likes and dislikes, "I like Marcello

Mastroianni. He is very intelligent." Obviously Stephanie

has no knowledge of Mr. Mastroianni's intelligence, but

the image of the extremely handsome film star is quite

compelling enough to endow him.with intelligence, or

anything else that Stephanie desires. Presumably the

audience's response will come from juxtaposing her charac­

terization of Mastroianni as "intelligent" against the

shared image of his obvious good looks.

This is another instance of the use within the same

season of the same image source by two different play­ wrights in two different plays. The party scene in La 49

Dole~ Vita is mentioned in Generation, while here we find a visual reference to the star of the same Fellini film.

Like the duplication of references to Mr. Clean, it does suggest some confidence, on the part of a number of authors, of the topicality and availability of widely shared specific visual images.

Barefoot in the Park contains several references which are image-enhanced. The action of the play revolves around the impossible living quarters selected by a young bride, and the effect these have on the newlyweds' relationship. Seeing her young lawyer husband's stunned reaction to his firs·t view of their lightless, heatless and open-to--the-elements fifth floor walk-up apartment, she brightly suggests, "In the meantime I can light the stove and you can sit over the fire with your law books and a shawl like Abraham Lincoln." The image the line summons of the rawboned, self-taught Lincoln, warming himself in a sha-,;,11 by the stove and studying law by fire- light, is in delightful contrast to the good looking and clearly not deprived novice attorney on the stage.

Later in the play the bride's mother responds to her daughter's girlish exaggeration of their neighbor's charms:

Mother

... You make him sound like Douglas Fairbanks, Junior.

Corie He looks nothing like Douglas Fairbanks, Junior, 50

.•. does he, Paul?

Paul

No ... He just jumps like him.

The reference to Fairbanks, a second-generation member of

filmdom royalty, can be understood without a specific

shared image of the star who portrayed Sinbad, Ali Baba

and any number of other superheroes on the screen, besides

being an international society figure and playboy. How­

ever, when Paul comments that Velasco "jumps like him,"

-the mental comparison to the invariably athletic perfor­

mances of Fairbanks is almost irresistable.

In the final Barefoot in the Park reference, Paul is

taunting Corie about her behavior at the restaurant where

they have just dined. He says, "You ate two bov1ls because

you v1ere showing off for Al Capone at the next table."

The line certainly offers some non-visual information

about the husband's appraisal of the clientele of the

restaurant, but it also contains a visual reference that

enhances its meaning. The scar-faced super-gangster has been depicted so often on the screen, with white hat and

cigar clenched between the teeth, that his image is the ve~C}' image of organized crime.

LUV contains one image-enhanced reference, made by

the abject misfit, Milt. Commenting on his life, which has been bereft of love, he says his mother only kissed him "once, when I stuck my head between her lips and a 51 p. picture of Clark Gable." The picture of the small child's desperation, and the mother's devotion to Gable's photo­ graph a.t his expense, becomes even more grotesquely comical because we visualize the contrast between the virile, attractive Gable and the unattractive loser, Milt. The audience remembers the smiling film star's face so easily that the rest of the description is equally vivid.

In The Odd Couple, there is a line which refers to the poker game on stage, its players and the carefree life they lead. "Who? You! The Marx Brothers! Laugh, laugh, laugh. What have you got to worry about? If you suddenly want to go to the Playboy Club to hunt Bunnies, who's gonna stop you?" The obvious contrast between the card players and Groucho, Harpe, Chico and Zeppo is immedi­ ate, not only because Murray is exaggerating out of his own envy but because the audience can picture the four zany comics and compare them mentally with the drab and very ordinary men on stage. The second of the two refer­ ences, to Playboy Bunny-hunting, is also considerably enhanced by a shared image of the scantily attired, cotton­ tailed quarry that symbolizes for tired business men the world over, the Heffner answer to male sexual fantasies. 1970-71 SEASON

Title Author Image-Required Image-Enhanced

1. The Gin9erbread ~ady 50 Simon Ed Sullivan Merv Griffin Shirley Temple Pancho Gonzales

Rocky Graziano Jose Ferrer

Doris Day Colonel Sanders 51 2. Plaza Suite Simon Pepsi Generation 52 3. Forty Carats Allen Paul Newman

Raquel Welch 53 4. Butterflies Are Free Gershe Kleenex

Elizabeth Taylor

Taj Mahal

5. The Last of the Red Simon· Joan Fontaine ~ot"Lovers"S"r

(Jl N 53

The 1970-71 season includes a total of five plays, with seven image-required references and eight image- enhanced references. The average use per play in the two categories is 3.0. The references are all contemporary, and ten are motion picture and television-related. Every play in this season contains at least one visual reference.

The Gingerbread Lady has a number of image references in both categories. Firs~ among the required images is an exceptionally well-known television personality. Evy, the drunken heroine, says, "For my next number, Ed Sullivan and I will make it right here on stage." The line itself is reminiscent of the renowned variety show host's style, but in order to appreciate it one must have an image of the stone-faced and peculiarly constructed Sullivan, especially combined with the ludicrous idea of "making it" on stage.

Evy calls upon three other images during the course of the play which are vital to the meaning of the lines. Evy Why don't you spend the rest of your life in the Beverly Hills Polo Lounge? You can put on a Shirley Temple dress and suck a lollipop ..• and next year you'll have an affair with the book publisher's grandson •••

Evy

Are you serious? 't'lith me looking like Rocky Graziano? He'll send you to a convent. 54

Evy

And when you get back, I'll be a regular Doris Day type mother, okay? Freckles and everything.

The reference to Shirley Temple demands the audience's specific recall of the child star's short-skirted, lollipop-sucking "look" in order to make sense. The Rocky

Graziano reference is also a demand on the visual memory of the audience and doesn't make its point without some common image of the fanner middleweight champion and tele- vision personality. The image of Doris Day must be familiar enough to the spectators so that they can recog- nize the humor of the remark about freckles, a character- istic of Miss Day's which has always been so uncharacter- istic of female film stars in general.

Two references to other film stars, in Forty Carats, are totally lacking in sense without a shared visual ·image of the two Hollywood figures in question. Referring to the surprising pool-playing talents of the ingenue, Peter says, "She just looks like a g~rl. She's really Paul

Newman." The audience is required to go through the mental gymnastics of associating the name of Mr. Newman with his performance as the dedicated pool shark in The Hustler.

Without this, the line means nothing, but if one has an image of Ne~v"ffian in the film, it is very amusing.

The second reference is made by Billy, talking about the public relations firm '"'here he may be employed. "His 55 clients are real biggies--General Motors, AT&T, Raquel

\\felch, New Zealand ... 11 The humor in this line depends entirely on the audience's ability to visualize the incred- ibly endowed Miss Welch, as a viable 11 biggie11 in the company of two industrial giants and a country. Once again we can see the playwright's relative security in presenting such a complex game of association for the audience, wholly dependent on its ability to recall specific visual images, as compared to the far less confident reference to

Mary Pickford which began our survey in 1925.

Joan Fontaine, mentioned earlier as a reference in the 1960-61 season, is the final image-required reference of this season, and is in one of the most complex construe- tions of the whole survey. In The Last of the Red Hot

Lovers, Barney, the hero of the title, is attempting his first extramarital liaison with little success. The more experienced Elaine says, after a most unsatisfactory tryst,

"Don't waste your time. We're incompatible. You need Joan

Fontaine and I need a box of 16zenges." The reference to

Miss Fontaine in this case is intended to bring to mind her portrayal of the long-suffering Jane Eyre, a character

Elaine thinks the inept Barney would find far more compat- ible than herself. Elaine simply substitutes the actress for the character in her own mind, and the audience is expected to do the same, and to respond besides to the amusing contrast between the film heroine and the onstage 56 heroine. The first image-enhanced reference of the season comes from the Gingerbread Lady's gallery of familiar con­ temporary personalities. Evy is asked what she will do with her evening, now that she is to be left alone. "I'll turn on television and stand stark naked in front of Merv

Griffin." Here the audience is invited to visualize the action of Evy, made very specific by the imagined presence of the unctuous talk show host, and also the implication of some response on his part.

The next two references are·made by Evy's friend,

Jimmy, in reaction to her apparent interest in a Puerto

Rican delivery boy.

Jimmy

Well, I hate it. I have enough trouble worrying about me. I'm forty years old and I can't get a job with or without clothes anymore. If you want to carry on with Pancho Gonzales~ that's up to you.·

Jimmy

And· if Jose Ferrer shows his face again, don't: open the door. The only groceries he's bring­ ing next time are his own.

In both instances, Jimmy uses familiar Latin personalities to characterize the young delivery boy. Both the tall, magnetic tennis champion and the Academy Award-winning actor are humorous substitutions for the delivery boy, and available images of the former, in relation to the latter, 57 definitely enhance the audience's perception of the humor.

Evy says to Jimmy later in the play, "I believe this

is your dance, Colonel Sanders, and by the way, I love your fingerlickin' chicken." This time it is she who com­ pares by substitution, calling Jimmy by the name that immediately conjures up the ever-present -"face smilin' down at you." The use of the visual image, although it is not necessary to understanding of the line, gives the same kind of humorous insight into the character of the speaker that Jimmy's mention of Gonzales and Ferrer has done earlier.

