Variety (Feb 1934)

54 VARIETY L EG ITIMA¥ E Tuesday, February 13, 1934 Plays on Broadway SING AND WHISTLE Farce comedy In three acts,. presented at the Fu'.ton Feb. 10 by .Cropper and Truex; written by Milton Herbert;, staged by Ernest Truex, who Is starred. Sylvia Jillson.vi...... Sylvia Field FranJi Jillsonl...........v. .. . .Ernest Truex Carole Dickens Dorothy Mathevya HiiKO Diclcens ..Donald Macdonold A fbur-persdn, one-setter flgures to be Ideal as a.cleaner-upper, la in fact the Ideal sbr^of set-up thalt riiaSie mbre ttiaii one.Broaclway for- tuhe. But the -Vital element the play and in this. Instance 'Sing aiid. Whistle' (also known as 'When Ghosts Meet') isn't good, enough. It i^ aii author-actor combination. Milton . Hferbert Gropper did the plajfwrlghflng, Ernest Tr.iiex tops the cast and' staged the showi Therefore, a click would mean plenty, of sugar to both. They are right about the ad;- miss>on at $2.75, but main support will probably come from cut rates. They'd have been rlghter by rtaking the top. two'bucks even. gtory idea is i hardly novel; Au- thor throws twd young, married couples together, not with the sex triangle in mind. It seemed there was too much, bickering between the wives and husban48 result iiii pleasant diversion. • Sylvia and Prank . Jillson are roused on Sunday' mprnlhg to greet Carole, and Hugo Dlckieris, .who .Just arrived from Chicago. Carole and plete with these quiint Pensy Dutch garbllngs of the English lan- guage; and most of them not with- out appeal. The saltitatlons are something like this: *I gife a good efening'; arid when the doorbell doesn't work/ Otto Strumpkopf im- provises a sign, 'The bell don't knock, please, bump'). , The pow-wower's two children, the blind son aind the . college edu- cated daughter, iHie more, enllglit^. ened but tolerate their devout par- ent's foolishness so long as^ it works little harm out of respect for the obvious; sincerity of his efforts, for Emii believes himself an emis- isary of the Deity in his healing pow- ers among his tribesmen. Victor Kilian is tiptop , histrioli- icaily in a homely characterization, and jane Seympur is. likewise very fetching with her frlehdly rielghborr linesa arid trusting belief in the faith-healer, fPr hadn't Emil Hot- nagel shown her how to snare as her second husband the man of her choice? (That Emil iriixed his healing abracadabra With not a lit- tle common sense. Circumstantial co-operation never entered the thoughts of these simple, trusting Pennsy Dutch folk.) ' These are other conslsftently good' performances by almost every memr ber. of the cast, notably Margaret .Mullen as the vllliage siren .and By-.. rnn- fTnrirflt>i VflB thft hHnrt flon. time as the boy wbo Ukea his likker but Ukea his bride eviah more, Bar- bara Bobbins has no easy ajsslgn- ment as Noel, but, too, gives an ex- cellent performance. Brian Donleyy tiaii had better jobs, but as Pat's suitor he scored. Scene with, the dizzy maid was apparently written to strengthen Donlevy's part, but the bit was not so hot. Charles tiawrence and Dorothy Vernon in smaller parts shared .In the comedy lines when Miss Bylngtoh, was in the exits. Reviewers seenied in doajbt iabout the play's chances, but several thought P. Dodd Ackerjnan did a corking Job in designing the; set- tings-—— . -T- ~ f beer. - PLAYS OUT OF TOWN DODSWORTH Philadelphia, Feb. 12. Max Gordon,, who figures' Phila- delphia as his 'lucky-rhunch' town, appears to ^have rung' . the . bell of success .again with this, draitiktiza- tidri by Sidney Howard of." Sinclair Lewis' best seller, 'Dodsworth.' -.In fa<Jt, it looks ."as If Gbrdoh had achieved hot' only" one of his most artistic biit also one of his most potentially . remunerative hits with the new piece. Even Philly, which has. said.- 'thumbs-aown' to any number of worthwhile plays :this season, has been, worked up into something closely akin to a lather >y this vehicle for Walter Huston, list Tfitu^ nfitl frnrri thp tBr^tH. of H61- TEMPS DIFFICILES (•Hard Times*) Paris, Jan. 29. Play in four .aots by Bdouaird Bourdet. At the Mlchodlere, Paris, Marcel... ......... .Victor Boucher Jerome......... ... . ... • * •. .Jacques Baumer I)db Lia.roohe. '•>•••• •..