'Naked City' Seems to be Real
Bv BERT MOORE
Purveying dramatic realism in a feature
film is a tricky business. It’s an easy way to
spoil a picture so badly that it falls on its
nose, and even if it doesn’t ruin a picture
completely it certainly lessens your enjoy
ment of the other better parts of it. An easy
case to call to mind is that stupid scene in
“Green Dolphin Street” where Donna Reed
ostensibly climbs through a hole up the inside
of a high cliff, pausing now and then to look
“down” at the “drop” behind her.
Always excepting musicals and costume
dramas, I like motion pictures that take place
in obviously real settings, with actors that
can give verisimilitude to their roles. Such
a movie is “Naked City.” which comes to
town soon.
This picture, the last one produced by the
late Mark Hellinger, was shot in New York,
the “Naked City.” It tells of the murder of a
beautiful blond model and deftly reveals how
the police caught the murderer. And, by the
way, the police do the job without the help
of any of the usual fictional crime-solvers
like tlie intelectual playboy who collects first
editions or the gay young couple who make
wisecracks and drink martinis between mur
ders.
Another of the pleasing aspects of this
picture is the absence of big names in the cast.
Barry Fitzgerald, as Lt. Dan Muldoon of the
NYC homicide squad, is the lone “starthe
other players, by the audience’s unfamiliarity
with them- project realism into their roles
despite their occasional amateurishness. Bo
gart is always Bogart to most theatergoers no
matter what kind of a part he takes, but Joe
X has little trouble in losing his own identity
in the role of a banker, cop, or doctor.
“Naked City” is loaded with authentic
color. It takes place in real streets, parks, sub
ways. and stores. Realism is the mainspring
of the picture’s movement—yet there is
nothing drab, documentary, or newsreelish
about the movie. It has fascinating charac
ters, a tight plot, and action enough to please
anybody.
There are some fine touches: the loving
arguments that the young detective has with
his wife; the little old lady who knows she
• can solve the case and by her conversation
reveals that she is quite mad; the scene where
the blind man unwittingly slows the murder
er’s escape.
There are bad spots, too. Mark Hellinger
is the narrator who introduces setting and
cast, and there’s a little too much of his talk
ing later in the picture. The picture would
have carried without it. The scene where the
murdered girl’s parents view her body isn’t
very convincing, either, but these are compar
atively minor faults.
Incidentally, the screen play’s co-authors
were Malv-in Wald and Albert Maltz. Maltz
is one of the ten Hollywoodites who had
trouble with congress’ unAmerican activities
committee recently. He’s suspected of putting
subversive propaganda into films, and lost his
job because of the Cornmy scare. You might
see “Naked City” just to find out whether or
not the picture primes you to embrace com
munism.
Politics in Business
A LETTER
To the Editor:
Is there such a shortage of political issues that our various po
litical parties must concern themselves with running our business
enterprises? Is it necessary from a business point of view, or is it
that some of our campus politicians are afraid to tackle more tangible
issues?
Until this year, members of our Co-op board have been elected
on merit rather than a partisan basis. Because of the very nature
of the job, people should be elected to the board because of their
ability to conduct a business for the good of the students rather than
on the basis of party affiliation.
Now the ASA has taken it upon themselves to support candidates
for these, supposedly, nonpartisan positions. In so doing, they have
put campus politics on a new low as well as taking another step away
from desirable student government. There is only one country in the
world today where business is controlled by government and there is
no reason to believe their system would be desirable here.
Because of the action of the other party, the ISA was forced,
against its will, to follow suit and support candidates for the Co-op
board. Only because I know that the ISA neither stands for or en
dorses this corrupt form of political action, am I accepting their sup
port in my quest for a position as sophomore on the board.
1 ^ DON DAVIS.
(Editor's. Note: The practice of endorsing candidates for Co-op
board positions is not new this year. It's been going on for years. The
Emerald agrees, however, that it does not seem to be a sound practice.)
The Oregon Daily Emerald, official publication of the University of Oregon, piiblished
daily during the college year except Sundays. Mondays, and final examination periods.
