Conversation 574-013

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I didn't think I was going to have the pleasure of seeing you this time.

What are your plans now?

Well, I'm on my way to Westbury, Long Island.

It's closing Coco for two weeks.

And then I go to California and do a, you know, do a show with Gene Locke and do things like that.

And I'm going to take the holidays with us.

I'm going to go to the beach.

Mm-hmm.

Well, tell me, I didn't get the sequel at all, and I should know more about it, but it was apparently very, very successful.

It was successful because of Captain Hepburn.

The story itself was not terribly great, and the music was not terribly memorable.

I don't know that much musical music.

No, there is some of this jackass stuff, you know.

Absolutely.

And I played the opening of the Kennedy Center down here.

That's amazing.

Well, it's a great argument.

But I think architecturally, on the outside, it's terrible.

Modern stuff.

Inside, it's acoustically very good, but in my view, it doesn't have near the, well, take Los Angeles, it's much nicer.

But nevertheless, acoustically great.

But they actually picked numbers that were more for the acoustics, rather than for, this was the symphony, rather than for

You know, the music and all that.

Or they play it at that famous service, I must say.

He doesn't send me.

I'm not completely square on that sort of thing.

I mean, I love it.

But that would be jazz from time to time.

But when I hear symphony, I want it to be symphony, great symphony, right?

I mean, I don't see why you can't play Beethoven or, you know, or Tchaikovsky or Liszt and so forth and so on.

But these days, the modern conductors feel they've got to go off on something.

No, I don't.

I have the privilege of being out for an afternoon out at this new place that they just built, this beautiful wooden place called the Flux.

No, no, I went out to give a lecture while I was playing here.

There was a lecture now and after here.

And it's a marvelous place.

I'd love to hear an orchestra play.

But you know, the acoustics, they had put the curtain in front, and the lecturer stood in front of the curtain.

And the curtain just ate his voice out.

And why anyone wouldn't think ahead and know that curtains eat voices?

They do.

They just stand in front of the curtain and you may as well be talking to yourself.

Are you, uh, are you, are you, are you, are you okay?

Would you like to go see the center every second?

How would you arrange for a White House car to tip the dowel and arrange for her to get an idol?

I mean, I'm sure there's a nothings on the second.

But you could just call and arrange for her to go down.

Oh, that would be just super.

I would love to hear it.

I had David Brad, the youngster who's gonna be in and go back.

He's Brad, isn't he?

Let London love it for you.

Carol Harper would be great for it.

Or the other girl, what's her name?

I had the arts deal.

I met a very close friend of mine.

I had a very good friend here in the kitchen chair.

I was five times with him.

I was a guest at Frank DeMondre's with Mr. and Mrs. Messer.

Messer died.

Yes, he did.

I had missed her.

I was in college.

My cousin, you know, and Phyllis, my cousin.

She's in the world.

But she's...

I made her my sister, more or less.

You have no sister?

No, no, I'm an only child, unfortunately.

You know, you've had so many marvelous years.

I have not.

I've often said, if I were, you know, people, you, when you think of what you've done through the years, you've made so many people happy.

And, of course, I know what a grueling thing it is.

They say the acting.

Yes.

My God, it's a terrible discipline.

But on the other hand, to be up there and get those people up, and you must be tired of seeing all the other seekers and all the rest and so forth, and the little kids starving.

But how nice is it to be making people that way?

You know, but it is rewarding in that sense, because you know that you're bringing, you're taking people out of themselves.

And we all need it, each of us in our journey.

We need to be, to detect that sense of self and divorce ourselves.

How many years did you do it?

We are getting to a point where movies and theater will clean up a little.

Understand, I don't, have we passed through the period now of this total, I'm not referring to stuff that's annoying, we need a little of that.

I was just straight dirty.

And I was selling it for that.

And coming to stuff that I was, for example, very interested to know how Nolan and that went over.

We saw it.

And they did it exactly the way they were bringing everybody a little bit.

But that must have caused something, doesn't it?

Or does it?

And it does, because you see, the thing is, you were just saying earlier, they're no good writers, and they're not.

