The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 27, Ed. 1 Friday, April 28, 1950 Page: 2 of 6
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Two
THE THRESHER
The Laughing Maniac , . .
by Emmeti McCeever
flVERY TECHNICAL SUBJECT has its own particular jargon:
" philosophy. Chemistry, the Theater, Love, and last but first,
American Sports. The jargon of the multi-million dollar sports
industry has been growing by leaps and bounds ever since the first
of this century. It is my contention that now any competent sports-
writer is fully equipped to write stories and headlines that are com-
pletely incomprehensible not only to foreigners, but to the unitiate
American as well. For instance:
JUPITER PLUVIUS FROWNED upon a scrappy Tiger eleven
today, as they dropped a 36 to 6 struggle. The glutinous jell
between the sidelines held highly touted scatback Jimmy "You Can
Go Boy" Jones to a single tally in this all-out battle in reverse for
the cellar spot in the SWC. Jones' mark-up, early in the scond
period, was the result of a prodigious downfield scamper following
a lateral to Jones of the Rams' Smithfield's 60 yard boot.
Shortly after his score, however, with nine minutes of the third
remaining, Jones was roughed on an off-tackle slam, and was carried
off with a bent pin. The Tiger fans took this very much to heart,
and a sigh of relief floated over the oval when Jones came out of the
pen to ride the bench in the last period.
1 here was no stopping the Ram ground powerhotise, however,
they slushed their way to the double stripe every time it took their
fancy, and their fancy ran to a sextet of trips. Jcqitx, the extra
point man was off, five of five going wide of the uprights, and a
screen flip fell short after the last tally. . .
So much for the little pig; now for the horsehide apple:
CAM JINKS, NUMBER one hurler for the Boffs was flipping
the old apple right over the plate today, as the Boffs downed
the Spurts 8 to 1 to clinch the follow-up spot in the Texas League.
I he Boff power men, waving their big sticks, loaded the bags in al-
most every inning, while Jinks gave up only two bingles and a two-
bagger. Bill Penno, of the Spurts hit the double, a screaming liner
right over the mount, with a man on second, driving him home and
giving the Spurts their only marker for the afternoon. . .
7W£K/CE m 77/KES//&
Entered as second class matter, October 17, 1916, at the Post Office,
Houston, Texas, under the act of March 3, 1879.
Subscription Rate $1.00 Per Year
Represented by National Advertising Service, Inc., 420 Madison Ave.. New York City.
Published every Friday of the regular school year except during: holiday and
examination periods by the students of the Rice Institute. Editorial and
Advertising offices are in the Fondren Library on the campus.
Editor j Emmett McGeever
Business Manager r. : Tom Smith
Assistant Business Manager Ernest Voss
Associate Editor Bill Hobby
News Editor Ruey Boone
Editorial Advisors Bob Mcllhenny, Finis Cowan
Sports Editor Howard Martin
Assistant Sports Editor Ted Lockhart
Fanfare Editor Patsy Brady
Society Editor Marty Gibson
Make-up Staff Allyce Tinsley and Harold Melnick
Reporters Beverly Brooks, Don Eddy, John Blake-
moje, Pat Byrne, Bob Schwartz, Dewey Gonsoulin, Betty Mc-
Geever, Lee Mary Parker, Nina Shannon, Bernice Davis, Julia
Martin, Shirley Arnold, Tim Weakley, Farrell Fulton, Shirley
Armstrong.
Letters to the Editor
To the Edtior:
Perhaps many of you are not aware of the fact, but on
May 10 and 12 the Rice Dramatic Club will present an original
play in the Lecture Lounge. The comedy is written, produced,
directed, and cast entirely by Rice students and is the second
attempt of the kind to be presented this year. The Dramatic
Club is certainly to be compli- " ~ " ~ !
, , „ ...... .. eerned with the poor attendance at
mcnted for its initiative. raost lectures and forums given on
Now why should I be so concerned the campus. The consensus was that
with the complete originality of this these programs are either in bad
production ? Certainly there are taste, dull, or of no practical use to
many scripts available for better the majority of Rice students. Only
plays and there are other dramatic those who are interested or already
groups in Houston that could do a hafj a knowledge of "the subject
hetter job. I offer this as an answer: deign to "ignore" their studies and
the Dramatic Club is pointing the attend. However, I believe that the
way toward a method of escape from 1V!a] reasons for poor attendance are
the rather degrading apathy that that the students here are procrasti-
has prevented the student body here nators, pragmatic to a large extent,
from making any real progress in ancj disgustingly apathetic. It would
preparing themselves as thinking be a gross error to lay the blame
citizens of the United States. This entirely on the students, for a large
may sound a little higs-flung, but I contributing factor is the factulty
me*n m. s,ncerf|y- attitude toward student paRticipa-
This is an idea I have had for tions in extracurricular activities,
quite some time but the immediate i hope I'm stepping on some one's
inspiration is a class discussion I had toes here
the privilege to listen to the other There are, most assuredly, other
day. Most of the discussion was con- (Continued on Page 3)
Words & Choral Club Presents
Music "Patchwork Playhouse
✓✓
By Harold Melnick
We were surprised to learn that
Vittoria de Sica's "The Bicycle
Thief" will begin a week's run at
the River Oaks Theater beginning
Wednesday. Surprised because the
River Oaks is one of the few Inter-
state theaters that will show the
film, and also one of the few chain
theaters anywhere. Generally the
picture will be shown in the indepen-
dent theaters in most cities.