The single reference from Plaza Suite is an enhancing image. Karen, the middle-aged wife of the middle-aged

Sam, comments about his compulsive pursuit of a youthful appearance, "It means I like you flabby. I admit you look like one of the Pepsi generation, but it seems a little unnatural to me." Here the spectators are asked 'co picture the youthful, athletic participants in the Pepsi-Cola commercials' "generation," as a visual comparison to the unwilling-to-age Sam. Although this reference is the only common-image usage in this play to be included in the survey, there is a scene in the second of the three play- lets comprising the script which reveals much about the 55 potency of celebri·ty "names," and the only reason for its exclusion is that the playwright is seeking something other than a specifically visual response by their use. 58 p •

Butterflies Are Free contains the last three refer­ ences. The first is employed to exaggerate the common exaggeration which insists that "the walls are made of paper." To do this, the author carries the metaphor to the point of absurdity, and the meaning is enhanced by our ability to visualize a certain kind of paper.

Don

These walls are made of paper.

Jill

I know--Kleenex.

The second image reference is more complex. The blind hero of the play, Don, is examining the face of the heroine, Jill, with his fingers.

Jill

Am I not the image of Elizabeth Taylor?

Don

I've never felt Elizabeth Taylor.

Jill's use of the word "image" invites a visual comparison of the vivacious Jill with the.voluptuous film star, while at the same time making an amusing colllillent on the nature of "seeing" for a blind admirer and offering a charming insight into each character's sense of humor.

In the last reference, Dan's apartment is the subject of an exchange between him and his mother, \'lho never approved of his taking it in the first place. 59

Mrs. Baker

{talking about the apartment) It isn't Buckingham Palace, is it?

Don

No, it's the Taj Mahal.

Buckingham Palace epitomizes royal pomp and ceremony, but not in a particularly visual way, whereas the Taj Mahal, built for love and described as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, can scarcely be separated from the image of peaceful reflecting pools and exotic white domes.

It seems ironic that the more visual image of the two is offered by the blind boy, but it also says something about ·the ability of certain words to make us see very s~ecific images with the mind's eye.

In the sample seasons from 1925·-1970 we have examined

49 plays, all of which were popular successes on the

Broadv1ay stage. The survey has included the work of 42 writers and writing teams. Six writers or teams are represented by more than one play, but the only author represented by more than two is Neil Simon, whose total on the charts is six. We have examined 32 image-required references and 39 image-enhanced references, for a total of 71. The 1945-46 season shows the fewest total refer­ 56 ences {3), and the 1965-66 season the most (17). The

1965-66 season also con·tains the largest number of imag·e- required references (8). 60

No single image reference appears more than twice, and the largest area of references by far (39, or 54.9% of the total), is that having to do with motion pictures and television and their stars. Among contemporary images, the longest period of effectiveness indicated by the survey is shared by two film stars, Shirley Temple and Jackie

Coogan. Both of them appear in separate references 35 years apart. The individual comedy containing the largest number of image references is The 9ingerbread Lady with eight, and every play of Neil Simon's on the charts con- tains at least one reference.

Seventeen of the plays surveyed offer no common-image references at all, and the only season wherein every play I has at least one reference is 1970-71. The earliest season, 1925-26, has the largest number of plays without any references ( 7) . The follmving chart shows seasonal totals and overall totals of plays and images throughout . the survey, and indicates as well the rate of image use for each season. I I

IMAGE REFERENCE STATISTICS 1925-1970

Season Total Plays with Total Image Use Rate Per Play Required-Enhanced Movie Plays References References Total Plays with (Image Reference) or TV Plays References

1925-26 12 4 7 .58 1. 75 4 3 4

1935-36 6 5 9 1.50 1. 80 2 7 6

1945-46 6 3 3 .so 1.00 1 2 0

1955-56 6 5 10 1. 66 2.00 6 4 5

1960-61 6 3 10 1. 66 3.33 4 6 5

1965-66 8 7 17 2.12 2.43 8 9 9 1970-71 5 - 5 15 3.00 3.00 7 - 8 10 Totals 49 32 71 1. 57 2.18 32 39 39

0"\ ...... 62

The rate-of-use figures on the chart clearly do not show an uninterrupted upward trend. The increase of use in the first decade is evident, with the figure for the

1935-36 season nearly three times that for the 1925-26 season. Then there is a sharp drop in 1945-46 to the lowest rate of use in the survey (.50}. It seems possible that the curtailment of many areas of media activity which characterized the war years, and which will be discussed in the next chapter, bears some relation to the availabil­ ity to playwrights of common images for reference use, and that possibility is considered in the concluding chapter.

Regardless of the fact that the rate of use retreats in 1945 from the 1935 figure, the figure after 1945 is never again as low as in the 1925 season, and after World.

War II the pattern of growth in rate of use continues to the end of the survey. By 1970 the rate-of-use figure is more than five times that for the 1925 season at the sta~t of the sampling. The next chapter examines the growth of the national media components, and their audience, during the same period, in order to evaluate their capacity for disseminating images. Chapter III

THE MEDIA

BROADCASTING, PUBLISHING AND COMMERCIAL DISPLAY

1925-1970

The media components that are examined in this study are divided into three categories: (1) broadcast, includ­ ing Standard Broadcast radio (AM) , Frequency Modulation radio (FM), and television, both on-the-air and cable transmission (CATV); (2) publishing, which includes news­ papers and periodicals; and (3) commercial display, which includes motion picture exhibition and outdoor advertising.

The corrmunications media, in their various categories, have been selected for investigation because they are specifically designed to inform the public by means of words and images. Some means of delivering images, such as currency, postage stamps, portraits and photographs, do not have public information as their primary goal, and others, such as the Broadway theatre itself, do not reach nearly as wide an audience as the media. The media com­ ponents which rely on images--television and motion pictures~--are complemented by newspapers, periodicals and outdoor advertising, all of which may or may not offer both images and printed information. Radio is included in the survey because, like the other components, it delivers a large quantity of information to a large audience, and

63 64 some of it is likely to reinforce images already made available by t.he other media. As was shown in the intro­ duction, the common image reference depends upon a combin­ ation of specific pictures on the one hand and specific information on the other.

Broadcasting

Radio broadcasting stations began operation in the

United States under the jurisdiction of the Department of

Commerce in 1921, when a single station was authorized for regular commercial service. They remained under the control of the Commerce Department until the Congress established ·the Federal Radio Commission on February 23,

1927. In 1934, the powers of the Federal Radio Commission were transferred to the Federal Communications Commission.

The broad powers of the FCC include the licensing and control of all of the broadcast industry components, as well as all other communication activities in the United

States. Statistical information on Standard Broadcast

(.Al'i) stations begins with the licensing authority of the

Commerce Department in 1921. Frequency Modulation (FM) stat.ions were authorized as a regular service by the FCC in 1940, and the first commercial station was licensed in

1941. Television was authorized on a regular commercial basis, effective July l, 19 41, and tvm stations in New

York began operation on that date. The 1941 authorization 65

for television operation was for Very High Frequency (VHF), the familiar channels 2 through 13. Ultra High

Frequency (UHF) stations were authorized in 1952 and include channels 14 through 83. Community Antenna Tele- vision (CATV) began operation with FCC authorization in

1952, and is a system whereby program signals are sent through a cable attached to a television set, as opposed to commercial television broadcasting and its on-the-air transmission of the signals.

The first table shows the number of &~ stations, co~~ercial and non-co~mercial FM stations, commercial and non-commercial television stations, and cable television systems (CATV), for each of the sanple years. The second table shows the number of households equipped with sets for reception of radio and television and, in the case of cable systems, the to·tal number of households with sub­ scr1p. t"1ons. 1 66

Table I 2 Broadcasting Stations and Cable Television Systems 1925-1970 3 Standard Frequency Television Cable Broadcast Modulation (UHF) Television (fu.'\1) {FM) (VHF) (CATV)

1925 571 0 0 0

1935 623 0 0 0 4 1945 955 65 9 0

1955 2,732 664 469 400

1960 3,438 906 662 640

1965 4,025 1,605 681 1,325

1970 4,288 2,540 881 4,500

Table II

Households with 3ets and Cable Households

1925-1970 5 Households with Households with Households with radio sets television sets cable service (l,OOOs) (l,OOOs) (l,OOOs)

1925 2,750 0 0

1935 21,456 0 0 6 7 1945 33,100 (NA) 0

1955 45,900 30,700 150

1960 50,193 45,750 650

1965 55,, 200 52,700 1,275

1970 62,000 59,500 2,490 67

The 22nd report of the Federal Communications Commis- sion states that, "American homes have more broadcast receivers than bath tubs or running water. This country's

164 million receiving sets is more than 60 percent of .the world's total." 8 This is indeed a remarkable figure and certainly suggests a wealthy, novelty-loving population, but how much more remarkable when one considers that at that writing only thirty-five years had passed since the

Department of Commerce had licensed the first station in

1921. No figures are available on the number of households that had receivers then, or how many young men and women sat patiently night after night trying to tune their homemade crystal sets to catch a few words "off the air."

The first decade, from the start of our survey to

1935, is marked by one recognizable circumstance. The growth from a single licensee to 571 stations in 1925 indicates great interest in the financial potential of the new industry; while the addition of only 52 more operations in the ensuing ten years seems to reflect the financial slm•ldown of the Great Depression. The capital investment necessary for the establishment of a broadcasting station may have been large, but the price of a receiver was small. Although only an additional 52 stations went on the air in the ten-year period 1925-35, the number of households equipped to receive programming grew ten times. In the heart of the depression, from 1930 to 1934, more than 68

9 18 million sets were produced, and the interest and involvement of the American public in the inexpensive radio as a remarkable source of cheap entertainment at home, continued even after the depression years had passed.

With the exception of the war years, when both the author­ ization of new stations and the manufacture of receivers was halted, the number of sets produced and households with sets continued to grow, to a figure of more than 24 10 million sets produced in the U. S. in 1965.

