Author Archives: louisprofphillips

THE PRIVATE DETECTIVE IN FICTION”The private detective of fiction is a fantastic creation whoacts and speaks like a real man. He can be completely realistic in every sense but one, that one sense being in life as we know it such man would not be a private detective. The things which happen to him mightContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: MYSTERIES & MYSTERY WRITERS”

ON THE EARLY WORD FOR RADIO”Wireless — I loved that misnomer. The corners ofLondon sitting rooms would contain a vast array ofcables, leads, and paraphernalia, and the popular music-hall joke of the times was ‘What’s all that wirefor?’ ‘Wireless, you fool !'”Hermione Gingold. How to Grow Old Disgracefully: anautobiogrphy (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988)**DULCIFY”ThisContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: WORDS,WORDS, WORDS”

AL CAPONE AS A BREATH OF FRESH AIR” Capone came along to change the subject and give sex a well-earned holiday. The movie massacres were like a breath of pure air after all the impropriety and misconduct of the films.”Alva Johnston. “Capone, King of Crime’ in Vanity Fair (May 1931)**WINSTON CHURCHILL DESCRIBES LORD CHARLES BERESFORD”HeContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: PEOPLE #2”

“I don’t know anything about music. In my line you don’t have to.” Elvis Presley in OxymoronicaOOPS — MISTAKE IN THE OPERA MADAME BUTTERFLY”When Suzuki Butterfly’s maid, prays at an alleged Buddhist shrine, she sings to the tune of ‘Takai Yama,’ a song that extols cucumbers and eggplants. Furthermore, she garbles the names of ShintoContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: MUSIC”

SCIENCE”Leave only three wasps alive in the whole of Europe and the air of Europe will still be more crowded with wasps than space is with stars.”                                James Jeans**HOW TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION OF A KEYSO YOU CAN MAKE AN IMPRESSION OF IT”Neat attention to detail: when The Jackal is making an impression of aContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: THIS & THAT (BUT MOSTLY THIS)”

Prose is written sentence by sentence; poetry is written line by line.”We write in lines because we plant a vegetable garden in rows, because we have ribs, because…” Sandra McPherson**COUNTING OUT RHYMEInk, pink, pen and ink,I command you for to wink,Rottom, bottom, dish clout,O.U.T. spells out,So out goes she. English Folk Rhyme**DECORATED SOLDIER & MOVIEContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: POETS & POETRY”

“There are certain spiritual experieces in our lives which we would not have missed for anything, They are worth more to us than years of ordinary existence. In an hour the soul rises to a higher plane, and, despite temporary lapses, one can never live again on the lower level. The mind leaps to anContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE:THE JOYS OF READING”

Dear Editors: When Patrick Stewart tells us that he arranges his books by size, he got me thinking about large books on my shelves. The largest is a world-wide stamp album about four inches thick. The smallest is a North by Northwest flip book showing a crop-duster plane chasing Cary Grant. On a grander note,Continue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: LETTERS TO EDITORS”

LUPE VELEZ & HER MARRIAGE TO JOHNNY WEISMULLER “According to biographer Michelle Vogel, Vélez’s English was often fouled up in the interviews to fit a Mexican stereotype. Her scripts were often written in broken English as well, prompting her to once demand: “Who is this so- and- so who writes this stuff? What do youContinue reading “BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: FILM #19”