At least they're not coming to sport now.

They're absolutely sick.

Because the moral values are gone.

And more teeth to get in the line, the better off they are.

That's right.

You had a number of excellent writers for stand-up producers and all that.

Yes.

I was invited to speak in front of the press club.

The press club invited me and said, you know, they don't usually ask women to come up, and I was scared of that.

I did that because I got cross-fired.

You know, they said that.

But let me say that, you know, when we saw you in the, uh, you know, the dance, I was very, uh... No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

You had all those nights.

The great period of South Pacific and My Fair Lady and Oklahoma and Brick the Dome, etc.

That was great.

But what the duck is the matter now?

And movies.

Let me tell you what we do.

I don't see movies in the weekend.

We go to California.

We have weekends.

Of course, they have a movie that goes along.

The present-day movies are so bad, let's say the good John Wayne Western or something like that, that we are going back 10, 15, 20 years to get the movies.

And I thought, I thought, just throw me the movies.

I just thought, I want to hear them.

And we, believe me, we have seen some of yours, but we won't do that.

And our kids think about it the same way.

They don't want to see the movies.

They really are some of the bad guys.

They must be making some good ones.

but some of them are so uh well let me put it this way we all we all appreciate her she's

What the modern movie makers have done on the sex thing, in my opinion, is just exactly what they do with women when they have them go around without any clothes, or with most of them in there in the bikini.

The point is, what makes it more interesting

is, of course, the mystery.

And the more you tear away the mystery, the more you make it less sexless, in my opinion.

Right.

And all of this, going around the house, and running around in the mood, and the stage, or virtually in a movie, and all the scenes that are dead and the rest, you know, frankly, you feel a little perished about it.

And second,

It'd be great if it said, well, she isn't out of water for a second.

It doesn't work that way.

Do you agree or not?

I agree.

Because you see, I feel it.

You see, it's demoralizing our young people.

And when you take their sense of moral value to play, you have ruined their... You're taking something of their future.

And also, it's a nice...

No!

Well, I got over to the press.

We had the National Bowler's Champion, the Women's National Bowler's Champion.

He bowled three, and he didn't get a strike.

And the poor child in person was in front of all those people.

And then I had a national bowling champion, and he bowled.

He missed the first, and then got a strike in the second.

Then I bowled.

And I tried to bowl next to the recovery person.

She ran right over in the alley.

So I bowled over to the other alley so they could get a better shot.

And believe it or not, in my second, I got a strike.

I quit.

And I missed.

Oh, that's beautiful.

But this is a little compact that I had made for certain reasons at the beginning of there.

Her wives and cheeses making some noise on the meadow.

So they'll still be coming for the presidential signal to see the signal.

And that's it, miss.

No, it isn't.

Pack up anyway.

We don't use the compacts.

Oh, listen.

I've been thinking what you're thinking.

That's what I was going to say.

Blessing of you.

Thank you.

And, uh... And also, I think we should, uh, get ready to see the young fellas coming for the conference.

The same thing.

Aren't they sweet?

I might keep them myself.

Now don't let me overshoot.

Don't let me overshoot my knife.

Okay.

I just want to say how proud I am of you, Mr. Franklin.

How proud I am of you.

I want to tell you how much I love you.

I really do, and what you stand for.

I say it simply and truly, and I just want you to know that you got me.

You got me, that's not much.

It means an awful lot.

You know, for those of you who are celebrities, I know it's so hard because basically, you know, the way to really go over big in Las Vegas and Broadway and the rest is to give help to whoever is here, particularly if he's more on the conservative side.

And I'm sure that it must be quite a temptation, you know, to join the strong.

You know, most of the people in your business

Except for, well, let's face it, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, and Red Skelton and Bob Hope, if you like that.

Except for them, it's awful hard to find any.

Isn't that true?

It is, it is.

So I appreciate it for that reason.

I've been a fan of yours for a very long time, you know, since your name is Congressman.

Let me say, I've been a fan of yours for a long time.

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Have a great time, sir.

Thank you, and my love.

All right, and my love to Mr. President.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

Okay.

You're a great man now, Mr. President.