The rapid but orderly growth of Standard Broadcast

(AM} continued until the Second World War, and perhaps the growth of both television and Frequency Modulation

{F.l\1} broadcasting would have matched this rapid and orderly pattern, but the expanding economy which would have afforded this growth, was stopped by the war just as both of these systems were authorized for regular service. 11 However, the wartime restrictions were only a breathing spell.

From the nine TV stations in operation in 1945, when only a negligible number of households had sets, we find a jump to 469 stations operating and serving more than 30 million households in 1955. The total number of broadcast operations had grown from 1,029 radio and television stations in 1945 at the close of the war, to 4,265 radio, television and cable operations in 1955. And while more than 12 million more households were equipped with radios, 69 almost as many homes were by then equipped with television sets as had had radio receivers a bare ten years before.

In the final year of our sample, fifteen years later, the total number of broadcast facilities had almost tripled; the total number of households equipped to receive tele- vision had more than doubled and drawn abreast of the total number of households equipped to receive radio. Given an average household of only three people, more than 90 per- cent of the population was even then saturated with both radio and television.

The statistics show the broadcasting industry growing from one AM station in 1921, to 571 in 1925, to 12,209 AM,

FM, television and cable operations in 1970, while its audience grew from two and three-quarters million house- holds equipped to receive only AM broadcasts to 62 million capable of receiving both radio and television. These st~tistics are a clear indication of one of the most remarkable phenomena of modern times.

Publishing

Newspapers and Periodicals

The history of newspapers and periodical publication in the United States began with the first successful news- paper in the colonies, the News-Letter, published by 12 Bartholomew Green in Boston in April of 1704. The position of the Fourth Estate in this country has always 70 been carefully protected, and periodicals and newspapers have served as a primary instrument for the dissemination of news and information. In fact, they were the first component of the organized media to develop in the United

States. The first statistical information available on publi­ cation indicates that there were 254 newspapers published daily in 1850, with a combined circulation of 758,000. 13

The peak number of newspapers published was in 1909, when

17,023 daily, Sunday, weekly and other papers were pub­ lished.14 The peak year for periodicals was 1966, when 15 10,002 were published in all categories.

The third table shows the total number of newspapers published in all categories, as well as the total number of daily papers. Circulation figures are for daily papers only. The fourth table shows the total number of periodi­ cals published in all categories, as well as the total number of weekly numbers. Circulation figures are for average circulation of each issue of a weekly. 71

Table III 16 Newspapers 1925-1970 ·

Total published Total Daily Daily Circulation all categories papers (l,OOOs) 17 18 1925 15,095 2,118 33,739

1935 14,091 1,950 38,196

1945 12,791 1,749 48,384

1955 11,451 1,760 56,147

1960 11,315 1,763 58,882

1965 11,383 1,751 60,358

1970 11,383 1,748 62,108

Table IV

Periodicals 1925-197019

Total published Total Weekly Weekly Circulation all categories periodicals (Average Issue)

1925 4,659 1,133 34,826

1935 6,546 1,484 42,648 20 1945 6,569 1,359 64,800 21 1955 7,648 1,602 82,800 22 1960 8,422 1,580 106,000 23 1965 8,990 1,716 122,000 24 1970 9,573 1,856 140,000

The general patt.ern of activity in the publishing area of our media survey is marked by two significant 72 trends. The number of newspapers in all categories declined after 1925, reaching a reasonably stable total from 1955 on. The number of daily papers shows the same decline and leveling, but at the same time the circulation contined to increase, with the most significant increase noted in the post war years. It is unfortunate that good circulation figures are not available for all papers pub- lished, but the figures for daily papers should be a strong indication of the growth in general circulation.

Although these figures do not appear in our survey charts, one of the most marked declines in the number of total papers published occurred between 1941 and 1945, 25 when the total number dropped from 14,284 to 12,791.

Here again the effect of the war years is evident. The effect of the war is also seen in the drop in the consump~ tion of newsprint during the same period, when consumption went from 3,694,000 short tons in 1941 to 3,048,000 short 26 tons in 1944. While circulation did increase during this period, the average number of pages per issue had fallen from 27 in 1941 to only 22 in 1945, the decrease in pages more than matching the increase in general c1rcu. 1 at1on. . 27

Periodicals enjoyed an increase in number during the period of our survey; although the figures on all types of periodicals fluc·tua·ted, t.he number of weeklies continued to grow, along with their circulation. As with newspapers, 73 the war years show an extraordinary period of curtailed activity. The total number of periodicals dropped from

7,374 in 1942 to 6,569 in 1945, and weeklies dropped from 28 1,609 to 1,359 in the same period.

In general, then, newspapers have decreased in numbers while increasing in circulation, the implication being that more people are reading the same papers.

Increased circulation figures indicate that more people are also reading magazines than in the past, although the total number of periodicals has increased during the period as well. It seems clear that, while the publishing segment of the media has remained relatively stable, the audience for this media component has grown significantly.

Outdoor Advertising and Motion Pictures

Outdoor advertising traces its history to ancient times and may be as old as the first attempt to attract attention by writing on a cave wall. Unfortunately, for a.n industry of enormous financial resources, the research on outdoor advertising has so far centered on sales effort and advertising effectiveness, and it is only in the past few years that any organized attempt has been made to 9 gather substantive historical and statistical information?

It was not until October 1925, with the merger of the Poster Advertising Association, Inc., and the Painted

Outdoor Advertising Association, into the Outdoor Adver­ tising Association of America, Inc., that "the Outdoor 74

30 medium had become organized." A great variety of painted and printed signs are displayed in transit advertising and neighborhood point-of-purchase displays, but this study is concerned with coordinated national media, and in outdoor advertising it is the standardized panel that can be included among truly " ... national media," as Phillip

Tocker, President of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, suggests, and ·that has the u ability to carry advertising messages to given markets economically and 31 efficiently."

Standardization of printed posters was accomplished in 1912 by the Poster Advertising Association with the

24-sheet standard.

Standardized outdoor advertising poster panels throughout the country are approximately 12 feet high and 25 feet long, with a uniform copy area of 10 feet 5 inches by 22 feet 8 inches. This standardization enables adver­ tisers to print posters in quantity, with the assurance that they will be displayed uniformly on the structures on any plant in any area. About three million 24- and 30-sheet posters are produced annually in the United States. Painted bulletins .. ~also follow these standards of size and proportions.32

Table V shows the number of standardized poster panels in the United States, and because of the limited statistical information available, the total dollar volumes for national and local outdoor advertising are included as a supplemental indication of activity. 75

Table V

Standardized Poster Advertising

And Outdoor Advertising Revenues 33 1925-1970

Total Standard Local National Total Panels Revenue Revenue Revenue (Revenues in Millions o:E Dollars) 34 1925 240,500 (NA) (NA) (NA)

1935 257,000 8 23 31 35 1945 273,soo 22 50 72

1955 290,000 63 130 193

1960 289,000 66 137 203

1965 275,000 60 120 180 1970 281,000 80 154 234

· While revenues in the outdoor industry have grown

considerably during the years, the number of standard

panels has remained relatively stable. One explanation

of the increased national revenues is in the number of

changes of display that have been used on the available

panels. While no reliable figures on panels are available

for 1925, several :eading experts in the outdoor industry ··~f'- ·, have suggested that there was only a small percentage gain

in the ten years from 1925 to 1935. The only other

statistical information which would affect the image-

delivery potential of the displays is in a post-World 76

War II increase in the percentage of illuminated signs.

The number in 1955 was 72,000, or twenty-five percent of the total, while in 1965, 107,000 signs were illuminated, 36 or thirty-nine percent of the tota1. Obviously the fact that visual impression became possible in the nighttime hours increased the overall effectiveness of outdoor adver- tising.

Motion Pictures 37 From the tiny film studio of Thomas Edison to a thriving international industry with box office revenues in the United States alone of nearly 3.5 billion dollars 38 in 1967, the impact of motion pictures as an image­ delivering medium has been substantial. The history of cooonercial motion picture exhibition began with a New York peep show in April, 1894. The subject matter of this first commercial venture included Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill 39 Cody and other celebrities of the time. Although trading on the already-famous as subject matter has remained a conunon prac·tice of the industry, as witnessed by the con­ tinuing utilization of famous athletes as actors in films, the motion picture industry soon began to develop its own famous personalities. The first theatre devoted exclus~ 40 ively to movies was not opened until June 1905, but Max

Aronson, known as Broncho Billy Anderson, was already 41 established as a star, the first in a long line of 77 personalities who would capture the imagination of the film audience.

The first twenty years of motion picture exhibition were limited to silent films only, and the audience's perception of the famous on film was strictly visual. It

\vas not until 1926 that the first sound film was exhibited, and another two years before the sound track was put directly on the film itself with the Vitaphone process.

