At CAPP’S recent appear-

ances on Johnny Carson’s
**Tonight’’? show have drawn me
back to that sinking, program.
Once more, as during the reign
of Jack Paar, does gayety some-
times lighten the midnight hours,
despite Johnny’s infernal habit
of dotting the ‘‘i’”? and crossing
the ‘*t’’ of every bit of wit that
comes his way.

Al Capp was particularly good
when, replying to Johnny’s query
as to whether his Li’! Abner
comic strip hid any message, he
€xpounded a theory of the role
of the artist in society, which
Was all the more effective be-
Cause it came so naturally out
of what seemed to be at the
beginning the famous cartoon-
ist’s random reminiscences of
his impoverished boyhood.

: * * *

Al Capp began by noting that
Sociologists and Senators have
been worried over the fact that
disheveled men in untidy studios
Were wielding cartoonists’ pens
Mightier than swords to pierce
the minds of 60 to 80 million
kids and grownups.

He’ said that he and his fellow-
Cartoonists were quizzed by Con-
&ressional committees, Most of
the cartoonists, continued Al
With his infectious chuckle, came
Out clean, But not he. He really
had a secret message, a hidden
Pitch, and to explain what that
Was, he told his life story.

* * *

He was born in New Haven

Al Capp’s credo

on Stevens St., which aspired to
becomg, a slum. Kaplan, he said,
was his ‘*mgiden name,’’ and he
got along well with the Hogan
boys and the Valente kids, be-
cause though there were differ-
ences between them, they were
minor ones.

The spiritual leader of the
Hogan and Valente kids, a ‘‘Rab-
di McGovern,’’ said Al, wore no
tie, while the Kaplans’ adviser
in these matters was a ‘‘Father
Geberskey,’’ who did wear a tie,
as could be seen sometimes when
the wind waved his beard aside,

Also, the Valente kids ate that
old New England dish called ravi-
oli, which the Kaplans also ate
but they called it kreplach.

These minor differences were
ignored, because they all shared
the same burning ambition—to
get the hell out of Stevens St.

Finally; continued Al, he real-
ized this ambition. His family
came up in the world and moved
to a better neighborhood.

There the kids were better in-
formed, They knew that these
minor differences were really
major, and were so important,

in fact, that they were a good

reason to kick others around and

hound them and restrict them.
iar eee

And so, concluded Al Capp,

this is the secret pitch of the

Li’l Abner cartoons — to get’

people back to Stevens St.
BEN LEVINE
(U.S. Worker)

Chekhov film, Bolshoi
Coming to Vancouver

ve ancouverites will have an op-
portunity shortly to see a
Widely acclaimed film, basedona
Play by Anton Chekhov, and the
.World famous Bolshoi Ballet,

The film—‘The Lady With The
Dog’? — is a Soviet production
Which won a special prize at the
1960 Cannes Film Festival. It
Will be showing at the Varsity
Theatre, 4375 W. 10th Ave., from
October 29 to November 2 inclu-
Sive,

Briefly, the plot is as follows:

While vacationing in the Yalta
of 1900, Dmitri Gurov, (Alexei
Batalov), a middle-aged man of,
Property encounters .a beautiful
Young woman named Anna (ya
Savvina) who each day walks her
dog along the promenade.

Upon learning that she is the
Wife of a petty official and is
Somewhat tired of her social-

Climbing husband, Dmitri con-:

fesses that he too is unhappily
‘Married. Although what at first
Seemed but a casual flirtation
Soon develops into a serious af-
fair, the lovers agree to part and
- Teturn to their respective homes.

WORTH.
READING

A Philosophy of Man, by Adam
Schaff, Price $3.00, °
The author is Professor of
Philosophy at the University of
“arsaw and a member of the
Central Committee of the Polish
Saag People’s Party. He is
in oenized as one of the leading
ntellectuals of the socialist
World,
., @ this book, he discusses the
&ternal problems’? of human
ees, freedom and respon-
5 ility, The book is a compilation
4 Series of essays which Pro-

“SSor Schaff has written over the
fars,

‘Ill of

Once backin Moscow, however,
Dmitri is haunted by the memory
of Anna and eventually invents a
reason for visiting her in St.
Petersburg. He meets her at a
theatre and, during a moment
away from her husband, Anna
admits her lasting love.

Later, Anna visits Dmitri in
Moscow. But both realizethey are
doomed to a life of brief secret
meetings, stolen away from their
families and a society whoseties
are too strong to break,

They tearfully part—hoping to
meet again the following year.

The film, which manages to
capture Chekhov at his best, has
been hailed with platitudes from
such widely divergent sources as
‘‘The New Republic,’ ‘The New
York Herald Tribune’? and
‘Time’? magazine,

* * *

From November 12 to 16, the
walls of Vancouver’s Queen
Elizabeth Theatre are expected
to reverberate with applause for
30 of the Bolshoi Ballet’s finest
dancers. They will be appearing

for the first time in the city,

under the sponsorship of S.

Hurok.

Tickets for the six perform-
ances have already gone on sale
and are reported to be moving
briskly. They range in price
from $2.50 to $7.50 and are av-
ailable at the Hudson’s Bay Co.
Box Office, Ph. MU1-3351.

The programs for all perfor-
mances are rich and varied. Per-
haps best known to Western aud-
jences are:

“swan Lake’? (Chaikovsky)—
Act II; Pas de Deux from Act
“The Sleeping Beauty’’
('Chaikovsky); “Romance”
(Gliere); Night Scene from
‘Faust’? (Gounod); Pas de Deux
from ‘Nutcracker Suite’’ (Chai-
kovsky) and several others.

