A World Of Laughter, A World Of Tears

[statichaos]

Originally Posted by Sergio Van Lukenstein

With that in mind, could you please work in the line "Are you pondering what I'm pondering?" if plausibility allows?

Tempting....

[statichaos]

Originally Posted by DAv

The greats of 50's cinema teaming up? Throw in Kurosawa and you are officially a God among men. Also, is Malcom X still alive? I can't remember any update saying he was anything than on the run.

I did mention one of them having "contacts in Asia". Guess who I was thinking of.

Malcolm is still alive, but he's on the run, and in competition for followers with The African Brotherhood.

[Geekhis Khan]

Awesome update. The mother of all movie studios, nefarious Rockwell dealings...awesome.

Originally Posted by statichaos

Okay, so I just found out something really freaking weird.

When you type "A World of Laughter, A World of Tears" into either Google or Bing, "It's A Small World" is not the first thing to pop up. Instead, it's this thread. The TV Tropes entry is second on Google.

Holy shit.

Congrats! You have the Google-juice.

I just hope The Rat doesn't come calling some dark night. Beware!!!

Similar thing happens with Viva Balbo; every time I google "Balbo" or "Italo Balbo" or any lesser-known fascist during my research my TL shows up at least on page 2...usually page 1. If I google the actual name "Viva Balbo" I hit the first spot...Time magazine gets slot #2.

[Aranfan]

Actually, have you tried doing that on a computer you don't frequent often? Google changes how often things come up for a given computer based on its history.

[statichaos]

Originally Posted by Aranfan

Actually, have you tried doing that on a computer you don't frequent often? Google changes how often things come up for a given computer based on its history.

A couple of friends of mine have tried that (ones who don't go to this site), and they got the same.

[Aranfan]

Originally Posted by statichaos

A couple of friends of mine have tried that (ones who don't go to this site), and they got the same.

Wow, well, your work is certainly good enough to deserve it.

[kilopi505]

Wow...Just wow.
I just love this thread so much I'm speechless.
Just...
WOW.

Please update and may God bless you!

[statichaos]

Originally Posted by kilopi505

Wow...Just wow.
I just love this thread so much I'm speechless.
Just...
WOW.

Please update and may God bless you!

Your first post was to tell me that? I'm honored. Thank you!

I'll update as soon as I get it together enough to do so, promise.

[Hendryk]

Originally Posted by statichaos

JUST LET ME FINISH CUTTING FAUST BEFORE YOUR MAD SCHEMES COMMENCE STOP I'M NOT LETTING YOU MAKE A MOVE WITHOUT ME STOP

Great development, I love it when a TL goes into that kind of cultural detail. (BTW, Godard isn't spelled with a double d).

I may have a suggestion about another member to add to this motley crew of moviemakers: a young, up-and-coming French critic-turned-director named François Truffaut. In OTL he greatly admired both Orson Welles (whose movies inspired him to direct "The 400 Blows" in 1959) and Alfred Hitchcock (whom he met for a series of radio interviews in 1960). He was also, of course, Godard's screenwriter for "Breathless".

[Historico]

Awesome update Stat, Im pretty sure that Rocky would have won his Backyard state of New Hampshire, the other Primaries might be a little rough for the Champion of the Eastern Establishment. What are those crazy Democrats up 2 on the side of the Primary Race?

[statichaos]

Originally Posted by Historico

Awesome update Stat, Im pretty sure that Rocky would have won his Backyard state of New Hampshire, the other Primaries might be a little rough for the Champion of the Eastern Establishment. What are those crazy Democrats up 2 on the side of the Primary Race?

The Southerners are pretty far out ahead, as the Northern Dems aren't seeing as much of a chance this time around: Rockefeller is getting most of the Northern progressives. In the next update, I'm planning on showing just what sort of effect this is having in terms of party registration.

[Arachnid]

I really don't think that Rockwell has much of a chance, the GOP "Establishment" has the East sown up; and his 'law and order' isn't going to have that much traction with the Republican West. While his rhetoric might appeal to the folks of the South the West isn't as troubled (in the words of Chris Rock "there's no black folk in Minnesota") and so are probably going to plump for Goldwater en masse, meaning the decider will be who throw Goldwater throws his delegates behind, and he wasn't a Nazi.

