Old Sayings

Eddie Bracken

In 1944 Eddie Bracken was in a Preston Sturges film called Hail, The Conquering Hero.

I like Eddie Bracken, and I always get him mixed up with Donald O'Connor for some reason. You probably know him. He played Roy Walley, owner of Walley's World in National Lampoon's Vacation.
Anyway, at the beginning of Conquering Hero, Eddie is sitting at a bar, looking forlorn. The bartender refills his beer and inquires into his low spirits.
After a suggestion that Eddie should find himself a "skirt", the bartender becomes philosophical and says "Smile and the world smiles with you; frown and you frown alone."

It occurred to me that nowadays, when we speak of politics and the state of the union, that adage is reversed, and the frowns find company, while smiles are scarce as hens' teeth.

At Walley World

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