«.<...-..Dallo Maxlnie i ■ r .Bergeron Armaiid i .'... .BonVaUet Jean-Pierre ;> .Christian . Gerard Melanle Laroche......... .Marguerite Deval Stfzy.. ...,.............Jeanne Provost ~7ntn«rMai>le-..;; r.-.-.^v.-.-Heleiw Perdrieres- Antonln-Faure,.......... .' Jeanne . I^lon Lbulou i .. U......;... Maria Promet Charlotte ,. .>.... i ■ 4.•.. ....... .Engel Julie... ...................,... .Katle Varley Bourdet never wrote a better play. Of his dramas sd far this;' is the most likely to last, because, it is hot as dependent' on current events for success, tt is Just an exposure of the reasons why the Prericli .high bourgeoisie, pr upper middle., class, is 'rotting. Has timely value; also, because of cui*resnt finanpe scandals. For America a .natural after the last actr. with a rather revolting scene, has been amended. Fof the screen, ditto. In ; fact,, it Is some- what a reminder of 'Di.nitier at Eight,' with : identical casting possibilities both for screen and stage, bu.t 'with more terseness and less cpm<edy..<: Victor Boucher heads a igreat cast; and his acting is such that it will be hard to find an. American equivalent, so well has he assimilated his char- Plays Abroad acter. production is very good,;. a;s is.customary at the Micliodlere. Story shows a wealthy French fainily of industrialists where love means nothing and money is God; hence in-breeding to keep the dou^h in the family. However, one of the sons has turned out to be an a;rtlst, h&s married and lives away froni the family with his own wife and. children. But the stlfEnecks rriake up with him when they want his share of the family fortunes to help; thctn get control of a rival concern, When he is invltfed to the family stronghold; It Is thought a: great idea to marry his sweet young daughter to a degenerate son and heir of: a wealthy widow, so as to annex her money. Last act, terrific biit too strong for America, takes place in the bride's bedroom when, she tries to escape from hfer husband. Finally help comes and she leaves him. It is practibaily a merciless ex- posure, with very few' of the best French families unable, to deny all counts of the Indictment.^. Metro has an option on it. Stent. the Cheka cellars, In an old church ;ur.ned Into revolutionary head- quarterst Here the different types of enemies of ■, the. revolution^the high-born and beautiful woman spy, the priest, the bearded, sancti- monious Jewish speculatbr, the Sb- clal' RevPlutlonaries with prple- tarlan conscience and those with- out, low-down .frontier-runners and prostitutes^are thrown together in a hodge-ppdge. The horror arid th© 1 tumor of their-sltuatlorft: are" shown lu brilliant flashes. Perhaps, the outstanding iridl- vidUal piece:of work ia Zuskin's, as an aging physician who had been a revolutionist In his youth but had, In his own phrase, 'dlvPrced ..the revolution.' He' wants.' to reni&in an onlpoker, an outsider.. But in this he does not succeed: The revo- lutlpn. can. brook, no apathy:. it draws in everyone r and obliges isverypne to go on one side of the barricade or . the other. The fear and. anxiety unxler which he lives, his pathetic; and sometimes ludi- crous efforts , to steer clear; of the realitiPs, Zusicin registers with isreat skill. ^ : The theme and Its embodiment are too spficifically Russian-jewish, too intimately of 1919.and its.locale, -.6 mean liiuch to a foreign audience. Only the Jewish theatre itself, could do it justice. There, has beeij sbrrie talk of bringing this theatre to America. '(OttP Kahn ;ls.TmentlOned ■ over here iiis having been interested in the idifai) If; It gets to New. York and .other centers .of Jewish population it will be assure^ of an- interested piiblic. And prppevly hahdleci it should draw upon a wide non-Jewish public as