Netters:
Tonight, at 9 p.m., on CBS, there is a movie called "The Man Who
Saved Christmas," based on a real-life story.
The hero of the tale is A.C. Gilbert, who before he took up the
profession of toy-maker in the WW I era, was a natonal indoor AAU PV champ,
also an IC4A champ, and also briefly held the world record for the PV at
12-7 1.2 in 1908; His former Yale teammate, Walter Dray, who had previously
held it at 12-5 1/2, reclaimed it later in the year at 12-9 1/2.
The story line has Gilbert "saving" Christmas when, in the heat of
WW I, the Secretary of Defense proposed that there be no celebration of the
holiday that year so that money that might be spent on toys be converted to
the war effort.. He had previously convinced the Gilberts, father and son,
to turn their you factory into a munitions plant.
I doubt there will be any PV action since the role of AC Gilbert is
being played by the rather rotund Jason Alexander, who is also considerably
older than Giilbert would have been at the time as he was a Yale undergrad
as late as 1907.
Ed Grant
{S: Lou Grant (pardon me, Ed Asner) plays the senior Gilbert/
