Clifford Odets

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Poor old PR. No matter the value added to company reputation or public sector awareness, nor its soaring popularity as a career choice, the profession continues to struggle with misperceptions of its real worth.

True, the antics of a handful of high profile players have gifted a scandal-hungry media plenty to feed on. But there are also the perennial industry pleas for greater recognition of PR's value in the boardroom - or a greater share of the communications budget - or better understanding from other marketing professionals. Take your pick.

Where does this negativity and wilting self-confidence come from? Well, entrenched attitudes take time to shift and sceptical views of PR as a reputable profession can be traced as far back as the careers of Robert Kensington Lansford, Matt Libby and Buddy Bliss. If these names don't strike a chord, it's because they never actually existed other than as fictional characters in movies. But does their portrayal - generally glib, weak, shifty - mark the beginnings of a mistrust so prevalent today?

The first PR movie

Take a look at public relations counsel (sic) Bob Kensington Lansford in Four's A Crowd (1938). Starring Erroll Flynn, sporting a suit rather than tights, this is probably the first PR movie and was a flawed attempt to cash in on the success of other romantic comedies of the period, like Bringing Up Baby with Cary Grant.

But the film does demonstrate that PR's media image was just as wobbly then as it seems to be now. Here's Kensington Lansford's definition of his job: "Most of my clients have more money than reputation. I sell them fine reputations through their donations to charity...so they'll die with easy consciences with the public hailing them as great benefactors." As for strategy, Flynn's character also proves something of an innovator as he proceeds to target a wealthy tycoon as the most hated man in America, no less, in a bid to boost the circulation of his old newspaper.

Post war, Hollywood turned the cameras on itself with a series of withering self portraits exposing the sordid underbelly of the star and studio system. In the Judy Garland version of A Star Is Born (1954), for instance, the doomed star Norman Maine (James Mason), drunk and on an irreversible career slide, is minded by studio PR man Matt Libby (Jack Carson). Maine describes Libby as "looking after me like a fond mother with a good sense of double entry bookkeeping" before asking him how many lies he's told the public that day. Libby replies, with the inevitable smirk, "Oh, a couple of hundred, I guess."

Worse was to come with the following year's The Big Knife, based on the play by Clifford Odets about star Charles Castle (Jack Palance), "a man who sold out his dreams but can't forget them." The "first rate", if hapless, publicity man is Buddy Bliss (Paul Langton) who has already endured a ten month jail sentence for falsely confessing to a fatal hit and run accident to protect Castle, the real culprit. His attempts to schmooze influential columnist Patty Benedict (Ilka Chase) are dismissed by her with contempt - "I want my gossip from the horse's mouth not his tail."

Perceptions

Moving a little more up to date, Sliding Doors (1997) shows that the film world's perceptions of PR have lost none of their negative potency.

Before her character splits into its two alter egos, Gwyneth Paltrow's Helen is fired from her PR job for draining the office's supplies of vodka for a birthday celebration and, worse, leaving the drinks cabinet tactlessly bare when clients come to call. True to type, she confronts her management's displeasure by suggesting some smooth talking might have got round her indiscretion - "We're in PR. That's what we do."

So there you have it. Superficiality, lies, a suicidal desperation to placate the boss at all costs and booze before business - 60 years of PR fiction compounded by real-life indiscretions. No wonder the industry has proved such an easy target. Of course, none of this matters in the real world where PR continues to deliver tangible and worthwhile results at so many levels. But it might be nice to redress the image balance a little. After all, reputation management should begin at home.

Anyone wanna make a movie?

Christopher Snowden of Moving Finger is a UK-based marketing copywriter and editor specialising in b2b communications in print or online. Chris helps businesses from sole traders through to large corporations get their words fit for purpose so their marketing communications earn their keep. Go to http://movingfinger.co.uk for the full story. He also publishes KeyNotes, a bi-monthly e-newsletter about writing and editing for business, and words in general -- you can try out the latest issue at http://movingfinger.co.uk/category/latest-keynotes-articles/

The Country Girl - a Classic Backstage Story That Will Appeal to You

Mike Nichols has returned to Broadway with The Country Girl. He is directing Morgan Freeman, Frances McDormand and Peter Gallagher in Clifford Odet’s The Country Girl. This Broadway play will be playing for a limited time at the Bernard B. Jacob Theater. Mike Nichols is an Academy Award winner and also an eight-time Tony Award winner. His most recent work includes the hit musical Monty Python’s SPAMALOT.