well. MikhoelS, leading actor In the Jewish troupe since its orgeinization, is now ita director as well. His rise to .directorship fpllpwed the .failure of' Grpnbvsky, now in Paris direct- ing pictures^ to return to Russia. The thinigs Staged by Grprtovskj'— among the'rii masterpieces.like 'Ben- jamin the Third,' 'Two. Hundred Million,' 'Sorceress,* etc., are still in the repertory. Lj/ons. L'HOMME CTHE MAN') Paris, Jan. 23. Thriee-act comedy by Denys Amlel. Pre- sented at the Saint Georges by Benolt* Leon .Deut3ch, Jacques Jean Debucourt Claude Valentine .Tessler Madeleine i. Henee DevlUers Antoinette i • •.. Solange Slcard Janlnc...i.Janle dairjana Luclenne.. ...Nina Duplessy Prank had 'gone together*- several years before; but she upped and married Hugo. a. Chicago novelist. They gPt along well enough, exciept that Carole so frequently mentioned Frank that ;Hugo decided to meet this host that once attracted his wife. Friarik is a fellow with a Job and Is upset when Sylvia suggests that the other .couple, stay on for a visit. Prpbieha of wherP they are to sleep Is partly .solved, but there la a Jam and',, for .no special reason, Hugo and the Pther. man's wife Sylvia, de- cide to make the rounds of the night spots. ... "That leaves (jarole and Frank on their own and they promptly get. stewed., That ..second, act Interlude ts t-prPbably Intended to be the 'how's, comedy highlight, but some- how It was disappointing. Curtain has the assorted' couple In bed, , with Garble' 'playfully pouring, briandy over Frank's face.. . Morning 'comes with the absent pair still absent. Frank and Carol are possessed of hangovei's. When the good-timers return, there are flurries of recrimination, but noth- ing really ha.ppens. The visitors take! the air and the indications are that neither marriage was a mis- take, Ernest Truex Is a farceur .;who has handed Broadway many k laugh heretofore, but not so much this time. . Donald MacDonald Is the other fellow. Sylvia Field and Dor- othy Matthews are thp wives, with thp latter having the heavier as- signment. 'Sing and Whistle' has Its mb- ment,s but -not enough of them. Ibee. Despite the favorable- histrionic attributes the appeal of 'Broom- sticks, Amen!' is decidedly limited and its Broadwiy b. o. longevity likewise. AJbeh- NO QUESTIONS ASKED Cbmedy, 'drama In three acts. Presented at the Masque Feb. .0 by John Golden. Written by /.nne Morrison Chapln. Staged by the producer.' Evelyn... Noel Parker. Richard Goi-hnm Soifepy Raebum. Pet Walsh Mary..'.;.. Willie Parker... Ernie Dulaney. Harriet Wells... Miss Kubec.. Dr. King... Mrs. Gorham.',. BROOMSTICKS, AMEN! Thomae KUpalrlck presents this play In three acts (one set) by Elmer Qreensfelder. *<taged by Arthur J. BeCkhardt; setting ieelgned by. .Tom Adrian Cracraft. Opened Feb. 0 at the Little. N. T.. $2.7.5 top." Herman Hofnngel Byrori McOrath Crista Hbfnagel. ......Helen Huberth Frieda Sulzbach...., Jane Seymour Mlrina HofnaKcl, Jean Adair T3mll Hofnaeel WlUlam F. Schoeller Otto Strumpkopf Victor Kilian Rika XJffeimnn............Margaret Mullen Vincent LambTt K. Elmo Lowe Adolph Oansdllll ^ ..Jules Epallly .Ifarry Dobnon........... .'.George Carleton Those Who saw Elmer Greene- felder'S'play last summer during its Westchester. stoPk' break-iii aver that tiew Fields''clld very weli in the Pennsylvania ' Dutch pow-wowerte role which WIUiarirt F. SPhPeH.er so convincingly personates now. Re- gardless of comparispns, this cast probably comparPs as fa;vorably with , any previous showing—Jahe Seymour and "Victor Kilian ai-e hold >>vers from the summer stock try- but somehow the play isn't there. It falls into the"robacco Rpad' "ycle of picturing, a cross-sectiPri of Vmerlcan strata, this time .the "^ennsy Dutch territory, where two ::iative .faith healers are bitterly ioaloiia of each other, and both de cidedly hateful of doctors and law yers, particularly accredited medi- cos. The only difference is that Emil Hofnaigel (Schoeller) accepts no money from his patients^ whereas the competitive hex-expert who like wise chases out the witches, sans benefit of the most plementary sani tation, admits that when he is very sick he sneikks off to a doctor for some really expert medical attenr- tioh. > With' him it's a: racket. ^^t^lrtHir^pfflltetitive^^he^-profes-i sor, Adolph GansdIlliger (.Tules Epailly) who proves the legal un- ' doing' of Ehiil Hpfnagel When the latter attempts to cure hls grand- Phlld with pow-wowery, and with fatal results.. To complicate the drama, Hof- nagel's only daughter marries a .loctor, althPugh he Is accepted 'hiefly through stringency of clr- umstance which revolves about a, :tfo .soon baby.' '(The play iif? re- . .Emnta. Bunting . .Barbara Robblrts .... ..MUo Boulton ... Ross A lexander . .Spring, ^ylngton ., .Barna. Ostertag- .Char'.es Lawrence ... .Brian Dontevy ..Margery Garrett ,; . Dorothy Vernon ......Joseph King ....Kate McCortib Announced as 'A Broken Doll,' John Golden opened his latest try under the changed title, certainly an Improvement. 'No . QuestiPns' Is better than most of the winter t>ro- duction crop, but hardly, an out- stander. Limited.. engagehient in- dicated. Writing is mixed and at points over-written. Plot Is along riielo- dramatic lines, but thetp is a com- edy vein thait really counts. 'Girl who Is In a delicate condition quar- rels with her lover and marries ain- other youth after a night of ' wet spots. Hier situation is airly brushed aside, so that matter of plausibility or credibility Is a question of audi ehce viewpoint. In favor of Anne Morrison. Cha- pln's standard of morality is the fact that her leads are not a sordid lot. Noel, the girl, is. a cloak model. Sonny Raeburn, the young architect whom'she weds, is likeable, stewed or sober. So. is. his mother, Pet Walsh, who has survived two mar- riages and Is a gay widow. Having inherited wealth from her last hus band, Who had a chain of grocery stPres, they have a home at Sands Point, but most of the .story unfplds In their terraced duplex apartment in New York. She la for enjoying herself, and believies she earned all that was bequeathed; her 'after sleep- ing in the same bed with Jim Walsh for .18. years.' Prolog scene is aboard a StatPn Island ferry, about, to leave the slip at St. George for Manhattan. Sonny Is so.stinko that he thinks he's on a liner going to Bermuda, but not too blpttp to save iSioel from trying to leap into the drink aftPr the split With the boy friend. Seems the lat ter did want to marry her, but his stern, missionary mother was in the way. Then the offstage uniPn with Sonny, whose bride, is welcomed by an Idyllic mother-in-law. Pat. Three months elapse, with Noel the sun- shine of the apartment.. . She has straightened' out thpi youth, who .Is on the wagon and doing;, good work at hjs profession. He nor his mother care nothing of .Nopl's past. -They only cai'e. that she is a great girl Every time she tries to exi>lain things to him he refuses to listen. But one night when Noel flares up at an innocent remark from Pat, Sonny goes to the bottle. Noel Is handling him okay until 'a parade from Stateri Island' comes to spill the beans. They are group of. me diocrities, who, however, have no difficulty crashing Into the suppps cdly class apartment house,. Spnny half nuts from booze, gets all the dlPt-and=pulis=a=ro(Jr=shootlng.-him self through the arm. Finish has him wanting Noel whether she is 'eating for two' or not. So every bPdy's happy except the folks whP live dPwn in Nick Holde's borough -Dialog is frequently fuhriy, and Spring Bylngtoit as Sonny's mother has .most of the comedy- to handle Also, she Is supposed tP be serious, though seeing nothing tragic in her new daughter-ln-law'.s condition Ross Alexander again scores, this wood. 