60 MINUTES {NORMAN MAILER AND MARILYN MONROE; SUEZ CANAL; BOBBY RIGGS; BILLIE JEAN KING} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of news magazine programs. In the first segment, Mike Wallace discusses Norman Mailer's recent non-fiction book about Marilyn Monroe, "Marilyn: A Biography." Mailer, needing money "very badly," originally agreed to write a mere "preface" to a book of photographs of Monroe, whom he never met prior to her 1962 death. He became enamored of her tragic story, however, and wrote a hasty biography, though conducted no interviews and instead made use of other writers' articles about her, to the point where Fred Lawrence Guiles, author of 1969's "Norma Jean: The Life of Marilyn Monroe," accused him of plagiarism. Robert Markel, editor-in-chief of publisher Grosset & Dunlap, speaking from a lavish literary cocktail party, states that the book's success will greatly benefit the publishing house, and photographer Laurence Schiller admits that Mailer stands to make great sums from the royalties. The book's final chapter implies that Monroe's death may have been murder, not suicide, relating to her alleged affair with Robert Kennedy, though Mailer refuses to commit to a firm position and Monroe's housekeeper, Eunice Murray, firmly refutes the idea that anyone else could have entered the house on Monroe's final night. Wallace upbraids Mailer for not making the effort to interview any of Monroe's associates, though Markel argues that some authors are overwhelmed by their "detective chases." Mailer admits that the book "got out there half-finished," but the very high sales numbers and widespread publicity suggest that the audience is unconcerned by its flaws.
Next, Morley Safer covers the deterioration of the Suez Canal, explaining that the onetime "Eighth Wonder of the World" was built largely by Egyptian peasants at the behest of French developer Ferdinand de Lesseps and opened in 1869 in a lavish celebration, for which Giuseppe Verdi wrote the famous opera "Aida." Britain enjoyed great profits from the canal, which significantly shortened the sea route to the Americas (ships were previously forced to sail around the entire continent of Africa), but Egypt itself received little until President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the canal, "enraging" Britain and France. Europe invaded in 1956, though withdrew in response to worldwide pressure, and Egypt oversaw the canal's most profitable period until 1967, when Israel, previously banned from using the canal, soundly defeated Egypt's air force in a six-day war. The coast of Egypt, where many citizen previously found jobs along the canal, is now filled with "shell-shocked ghost towns." Safer adds that "super-tankers" that are simply too large for the canal have been destroying the waterway, and the plans to widen and deepen the structure have been indefinitely shelved. The three men of the Canal Authority are unable to move ahead with their ideas, and Egypt is now planning to bypass the Suez Canal entirely by linking Suez to Alexandria with a pipeline. Britain, for its part, now considers the Suez Canal to be a thing of the past, aware that the fees required by Nasser's plan defeat the original purpose of its convenience.
Next, Wallace profiles eccentric 55-year-old tennis champ Bobby Riggs, who recently challenged young female star Billie Jean King to a match after soundly defeating Australian star Margaret Court on Mother's Day. In Vegas, gambling enthusiast Riggs racks up some "easy money" as his fellow tennis players comment on his "ridiculous" antics and personal style. Riggs explains that, after his tennis success as a teen, he became an everyday family man and "disappeared" into the business world for twenty years, but has now divorced and wishes to return to sports. He tells a stunned Wallace that he consumes over 400 vitamin supplements a day and cops to dyeing his hair, though swears that he is not "vain." He plays a variety of athletic games against some famous friends, including boxer Joe Louis, and assures Wallace that he will still be active in 20 more years and plans to live to a "minimum" of 95 years of age.
His future competitor, King, noted for her confident playing style, explains that male players often have "ego trips" when they are defeated by women, declaring that she enjoys winning "her way." Wallace and Safer then make a wager on the upcoming "Battle of the Sexes."
Finally, on "Point/Counterpoint," James J. Kilpatrick and Nicholas von Hoffman debate the Supreme Court's recent ruling that state governments have the right to make local decisions regarding pornography and obscenity. Kilpatrick agrees that not everything should be covered by the First Amendment, and that which "degrades and debases" the human mind should be banned. Von Hoffman, however, points out that Kilpatrick's own home state of Oklahoma recently banned Playboy magazine – in which the respectable Kilpatrick himself was a guest columnist. Finally, Safer reads out some viewer letters responding to their recent stories about Watergate and the United States Postal Service. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: November 30, 1972 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:23
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:07427
- GENRE: News
- SUBJECT HEADING: News; Education/Information; Monroe, Marilyn; Suez Canal; Opera
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1968-
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - 3-in-One household oil
- TV - Commercials - Dentu-Creme denture toothpaste
- TV - Commercials - Formula 409 spray cleaner
- TV - Commercials - Northwestern Mutual Life insurance
- TV - Commercials - Pepto-Bismal stomach medication
- TV - Commercials - Polaroid cameras
- TV - Commercials - STP oil Treatment
- TV - Commercials - Sure deodorant
- TV - Promos - CBS Friday Night Movies
CREDITS
- Don Hewitt … Executive Producer
- Palmer Williams … Senior Producer
- Harry Moses … Producer
- John Tiffin … Producer
- Margaret Osmer … Producer
- Cherry Farrow … Assistant Producer
- Arthur Bloom … Director
- Mike Wallace … Reporter
- Morley Safer … Reporter
- James J. Kilpatrick … Guest
- Nicholas von Hoffman … Guest
- Norman Mailer … Interviewee
- Robert Markel … Interviewee
- Lawrence Schiller … Interviewee
- Eunice Murray … Interviewee
- Bobby Riggs … Interviewee
- Billie Jean King … Interviewee
- Margaret Court
- Ferdinand de Lesseps
- Fred Lawrence Guiles
- Robert F. Kennedy
- Marilyn Monroe
- Gamal Abdel Nasser
- Giuseppe Verdi
- Joe Louis