[Nicole]

Oh wow, I just went on a reading of the whole TL... excellent! I regret not reading it earlier!

[statichaos]

Originally Posted by Aracnid

I really don't think that Rockwell has much of a chance, the GOP "Establishment" has the East sown up; and his 'law and order' isn't going to have that much traction with the Republican West. While his rhetoric might appeal to the folks of the South the West isn't as troubled (in the words of Chris Rock "there's no black folk in Minnesota") and so are probably going to plump for Goldwater en masse, meaning the decider will be who throw Goldwater throws his delegates behind, and he wasn't a Nazi.

I can promise you that Goldwater will not be treated as a Nazi. I have the same sneaking and reluctant respect for him that many modern liberals do.

[statichaos]

Originally Posted by Imajin

Oh wow, I just went on a reading of the whole TL... excellent! I regret not reading it earlier!

Thank you! Always good to hear that from a member of the 1000+ post club.

[Arachnid]

I didn't think you would make him one, but come convention time once the no-hopers have been eliminated he'll be in third place and Kingmaker. While he might not agree with the Rockefeller Republicans but he wasn't a Nazi, I mean he was pro-civil rights except for the provisions which he felt were to AUTHORITARIAN, he was 180 degrees away from Rockwell. Meaning Rockefeller should get the nod.

[maverick]

Having re-read the part about the directors I'm more than impressed. I hope you can get Kurosawa there

Of course, this makes me think: John Ford and John Wayne could be even more popular in the ITTL 50s than IOTL!

Jimmy Stewart would also be symphatetic to the current government, although probably not too supportive of the Negro-Lynching Program or the Disney Youth.

Gotta wonder if Henry Fonda is in Europe though...

[Redem]

Originally Posted by maverick

Having re-read the part about the directors I'm more than impressed. I hope you can get Kurosawa there

What happen is that they want to do a remake of Hidden Forteress, but they put Ed Wood in charge of it with dramatic consequence

and they have Orson Wells voice the bad guy (yes this is an in joke)

[statichaos]

You know what stung? Here's what stung: I was being called a Negro-hater, a racist, like Rockwell or one of those clowns down South who spent more on sheets to wear than on their kids' clothes. Bullshit. Roy Cohn is no racist. I liked it when Truman desegregated the armed forces. I supported civil rights back when sane people were in charge of the movement. I didn't like the fact that the reds got involved in the movement, sure, and I didn't trust King because he didn't pay attention to who he was associating with. But voting, jobs, all that nonense? Yeah. Had no problem with it.

Problem was, I was considered the guy who was tough on the Negroes because it had gotten out that I'd talked Walt into not sending federal troops into Little Rock all those years ago. People thought that made me anti-integration. Bullshit. What does Roy Cohn care where people go to school, so long as they're not bothering anyone? No, it was constitutional issues I was worried about, and you know what? I was right. If we'd sent in the Marines to make sure these kids got to school on time, then what was going to keep the next president from using them for other reasons? No, we have an Army and a Navy and a Marines and an Aerospace Force for really specific and limited jobs.

Unfortunately, the reputation meant that whenever I wasn't trying to calm Walt down about his legacy, I was the go-to guy for Rockefeller's people whenever they needed a "tough on Negroes" kind of guy. Made a fella want to go back to the Democrats, except that Stennis and Jackson were trying to outdo each other on who could appeal to the lowest common denominator the fastest. Not that I had a problem with doing that in principle, but their ideas were getting distasteful even for me. Stennis would talk about the walls going up around Negro slums in the South, and how this was the wave of the future. Jackson would say that it needed to be expanded up north. Then Stennis would say that it needed to be federal law, and pretty soon you couldn't tell the difference between them and Rockwell.

No, the party that my dad had introduced me to, the one that I'd been a proud member of for most of my adult life, the one that I left for the White House much to the displeasure of my mother was gone, on the trash heap of history. The only decent anti-Communist they were running was Kennedy, and he was a joke, an afterthought. Besides, I'd worked with his brother, and that was not a family you wanted to get involved with.