This was the technological breakthrough which permitted the rapid transformation of the industry from silent to sound. More than a third of the image references in our survey are film stars or film references, and as late as the 1965-66 season, more than thirty-five years after the end of the silent era of production, silent stars still appear 1n. t h e 1"1st. 42

The following table shows the number of four-wall

·theatres, drive-in theatres and estimates of weekly attend- ance. 78

Table VI

Motion Picture Theatres and Weekly Attendance 43 1925-1970

Four-wall Drive-in Est. Attendance Theatres Theatres (Mil. per week)

1925 20,500 0 48 1935 14,500 (NA) 44 74

1945 16,951 100 98

1955 14,500 4,500 50-55

1960 13,200 4,600 46

1965 9,150 4,400 46 45 1970 9,700 4,600 40-45

While some of the figures estimated by the industry sources may very well be wishful thinking in terms of total attendance, several features are worthy of comment in the period covered by the table. Attendance reached its peak in the period immediately following World War II, and has dropped substantially in relation to national population since that time. Removing the suspect 1925 industry figures on total theatres, 46 and taking the first estimate available in government statistics, the 10,265 47 theatres reported in 1933, the pattern of growth and decline in attendance and in available theatres follows tbe same path. The stabilizing factor in total number of four-wall theatres was the rapid post.-war growth of drive- 79 in facilities. Nonetheless, attendance has fallen sharply in the period since 1955, and the most likely factor in this reduction is the rapid growth of television. The figures for 1925 reflect only silent houses, capable of delivering images and printed dialogue, while all of the other figures from 1935 on are theatres equipped to deliver sound.

The most startling statistic is the growth of atten­ dance during the World War II period. vfuile all of the other media components were substantially curtailed by the war, motion picture attendance grew ap~reciably. The

1945 figures on the number of houses reflect primarily the growth between 1935 and 1941, but the attendance figures kept right on increasing during the entire decade.

The motion picture theatres represented an entertainment possibility which did not require any of the consumer components that forced the curtailment of other activities.

Newspapers and periodicals depend on newsprint, and radio and television on complex electrical equipment, but the motion picture theatres were for the most part able to function with equipment already on hand. At.the same time films already produced were available for display, and new productions designed as propaganda, or with heroic, patriotic themes, were created to attract the largest possible popular audience.

The pattern of growth and activity in the various 80 components of the media examined suggests several possi­ bilities. The broadcast industry enjoyed a continuing increase in its ability to deliver information and images to a larger and larger audience. The only interruption in this growth rate pattern occurred during the war years.

The segment of the industry which showed the most remark­ able growth was television, from its first comn1ercial operation in 1941 to an almost complete saturation of households by 1970. Radio and television are everywhere to be seen and heard.

The publishing component, while showing a decline in the total number of newspapers and only a small increase in the number of periodicals, continued to grow in circu­ lation, so that fewer papers and magazines were delivering ima-ges and information to more and more people. As was the case with the broadcast industry, both numbers of publications and audience were reduced by wartime restric­ tions.

In the display component, outdoor advertising, while remaining reasonably stable in the number of standardized boards available, showed a significant increase in the total of revenue dollars, indicating an evident increase in turnover of displays as well as in their cost. The increase in the percentage of displays that would be vis­ ible both night and day also represents an increase in activity. Motion pictures reached .their greatest audience 81 at the end of the wartime period. They are the only segment of the national media which showed significant growth during the period of the war. The post-war decline in attendance seems to reflect inversely the growth of the other visual entertainment medium, television. I will now examine the interrelationship of the media's activity and t.he pattern of common-image use in comic drama during the sample years. Chapter IV

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

A review of the survey years discussed in the preced­ ing chapters reveals growth of almost every national media component, as well as growth in the use rate of common­ image references. In 1925-26, 12 plays yielded a total of 7 image references, for an average per-play incidence of .58. Also in 1925, the media components examined were: (1) 571 (AM) broadcast stations, with 2.75 million households equipped for reception; (2) something in the neighborhood of 15,000 total newspapers, of which 2,118 were daily papers, and 2,008 of them shm,red a combined circulation of 33.7 million; (3) 4,659 periodicals, of which 1,133 were weekly with average weekly circulation per issue of 34,826 each; (4) an indicated total of

240,500 standardized poster panels; and (5) 20,500 motion picture theatres with combined weekly attendance of 48 million. Radio had entered the scene only four years earlierr but motion pictures had been commercially dis­

~layed for approximately 20 years.

In 1935-36, 6 plays yielded a total of 9 image references, for an average per-play incidence of 1.50, or almost three times the rate of use in 1925-26. In 1935 th9 media components showed the following changes:

(1) (AM) broadcast stations increased 9%, while the

82 83

households equipped for reception show a striking 680%

increase to 21.45 million; (2) the total number of news­

papers declined 6.5% and the number of dailies almost 8%,

although the combined circulation of dailies rose 13%;

(3) total periodicals increased 40% and weekly periodicals

almost 31%, with an increase in average weekly circulation of more than 20%; (4) the number of standardized poster panels increased approximately 6%; and (5) there was a

29% decrease in the number of motion picture theatres, combined with a 54% increase in average weekly attendance.

Audience figures for all of the components increased, regardless of the fact that newspapers and motion pictures suffered a decline in total number of outle'cs. The number of radio-equipped households increased almost seven times, and motion pictures enjoyed their largest single increase in total attendance, almost 24 million.

In 1945-46, 6 plays yielded a total of 3 image refer­ ences, for an average per-play incidence of .50, hardly more than a fourth of the preceding season. The media components changed as follows: (1) the number of (AM) stations was up 53%, while (FM) and television stations appeared in the statistics for the first time, showing totals of 65 (FM) stations and 9 television stations; there was another large increase (54%) in the number of radio households, and only a very limited number of television households; (2) newspaper figures decliped 84

9-10%, while the total circulation of dailies increased

26%; (3} the number of periodicals showed limited changes,

but the average weekly circulation increased 52%; (4) an

increase of only 6% in standardized panels brought almost

twice the revenue from national outdoor advertising; and

(5) motion picture weekly attendance grew 32%, or almost

double the 17% increase in number of motion picture

theatres. This survey year saw two new components added to the broadcast area, (FM} radio and television, and for

the first time drive-in theatres appeared as part of the motion picture theatre total. Newspapers and periodicals decreased in numbers, while circulation grew. The audience

for motion pictures reached its peak weekly attendance

figure of 98 million, and the rate of common-image use dropped to its lowest point in the entire survey.

In 1955-56, 6 plays yielded a total of 10 image references, for an average per-play incidence of 1.66, or more than triple the rate of the preceding season. The media components changed as follows: (1) (AM) broadcast­ ing stations increased almost 3 times and (FM) stations almost ten times, while the number of television stations grew from 9 to 469, or an incredible 5200%, and the first

400 cable television systems appeared; radio households increased 39%, and there were 30.7 million television households of which 150,000 were equipped for cable reception; (2) total newspapers decreased 10%, but daily 85 papers increased 4% and their circulation 16%; (3) peri­ odicals, both total and weekly, increased 16-18%, and the average weekly circulation increased 28%; (4) standardized poster panels again showed a 6% increase in numbers; and

(5) motion picture theatres increased 12%, while the average weekly attendance dropped a dramatic 46%. This survey year was highlighted by the expansion of the broad­ cast area. Outlets and audience for the different com­ ponents all increased in numbers, and cable systems were added for the first time. For the first time in the motion picture figures, attendance declined sharply even though the number of theatres contined to grow.

In 1960-61, 6 plays yielded a total of 10 image references, for an average per-play incidence of 1.66, unchanged from the preceding season. The media components changed as follows: (1) (AM) broadcasting stations increased 26%, (FM) stations 36%, television stations 41% and cable systems 60%; households equipped to receive radio increased only 9%, while television households increased more than 50% and cable households more than 400%; (2) news­ paper totals varied only slightly, and the combined circu­ lation of dailies showed a 4% increase; (3) the total number of periodicals increased 18%, and although the nun~er of weeklies decreased 1%, their average circulation increased 29%; (4) the number of standardized outdoor pos­ ter panels decreased very slightly; and (5) motion picture ,, . 86 theatre declined both in number (6%) and in average weekly attendance (12%). This period was characterized by ~apid growth in all segments of the broadcast component of the national media. The total number of outlets in the other components varied only slightly in comparison to the broadcast component, but the increase in television house­ holds, from 30.7 million to 45.7 million, corresponded roughly to the drop in motion picture attendance. The rate of common-image use showed an increase, although much smaller than the preceding one.

In 1965-66, 8 plays yielded a total of 17 references, for an average per-play incidence of 2.12, an increase of

28%. Media changes were as follows: (1) (AM} stations increased 17%, (FM) stations 77%, television stations 2% and cable systems more than 100%, while households in the several categories were up 10% for radio-equipped, 15% for television-equipped, and almost 100% for cable-equipped;

(2) changes in newspaper totals were negligible, with a 3% increase in combined circulation of dailies; (3) periodi­ cals showed a minor increase in both categories, and an increase in weekly circulation average of 15%, or roughly half the increase in 1960; (4) standardized poster panels again declined slightly, to 275,000; and (5) the motion picture attendance figure remained the same, although the number of theatres decreased 22%. Once more the broadcast component of the co~~unications media showed subst~ntial 87 increases, in both outlets and audience. The number of motion picture theatres declined markedly, but audience figures maintained the 1960 level, and audiences for the other components increased in varying degrees. The rate of common-image incidence showed an increase three times larger than in the previous sampling.

In 1970-71, 5 plays yielded 15 total image references, for a total average per-play incidence of 3.00, an increase of almost one-third. The media components changed as follows: (1) (AM) broadcasting stations increased 6%,

(FM) stations 58%, television stations 29% and cable systems more than 300%, while radio-equipped household~ increased 12%, television households were up 13%, and cable-equipped households more than doubled once again;

(2)'again the newspaper totals showed almost no change, and the combined circulation figure increased another 3%;

(3) periodical totals increased less than 10% in each category; but almost 14% in average circulation of weekly issues; (4) the number of standardized poster panels was up 6%; and (5) motion picture theatres showed a 4% increase in numbers, combined with a 7% decrease in average weekly attendance. By this year the broadcast component had attained a national saturation figure of 95%. 1 Newspapers stabilized in number, and circulation increased slightly, but less than periodical circulation. Standardized outdoor advertising panels increased by a small percentage, but 88 did not return to their peak level of 1955. The number of motion picture theatres also showed a slight upturn,· but attenda~ce figures declined. In the final year of the survey, the rate of common-image use had grown to more than five times the rate at the start of the survey.