The Cast

Morgan Freeman has returned to Broadway with The Country Girl after a gap of twenty years. He last appeared on Broadway in The Gospel at Colonus in 1988. Morgan Freeman is best known for his work in films like Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption, and Million Dollar Baby. Morgan Freeman is playing the role of Frank Elgin, who was once a great theater star but is now out of luck.

Georgie is the title character of The Country Girl. The role has been beautifully played by Frances McDormand. McDormand’s last Broadway appearance was in A Streetcar Named Desire in 1988. She is best known for her work in films like Fargo. She won an Academy Award for her role in Fargo. She is also known for her roles in Almost Famous and North Country.

Peter Gallagher stars as Bernie Dodd in The Country Girl. He has done lot of theater but he is the most famous for playing Sandy Cohen on the popular drama The O.C.

Others in this famous play include Chip Zien, Remy Auberjonois, Anna Camp, and Lucas Caleb Rooney. Tony Award winner Tim Hatley is responsible for scenic design. Costume design is by the Academy Award nominee Albert Wolsky. Lighting design for the play has been done by the Tony Award Winner Natasha Katz.

The Country Girl is one of the Clifford Odet’s last plays. It first premiered on Broadway in 1950. The first Broadway version starred Uta Hagen, Paul Kelly and Steven Hill. In 1954, a film was made based on the play. It starred Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby, and William Holden. The film was a huge success and went on to win two Academy Awards.

The Story

The play tells a classic backstage story. Georgie is married to actor Frank Elgin. Elgin was once a great theater star but is now out of luck. He is offered a major role in a play by a very famous director Bernie Dodd. Elgin now has a chance to make a comeback but will he be able to get over his past and his drinking problem and become the star that he was? That is for the audience to see. The play is about how Georgie helps Frank make a comeback while at the same time fights her love for another man.

The Country Girl will be playing on Broadway for a limited time, so tickets are only available for a short period. Tickets for the play can easily be bought online through an authorized ticket broker. It is best to buy from authorized ticket brokers as their sites are safe. You would not have to worry about your information being shared or stolen. You get to choose from a huge selection of tickets. Once you place your order, the tickets will be delivered within twenty-four hours at your billing address. Buying a ticket online is easy and convenient and that is why more and more people are going for it today.
About the Author

Al writes many reviews on Broadway productions including the much anticipated The Country Girl show, His articles keep up with all openings on Broadway and other venues around the country and has helpful articles on locating The Country Girl tickets online.

Ibsen, Strindberg and Chekhov were innovative?

1) European playwrights who realistically presented characters and situations

Ibsen, Strindberg and Chekhov were innovative?

Yes. They were "pioneers who plowed new ground in two ways: they practiced playwriting as a literary art and they reshaped drama to the measure of their vastly changing societies." See quotes below.

"Three writers from northern Europe dominated and revitalized drama in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We will read major and lesser-known works by Anton Chekhov, Henrik Ibsen, and August Strindberg to examine the particularly northern mode of theatrical naturalism they developed."
From http://www.oberlin.edu/russian/courses.html

"In the golden age of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, an extraordinary number of original talents were writing literature for the stage. Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov, Gorki, Hauptmann, and G. B. Shaw, figured among the pioneers who plowed new ground in two ways: they practiced playwriting as a literary art and they reshaped drama to the measure of their vastly changing societies."
From http://new.jewish-theatre.com/visitor/article_display.aspx?articleID=1420

Consider "the struggles of Ibsen's characters to free themselves from societal convention, the mortal conflicts that trap Strindberg's men and women, and the pain of loss and transition lyrically evoked by Chekov."
From http://www.littlebluelight.com/lblphp/crit.php?ikey=26

At the UW: Understanding our lean times by studying the real hard times
A project at the University of Washington has created a Web site on the Great Depression and the state.

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