Parliament - American Art Agency

The Girls, Volume 1, Number 2
American Art Agency
North Hollywood, California
1968

digital replica

The title and cover might suggest that The Girls shows women in lesbian embrace, but it doesn't. Of nine pictorials, only two show two models. There's some careful laying-on of fingers, but nothing close to a kiss.

Bras, garter belts, panties and stockings adorn pretty pin-ups. Heels top out at about three inches.

Four articles deal with escapades of famous people in the entertainment business. Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, Errol Flynn, Charles Chaplin, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Milton Berle, Joe E. Lewis, and Ingrid Bergman appear in photographs.

An article about funnyman Jackie Gleason provides many factoids about his history, habits and hubris.

Jack Gleason, ex-burlesque comic, now a long-time favorite of television fans, is a contradiction, in many ways. The most asked question of Gleason, by fans and press alike, is: "Do you really have booze in that teacup, when you're on camera?" The answer is, yes. Though Gleason makes little effort to hide it, a couple of reporters, frustrated at finding out that the "boozing" image of Dean Martin was just a gimmick, found out for themselves. Gleason does nip at a hefty shot of booze during his monologue sessions, or while talking to guests.

But in his private life, Gleason is more hard to figure than in his many-faceted roles on TV, from Joe the Bartender to The Poor Soul.

Now 50, Gleason drinks straight scotch like it was going out of style, both on and off stage. He believes sincerely, that he is the world's top comic—but that isn't all. He also feels he is a leading dramatic actor (which he has proven), writer (he writes a lot of his own material), golfer (which he is not), designer (he often designs sets, costumes, even buildings), drinker (most of his cronies can drink him under the table), musician and conductor (his Jackie Gleason albums like Music for Lovers Only, have sold in the millions), and bon-vivant (he has opinions on everything), and is a regular at Toots Shor's, where the "in" crowd of show biz hang out, in New York.

Here's the oddity: in music, for example, Gleason tries to pass himself off as a king-sized Leonard Bernstein, but he cannot read music nor play an instrument. In spite of this, he has written some fine tunes, including the theme of his weekly TV show. He bangs at the piano with one hand only, and when he is "on" —that is, performing (it takes only an audience of one to put Gleason "on")—he makes amusing asides, as he "composes."

"I wanted to write a drinking song," he will say dreamily, "but I, never got past the first two bars." Or he will explain his theory thus: "You feel in the dumps, and this broad comes by, with the sunlight behind her, and she has no slip on” — he fiddles with a couple of bright notes — "so you write music to fit the mood." And, strangely enough, he does come up with some fair "situation" music. He has recorded 34 albums, grossing over $18 million (they lead the country's list on instrumental music).
Explaining it, Gleason immodestly says, "I just knew what the country and the world needed. I was watching a Clark Gable movie, and I figure—if Gable needs soft, sexy music to make out with a broad—what about the poor slob from Brooklyn, in a dingy flat, with a bottle of beer and his broad?"

Gleason, some of his detractors say, is a boring, hammy cornball. He is a dame-chaser, yet—a devout Catholic who is separated—plays the game by unfair rules, according to the Broadway wiseguy evaluation. If he wasn't a success, most Broadwayites and show biz people would shun him like the plague. He monopolizes the conversation, the drinks, the spotlight. He steps on the lines of other comics, or personalities who seem to be getting the lion's share of attention—deliberately. Oddly, Gleason is one of the few comics who is strictly "for the East." He has never been a success in any club west of Miami or New York, and his TV show gets its lowest ratings in the west and Midwest. He has never scored at any of the Las Vegas casinos, or West Coast nightclubs.

He' s from Brooklyn, and so successful was he in the Saturday night prime time, that he has a contract with CBS which brings him over $2000 a week—whether he is on TV or not—so long as he does not appear on any other TV network.

He never relaxes. His supreme egotism won't let him ever take a secondary spot. He won a Tony award for Take Me Along on Broadway, followed with a superb performance in The Hustler, as pool-shark Minnesota Fats, in such "hot company" as Paul Newman and George C. Scott. Then he wrote the original story and music, and starred in Gigot and followed with a convincing role as a scared, money-grubbing fight manager in Requiem For A Heavyweight.

"I'm so hot, they all love me and want me," he gloated. "That's show biz." He was in demand, no doubt about it, but it bugged his ego to think that 50 million Saturday night viewers were missing The Great Jackie, so he went back on weekly. He took out 11 full-page ads in N.Y. papers and trade journals, proclaiming that he was back, in all his 265-pound glory. He made a personal tour in a private railroad car, from L.A. to New York. . . .

The ebook contains all content of the magazine, including advertising, cartoons, two short stories, and four articles. Page sequences was revised to obtain continuity of prose pieces.

Some page layouts were revised. Some margins, borders, walls and floors were cropped out.

Brightness, contrast and levels were adjusted and shadows reduced. Most professional photography transposed to ebook format with clarity.

All new scans. 80 pages.

One ebook, delivered by download from your 30th Street Graphics account.