The following graph shows audience figures for 2 various components of the national media, compared to incidence of common-image references in each sample year.

It is an attempt to suggest what the advertising industry might term the "impression potential" of the several com­ ponents in disseminating visual images, as well as the extent to which comic playwrights in the survey have availed themselves of the existing visual images. ______l ___ ------;------~---, ------,--- . ------·- --- J______1 vm Graph QJ Med 11.-LUdience GJ~ d_ O_lllmon.J.m_~J~ U!!!' l j r 1 171, • ooo) <98, ooo > 1 ·-·------·- ____ ;. 6_0,000 J.O~ ___ __v_~rj:ljn_l bars___ _ 1 !rcpre!'lcnt lite rate i · ·: 1 , -i . ·• • Of COiiuiion j Ol::Jf,!! U<.e · ·· ·: · ·· --- · :1 ench scns n, accor• 1 .- _·_: ':-· ...... : .. --· , -- dlng to t e firurefl ! ;' · · _-· -~-: . . .. ·- :.::- lln rlf,IH liirp,;lr;, ..!...:...:..: ____ ~:..:.:...-~------__ j_();Q_Q_()- 7._;5\------___ :__:______1 l~s~lmated week:ly_moviie. 1 ·· · :· ·: .. ar:e:~tn~_e_ -(~00(18) .

2 :.I ...... ol ------· .... 1------·--

...-"

.. . ~-~- -- r. ·- With TV ~~t!'l ... ' . I ':~·!.T ~ .' . i : • ·:. _ .. · _-J .: :::: .· ~ , · - ; , :: ·t ~ ' '.' I &:, Household .. :ovlth rad o se-ts:. (ldod~ · . . . 1 lti ~~; oi'" ~-,- ·:· ble se- ~€ .:. . >:_': ~ 000~ \ '·i -r· - ! -- ., 1 ; __ - _-: _ -~- _ :-_:. ·- _ 1_ _ :1 25 ~: .\-Yf~-~---;~ __ :11 ~5 .- : 19r'·5: 1960 l.JJ5: 1970 I -~-·-·-·. . .. . -' . -' . ~- . ,. . .. I. . ... ,:_· .. ··. ::::_j ______1 ·.. J~-~ __ _1 __ -____ J.______L ______

co 1,0 90

As shown on the graph, the image-making potential of all the communications media components enjoyed an uninter­ rupted increase, with the exception of motion pictures, and the theatrical display of motion pictures has been taken over to no small extent by television display in the home. It is also evident, from the figures in

Chapter II, that the largest source of common images is the ·two entertainment components of the visual media, motion pictures and television, which are complemented by the more informational media of radio and printed material.

'I'hose two components provided nearly 55% of the references included in the study. In the entertainment industry, one of the proven ways of calling attention to any product is through the use of what has come to be known as a "name," a person who is so well known that the very mention of the

"name" assures recognition. The notorious •rv-Q list of the television industry is nothing more than the ~esult of an ongoing audience survey, wherein recognition of names and fe:1.ees is tested and combined, to arrive at a numerical rating of performers corresponding to their potential for attracting audience. The coordinated activities of the media are what make possible a great variety of "names," and these are not necessarily limited to performers; they include many other well-known figures from sports, poli­ tics, and any other occupation or involvement that is either a subject of media report or.a result of media 91 activity. Thanks to the saturation of American households with television transmission of pictures, by 19 70 and later, it would be hard to find a "name" who is not also an

"image," and the same is true of almost any commercial product advertised on television. The giant advertising and publicity industries have grown and flourished on the idea that everything needs an 11 image, 11 from Presidential candidates to breakfast food.

The increase in the rate of use of common-image references by comic playwrights during the period of the survey is also evident on the graph, but the increase does not proceed in an unbroken line. The startling decline in reference use during the 1945-46 season may not be unre­ lated to the fact that the years of World War II comprised the-only period of reduced media growth and curtailed activity.

The period from 1941-45 saw a series of wartime restrictions imposed on the media. In the broadcast com­ ponent, as has already been noted, both the manufacture of receivers and the licensing of broadcast facilities were halted between 1942 and 1945, and it is the only period when the broadcast component did not enjoy a substant.ial growth in outlets and audiences. We have also noted a drop in the number of ne\vspapers and the nUJI!l)er of pages in each one, as well as the curtailment. of periodical pu.blication which is implied by the. drop in newsprint 92 consumption during the same period. Although the motion pict.ures enjoyed a tremendous increase in attendance, there is little doubt that the subject matter of movies,

like ·that of all the communications media, had bent to the requirements of a nation at war. It is interesting to note that the 1945-46 season is the only one that does not contain a single motion picture-related image refer­ ence.

This period of decline in overall media activity and in common-image use may be more than the coincidental similari·ty of two unrelated patterns, but whether it is or is not, it separates two otherwise-uninterrupted periods of iccrease in the use of image references. From 1925 to

1935 the rate of use increased nearly three times, from

.58 to 1.50, and from 1945 to 1970 it iticreased six times, from .50 to 3.00.

The use of motion picture-related images in 1925 followed by roughly twenty years the introduction of tha'c componc:rrt in·to the media. Ten years later, after a signif­ icant growth in motion picture attendance, the number of

1tiotion picture references had nearly doubled. The first reference to an image born exclusively of television,

Oz zie Nelson, occurred in 1965, or roughly twen·ty years after the establishment of that component. Five years lajcer, in the next sample year, there were three images

·taken from the world of television "names," and others 93 whose older movies would not qualify them as common images unless those movies were available on the television screen. Both of those increases support the contention that the proliferation of images by the media provided a reservoir of visual references for the playwrights in question.

In reviewing this study of the possible relationship of the use of common-image references to the growth of the media, several conclusions may be drawn: (1) there were a surprisingly small number of references throughout the period studied; (2) there was more than a five-fold increase in the use of common-image references from

1925--1970, but the linli ted number of references precludes drawing conclusions as to their significance; (3) motion picture and television-related image references are the most numerous, which seems reasonable because of the pro­ liferation of motion picture and television in the period.

Further investigation of all types of plays might show evidence of a possible relationship between the media's ability to deliver images and the playwright's use of them. Moreover, examination of the years v?hich follov1 the end of the survey, in vievl of the ever-increasing proliferation of television-created images, might also help to est:ablish some rela·tionship between the use of these images by the playwright and television's ability to deliver ·them. 94

Humorous images, things which either do not belong together or are wildly exaggerated, are an essential ingre­ dient of comedy. Common-image references, like strictly topical allusions, need no·t be explained; both are a form of shorthand. How fortunate is the comic dramatist who can call upon the mind's eye to embellish what is offered to the physical eye. NOTES

Chapter I

1 Aristophanes, The Eleven Comedies (1912; rpt. New York: Liveright, 1943-)-,-p~xiii. 2 The ----Art of Drama (London: Routledge, 195 7) 1 p. 22. 3 New York: Appleton and Co., 1926, p. 25. 4 New York: Bani and Liveright, 1926, P• 43. 5 Anna Nichols was the then-famous writer-producer of the enormously successful Abie's Irish Rose. 6 New York: Sc>..muel French, 1926, p. 13. 7 Patrick Kearney, A Man's Man (New York: Brentano's, 1925), p. 17. 8 George Abbot and ,John V. A. Weaver, "Love 'Em a.nd !:.5.:..:~ve: 'Em" (New York: Samuel French, 1926), p:-52.--

9 Adelaide Matthews, and Martha Stanley, Puppy Love ([Nevl York]~ Samuel French, [c.l927J), p. 60.

Chapter II 1 From the 1935-36 season I was unable to find scripts of two plays which satisfied the criteria for inclusion in ·the study: One Good Year by Stephen Gross and Lin S. Root and Pre-Honeymoon by-Alford Van Ronkel and Anne Nichols. They-are-not included in the survey. 2 For the 1965-66 and 1970-71 seasons productions carried over from previous seasons are listed in the order of their opening following the regular ent.ries. 3 George s. Kaufman, The Butter and Egg Man (New York: Boni and Liveright, 1926) ,-p. 56 (Gloria Sv-ranso11). Every play included on the seasonal charts will be noted once for chart reference. Page references refer to the cited edition. Play references not included on the seasonal charts will be individually cited.

4 Patrlc-. k Kearney, A Man's Man (New York: Brentano's, 1925), pp. 1 and 17 (Mar~ Pickford), p. 72 (Annette Kellerman) .