Entered as second-class matter at the postotnce, Eugene, Ure.
Member of the Associated Collegiate Press
BOB FRAZIER, Editor
BOB CHAPMAN. Business Manager
BILL YATES
Managing Editor
JUNE GOETZE, BOBOLEE BROPHY
Co-News Editors
DON FAIR
Co-Sports Editor
FRED TAYLOR
■—'
JEANNE SIMMONDS. MARYANN THIELEN, BARBARA HEYWOOD
Associates to Editor
VIRGIL TUCKER
Advrtising Manager
DIANA DYE
Assistant News Editors
Editorial Board: Larry Lau, Johnny Kalianauui, Bert Moore, Ted Goodwin, Bill Stratton,
Jack Billings.
PHYLLIS KOHLMEIER
HELEN SHERMAN
Asst. Managing Lditors
National Advertising Manager ---t>Tnl.♦win!!
Circulation Manager —-..—...—----Billijean Riethnnller
»
Programming
(Continued front page one)
and 1947, the Philadelphia orches
tra sold a total of eighteen million
records. Of the hundreds of items,
one of the earliest has held its place
for years is the best seller of them
all—“The Blue Danube.”
The quality of performances on
these records and in its concerts
has built an excellent reputation
for the Philadelphia group and con
ductor Ormandy.
According to Virgil Thomson,
exacting musical critic of the New
York Herald Tribune, “Ormandy
and the Brahms program (includ
ing the famed 3rd Symphony), cer
tainly filled Carnegie hall at the
beginning with customers and at
the end with cheers. Orchestral
balances of perfect harmony gave
the symphony a clarity and lumin
osity all unusual to them. That
luminosity was Ormandy’s achieve
ment.
Large Student Vote
(Continued from page one)
works projects on market roads
and bridges.”
The second measure calls for a
two-fifths of a mill tax over and
above the 6 per cent limitation to
raise a fund of $25,000 to “assist
in the construction or asquisition
of buildings in memory of soldiers,
sailors, and marines of Lane
county.” Of this fund, the Eugene
Veteran’s memorial hall will re
ceive $15,000, approximately 10
per cent of that building’s cost.
The third measure proposes “ab
olishing all existing elective
county offices and providing that
their powers and duties be vested
in an elective county board oij
seven members, which will select
a county manager as the admin
istrative head over such depart
ments as are or may hereafter be
designated by the county board
and the county manager,”
Those Greek guerrillas wouldn’t
make so much progress if they’d
only have the goodness to take the
government communiques serious
ly
The Greeks Will Profit ^
The Greek bloc, long regarded as an unassailable fortress of
political strength, has appeared this week in a new light. No
longer does it appear to be a rock of Gibralter. No longer does
the frown of the bloc carry the weight it once carried.
Rebellious Greeks have been looking at the figures from their
Mondav bloc meeting, and have noticed that four more insurg-<
ent houses could have brought the house down. In most cases
the vote was 22 to 15. With four votes more the insurgents coMj
have won most contests 19 to 18.
Top that off with the rebellious talk going on in some of th»
stronger houses and the bloc begins to assume a slightly worm"
eaten appearance. 1
Obviously it is a condition the bloc has brought upon itself.
Had the boys who pulled the strings been a little more chari
table toward their little brothers and sisters in the system, the
third party, would have been impossible. Any weakness in the
bloc is clearly the Rpilt of the inexperienced leadership whicl
refused to recognize the most basic political principles.
The Greek system probably stands to profit if next week
ASUO elections force a complete reorganization of that anciei
combine.
Everybody Go Vote j
All the hub-bub over campus elections has threatened to ob
scure the main issue facing students at the University thi;
week. As the battle lines are drawn—ASA, ISA, or USA—
there is a tendency to forget that there are state-wide primariesj
coming up also. This is certainly a student responsibility, tool
—especially for the estimated 3000 students who vote. !
The issues are large and they have been publicized adequat
ely. There is no reason for ignorance on any of them. The Em
erald has given considerable space to lists of polling places. *
The only thing left to be said is the admonition to go out and
vote.
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1 r ..... I