Cinema: Broadway Minstrel

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His columns are full of opinions and hard-eyed writing on everything from sports and stuffed shirts to women and war. "Any man is in difficulty," writes Bachelor Cannon, "if he falls in love with a woman he can't knock down with the first punch." After Korea, he reported that "combat soldiers are the loneliest people in the world. What a man does in a period of war he carries around inside of him forever." When Herman Hickman, Yale's 300-lb. football coach resigned, Cannon began a column: "There is enough room in one of Herman Hickman's suits for an average fullback to work the hidden-ball trick with a Shetland pony."

In Two Head Charlie's mouth, Cannon put this comment on manners: "You're licked before you start. You're dead soon as you tip your hat to a dame. You tip your hat. What does that mean? It means the broad is something and you're nothing. It starts off with a guy admitting he's a piece of dirt. Why can't a dame tip her hat back?" Cannon keeps his pockets stuffed with notes for his "Nobody Asked Me, But . . ." columns. Samples: "Nothing improves an actress' diction more than marrying money." "I'm no philanthropist, but I always get the check when I dine with a guy who protects his bank roll with an ornate money clip." "If you have to make notes in a telephone booth, chances are the lights won't work."

Cannon is dedicated to his job and sports. Once a friend urged Cannon to accompany him to a social-register party. Said Cannon: "As a sportswriter, I'm only interested in people who sweat."

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