95 96

5 Owen Davis, Ea~ Come, Easy Go (New York: Samuel French, 1926). 6 Don Mullally, Laff That Off (New York: Samuel French, 1928). 7 . John B. Hymer and Leroy Clemens, Alias The Deacon (New York: Samuel French, 1928). 8 Kenneth Webb, One of the Family (New York: Appleton and Co., 1926). 9 Barry Conners, The Patsy (New York: Samuel French, 1955). 10 Howard Irving Young, Not Herbert (New York: Samuel French, 1926). 11 Adelaide Matthews and Martha Stanley, Puppy Love [New York: Samuel French, 192_], pp. 17 and 60 (Sherlock Holmes) . 12 George Abbott and John V. A. Weaver, "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em" (New York: Samuel French, 1926), p. 36 (Keystone Comedies), p. 52 (Napoleon), pp. 88-9 (Jackie Coogan). 13 Marc Connelly, The Wisdom Tooth (New York: Samuel French, 1927). 14 James P. Judge, The Sauare Crooks {New York: Longmans, Green and Co.,-r929). 15 Among her other accomplishments Miss Kellerman swam a 23~mile marathon on the Danube and in 1905 attempted to swim the English Channel. Her attempt--she failed because of seasickness-~was highly publicized. 16 Nicholas Cosentino, Moon Over Mulberry Street (New York: American Stenographic Service, 1935). 17 George S. Kaufman and Katherine Dayton, First _!..aS!Y_ {New York: Random House, 1935), p. 21 (George Arliss), p. 169 (Pather Coughlin and Shirley Temple). 18 Bella and Sam Spewack, Boy Meets Girl (New York: Random House, 1935), pp. 11 and27 (Academy Award), p. 54 (Clark Gable) . 19 Mildred Harris and Harold Goldman, Co-respondent Unknown Typescript in the collection of the New York Public Lib-rary, p. 2-1-21 (Robert l'lontgomery) . 97

20 S. N. Behrman, End ·')f Summer (New York: Random House, 1936), p~ 51 (Karl Marx). 21 Robert E. Sherwood, Idiot's Delight (New York: Chas. Scribner's Sons, 1936), p. 81 (Nazi Salute), p. 185 (Hell's Angels). 22 Boy Meets Girl, p. 52. 23 Tennessee Williams and Donald Windham, You Touched Me! (New York: Samuel French, 1947), p. 23 (Union Jack). 24 Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, State of the Union (New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1946). 25 Elmer Rice, Dream Girl (New York: Hill and Wang, 1965). 26 Emmet Lavery, The Magnificent Yankee (New York: Samuel French, 1946), ~118 (Franklin Roosevelt).

27 Garson Kan1n, . Born Yesterday (New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1946). 28 Kenyon Nicholson and Charles Robinson, Apple of His E~ (Chicago: The Dramatic Publishing Co., 1946), p. 77 (Abraham Lincoln).

· 29 George Axelrod, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (Nevl York: Samuel Prench-;-195 7) , p. 31 (Bogart in Casa­ ]Jl,~nc~), p. 34 (F~om Here To Eternity), p. 61 (Spencer Tracy in Bad Day at Black Rock).

30 Ira Levln,. 7\clo T1me• For Sergeants ( New y ork : Dramatists Play ServTce-;-l958), p. 79 (Mickey Mouse). 31 William Marchant, The Desk Set (New York: Samuel French, 1956), p. 1.1 (vodka me~p:-I3 (iron lung), pp. 14 and 34 (Think sign). 32 Carolyn Green, Janus (New York: Samuel French, 1956), pp. 14-15 (Statuec:;y-Liberty), p. 15 (Benjamin Franklin). 33 Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, The Great Sebastia.ns (New York: Random House, 1956), pp. -58-9 (Danny Kaye)-.--- 34 Jerome Chodorov and Joseph Fields, The Ponder Heart (New York: Sartmel French, 1956). 98

35 Florence Lowe and Caroline Francke, The 49th Cousin (New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1962)-.---

36 Tennessee Williams, Period of Adjustment (New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1961~ 37 Lawrence Roman, Under the Yum-Yum Tree (New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1961)-.--

38 I ra Levln, . c rltlc . . I s Ch Olce.. (New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1962), p. 18 (Kewpie dolls), p. 28 (Dick Tracy), p. 46 (Philip Morris Co.), p. 64 (Dr. Frankenstein).

39 Nel'1 Slmon,. Come B 1 ow Your Horn (New York: Samuel French, 1961), p. 34 (Herbert Hooverr;-p. 69 (Ivy League Frankenstein). 40 Jean Kerr, Mary, Mary (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Co., 1963),--p:-15· (Joan Fontaine), pp. 81-2 (Merle Oberon), p. 98 (Mrs. Roosevelt), p. 120 (Jackie Coogan). 41 I had the pleasure of spending ten days in the company of Mr. Coogan while performing in a television film. During that period of time more than a hundred people approached Mr. Coogan for autographs, and without exception the middle-aged actor was greeted as "The Kid." ' 4? William Goodhart, Generation (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Co., 1966), p. 62 (Saran Wrap), p. 120 (Buster Keaton Movie). 43 Bob Fisher and Arthur Marx, The Impossible Years (New York: Samuel French, 1964), p. 54 (La Dolce Vita), p. 59 {Ozzie Nelson). 44 Abe Burrows, The Cactus Flower (New York: Samuel French, 1966), p. 19 (Botticelli's Springtime), p. 33 (Marcello Mastroianni), p. 55 (Band-aid), p. 82 (Mister Clean). 45 Neil Simon, Barefoot in the Park (New York: Random House, 1964), p. 21 (Abraham LincolnJ:-pp. 66-7 (Douglas Fairbanks), p. 89 (Al Capone). 46 ~1uriel Resnik, 2\ny Wednesday (New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1966), p. 55 (Harold Lloyd). 47 Murray Schisgal, LUV {New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1966), p. 16 (Clark Gable). 99

48 Bill Manhoff, The Owl and the Pussycat (New York: Samuel French, 1965). 49 Neil Simon, The Odd Couple (New York: Random House, 1966), p. 4 (Mr. Maverick), p. S8 (The Marx Brothers and Playboy Bunnies), p. 60 (Mr. Clean). 50 Neil Simon, The Gingerbread Lady (New York: Random House, 1971), p. 14 (Merv Griffin), p. 24 (Pancho Gonzales), p. 26 (Ed Sullivan and Jose Ferrer), p. 81 (Colonel Sanders), p. 92 (Shirley Temple), p. 96 (Rocky Graziano), p. 101 (Doris Day). 51 Neil Simon, Plaza Suite (New York: Random House, 1971}, p. 21 (Pepsi generation). 52 Jay Allen, Forty Carats (New York: Random House, 1969), p. 39 (Paul Newman), p. 101 (Raquel Welch). 53 Leonard Gershe, Butterflies Are Free (New York: Random House, 1969), p. 6 (Kleenex),p. 38-(Elizabeth Taylor), p. 52 (Taj Mahal). 54 Neil Simon, The Last of the Red Hot J.... overs (New York: Random House, 1970)~.34(Joan Fontaine). 55 Plaza Suite, pp. 83-4. The second act, in effect a one-ac~play~:cs-devoted exclusively to the seduction of

Muriel, a suburban housewife, by Jesse 1 her high school boy friend, now an important Hollywood producer. The seduction is accomplished by Jesse with nothing more than his acquaintance with the famous of films, after he finds that his litany of "names" acts just like a love potion on the s·tarstruck Muriel. As the name of one star after another rolls off both Muriel's and Jesse's lips, the excitemen-t becomes greater and greater. Finally, as Iv!uriel is about to succumb, the following exchange occurs, and with the very last speech the two have reached the bed and the curtain falls. Jesse Well, let's see, at my table there was Charlton Heston and his wife, Joseph E. Levine, the producer, Eva Marie Saint, Marge and Gower Champion ...

Muriel Oh, they're cute ... All at your table?

Jesse All at my table. And at the next table---there was Anthony Quinn and Virna Lisi, Paul Newman and Joanne ... 100

Muriel Woodward .••

Jesse Woodward •.. And there was Dean Jones and Yvette Mimieux .••

Muriel Together ••• ?

Jesse Yes, together ... Then behind us there was Troy Donahue and Stella Stevens, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Margot Fonteyn ..• Here we have fifteen image possibilities in seven lines. There is no other play up to this point which offers such a lis·t of famous names, for such a purpose. The whole catalogue is designed to create visions of that earthly paradise called Hollywood in a naive woman's mind, and there is every reason to suppose it has something of the same effect on the audience. The lines quoted above represent only the climax of a much longer process of image-making, but since the image is a generalized one used for an overall comic effect, it has not been placed on the chart. 56 One play in the 1945-46 season, State of the Union by Howard r.indsay and Russel Crouse, seems worthy-of 1nention because it is so laden with references which are not common-image references. In this high-powered and fast-moving comedy of presidential politics there are dozens of references to prominent public figures. They are figures who -vmuld, in other circums·tances, qualify as common-image references, common images with names like

Hoover, Dewey 1 Truman 1 Eisenhower 1 Roosevel·t and •.raft, but they are used in this case as strictly topical allusions. 'There is no attempt to demand a specifically visual response from the audience, either to complete 'che meaning of lines or to enhance it, and for that reason they are outside the confines of this study.

Chapter III 1 Federal Communications Co:m.'Tlission statistics do not separate AI-:1 stations int.o commercial and non-comrrlf;rcial categories, nor do they indicate categories of transmission power. FCC statistics do divide commercial and non­ commercial operations, but these figures have been combined to arrive at a single figure for operation. Conunercial , and non-conwercial operations of both VHF and UHFtelevision @ • 101 stations are also combined.

2 U. S. Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics· of the United States Colonial Times to 1970, Part 2 (Washington: u. S. Gov't. Printing Offi~l976); p. 794. All of the figures used in the charts are also available in various issues of the report of the Commerce Department, the reports of the Federal Radio Conunission and the annual reports of the FCC.

