Variety (Sep 1936)

56 VARIETY L EftI¥IMATE Wednesday, September 23, 1936 PIftys On ft^oadway REFLEICTED GLORY ComeJy drama In three acta presented at the Morosco, N. Y., Sept. 21, 'UU. by Lee Shubert In association with Ifomer Curran; ■written by George Kelly and staged by same; Tallulah Bankhead starred; |8.80 top '(flrat night $1.40). Mr. Hnnlon i,..Clay qiement Hattle.... v.Elizabeth Dwne Mlsa.Sloane Ann Andrews Mlas Flood. ( ,;TaIluIah Bankhead Mr, Wall Phillip Reed Mr. Howard ,...Alden Chase Bruno , Robert Bordonl Stage I>dor Man ....William H. Turner A .Walter,. ....'.......Chester M(ller Mrs. Howard ..Madeline Holmea Mr. Onianeetter. .....William Brisbane Irene S. T.. Bratton Classiest first night audience so far braved tiie humid interior of the Morosco to greet Tallulah Bankhead in a play which the Coast saw first ^ and Liked. Broadway may 'keep it for a moderate stay, but hit rating is doubtful.- Without Miss Bankhead 'Reflected Glory' would probably be tiresome." " 'As is, the pertbrmance is too long for a play which has as many quiet intei^ludes. George Kelly, its author who came east to stage, it, was doubtless reticent in cutting the script, but he has been around long enough to know better. There are gay moihehts and they, are amusing. A few jnore would have, given 'Glory* a better chance. First act has a jgoodly comedy con- tent, but the second goes off into .tragedy, or nearly that. There are several excellent characters, besides, that of the lead, an actress. One is. built VP as a young man of charm, a handsome lover whom women riiight welcome. -Then he is lefdown suddenly &s a chaser.. However, that- is part of the story. Miss Flood has thade her place on the stage and she' rises to stardom lihder the skillful handling of her manager, .Ifenlon. He is ever watch- ful of her associates/ ever critical dt her perfortnances. Hanlon believes Miss Flood to be one of the finest actresses ever developed in America and, whei ^he plans to maxry and. ; have a home and children, he argues ^ her out of it There are times when he^bawls her.out for mistakes, but then when .she . plays 'well his ad- miration lifts her from moods akin ilespair. U^efe is a -man from Baltimore who wants her to settle down there but^she cannot make up her mind, . especially xi^t after Hanlon has spoken one of lUs laudatory speeches. Along comes Mr, Wall of Chicago, a handsome fellow who in a few months hag the girl believing she h^s at last foimd her mate. Again Hanlon steps in and cruelly discloses that Wall was married,, has a child and, although. separated, ' not di- vorced. Fellow adinits it and tries feebly to explain, then exits from the play. Only teasoh for the last act . is to Injesct more of the gay stuff th%t came, earlier, but the actress realizes that Hanlon Is right, that sh^ will" always be of the stajge and pos- sibly niany someone connected with the theatre. Miss . Bankhead's flights of tem- petatnent are on the play's amusing side, coming mostly in dialog with • her ittaid, who supplies most of the . comedy lines. That part is played, by'.Elizabeth Dunne. Clay Clement tutns in a fine performance as the hianager, Hanlon^ He has appeared with otiier .itars but probably has y never shown to better advantage. ^ Ann Andrews as another actress, in thfrsame shows as Miss Flood, is her iriendly adviser, a woman with a sense of humor, and also gives some- «jing to 'Gloiy.' PhilUp Reed is the tall, good looking Wall: Reed, first known as Milton Leroy, impressed so "Well in several previous Broad- way showings +hat Hollywood called him and changed his monicker. Miss Bankhead has the lure and histrionic ability which can help make a show into a hit. If 'GI017' isn't the play, she'll find and help some other one some day. Ibee. GOLDEN JOURNEY Comedy In three qcts (Ave scenes) by Edwin Gilbert, presented by the Sliuberts at the Booth, N. T., Sept. IS, 'aO; staged by Harry WagataS Grlbble; set, Watson Barratt; $3.80 top. . Julian Verney.'. Alan Bunce Ivan .Black, .Hugh Rennle Clayton Herrlck Alan Hewitt Williams. :. Aldrlch Bowker Violet Freely .,;L.96Da Pcwers Elinor Knightsbrldge.,.,..,Joan Tompkins Nanc^ Parrlsh Eleanor Lynn Sorrel Freely Raymond Bramley Miss Faber ' ...Jane BansroXt 'La Vie Boheme' has always Veen a tempting subject for playwrights, but the last couple of hundred ver- sions of it have been flops. To which add 'The Golden Journey.