The reason for this is rather un-
fortunate. The picture was voted the
best foreign film of 1949 by the New
York Film Critics Circle; the best
picture, foreign or domestic, by the
National Board of Review; it re-
ceived the approval of the Catholic
Legion of Decency. However, the
Johnston Office managed to find
two scenes which did not meet with
its approval and refused to issue it a
certificate. This automatically pre-
vents the film from playing in the
major theatre chains; instead it will
play only an estimated 200 indepen-
dent theatres across the country.
Of course, de Sica (who, inciden-
tally, produced ("Shoe Shine") could
have cut the two "objectionable"
scenes without damaging the plot,
but the demand would be about as
reasonable as demanding that c-er-
, tain portions of a Reubens nude be
covered with pieces of paper. De
Sica, of course, ignored the Johnston
Office.
Actually the two scenes in ques-
tion are far less suggestive or of-
fensive than most of the ads for
American movies, which attempt to
convey the idea that the show is ex-
tremely immoral. One of the scenes
shows the boy starling to make his
toilet against a wall. The other scene
takes place in a brothel; anyone who
discerns this fact already knows
enough about the facts of life not to
be seriously demoralized. In fact,
the place might just as easily be a
girls','dormitory.
The plot of the picture is quite
simple and this simplicity adds to
the likelihood that it could easily
happen. It concerns the search of
a father and his son for a stolen
bicycle. In this search they encoun-
ter various situations and experi-
ences which actually make up the
substance of the picture.
The actors are not professionals;
they are simply people that de Sica
has picked because he felt that they
fitted the particular part. Perhaps
this is the reason that the acting is
so excellent; the response to the re-
quirements of the various parts is
magnificent. Enzo Staiolo, as the
son, renders one of the most impres-
sive child roles we have ever seen
(Margaret O'Brien included). Act-
ing in perfect harmony with him,
and also excellently, is Lamberto
Magiorani. The supporting cast does
its job with similar ability.
No praise is too high for this de
Sica masterpiece. The camera cap-
tures the scenes, the settings, and
the flow of life in their full beauty.
Even though one does not under-
stand the language, he can almost
feel the emotions and thoughts pres-
ent. Even the musical themes which
accompany the picture are excep-
tionally good and become an integral
part of the mood setting.
Be sure to take this opportunity
to ^ee "The Bicycle Thief";
We think you will see why we are
quite bitter against a rather dicta-
torial and arbitrary board which has
succeeded in fouling up one of the
best pictures to hit the screen in a
long time.
By Allyce Tinsley
"To the memory of Richard B.
Sheridan, without whose inspiration
we would have had no last act." My
vote after seeing the one perform-
ance of the Choral Club's production
Letter To Editor . . . .
Philosophy 400
Class Asks Students
To Join Ranks
Dear Fellow Students;
At Rice this year two forum pro-
grams attracted 630 students, facul-
ty members, and outsiders—more
than all other forums put together.
It is therefore obvious that religion
is one subject which interests the
most Rice students most deeply.
Furthermore, it has been said that
a large majority of all dorm bull
sessions devolve sooner or later into
a discussion of God. Because of this
evident interest in religion, the un-
dersigned members of Dr. Tsanoff's
philosophy of religion class appeal
to you, who are interested, to take
the ONE course offered at Rice
which deals specifically with reli-
gion; namely, Philosophy 400. If
your interest is sincere, then you
should be more than eager to take
this course which will give you a
truly mature conception of the spiri-
tual aspect of life.
400 for those science-engineers who
are short on academic electives. And
for this reason: the topics covered
by 400 (see below) are immensely
more vital to human life fthan'the
points viewed by history, literature,
or foreign language. It deals with
the greatest problems in the career
of man.
Now, there will no doubt be those
who would hesitate to take Philo-
sophy 400 for fear that certain of
their pet ideas might dissolve under
critical judgement—and indeed they
may. But, and this is the point: they
will be dissolving in the light of the
Truth! For the truth about religion,
that is the great aim of Philosophy
400.
