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High spot in a fruitful career: Miss Dunne addresses
UN members on U. S. contribution to relief program.
back home after this session of the General Assembly,
I'll be an enthusiastic saleslady for the UN as an
essential force for world peace in this age of atoms
and outer-space moons."
Irene represents the Hollywood that often goes
completely unrecognized: the stable, thinking, public
minded citizens of the movie colony who don't collect
divorces, smoke marijuana, or crack up their cars
and thus don't generate sensational headlines.
"There are a great many thoughtful people in
Hollywood," Irene says, "especially among the writers,
directors, and technicians. I think they are aware of
Hollywood's impact on people all over the world, but
even they have no idea of how tremendous that
impact is. I know now from talking with the other
UN delegates. And I'm going home and try to tell
the people back there what an important contribution
Hollywood can make, or how much harm it can do. I
hope that someone listens, and that before long a film
can be made about the UN. It needs desperately to
be better understood by people everywhere. A good
motion picture about it could greatly increase that
understanding."
Time and again the far-reaching impact of Holly
wood was brought home to Irene Dunne at the UN.
Dozens of delegates from all over the world sought
her out to say how much they enjoyed her movies.
One member of the Indian delegation was familiar
with every film she'd ever made including some
that she herself had forgotten, or would have pre
ferred to have forgotten.
This led to one embarrassing moment. Some years
back, Irene played Anna in "Anna and the King of
Siam," a motion picture which gave a sympathetic
but rather controversial portrayal of the king. Re
membering apprehensively some of her "criticisms"
of the king, she found herself rather self-consciously
avoiding the delegation from Thailand (formerly
Siam). Finally Prince Juan of Thailand cornered her,
complimented her on her film work, and made small
talk for a few minutes. Then he brought up the
movie about the ruler of Siam.
"He said he thought the part of the King was inac
curate and left a wrong impression in the minds of
the audience, but except for that it was a fine pic
ture. And he complimented me for my work in it,"
Irene recalls. "I only wish other international dis
putes could be settled as easily and as amicably."
The alphabetical seating arrangement in the UN
committee meetings has the delegate from Russia
(Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) sitting between
the United States and England (United Kingdom).
Through these contacts and casual meetings in the
delegates' lounge, Miss Dunne has found the Russians
generally friendly and easy to talk with. They are
about the only delegates, though, who haven't men
tioned her films; delegates from the other Soviet-bloc
countries seemed quite familiar with them.
K iss dunne sees the job of UN delegate as in
volving three main areas of responsibility.
First, a delegate must get to know as many of
the other 820 delegates as is physically possible, to
learn their viewpoints and interpret America to them.
This isn't just a matter of winning a few individual
friends for your own satisfaction.
Most of these people have influence back home. If
they get to know the problems of other peoples and
understand them better, they can have an effect upon
national feelings and government policies.
As Irene points out: "Before you can get along with
people, you have to know them. You have to over
come your own biased and stereotyped ideas about
people who are 'different'; you have to leam what
motivates other people, the reasons for their actions,
and the intensity of their feelings. Our work here
reminds me of the song from 'The King and I'
'Getting to Know You.' It's so simple, and yet so
fundamental in international relations today."
The second job of a delegate is more like work: to
study, learn, and take an active part in complicated
international problem-solving. Each delegate sits on
one of the UN committees dealing with specific inter
national problems. Miss Dunne was asked to work
on the committee dealing with the 10 trust territories
administered by the UN.
Her first speech was on the trusteeship problem of
Southwest Africa. She was briefed by State Depart
ment officials and given reading material on the issue,
a dispute between the UN and the Union of South
Africa, which feels that the UN has no legitimate
interest in Southwest Africa.
When a retinue of native people in bright-colored
shirts and flowing white robes appeared before the
trusteeship committee, Irene wasn't watching a group
of Hollywood extras in a remake of "The Desert
Song." She was looking at real people pleading a real
cause freedom. This impressed her more than a
quarter-century of Hollywood ever had.
On Oct. 2, before an audience quite dissimilar to
any Miss Dunne had ever known, she made her first
UN committee speech, summarizing the U.S. position
on the Southwest Africa question. It was a routine
sort of diplomatic address, but it gave her a tre
mendous thrill.
Her first platform appearance in the main arena
the UN General Assembly was to announce United
States financial pledges for the UN refugee-relief
programs. She wasn't nervous.
"This was real," she pointed out. "I suppose people
aren't so nervous when they're not playing a part."
Once he has completed his tour of duty, a delegate
becomes a salesman for the UN. This is his third area
of responsibility. He goes back to his home and his
job and helps to interpret the United Nations to his
fellow citizens. Irene is prepared to embrace this
task enthusiastically. And the UN needs saleswomen
of her competence and charm because only public
opinion can support the UN and make it effective.
It can never impose its will against a member state,
levy a tax, or enlist a soldier. It exists through the
sufferance of the peoples of the world who are earn
estly seeking an instrument capable of achieving and
maintaining world peace.
"Don't ever doubt your own importance in this
effort for peace," Miss Dunne says, "for you and
people like you throughout the world make up public
opinion, and only this can achieve lasting results in
peace-making. I firmly believe that the UN has
several times averted war in the last decade. Along
with all the other humanitarian programs it admin
isters, this makes the UN one of the greatest bargains
in human history. It costs each American citizen
42 cents a year or the equivalent of what 10 hours
of World War II cost us.
"The UN," she concludes, "is tremendous. I've cer
tainly caught the fever for world understanding since
I've been here. You know what I'd like to do when
my work is finished? I'd like to take a trip around
the world and renew the acquaintances I've made at
the UN and get to know and understand more people
from other nations and maybe help them to know
us better. I may do it, too."
If she does, Irene Dunne will be the most attractive
good-will ambassador ever to hit the road for the
United States. And from what I saw of the other
delegates' feeling toward her, she'll be gratefully re
ceived wherever she goes.
XAorking in public affairs is no new experience to
VV Irene. She's been active in Republican party
affairs in California for many years. And she's
been even more active in bipartisan humanitarian
efforts which have won her awards from such
organizations as the National Conference of Christians
and Jews, the American Mothers Committee of the
Golden Rule Foundation, and Notre Dame University.
She also has been married to one husband, Dr.
Francis Griffin, since 1928 and has raised a daughter
who is married and now lives in San Francisco.
mi
Family Weekly, January 12, 1958
S