50 years ago in Expo history: Henry Fonda’s one-man play is ‘finest’ performance onstage, says S-R critic

Movie star Henry Fonda performed the one-man play “Clarence Darrow” at Expo ’74, and The Spokesman-Review critic said it “may quite simply be the finest one-man play ever staged.”

“Fonda is folksy, down to earth, full of stories anecdotes and wry wit, with some of the choicest comments especially pointed considering the present human condition,” the critic wrote.

The Chronicle critic was nearly as impressed. He called it “letter perfect.”

In other Expo news, officials continued to bat down allegations that the fair was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

Joe Scholnick, recently fired as advance ticket sale manager, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit, alleging the fair was on track to lose $3 million.

Officials said that figure did not bear “any relation to reality” and that the fair would break even, at the very least. Mayor David Rodgers said Scholnick was merely trying to “get attention.”

Scholnick’s allegations would prove to be unfounded.

From 100 years ago: Gonzaga University announced plans to build a new “college hall” at the corner of Boone Avenue and Standard Street. Father Brogan called it a “modern fireproof building, built to conform with the style of the other Gonzaga buildings.”

The new building would provide space for lecture rooms and living quarters for 146 students. Construction on DeSmet Hall, as it would be named, would begin in spring 1925 and open in the fall. A second building, containing the library and lecture rooms, was planned “in the near future.”