MUSINGS, PONDERINGS, RUMINATIONS AND FANCIES

[Bronxgirl48]

Yes, Harpo was the most beloved by all who knew him. Groucho, who was not known to be sentimental, cried at his funeral.

Harpo on an intellectual par with Groucho?? I somehow find that hard to believe, lol. I was always under the impression that all the brothers except egghead Groucho were, well, mainly grown-up "street" kids with zero interests in educational pursuits.

Think about it here, Bronxie.

The people invited to join the Algonquin Round Table weren't exactly mental midgets, ya know.

(...and Harpo was indeed a member of that group of noted intellectuals, ya know)

Only because some people thought Alexander Woolcott took a special fancy to Harpo. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Dargo]

Yes, Harpo was the most beloved by all who knew him. Groucho, who was not known to be sentimental, cried at his funeral.

Harpo on an intellectual par with Groucho?? I somehow find that hard to believe, lol. I was always under the impression that all the brothers except egghead Groucho were, well, mainly grown-up "street" kids with zero interests in educational pursuits.

Think about it here, Bronxie.

The people invited to join the Algonquin Round Table weren't exactly mental midgets, ya know.

(...and Harpo was indeed a member of that group of noted intellectuals, ya know)

Only because some people thought Alexander Woolcott took a special fancy to Harpo. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I dunno, Bronxie. Ya see, first, I doubt Woollcott would've invited Harpo to join that group unless he felt he would've been a good fit and been able to contribute something of intellectual worth into its proceedings.

And secondly and coincidentally enough, just within the last few weeks I ran across a video on the internet in which Groucho on his YBYL quiz show made the offhanded comment that his brother Harpo was quite the reader and had a larger home library than he had.

(...I remember thinking when I saw this that it kind of confirmed in my mnd the reason for Harpo's inclusion into that group)

[Andree]

From the little I know of the ART they were more witty show biz types and newspaper men than intellectuals,
not that one necessarily contradicts the other. But I think of them more as the first than the second. Even Dorothy
Parker was skeptical:

"These were no giants. Think who was writing in those days—Lardner, Fitzgerald, Faulkner and Hemingway. Those were the real giants. The Round Table was just a lot of people telling jokes and telling each other how good they were. Just a bunch of loudmouths showing off, saving their gags for days, waiting for a chance to spring them....There was no truth in anything they said. It was the terrible day of the wisecrack, so there didn't have to be any truth..."

I'll bet Marilyn Monroe had a bigger home library than Groucho and Harpo combined.

[txfilmfan]

From the little I know of the ART they were more witty show biz types and newspaper men than intellectuals,
not that one necessarily contradicts the other. But I think of them more as the first than the second. Even Dorothy
Parker was skeptical:

"These were no giants. Think who was writing in those days—Lardner, Fitzgerald, Faulkner and Hemingway. Those were the real giants. The Round Table was just a lot of people telling jokes and telling each other how good they were. Just a bunch of loudmouths showing off, saving their gags for days, waiting for a chance to spring them....There was no truth in anything they said. It was the terrible day of the wisecrack, so there didn't have to be any truth..."

I'll bet Marilyn Monroe had a bigger home library than Groucho and Harpo combined.

Indeed. They were raconteurs. If they were of a later time, they'd make the talk and panel show circuit on TV.

[Dargo]

From the little I know of the ART they were more witty show biz types and newspaper men than intellectuals,
not that one necessarily contradicts the other. But I think of them more as the first than the second. Even Dorothy
Parker was skeptical:

"These were no giants. Think who was writing in those days—Lardner, Fitzgerald, Faulkner and Hemingway. Those were the real giants. The Round Table was just a lot of people telling jokes and telling each other how good they were. Just a bunch of loudmouths showing off, saving their gags for days, waiting for a chance to spring them....There was no truth in anything they said. It was the terrible day of the wisecrack, so there didn't have to be any truth..."

I'll bet Marilyn Monroe had a bigger home library than Groucho and Harpo combined.

Indeed. They were raconteurs. If they were of a later time, they'd make the talk and panel show circuit on TV.

Hmmm..."raconteurs" ya say?!

And here I always thought those were owners of eateries that catered to cute little creatures that look like little bandits!

YOU know! Kind'a like this here...



