[Ads-l] Broadway Review Origin: "I Am a Camera" "No Leica"

[Stephen Goranson]

Speaking of bad reviews:
Diana Rigg, No Turn Unstoned: The Worst Ever Theatrical Reviews (1983).
I saw her in London, in Abelard and Heloise.
Lucky me.
sg

On Fri, Oct 3, 2025 at 1:06 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <
00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> A famous one-line theater review employed a horrible pun, but the
> identity of the creator has remained uncertain.
>
> The target of the review was the 1951 Broadway play "I Am a Camera" by
> John Van Druten which was adapted from Christopher Isherwood's 1939
> novel "Goodbye to Berlin".  The two-word appraisal simply stated: "No
> Leica". This wordplay was based on the pronunciation "like-a" for the
> German camera company Leica.
>
> Drama critics Walter Kerr, Caroline Lejeune, and Kenneth Tynan have
> all received credit. In addition, the joke has been attributed to
> witty writers such as Dorothy Parker, Jean Kerr, and Goodman Ace.
>
> A citation for the earliest close match was posted by John Baxindine
> on Bluesky recently. The joke appeared in the widely syndicated
> newspaper column of Walter Winchell in December 1951.
>
> [ref] 1951 December 12, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader Evening News,
> Broadway Midnight by Walter Winchell, Quote Page 47, Column 1 and 2,
> Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com) [/ref]
>
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/wilkes-barre-times-leader-the-evening-n/181593291/
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Goodman Ace's capsule criticism of the play, "I Am a Camera": "No
> Leica!" ... (Sorry, folks. These Are The Jokes!).
> [End excerpt]
>
> Based on current knowledge I think that U.S. humorist Goodman Ace
> deserves credit for this joke. The underlying pun was in circulation
> several years before the comical review appeared. For example, in 1937
> "Sales Management: The Magazine of Modern Marketing" printed the
> following:
>
> [ref] 1937 September 1, Sales Management: The Magazine of Modern
> Marketing, Volume 41, Number 5, Scratch Pad, Quote Page 54, Column 3,
> Sales Management Inc., New York. (Verified with scans) [/ref]
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Monkey songs were popular at the turn of the century. You may remember
> one called "Under the Bamboo Tree." A currently popular camera reminds
> me of the refrain of that song: "If you Leica me like I Leica you."
> [End excerpt]
>
> Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article:
> https://quoteinvestigator.com/2025/10/02/no-leica/
>
> Earlier citations, interesting material, and feedback would be welcome.
> Garson
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org