Also included in fhe program-
ming-are several major contemp-
orary works, both original and
based on traditional folkthemes.

Betas

The London, Eng. working class theatre (ca‘led ’Unity Theatre’ ) is being modernized. A number of prom
inent British artists have offered to stage a benefit performance to help defray costs of the rebuilding pro

gram. Picture shows three stars from the current stage hit “Oh, What a Lovely War” going through a
script with actress Vanessa Redgrave.

U.S. song of struggle

a We Shall Overcome,’’ the

theme song of the struggle.

for Negro rights,
one of the most popular and most
vital songs in American history.
Some are calling it the ‘‘Mar-
seillaise’’ of the -integration
movement. Indeed, the song be-
longs with all the great way-
making songs of revolutionary
‘struggle, It belongs with the songs
of the American Civil War,
**Battle Hymn of the Republic,”’
and ‘‘John Brown’s Body Lies
Amouldering in His Grave,’ with
Ireland’s ‘‘Wearin’ of the
Green,”’ with the ‘*Zog Nicht Kay-
nmol’’ (‘Never Say Die’’) of the
immortal fighters of the Warsaw
Ghetto Uprising, with Cuba’s
great liberation song, ‘‘March
of the 26th of July.’’ ‘“We Shall
Overcome’’ is a song that is
rapidly changing the face of
America,
* * 5

**We shall overcome, we shall
overcome, we shall overcome
some day; Oh deep in my heart,
I do believe, we shall overcome
some day.’? You hear these
stately lines sung everywhere;
on radio, television, on record-
ings. You hear this noble song
wherever Negroes— and whites
too—gather in peaceful protest
for equal opportunities for jobs,
for better schools, for the right
to a seat in any bus, restaurant,
theatre or other public place,
for human dignity, and freedom.
‘We are not afraid, we are not
afraid, we are not afraid today;
Oh deep in my heart I do believe.
We shall overcome some day.’’

* * *

This. stirring hymn that -is
shaking southern bigotry to the
roots of its mulberry trees and
mint juleps—and northern racism
as well—usually closes meetings
and demonstrations for civil
rights, with the protesters form-
ing a long chain by linking hands
and arms and swaying rhythmi-
cally to the music. Many times
this marvelous melody of hope
and brighter times ahead sung

with deep passion and the will’

to win, has, been heard above
the frenzied shouts and insults
of ugly mobs of hoodlums and
bigots. ~

The impact of ‘*WeShall Over-
come’’ has been described by.
the Rev. Wyatt Walker of the
staff of the Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., of the South-
ern Christian Leadership Con-
ference:

*‘One cannot describe the vi-
tality and emotion this hymn
evokes across the Southland,’’

has become

‘I have heard it sung in great
mass meetings with a thousand

voices singing as one. I’ve heard.

a half dozen sing it softly behind
the bars of the Hinds County
prison in Mississippi.

**!’ve heard old women singing
it on the way to work in Albany,
Georgia, I’ve heard the students
Singing it as they were being
dragged away to jail. It generates
power. that is indescribable. It
manifests a rich legacy of musi-
cal literature that serves tokeep
body and soul together for that
better day which is not far off.’’

* * *

‘‘We Shall Overcome,’’ was
originally an obscure religious
folk song. About sixty years ago
a variation of the song became
an official Baptist hymn called
“ll Overcome Some Day.’?

Negro Baptists made numerous
changes in the text when they
sang it. In 1946, with additional
changes, ‘‘We Shall Overcome’’
became the theme song of Local
16, Food and Tobacco Workers
Association of Charleston, South
Carolina, fighting for increases
in their miserable hourly wage
of 45 cents. White folksingers Guy
Carawan and Pete Seeger helped
popularize the song in the 1960s.
* * *
- That man _ spoke truly and
wisely who said, ‘‘Let me com-
pose the songs of the nation and
I care not who makes its laws,’’
America’s freedom fighters and
folksingers—Negro and white—
arm in arm—valiant-hearted and —
full- souled— will yet gain the
victory.
—DAVID PLATT

Bless The Bomb

Bless the bomb, Oh Lord, we pray,
Keep it primed by night and day;
All your subjects lying dead,
Better petrified than Red!

Bless its fuses, bless its might!
Isn’t it a lovely sight?
Bursting, bursting in the sky—
What a glorious way to die!

Bless our shadows on-the ground
When the cities tumble down,
And children’s cries may be
Echoing through Eternity!

Bless Thy creatures as they fall,
Young and old and big and small,
Reduced, while still imploring Thee,
To radio-activity!

Bless the bomb and earn our thanks!
Protect it from the deadly cranks
Whose silly protests never cease
Demanding love—a world of peace!

Ban the tests, but still proceed

To give us more than we will need!
Let De Gaulle explode some more,
Strontium-90 to restore!

Bless the profits that men make
Producing bombs for murder’s sake!
Condone with Thy mute, gracious eyes
This Holy right of Enterprise!

Bless the Bomb, Oh Lord, you must,
Ash to ash and dust to dust.

The Bible then upheld for You,

We'll blast the world to prove it true.

Bless the bomb, Oh Lord, we pray,
Keep it primed by night and day;
All your subjects lying dead,
Better petrified than Red!
—Freddy Anderson
(Glasgow, Scotland)

_October 25, 1963—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page'S:"._