'Dodsworth* is the jexceptlPri that proves the rule about book-playr^ also atiib.ut episodic plays. Not only the content but the st>irlt 'of the Lewis npvel have been splendidly caught and reproduced by Howar<} as^the adapter. What's; even more surprising IS that the diffuse nar- rative, told In seventeen;, scenes and jumping from, the American middle-west to' mid-ocean and thence to London, Paris, Berlin and Naples,. gives the effect of being a compact, taut, and Intensely dra- matic tale'lacking all semblance of that staccato mptlon generally found In heavily produced pieces; of this kind. That's-partly due. to. the splendid mechanical staging of the play. JP Mielziner's capital Settings (a;ll of- them exceptionally fine in them- selves) are amazingly well handled- by a revolving-stage process whldh cuts waits down to a minimum and' keeps the flow of action smooth and natural. RPbert Sinclair has done a corking piece of work in the direction and is certainly going^ to be heatid from soon and often. ' Howeverr with all due and titting credit to Messrs. Gordon,.; Howard, Mielziner and Sinclair (to say nothr ing of the intrinsically Interesting and comuelllng story that Lewis wrote about a middle-aged Ameri- can trving to enjoy a long-delayed and much anticipated holiday) it must be admitted thiat all their ef- forts might have counted for little if It had not been for Huston's por trayal of the title role. Gordon de serves a couple of extra laurel Wreaths for insisting on the return to the stage for this part of this conscientious and trpmendously human character actor who hftsn't been - seen on Broadway since 1929 and not In Phllly since 1926. Huston's performartpe of Dods worth Impresses as one of the stage's best accomplishments -of the last deca,de. By under-playing and by the use of a repression that does not mean slurring or inaudi- bility, Huston creates an every-day human being recognizable to every body in the audience. He. gains his effects, not by any pyrotechnlcal histrionics and not by any one highly emotional scene, but by steady and measured character-building. There isn't a false note in his depiction of this pathetic American I 'siness man, and the audience reception of his last se6ne"»is; a sincere tribute to his efforts. The applause that greets his final scene every night, here in Philly, is a swell tribute to HustPn's persPnallty and performance, and, of course, to Sidney Howard's faithful tra-nscriptlon of the Sinclair Lewl? character. They .iit on the edge of (Continued on pagp 56) MIDAS HADIN Moscow, Jian. 20i Four-act play In Yiddish,- by David Ber- gelson. Produced by .-the State Jewish theatre of Moscow; directed by S. Mikhoels; music, Leo Pulver; assistant directors, V; Ztiskln, I. Sbidlo, M, Shtelnan; Complete Rebufldiiig For Pittsburgh Alyiri ittsburgh, Feb. 12. Entire interior of the Alvin the- atre, fprmer Shubert legit house, will be remodeled, E. U, Snaman, rental agent for Harvard college, owner of the property, has Just an- nounced, Alvin was leased some- time ago for a long term to Harris Amu.scment Company and was sup- .posed to get started, as a flrst-run plcture ^sjte. by the ja st P f Novcm- "ber. ' , Pepeated delays, encountered in cbhstruictiPn problems, brought de- cision 10 d the house over entirely.' putting 400 extra seats downstairs. Th'at will give the Alvin a seating capacity of around 2,500. New plans will prevent theatre's opening for at least another three months, with possibility that it may not be in operation until next fall. That the Jewish Theatre of Mos cow deserves more attention than it is getting, both Inside and outside the Soviet frontiers, was proved again In the first rate performance of . David Bergelsoh's -Midas Hadin' ('Measure of Justice').. Bergelson is now almost a tradition among Yid dish writers. His new piece, dealing Squarely with the ' revolutlbhary milieu, attests'that his powers are still high. ThS half-obscurity thrown over the play by it's prodnction in a mi- nority language has saved it from becoming a political sensation; one that perhaps = might have, proved embarrassing if put on, let us say, at the Moscow Art Theatre. With a candor rare on the Soviet stage, it takes the audience