Harvard Professors as Well as Students Are Guilty of Hissing, Claims University Theatre

Reactions of pleased students to motion pictures of real merit build up a strong appreciation from the entire audience, according to Stanley Sumner, manager of the University Theatre.

Sumner attributes this to the fact that students are quick to see the hidden meanings and subtle implications in films.

Students are not above reproach as far as hissing is concerned, however. "For instance," says Sumner, "undergraduates hiss newsreel shots of Roosevelt, the townies return the compliment when Hoover's visage flashes on the screen." From this reaction he deduces that the student body is fundamentally Republican.

Apropos of hissing, Mr. Sumner feels that there is no excuse for it. "It is the thing which we must keep down," he says, "because it is a disturbance." It all started when the theatre introduced the Hearst News, which was discontinued last spring in response to a petition from the students. "The Hearst News was eliminated simply because a fair portion of our audience objected to it." It was the students that gave the rest of the audience the inspiration.

Mr. Sumner's clientele is rather unique, in that it is composed of three distinct groups "the so-called common people, the professors and the Brattle Street element, and the undergraduates, not to mention the youthful audience at Saturday morning's Mickey Mouse Matinees."

Despite Mr. Sumner's great efforts to please, on one occasion an efficient usher apprehended a Harvard professor who was hissing violently. Assured that his money would be refunded the embarrassed gentleman complied to the request to leave without resistance.