My point is this: When I went to Wisconsin to meet with the Negro leaders there, I went as the bad cop. It was all hush-hush and crap. But I pointed out the obvious to them: Did they want a guy who was willing to try to work with them, or did they want a guy who was going to try to stick 'em in camps or ship 'em back to Africa?

So they calmed down, and we got the Negro vote in Wisconsin. All...what, three of 'em.

(laughs)

Still, it set the stage, and I got a reputation in their community as someone they could deal with. Just so long as they didn't send the goddamned rads or Muslims my way. I'll deal with black, brown, white, or yellow, but I won't deal with red. And I don't mean Indian.

-Roy Cohn, quoted in Magic Kingdom: America In The 50s by Studs Terkel



CANADA, MEXICO ANNOUNCE INCREASED PATROLS AT BORDER

-New York Times, 3/29/60



In the interests of increased solidarity with the Jewish people and the desire of the people of the Soviet Union to protect their friends in Israel from unwarranted incursions on the part of undesirable United States-backed terrorist elements, the peace-loving people of the Soviet Union will be supplying the Israeli military forces with some material and logistical support along their border with Egypt. This is entirely due to unwarranted and unprovoked challenges to the sovereignty of Israel on the part of the Egyptian government over the past few months.

Additionally, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics will be lifting all relocation limitations against its Jewish inhabitants regarding emigration to Israel, provided that said emigrants are not employed in necessary industries, and that they are willing and able to serve their required term in the Israeli Army.

-Pravda, 4/2/60


"You know what, people? I don't care about the polls! You don't need to care about the polls! All that I care about, and I know that all that you care about, is that we now have proof of what I have been saying all along: The Jewish/Communist axis is the single greatest threat to the United States of America, and the other candidates have been too beholden to their masters in the international banking cartels to take a stand against it! Well, win or lose, with George Lincoln Rockwell you know what you're getting, and what you're getting is a man who stands for America over the foreign communist interests!

-Speech, Sen. George Lincoln Rockwell, 4/3/60


With a practiced hand, I tugged my bow tie into a perfect knot, then reached over to Wood to do the same for him. I have to say that we cut a striking figure in the mirror, the sadly aging boy genius and the wonderfully mad aficionado of all things film. It almost made me wish that we had something more interesting and constructive planned than charming the recent crop of young American fools with money who had managed to land in Europe ahead of season. However, the film had been dropped off at Pinewood with strict instructions not to tamper with it lest they face the wrath of a brace of attorneys, and this was the night to look towards the future of the industry, and just as importantly, my career. For the the plans of me and my compatriots to succeed, we would need far more investment money than we could possibly provide ourselves.

I gestured to Edward, and we headed towards the hotel elevator, ready to attend the party at the restaurant on the top floor. A single flick of his wrist, and a cigar appeared in Wood's hand, already cut to my specifications. I inhaled the aroms. Cuban. Difficult to get since Disney's rabid cronies had decided to interfere in the natural political progress of that proud island nation. I smiled and nodded in appreciation, taking out a match in anticipation of its enjoyment.

A quick glance down apprised me of a minor detail: In his rush to prepare, Edward had put his trousers on too rapidly, causing his underwear to ride up slightly. Even worse, this was shown by a thin line of angora rising above the back of his pants.

"Edward," I hissed at him, whispering though no one else could hear us in the elevator. "Pull up your trousers. I have plans for us tonight, and I would hate for your taste in undergarments to become a more popular topic of discussion than this evening's actual agenda."

As the door dinged open, he made the necessary adjustment. I stared out into the sea of old and new money, a veritable playground of the gauche and tawdry.

"Why, Orson," Eddie asked with a final tug. "What are we going to do tonight?"

"The same thing we do every night, Eddie," I responded, lighting the cigar and savoring the taste of the smoke. "Try to take over the movies."

With that, we made our entrance.

-Through A Lens Darkly: The Autobiography of Orson Welles
, Orson Welles

[FDW]

Originally Posted by statichaos

snip

Another Nice update Statichaos, I can't wait to see what you next.