into Cheka cellars crowded with prisonprs of the revolution; ' to extemporized revolutionary trials where . death aentences are distributed without-a flicker of the eye. "The ruthlessness aiid terror,' as enacted In a Jewish frontier town in 1919, are. conveyed in no uncertain terms. The plot, If any, , is the civil war on the Soviet-Polish front,, with the local population of the Jewish town as characters. The capitalists, large and. petty, are trying to turn a dis honest :pehny by speculating in fake passports, gold, ' leather, dPllars; counter-revolutionary cabmen, Jew ish and iiussian, cPnduct. would-be emigres and . contrabandists and spie.s across the border; the local branch Pf. the: Social Revolutionary party (deadly enemy pf the feolsher viks) plots its plots with-a. WPmiiri as leader; the typical over-ideal Ized Communist, Comi-ade Fillpov though sick and worn, rallies the poor peasants and poor Jews against their common enemies and restrains hot-heads in his own ranks and parcels but justice like a Soviet Solomon; The: thing, in other words, is epi sodal rather than .connected' nariiir jt.LVjp.. N.evert.hple.s.s_ the pmptiohal Possible Broadway material after it has been rewrittpn. . As is, a lame : duck, but a sure European picture bet. For the other side, too high in flavor for Yanlvce film audi* ences aS It stands. Outstanding feature of performance Is the play ing oiE the two women, Valentine Tessler aa\d Renee DevlUers. The play is tpo long and appears to have been padded to fit - stage performance duratlpni First act is anything hut indispensable and the second half of the second iact would be better out. Play opens- showing the happy- menage of a young and successful picture director and his wife; also a delightful ypung woman who is a friend pf both without any cloud on. that friendship, Despite this the wife notices that her husband and the girl are mutually attracted. So she explains to her husband , that he must make the girl his mistress, and no hard feelings on her side. The husband goes through with It, but feels like a fool, the mistress thinks that taking another woman's husband with her consent is like near beer, and thP wife that she has made herself a sap in: their eyes.' .She and the girl have a scrap while the husband is easing put his tem- per In Some Riviera bordello, whence he returns to find his wife, alone and the girl- gone. In Paris all thieatvegoer.s will probably want to see It,, but if it is ever done by .second-rate actors the play is gpne.. Metro ha.s an option on it for plctiiries. MR. WHITtlNGTON ; London. Feb. 2. Musical In two tirt.<!, by, CUftofd Grey, G'rentorpx Nc-writan. Bpuijlas Furbcrv rnu.- 316 by .Tohn • W.. (3ro°ii, Jfiseph TunbrMKe. Jack Waller; .dnncc.i mid eti-^PiiiUI'.-f- W- J'apk •Ponohu(» nnd Jtick" rtuflio-nan: 'Pro- duction staged by Jack Uurhnnan at the Hippodrome. Fob* 1. fast Inoludlntt Wil- liam Kendall, John Mortimer. Elsie Ttfin- dolph, M.-xrk Stone. Jn^k Buc^'anivn, Is'nth- leen Glb.90ri. Alfrt-d Druyton. It'ieil Enuiey, .Cameron TT.-iII, Trcno Vcre. Uobnt TAr\e, noma Beaumont, Kdwiird Oordon. Law- rence Nalsmllh, Tim Konier. lUchnrd Harris. >tcnsion maintainod" throughout—at any rate after a weak first act—, gives'the play a dynamic continuity The sets and acting are consider ably stylized, like most of this, the atve's work, but more organized and comprehensible than its early pro ducllons. The acting Is uniformly good and turns some poorly written sceiies to advantage. The most effective passages, as is' almost inevitable, are those in Despite a meagre plot, tins n<'W Jack:*r.Uchanan show gpts by, Jne star. It l.s machine-nirtO-O, but a fairly good job was turned by a quartet of libretto and lyric wiiU-rs and a trio of c<>mpo«er. l*ro- .cxariimed a,s a niu-siciil slii> ', .it i.** more of a nni.sical .burlo.s(|ue and criticism is more, pr less di.sarmed by making the central portion of it a delirium. This pcrniit.s TUichi>.n;iii to become' (Continued on page 56)