(...and thus now proving beyond all doubt that I, Dargo, would NEVER have been invited to join the Algonquin Round Table...nope, not with jokes like THIS, anyway)

[Andree]

Indeed. They were raconteurs. If they were of a later time, they'd make the talk and panel show circuit on TV.

They were talented people and the word intellectual is not always easy to nail down,
but I never thought of them as such. No doubt they would have been good on shows
like What's My Line.

[Bronxgirl48]

I'll bet Marilyn Monroe had a bigger home library than Groucho and Harpo combined.
[/quote]





Maybe after marrying Arthur Miller.

[Andree]

Maybe after marrying Arthur Miller.

His library would have made a significant addition to hers. But I've read that even before she had a fairly
large collection of books. Whether that's true or just the old Hollywood p.r. I'm not sure. I'm still skeptical
about Jayne Mansfield's sky high IQ.

[Dargo]

I'll bet Marilyn Monroe had a bigger home library than Groucho and Harpo combined.



Maybe after marrying Arthur Miller.

WAIT! She married that guy who ran all those dance studios back in the day???

Oh...wait. Never mind.

(...AND now proving yet AGAIN that I, Dargo, would have NEVER been invited to join the...well, you know)

[TikiSoo]

I'm still skeptical about Jayne Mansfield's sky high IQ.

Heh, I just think Jayne was smarter than she appeared, but she came across as even a dumber blonde than MM.

I think Jayne was just an average person who saw how a woman can exploit the "system" and did so. She learned what to do to get herself noticed & worked hard to sell herself as a "product".
I put her in the exact same category as Madonna.

[Hibi]

I'm still skeptical about Jayne Mansfield's sky high IQ.

Heh, I just think Jayne was smarter than she appeared, but she came across as even a dumber blonde than MM.

I think Jayne was just an average person who saw how a woman can exploit the "system" and did so. She learned what to do to get herself noticed & worked hard to sell herself as a "product".
I put her in the exact same category as Madonna.

Exactly. I don't buy she had a genius IQ, but she was smarter than she appeared to be.

[LostHorizons]

Maybe after marrying Arthur Miller.

His library would have made a significant addition to hers. But I've read that even before she had a fairly
large collection of books. Whether that's true or just the old Hollywood p.r. I'm not sure. I'm still skeptical
about Jayne Mansfield's sky high IQ.

Her entire collection is available free online.

https://nothingintherulebook.com/2020/0 ... l-library/

Just by glancing over it, I immediately noticed the “volumes 3 to 6” and the like where it’s the latter volumes of a work but the first part isn’t included amongst the list which sort of implies she might have been gifted some books or really wasn’t reading them. Who would read the latter half of a book without even reading the first parts which it is building upon?

[HoldenIsHere]

Maybe after marrying Arthur Miller.

His library would have made a significant addition to hers. But I've read that even before she had a fairly
large collection of books. Whether that's true or just the old Hollywood p.r. I'm not sure. I'm still skeptical
about Jayne Mansfield's sky high IQ.

Her entire collection is available free online.

https://nothingintherulebook.com/2020/0 ... l-library/

Just by glancing over it, I immediately noticed the “volumes 3 to 6” and the like where it’s the latter volumes of a work but the first part isn’t included amongst the list which sort of implies she might have been gifted some books or really wasn’t reading them. Who would read the latter half of a book without even reading the first parts which it is building upon?

The books where Marylin Monroe only had certain volumes appear to be anthologies, so a person wouldn't need to have read earlier volumes to read the works included in a later volume.

The work where she had volumes 3 to 6 was John and William Langhorne's English translation of PLUTARCH'S LIVES. It's understandable that she might have been interested in certain biographies in the volumes she had but not in the biographies in the earlier volumes.

[Andree]

Heh, I just think Jayne was smarter than she appeared, but she came across as even a dumber blonde than MM.

I think Jayne was just an average person who saw how a woman can exploit the "system" and did so. She learned what to do to get herself noticed & worked hard to sell herself as a "product".
I put her in the exact same category as Madonna.

She definitely had the necessary practical knowledge to make the most of what she had and
she did a good job of it. Of course there's no reason why Jayne couldn't have had a high IQ
(IIRC it was somewhere in the 160s), but to me it always sounded like a press agent's story.
There never seem to be any details about where and when she had her IQ measured. Some
things must always remain a mystery.

[Bronxgirl48]

I seem to recall there's a photo of Marilyn with Albert Einstein.