3 No distinction is made between VHF and UHF stations. 4 Authorization of new radio and TV stations and production of radio and television receivers for cor~1ercial use was halted from April 1942 until October 1945. 5 Only 60,000 households were equipped with radio receivers in 1922. Historical Statistics, p. 794. 6 The 2.5 million set increase in households equipped with radios that occurred between 1942 and 1945 was accomplished with radio receivers already available at the time of the freeze on manufacture. 7 The first FCC estimate of television households is for the year 1946, when households numbered only 8,000. Hi..::?_t.orical Statistics, p. 794. 8 Federal Co~munications Conrrnission, 22nd Annual BeEQrt for Ehe Fiscal Year 1956, (Washington:u~ Gov't. Printing Office, 1956), p. 1.

g H'1s t or1ca ' 1 St a t'lS•-lCS, ~· p. 794. lO Ibid. 11 Ibid. 12 Jos(~ph N. Kane, Famous First Facts (New York: H. W. Wilson, 1964), p. 415.

13 His-torical Statistics, p. 810. 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid. 16 Unless noted, all of the figures represented are from ?istol.~~-~al §tatistics, pp. 809-·10. 17 Estimated. Total for 1925 not available. The 102 only reliable figure estimates the total number as 15,697 in 1919. Historical Statistics, p. 810. 18 This figure is for only 2,008 of the daily papers. 19 All figures represented, unless noted, are from Historical Statistics, p. 810. 20 Estimated. Closest figures are for 1947 with average per issue of each of 892 set at 69,393. Historical Statistics, p. 810. 21 Estimated. Closest figures are for 1954 with average per issue of each of 487 set at 82,066. Historical Statistics, p. 810. 22 Estimated. Closest figures are for 1958 with average per issue of each of 478 set at 105,147. Historical Statistics, p. 810. 23 Estimated using figures above (note 22). 24 Estimated using figures above (note 22). 25 Historical Statistics, p. 809. 26 Ibid. 27 Ibid. 28 Historical Statistics, p. 810. 29 During the past year a center for the collection of material relating to outdoor advertising was started at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. 30 Phillip Tacker, Outdoor Advertising History and Regulation, ed. John W. Houck (Notre Dame, Indiana: Notre Dame Press, 1969), p. 35. 31 Ibid., pp. 22-3. 32 Ibid., pp. 34 and 39. 33 All of ·the statistics were supplied by Robert S. Collins, Vice-President and Director of Marketing Research for United Advertising Corporation in Newark, New Jersey. Mr. Collins formerly served as research director for the Outdoor Advertising Institute of America and was able to provide figures from his own files on estimates made by the industry. The only reference that did not come 103 directly from Mr. Collins' files is the 1935 estimate which appears in Hugh E. Agnew, Outdoor Advertising (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1938), p. 179. The estimate made by Mr. Collins for 1970 was confirmed in a conversation with Miss Laura Sweeney, Director of Research for the Institute of Outdoor Advertising in New York. 34 Estimated from other figures. 35 Estimated from other figures. 36 These f"1gures were a 1 so supp 1·1e d b y Mr. Co 11"1ns. 37 Kane, Famous First Facts, p. 396. The first studio was Edison's frame cabin in West Orange, N. J. 38 Historical Statistics, p. 855. 39 Kane, p. 393. The peep show used Thomas Edison's machine and George Eastman's film.

40 Kane, p. 396. The first theatre devoted to movies was the Nickelodeon which opened in a Pittsburgh store­ front. It made a profit of $1,000 the first week. 41 Mr. Aronson appeared in the first scripted film, 'I'he Great Train Robbery. 42 Harold Lloyd in Any Wednesday. 43 The figure for four-wall theatres in 1925 is from Film Year Book, 1928, (New York: The Film Daily, 1928}, p. 9. The estimated attendance for 1925 is from International Motion Picture Almanac, 1946-1947, (New York: Quigley Pub., 1946), p. 714. The 1935 figures are from Motion Picture Almanac, 1935-36 (New York: Quigley, 1936), p. 6. The figures for 1945 are from International Motion Almanac, 1946-47, (New York: Quigley, 1946), p. 714. 'rhe figures for 1955 are from International Motion Picture Almanac, 1956, (New York: Quigley, 1955)-;-p:v.ii. •rhe figurei for 1960 are from International Motion Picture Almanac, 1961, (New York: Quigley, 1961), p. 7A. The 1965 figures are from International Motion Picture Almanac, 1967, (New York: Quigley, 1966), p. 61A. The figures for 1970 are from International Motion Picture Almanac, 1972, {New York: Quigley, 1971), ·p. 43A. ------44 Kane, p. 396. The first drive-in theatre opened in Camden, N. J. on June 6, 1933, but no figures are available for the year 1935. 104

45 This figure is estimated from previous years.

46 The figure of 20,500 is contained in Film Year Book and, in the strictly commercial orientation of the Year Book, appears to be more puffery than fact. 4 7 H1stor1ca. . 1 s tat1st1cs, . . p. 855 •

Chapter IV 1 u. S. Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics. p. 793. 2 Periodical circulation figures are not included on the graph. The only figures available are weekly averages for limited weeklies and do not combine numeri­ cally with the other audience figures. BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Plays

Abbott, George and John V. A. Weaver. Love 'Em and Leave 'Em: A Comedy in Three Acts. New York: Samuel French, 1926.

Allen, Jay. Forty Carats: adapted from a play by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy. New York: Random House, 1969.

Axelrod, George. Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?: A New Comedy in Three Acts. New York: Samuel French, 1957 • • Behrman, S. N. End Of Summer: A Play in Three Acts. New York: Random House, 1936.

Burrows, Abe. Cactus Flower: A Comedy in Two Acts from a play be Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy. New York: Samuel French, 1966.

Connelly, Marc. The Wisdom Tooth: A Fantastic Comedy in Three Acts. New York: Samuel French, 1927. Conners, Barry. The Patsy: A Comedy in Three Acts. New York: Samuel French, 1955. [Reissue of the 1927 French Edition]

Cosentino, Nicholas. Moon Over Mulberry Street. Type­ script. New York: American Stenographic Service, 1935.

Davis, Owen. Easy Come, Easy Go: A Farce in Three Acts. New York: Samuel French, 1926. Fields, Joseph and Jerome Chodorov. The Ponder Heart: A Nevl Comedy in Three Acts (Adapted from the book The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty). New York: Samuel French, 1956. Fisher, Bob and Arthur Marx. The Impossible Years: A Comedy in Two Act:s. New York: Samuel French,- 1964.

Gershe, Leonard. Butterflies Are Free. New York: Random House, 1969. Goodhart, William. Generation. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Co., 1966.

105 106

Green, Carolyn. Janus: A Romantic Comedy in Three Acts. New York: Samuel French, 1956.

Harris, Mildred and Harold Goldman. Co-respondent Unknown. Reproduced from Typewritten copy. New York, 1935. [There.is some indication in the copy that there may have been a second title: Jane Doeol

Hymer, John B. and Leroy Clemens. Alias The Deacon: a comedy in three acts. New York: Samuel French, 1928.

Judge, James P. Square Crooks: A comedy-mystery play-­ re-production of the original professional performance by Nathaniel Reeid. New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1929.

Kan.in, Garson. Born Yesterday: [Acting Edition] A Comedy in Three Acts by Garson Kanin. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1946.

Kaufman, George S. The Butter and Egg Man: A Comedy in Three Acts. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1926.

Kaufman, George S. and Katherine Dayton. First Lady: A Play in Three Acts. New York: Random House, 1935.

Kearney, Pa·trick. A Han's Man: A comedy of Life under the "L." Introduction by Philip Moeller of the New York Theatre Guild. New York: Brentano's, 1925.

Kerr, Jean. Mary, Mary. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Co., 1963.

Lavery, Emmet. The Magnificent Yankee: A Play in Three Acts. New York: Samuel French, 1946.

Levin, Ira. Critic's Choice: A Comedy in Three Acts. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1962.

Levin, Ira. No Time For Sergeants: A Play in Two Acts, adapted from the novel by Mac Hyman. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1958.

Lindsay, Howard and Russel Crouse. The Great Sebastians: A Melodramatic Comedy. New York: Random House, 1956. Lindsay, Howard and Russel Crouse. State of the Union: A Comedy in Three Acts. [Acting Edi tionr:- New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1946. 107

Lowe, Florence and Caroline Francke. The 49th Cousin. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1962.

Manhoff, Bill. The Owl and the Pussycat: A Comedy in Three Acts. New York: Samuel French, 1965.

Marchant, William. The Desk Set: A Comedy in Three Acts. New York: Samuel French, 1956.

Matthews, Adelaide and Martha Stanley. Puppy Love. [New York?: Samuel French, 1927?].

Mullally, Don. Laff That Off: A Comedy in Three Acts. New York: Samuel French, 1928. Nicholson, Kenyon and Charles Robinson. Apple of His Eye: Comedy in Two Acts. Chicago: The Dramatic Publishing Co., 1946.

Resnik, Muriel. Any Wednesday: A Comedy. New York: Drama­ tists Play Service, 1966.

Rice, Elmer. Dream Girl: A Comedy in Two Acts. contained in Elmer Rice: Three Plays. New York: Hill Wang, 1965.

Roman, Lawrence .. Under the Yum-Yum Tree: A New Comedy. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1961.

Schisgal, Murray. LUV: Foreword by Walter Kerr. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1966.

Sherwood, Robert Emmet. Idiot's Delight. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936.

Simon, Neil. Barefoot in the Park: A New Comedy by Neil Simon. New York: Random House, 1964. Simon, Neil. Come Blow Your Horn: A Comedy in Three Acts. New York: Samuel French, 1961. Simon, Neil. The Gingerbread Lady: A New Play. New York: Random House, 1971.

