ENTERTAINMENT
The Real Secret of
SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE
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Why Can't
the Movie
Be More Like
the Book?
A best-seJJing novelist
Jearns the answer from
some Hollywood experts
including an
uncannily dever
Marion Brando
By EUGENE BURDICK
Coavtfcef of "Tta Ugly American" and "FaH-Saf"
NO ONE is certain when Hollywood got the idea of making movies
out of books. Whenever it was, it started one of the most persistent
nonviolent wars of modern times.
Literary warriors as powerful as Hemingway and Faulkner have sal
lied forth to Hollywood armed with sound books and high enthusiasm
and emerged from the fray with shaking nerves and palsied hands.
Early in the movie negotiations for the sale of our book, The Ugly
American, William Lederer and I were approached by a character who
epitomized the classic idea of a Hollywood movie studio's front-office
representative. He wore Italian silk suits, white-on-white shirts, and a
Dunhill cigar in his mouth. He drank martinis of imported English gin.
He swore vilely, but he called Lederer and me "darling." He looked like
a hood from central casting. He was perfect.
He held a copy of The Ugly American in his hand. "I haven't read
it," he said around the cigar. "Somebody else does that But 'they' like
It a little." Then, sensing he had gone too far, he hefted the book again.
J'Now remember, lover boys, if we buy it, we got one rule: forget art,
we're in the entertainment business."
We didn't sell to his front office, but I always liked his frankness. Not
that we considered The Ugly American high art; we had written it in
(Continued on page 8)
Advice on how to be happily mar
tied was never so freely available
as it is today.
Marriage problems are openly
discussed in newspaper columns
and on the radio. Marriage advice
is available from the man next
door, who speaks from experience
. . . and from the psychologist,
whose views come from study and
research. There is no topic . . . from
etiquette to fidelity ... on which
advice and counsel are not avail
able. Yet with all this marriage edu
cation, the modern divorce rate
continues at an appalling high!
This condition obviously is not
due to ignorance of the so-called
"facts of life." It cannot be at
tributed to economic problems,
for good times have been repeat
edly marked by a high divorce
rate. Nor can it be blamed on the
excuse of personal "incompati
bility," which so often appears in
divorce petitions.
These and other practical prob
lems undoubtedly contribute to
marriage conflicts. But the basic,
fundamental cause of marriage
failures goes deeper. It is the fail
ure of many people to realize the
true meaning of marriage ... to
recognize that it is a life-long
union of a man and a woman . . .
to see that its main purpose is the
begetting and rearing of children.
In Catholic eyes, marriage is,
first of all, a contract which ... as
with all contracts . . . must be
governed by justice. A purely
sentimental and physical attrac
tion between a man and a woman,
which is not permeated by a sense
of duty to each other and to God,
is not the love upon which endur
ing homes are built.
But the Catholic Church teaches
that marriage must be what God
meant it to be . . . and He made it
not only a contract but a Sacra
ment. When the marriage of a man
and a woman is a Sacrament, they
receive title to all the divine helps
necessary to overcome the disap
pointments and difficulties of
domestic life. They are thus better
able to overcome personality dif
ferences . . . better able to deal
justly with each other . . . better
able to understand the many prac
tical problems of living together.
Marriage is not a strictly private
affair. It is the concern of the
whole community. It is the special
concern of the Church, which is
charged with safeguarding this
Sacrament. That is why the Catho
lic Church strives to impress the
true nature of marriage upon all
who hear its voice.
Whether you are already mar
ried... or just thinking about it
. . . you will be helped by a pam
phlet we will send you explaining
the true nature of marriage and
the blessings that come from a
proper understanding of the mar
ried state. Write for free copy.
Nobody will call on you. Ask for
Pamphlet No. FM-19.
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