Writing career Clare Boothe Luce

poster 1939 film women

a writer considerable powers of invention , wit, luce published stuffed shirts, promising volume of short stories, in 1931. scribner s magazine compared work evelyn waugh s vile bodies bitter humor. new york times found socially superficial, praised lovely festoons of epigrams , beguiling stylishness: malice there may in these pages has felinity purest angoran. book s device of characters interlinked story story borrowed sherwood anderson s winesburg, ohio (1919), impressed andre maurois, asked luce s permission imitate it. luce published many magazine articles. real talent, however, playwright.

after failure of initial stage effort, marital melodrama abide me (1935), rapidly followed satirical comedy, women. deploying cast of no fewer 40 actresses discussed men in scorching language, became broadway smash in 1936 and, 3 years later, successful hollywood movie. toward end of life, luce claimed half century, had steadily received royalties productions of women around world. later in 1930s, wrote 2 more successful, less durable plays, both made movies: kiss boys goodbye , margin error. latter work presented all-out attack on nazi s racist philosophy opening night in princeton, new jersey, on october 14, 1939, attended albert einstein , thomas mann. otto preminger directed , starred in both broadway production , screen adaptation.

much of luce s famously acid wit ( no deed goes unpunished , widowhood fringe benefit of marriage , hospital no place sick ) can traced days when, wealthy young divorcee in 1930s, became caption writer @ vogue , then, associate editor , managing editor of vanity fair. not edited works of such great humorists p. g. wodehouse , corey ford contributed many comic pieces of own, signed , unsigned. humor, retained old age, 1 of pillars of clare s character.

general chiang kai-shek , soong mei-ling welcome clare boothe luce, april 1942

another branch of luce s literary career of war journalism. europe in spring result of four-month tour of britain, belgium, netherlands, italy, , france in 1939–1940 correspondent life magazine. described widening battleground of world war ii world men have decided die because unable find way live together.

in 1941, luce , husband toured china , reported on status of country , war japan. profile of general douglas macarthur on cover of life on december 8, 1941, day after japanese attacked pearl harbor. after united states entered war, luce toured military installations in africa, india, china, , burma, compiling further series of reports life. published interviews general harold alexander, commander of british troops in middle east, chiang kai-shek, jawaharlal nehru, , general stilwell, commander of american troops in china-burma-india theater.

her lifelong instinct being in right place @ right time , easy access key commanders made influential figure on both sides of atlantic. endured bombing raids , other dangers in europe , far east. did not hesitate criticize unwarlike lifestyle of general sir claude auchinleck s middle east command in language recalled barbs of best playwriting. 1 draft article life, noting general lived far egyptian front in houseboat, , mocking raf pilots flying fairies , discovered british customs when passed through trinidad in april 1942. caused such allied consternation briefly faced house arrest. coincidentally or not, auchinleck fired few months later winston churchill. varied experiences in major war theaters qualified seat following year on house military affairs committee.

luce never wrote autobiography. she, however, willed enormous archive of personal papers library of congress.