And let us say this in all sincerity:
the truth about religion, about God,
about Immortality will destroy none
of these in your estimate. On the
contrary, it will" magnify your re-
spect for religion and give you a
truly intelligent faith in God and
immortality. Philosophy 400, you see,
separates the chaff from the wheat;
shows you religion at its best.
Hei-e are some of the topics cov-
ered: religion and morality, the in-
terpretation of the Bible, the super-
natural, grounds for belief in God,
the character of God, salvation and
sin, religious conversion, prayer,
mysticism, immortality, the problem
of evil, and in conclusion, "Modern
Thought and the Christian Position."
As to Dr. Tsanoff himself, it would
be superfluous for us to say that
he is one of the most celebrated
members of the faculty. Moreover, a
noted theology professor recently re-
ferred to Dr. Tsanoff as "the most
creative and productive religious
thinker in the Southwest." „
To our knowledge this is the first
time that the members of a Rice
class have been so convinced of the
worth of their course that theyfchave
publicly expressed their feelings to
all their fellow students. Please be
assured that we do so, certainly not
to 'polish the apple(!),' but rather
to introduce you to one course which
we sincerely believe will mean more
to your life in the years to come
than any other. (Incidentally, 400
(Continued on Page 4)
of "Patchwork Playhouse" goes to
Sheridan. I'm not sure the Restora-
tion dramatist would be flattered,
for true to light operetta standards
the plot was merely a thread of con-
tinuity on which were clipped some
well sung musical standbys as well
as several original songs and some
clever snatches of dialogue.
Having missed some twenty min-
utes of the first act, including the
two solos of Lee Mary Parker and
other solos by John Eisenlohr • and
Shirley Arnold, my opinion on the
originality of the songs is based on
a clever rhythm number well put
across by Herbie Peters called
"Siegy" and the finale of "Hous-
ton, What a Wonderful Town" which
was sung with vim and vigor by the
ensemple. Shirley Arnold also con-
tributed a little gem in which she
bewails the fact that father doesn't
want her on the stage. After the
show was over she sang her fii*st
number for me. . . a dissertation on
what women wanted—Cadillacs, fur
coats, etc. and coming to the conclu-
sion that she would be satisfied
just to make her man happy. If it
was a fair sample of the first act,
then I probably missed the best part
of the show. C'est la vie.
The plot over which was draped
the musical score ran something like
this. Summertime light opera com-
pany directed by Herbie Peters des-
cends on small New England town.
The socialite^plture-enthusiast, Mrs.
Covington-Palmer (Barbara Roos
complete with raised eyebrow and
sneer) wishes to have grand opera
presented from the very ulterior
motives that she has spent time and
money training her niece's voice.
She descends upon the light opera
company and, behind stage works
around till a compromise of half
light and half grand has been reach-
ed. This pleases no one. However,
the niece, Louellen McBrayer, has
snared leading man, John Eisenlohr,
from under the tender glances of
Lee Mary Parker, the leading lady
of the company. The chorus has
jumped into the breach with the
"Drinking Song" from the Student
Pi-ince, Jerry Sobel has given a waltz
demonstration with Bobby Rodgers,
one of the ladies of the chorus, as
Eisenlohr sings tenderly of the ro-
mance in a waltz, and Herbie Peters
as director bemoan? his lot.
The denouncement comes as the
notorious Stromboli Rosellini arrives
to audition the girls for operatic
roles. (Bob Warren not only got the
laughs hi slines entitles him to but
pulled a few more out with his inter-
pretation of that noted figure of our
time.) Mrs. CP's niece, Louellen Mc-
Brayer, decided on a course of true
love insists on "singing" behind a
screen for the audition and as she
and Eisenlohr fell into beautifully
staged embraces, Alice Spafford has
her soprano friend gave forth ably
for the second time in the perform-
ance with Visfe D'Arte from Tosca
(Wine and Music, These Havfe I
Lived For). The screen falls, Mrs.
CP is thunderstruck and to add to
the general hub and bub the leading
lady, Lee Mary Parker walks in on
the arm of the janitor, Siegfried
Flug, (Jerry Stephens complete with
nose and glasses). T'would seem
that Flug is Gulf spelled backward
and Siegy's inspiring songs as a
janitor, now with oil millions behind
him inspires love. . . the happy
couple will go to Houston and on
that joyous note the third curtain
fell.
Credit where credit is due depart-
ment: In acting spheres the operetta
is indebted to character actors, Her-
bie Peters, Barbara Roos, and Bob
Warren. Louelleft McBrayer and
Alice Spafford blended voices on
(Continued on Page 8)
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The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 27, Ed. 1 Friday, April 28, 1950, newspaper, April 28, 1950; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth230841/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.