Simon, Neil. The Last of the Red Hot Lovers. New York: Random House, 1970.

Simon! Neil. The Odd Couple. New York: Random House, 1966. 108 @ •

Simon, Neil. Plaza Suite: Directed on Broadway by Mike Nichols. New York: Random House, 1969.

Spewack, Bella [Cohen] and Samuel. Boy Meets Girl and Spring Song: Two Plays by Bella and Samuel Spewack. New York: Random House, 1936.

Spewack, Bella and Samuel. Boy Meets Girl and Spring Song: Two Plays by Bella and Samuel Spewack. New York: Dramatists Play Service, revised 1946. [Acting Edition].

Webb, Kenneth. One of the Family: A Comedy in Three Acts. New York-London: Appleton and Co., 1926.

Williams, Tennessee. Period of Adjustment or High Point is Built on a Cavern: A Serious Comedy. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1961.

Williams, Tennessee and Donald Windham. You Touched Me! A Romantic Comedy in Three Acts, suggested by a short story of the same name by D. H. Lawrence. New York: Samuel French, 1947.

Young, Howard Irving. Not Herbert: A Comedy of the Night in Four~Acts. New York: Samuel French, 1926.

i l B. ·General Works

Agnew, Hugh E. Ou·tdoor Advertising. New York and London: McGraw-Hill, 1938.

Anon. A1:istophanes: The Eleven Comedies, Literally and Cornple-tely Translated from the Greek Tongue into English with Translator's Foreword, an Introduction to each Comedy and Elucidatory Notes, 2 vols. in 1. New York: Liveright Pub., 1943.

Arthur D. Little Inc. Report to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America: A Study of Human Response to v1sua~ envlronments along the Urban Roadside. New York~ Arthur D. Little Inc., 3 Jan 1968.

'rhe Bes·t, ___ Plavs..;;6.. of 1925-26 and the Year Book of the Drama in Amc~ri_ca. Ed. Burns Mantle. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1926.

_'!~ __}3_~~LPla.~_of_]_-}35-3?_ and the Year Book of the Drama in America. Ed. Burns Mantle. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1936. 109

The Best Plays of 1945-46 and the Year Book of the Drama in America. Ed. Burns Mantle. New York: Dodd, Mead· and Co., 1946.

The Best Plays of 1955-56: The Burns Mantle Year Book. Ed. Louis Kronenberger. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1956. The Best Plays of 1960-61: The Burns Mantle Year Book. Ed. Louis Kronenberger. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1961. The Best Plays of 1965-66: The Burns Mantle Yearbook. Ed. Otls L. Guernsey, Jr. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1966.

The Best Plays of 1970-71: The Burns Mantle Yearbook. Ed. Otis L. Guernsey, Jr. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1971. Chevalier, Maurice. With Love: as told to Eileen and Robert Mason Pollock. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1960. Current Biography-1944: Who's News and Why. Ed. Anna Rothe: New York: H. W. Wilson Co., 1944.

Federal Communications Commission. 1st Annual Report for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1935. Washington: U. S. Gov't. Printing Office, 1935.

Federal Communications Commission. 2nd Annual Re2ort for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1936. Washington: U. S. Gov't Printing Off{ce, 1936. Federal Communications Commission. 12th Annual Report for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1947.- Washington: U. S. Gov't. Printing Office, 1947-:-

Federal Communications Commission. 22nd Annual Report for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1956. Washington!__ _ U. S. Gov't. Print{ng o"ffice, 1956.

Federal Radio Commission. Annual Report for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1927. Washington: u-:-s: Gov' t Printing Office, 1927.

Film Year Book-1928. Ed. Joseph Dannenberg. New York and Los Angeles: The Film Daily, 1928.

Houck, John W. et al. Outdoor Advertising Hist~ 110

Regulation. Notre Dame, Ind.: Univ. of Notre Dame press, 1969.

International Motion Picture Almanac 1946-47. Ed. Terry Ramsay. New York: Quigley Publishing Co., 1946. International Motion Picture Almanac 1956. Ed. Chas. S. Aaronson. New York: Quigley Publishing Co., 1955.

International Motion Picture Almanac 1961. Ed. Chas S. Aaronson. New York: Quigley Publishing Co., 1960. International Motion Picture Almanac 1967. Ed. Chas. s. Aaronson. New York: Quigley Publishing Co., 1966.

International Motion Picture Almanac 1972. Ed. Richard Gertner. New York: Quigley Publishing Co., 1971.

Kane, Joseph N. Famous First Facts: A Record of First· Happenings, Discoveries and Inventions in the United States, 3rd. ed. New York: H. W. Wilson Co., 1964.

Lahr, John. Up Against The Fourth Wall: Essays on the modern theatre. New York: Grove Press, 1970.

Motion Picture Almanac 1935-36. New York: Quigley Publishing Co., 1935.

Outdoor Advertising Association of America. The Ou-tdoor Story, 2nd ed. Chicago: The Outdoor Advertising Association of America, 1961. Peacock, Ronald. The Art of Drama. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1957.

U. S. Census Department. Historical Statistics of the United States Colonial Times to 1970, Part 2. Washington: U. S. Gov't. Printing Office, 1976. APPENDIX

American Comedies used in the investigation, listed by

title with the opening date of the original New York

production and total number of performances for the orig-

inal run on Broadway . • Alias The Deacon, John B. Hymer and Leroy Clemens. NoveiT~er 24, 1925, (277 performances).

Any Wednesday, Muriel Resnik. February 18, 1964,- (982 performances).

~~ of His Eye, Kenyon Nicholson and Charles Robinson. February 5, 1946, (118 performances).

Barefoot in the Park, Neil Simon. October 23, 1963, (1,530 performances).

Born Yesterday, Garson Kanin. February 4, 1946, (1,642 performances).

Boy Meets Girl, Bella and Samuel Spewack. November 27, -1935,~9 performances).

The Butter and Egg Man, George S. Kaufman. September 23, 1925, (243 performances).

Butterflies Are Free, Leonard Gershe. October 21, 1969. (1,128 performances).

Cactus Flower, Abe Burrows from a play by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy. December 8, 1965, (1,234 performances).

Come Blow Your Horn, Neil Simon. February 22, 1961, (677 performan-ces).

Co-respondent Unknown, Mildred Harris and Harold Goldman. February 11, 1936, (121 performances).

Critic's Choice, Ira Levin. December 14, 1960, (189 -----performances).

The Desk Set, William Marchant. October 24, 1955, (296 -performances).

111 112

Dream Girl, Elmer Rice. December 14, 1945, (348 perfor­ mances). Easy Come, Easy Go, Owen Davis. October 26, 1925, (180 performanceS).

End Of Summer, S. N. Behrman. February 17, 1936, (153 performances).

First Lady, George S. Kaufman and Katherine Dayton. November 26, 1935, (246 performances).

Forty Carats, Jay Allen adapted from a play by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy. December 26, 1968, (780 performances).

The 49th Cousin, Florence Lowe and Caroline Francke. October 27, 1960, (100 performances).

Generation, William Goodhard. October 6~ 1965, (299 performances).

The Gingerbread Lady, Neil Simon. December 13, 1970, (193 performances).

The Great Sebastians, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. January 4, 1956, (174 performances).

Idiot:'s Delight, Robert E. Sherwood. March 24, 1936, ---(300 performances) .

The Impossible Years, Bob Fisher and Arthur Marx. -October 13, 1965, {670 performances).

Janus, Carolyn Green. November 24, 1955, (296 perfor­ mances).

Laff That Off, Don Mullally. November 2, 1925, (390 performances) . 'rhe Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Neil Simon. December 28, 1969-,-(706 performances).

Love 1 Ern and Leave 1 Ern, George Abbott: and John V. A. Weaver. February 3, 1926; (152 performances). LUV, Hurray Schisgal. November 11, 1964, (647 perfor­ mances).

The Magnificent Yankee, Emmet Lavery. January 22, 1946, -(160 performances). 113

A Man's Man, Patrick Kearney. October 13, 1925, (120 performances).

Mary, Mary, Jean Kerr. March 8, 1961, (1,572 performances).

Moon Over Mulberry Street, Nicholas Cosentino. September 4, 1935, (303 performances).

No Time For Sergeants, Ira Levin. October 20, 1955, (796 -:Performances).

Not Herbert, Howard Irving Young. January 26., 1926, (145 performances).

The Odd Couple, Neil Simon. March 10, 1965., (964 perfor­ mances).

One of the Family, Kenneth Webb. December 21, 1925, (238 performances).

The Owl and the Pussycat, Bill Manhoff. November 18, 1964, (427 performances).

The Patsy, Barry Conners. December 22, 1925, (238 perfor­ mances).

Period of Adjustment or High Point is Buil.t on a Cavern,

Tennessee Williams.~ovember 10, 1960 7 -{13"2 perfor­ . mances).

Plaza Suite, Neil Simon. February 14, 1968, (1,097 perfor­ mances).

The Ponder Heart, Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov. February 16, 1956, (149 performances).

Puppy Lov~, Adelaide Matthews and Martha Stanley. January 27, 1926, (111 performances).

Squ~re Crooks, James P. Judge. March 1, 1926, (150 perfor­ mances).

State of the Union, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. -----November 14, 1945, (765 performances).

Under the Yum-Yum Tree, Lawrence Roman. November 16, 1960, --·--(173 performances).

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, George Axelrod. Oc·tober 13, i955, (444performances). 114

The Wisdom Tooth, Marc Connelly. February 15, 1925, (160 performances).

You Touched Me!, Tennessee Williams and Donald Windham. September 25, 1945, (109 performances).