Hollywood at War

Director George Stevens (The Talk of the Town) last week rhetorically answered a rhetorical question: "How can the movies best aid the war effort?" The discussion, in which Novelist Erskine Caldwell, Cinemactress Rosalind Russell, Walt Disney and others also joined plangent voices, was broadcast on the American Forum of the Air.

Said Director Stevens: "In these times the only actor that I would like to direct is Sessue Hayakawa. . . . Some of you old-time moviegoers remember him. . . . Well Sessue, if this gets to you in Tokyo . . . here's an offer for you. Slip into the mouse-green uniform of a Jap general and some fine sundown when we get over there we'll take a shot of you climbing up to that high point on the island of Corregidor where the flagpole stands . . . and from the top of that shell-scarred mast you'll pull down your meatball flag. Then you and the rest of your gang will stand at attention while Douglas MacArthur puts the Stars & Stripes back up there. . . . And . . . Sessue . . . that music you're hearing is our theme, the old Star-Spangled Banner . . . you remember that . . . and when it gets to the 'Oh say can you see' part . . . Sessue . . . you take off your hat and brush a tear from your eye . . . whether you've got one there or not . . . because you're sorry . . . Sessue . . . sorry you're a Jap. Then we fade out.

"That's the kind of movie it would be a real pleasure to make."

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