Movies in the 1960s

Jews in the US entertainment industry – A story of how immigrants made waves.

‘…the big five, MGM, Paramount, Warner brothers, RKO and Twentieth Century Fox, all of which were owned and controlled by Jews. And of the not-so-little three – Universal, Colombia and United artists – two were in Jewish hands. …

As the Scottish director John Grierson, observed after a stay in Hollywood: ‘After a few years in the place, your foreskin falls away’.

‘… Hollywood, the place as it was said, where ‘the son-in-law also rises’ was the last redoubt of nepotism,…’

‘… any Jewish actor or actress hoping to be built up as a star had to be processed and turned into an all-American boy or girl before they could be exposed to the public….

Marian Levee had to become Paulette Goddard.

Bernard Schwartz had to become Tony Curtis

Judy Tuvim, Judy Holliday. ..

Danny Kaminsky, Danny Kaye

Joseph Levitch, Jerry Lewis

Shirley Shrift, Shelley Winters

Lee Jacob, Lee J Cobb

Dustin Hofmann.

Barbara Streisland.

From the paperback ‘The Jews’ by Chaim Bermant,

Sphere Books Ltd, London,

Published in 1977.

How many hours of fun and laughter they gave us in the 1960s, when there were no TVs. Here is a hurrah to all of them.

Philip G V

The death of a King - Rajasinghe of Sithawake, Sri Lanka, 1592

Veerasingam PG: Analysis of the reported symptoms that preceded the death of King Rajasinghe of Sithawake (1592 AD). Ceylon Med J; 2002 Jun;47(2):65-7

 [Title] Analysis of the reported symptoms that preceded the death of King Rajasinghe of Sithawake (1592 AD).

 A copy of an ola leaf manuscript, the original of which was written around the late 1590s, was published recently.

 It describes the sequence of events leading to the death of the warrior King Rajasinghe of the Sithawake Kingdom (1521-1593).

 A study of the contents of this letter is presented.

 The dressing applied to a wound on the foot of the King is described in that letter.

 It is likely that this dressing would have been an ideal medium to produce the highly potent tetanus exotoxin.

 The toxin would have diffused into the open wound and produced the sequence of symptoms and signs mentioned in the letter.

 An analysis of the symptoms and signs noted during the King's last illness as described in the letter is presented.

 Laryngospasm, and tonic and clonic spasms are easily identified.

 In addition, a group of symptoms attributed in the 1960s to sympathetic over-activity in tetanus are also recognisable.

 The conclusion is drawn that the King died of tetanus.

 The intriguing possibility of the wilful use of a lethal dressing on an open wound as a biological contact poison is left open for discussion.

email from Sunil Liyanage

Too Busy for a Friend... One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers. That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual. On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments. No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on. Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin. As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.' After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher. 'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.'Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him. 'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it.'
All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.'Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.''I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary'. Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'. That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be. So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late. And One WayTo Accomplish This Is: Forward this message on. If you do not send it, you will have, once again passed up the wonderful opportunity to do something nice and beautiful. If you've received this it is because someone cares for you and it means there is probably at least someone for whom you care. If you're 'too busy' to take those few minutes right now to forward this message on, would this be the VERY first time you didn't do that little thing that would make a difference in your relationships? The more people that you send this to, the better you'll be at reaching out to those you care about. Remember, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.

Famous quotes

'A Christmas Carol' Quotes

"It is required of every man," the ghost returned, "that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide; and, if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death."

The light of other days

by Thomas Moore

Oft in the stilly night,

Ere slumber's chain has bound me,

Fond memory brings the light

Of other days around me:

The smiles, the tears

Of boyhood's years,

The words of love then spoken;

The eyes that shone,

Now dimm'd and gone,

The cheerful hearts now broken!

email from Nana

Nana’s Mostly UK Group Collections- Where did your contributions go?

I am delighted to notify that we have finally managed to fulfill both of our targets.

a. Provided the necessary cash to purchase all the essential books to the Colombo Medical Faculty Library & Departments

b. Provide financial assistance for 2 needy medical students to pursue their medical student career ( 5 years & recurring.)

I will give you the break down figures:

Total collected from the Group Rs. 669,813.50

Interest received ( 3 months savings deposit) 7675.50

Total amount realized ( Bank interest + contributions) 677,489.00 6,77489.00

Money spent on the purchase of library & Departmental books (Rs.96469.00) 96469.00

Total donated to the Medical student scholarship Fund 581,020.00

( 2 medical students)

Balance in hand Nil

Acknowledgements & Thanks:

1. to your individual donations, encouragement & support to make our dream come true.

2. Nalini Rodrigo for liaising with the Medical Faculty Library Staff & Dean & settlement of bills.

3. M.G.S Karunanayaka & Udula Pathirana for moral support

4. Ranjen Fernando who agreed to open a joint account with me in Sri Lanka & handed over the money to Medical Faculty ( Student scholarship fund)

5. Dr Piyusha Atapattu ( Chair person Medical Student Financial assistance Scheme)

Final details of the 2 selected Medical students and the monthly offer/student will be notified to us . It is likely that each student would be offered app Rs.2000.00/month.

The medical faculty also agreed to keep us informed of the academic progress and any special achievements of these students.

I have also given a list of names & location of all the contributors to the Dean & the respective Committee of the Colombo Medical Faculty.

Little things can go a long way – said the wise monkey….

A very Big Thank you to all of you once again.

Nana ( C.S.Nanayakkara)