Letters, Nov. 1, 1954

Toward the Polls

Sir:

The Democrats are so devoid of ammunition that no doubt they'll [continue to] exploit the remark of Secretary Wilson regarding ''bird dogs" and "kennel dogs" [TIME, Oct. 25] and labor leaders will follow the same pattern. After 20 years of Roosevelt and Truman carefree spending and reducing the dollar ... I feel that the Republicans should stress the fact that all the pension funds and the retirement programs that labor is so interested in securing will in ten, 20 or 30 years be worth practically nothing, if we are subject to a return of uneconomical Democratic spending . . .

All of our so-called prosperity has been based on war expenditures, and the Democrats do not know how to handle a peacetime economy. The biggest weapon the Republicans have is stressing the stabilization of the current dollar . . .

FRANK BRANSCOMBE

New Rochelle, N.Y.

Sir:

... I respectfully submit that the label of the Republican Party be changed from GOP to FIDO (Fearless Industrial Dog Owners) or to ROVER (Republican Organization for Voluntary Employee Relocation) and that a faithful setter be substituted for the elephant as the Republican symbol.

RICHARD P. BERGEN

Chicago

Sir:

Let Ogden Nash his teeth, but alliterative Adlai's coined connotations, his supercilious slurs and mental tintinnabulations [are] so erudite they're out of sight . . .

No huddles of gag men can solve the muddles that nag men . . .

D. C. FLEHARTY

Berkeley, Calif.

¶ Would Reader Fleharty be a member of the Republican Peharty?—ED.

Branding Brando

Sir:

. . . Your Oct. 11 article on Marlon Brando reveals a person who is finally worthy of the teen-age adulation that frequently erupts in our midsts, usually for the most foolish reasons . . . What we are to hope for is that Mr. Brando does not go the way of all the finer talent Hollywood has collected—dissipating his talent in the meaningless assembly-line production of films . . .

C. V. FOSTER

New York City

Sir:

Thanks to TIME for its fascinating study of Marlon Brando . . . Incidentally, Marlon, what are my chances if I become a waitress?

CYNTHIA SCOLTON

East Aurora, N.Y.

Sir:

. . . Brando has never given a performance that was anything short of superb . . . As for The Egyptian, I had more respect for Brando after seeing it. Such a genius should not be expected to accept a role which could have as easily been played by Gerald McBoing-Boing . . .

ROLLIN C. WILLIAMS

Northport, N.Y.

Sir:

. . . The reason so many Americans just love Hollywood (and it makes for friends abroad) is so nicely stated by [Director] Elia Kazan: "Brando is ... just the best actor in the world today" . . .

E. DEUTSCH

Lynwood, Calif.

Sir:

... Of all the stupid and nervy things to say—that he is the greatest actor today. Any connoisseur knows there is nobody in the world like a Laurence Olivier or a José Ferrer . . .

NARMO LUIS ORTIZ

Milwaukee

Sir:

. . . Why don't Kazan, the world's best director, and Brando, the world's best actor, team up and form their own repertory theater? ...

ROBERT I. PEARCE