-* Starting with a premise of three penniless but optimistic scribblers, Edwin Gilbert has written three acts full of wisecracks which don't quite come off - and scenes which move just too slowly. Harry Wag- stafl Gribble, who staged, must have written some jokes in during re- hearsal (he generally does), but didn't help. What he couldn't give the piece was pace; the story got in his way. There's a happy ending, which is concocted in so wacky a manner as not to help in the slightest. There's a grand performance by Leona Powers, which is contrasted by almost amateurish work froni all the other women in the cast; there's some rather nice, but restrained, act- ing by Alan Bunce, Hugh. Rennie and Aldrich Bowker, among the .males, and some okay bombastic ranting by Raymond Bramley. But it doesn't help; nothing helps. It's a dull play presented in even duller fashion. Hollywood isn't likely to find any of it intriguing. Kauf. Seen But Not Heard Drama In two acts by Marie Baumer and Martin Berkeley, produced by D. A. Doran in association with International Production, Inc Staged by Arthur Slr- «om: one settlor by John Root. At Henry Ulller's theatre, N. T„ opening Sept. 17, 1030; top $3.30. Duke'WlDtbrop Frankle Thomas Elizabeth. Winthrop Anne Baxter Tommy Winthrop...-. ^Raymond. Roe Harriet Grace Fox Etomney ',...John Winthrop John Clyde...< Paul McGratli Rev. CliRord Winthrop..Ernest Woodward Senator Howard Winthrop Boyd DavJs Ruth Winthrop..',. Lulu Mae Hubbard CMla Winthrop ..Ann WJnalow Bob Winthrop .Kent Smith Thelma Barker Eleanor .Phelps Tettreys ..^Ralph Theadore Lowell Anthony Blair Dr. Paley Edward Broadley Rather innbcUous and strikingly immature is this creaky, clumsy, cumbersome crime, play that comes into New York via the straw hat at Locust Valley, L. L, known as the Red Bam Theatre. InitiaHy, it is to be assumed that Prodiicer D. A. Doran and the authors, Marie Baumer and Martin Berkeley, must have figured the use of three child actors to motivate and add a novel touch would assist also in its b.o. strength. Effect created really militates against the play, even for matinees. . Everyone' loves chil- dren as children and when they, as in this instance, attempt to solve a crime and later cover up the cul- prit, an air of ultra-precocity per- vades. Frankle Thomas, who reached the heights in 'Wednesday's ChUd,'leads his juvenile compatriots through the crime machinations, but seems to be over-striving at all times through the lapses in writing. In the final minutes there is a slight ascent into naturalness as the children really be- come children, a bit of balm out of boredom, but much too late. Play's juvenile draw will not be helped by parents bringing the youngsters for the afternoon per- formances, 89 in the «ase of 'Remem- ber the Day,' shrinking from crime unfoldmenl^ as well they might. Tempo is stolidly slow, and tempo is half a , crime play, dong with e9> sential siispense. Stager Arthur Sir- com j'ust drowses along, especially in entrances, exits and groupings, which are seldom aminated. Also as the victim meets death'in a pale stage fight action is too far downr stage and quite badly done. . Cast is highlighted by the children but f¥enlde Thomas appears to. be just a trille too smart for his years and will hot advance through this interpretation. Anne Baxter, a cute kidlet, and Raymond Roe, really earn such minor plaudits as are bestowed. Cast, a rather large one, is seldom noteworthy, and mainly 'negligible, impressing with the fact, that surely there must be a shortage of talent. 'Seen But Not Heard' is just an- other foldie. O. M. Samuel. Arrest That Woman Melodrama In' three acts and- four scenes by Maxlne- Alton, produced by A. H.. Woods, .Ltd. Staged by Ira Hards, with setting by Tellentl, At the National The- atre, N. T., Sept. 18, 108«: «».80 tqp. Go-Go , ..Gertrude Short Marie Smith Doris Nolan Tom Thornton ....^Mervyn Williams Donald Drake Hugh Marlowe Madlyn-Harcoart ...'. Lillian Emereon Judge Marvin Dtoke ........George Lessey Brown , Frank Andrews Police Telephone. Operator. .Francis Roberts Police Radio Announcer... .Roger Hundley 5*^18 Gerald Kent Officer McCarthy .......Charles WUey, Sr. Sailor Dave Mallen Marine Walter KInsella Baddy .Merle Clayton Robert Dorhan Walter N. Greaza Kelly Harry Hanlon Roster ot the street scene by the bridge: Sebastian Mann, Fay Doree, Ann Serane, Sophia BrerdoD, Beth Thompson, ,JnIle Gamer, Jane Tovmlisy, Doris Dell, Wil- liam Castle, Hurray Rayden, Robert Gray, William Van Gendy, Gladys Kepner. Viola Reed, Car] Reed, Richard MIdgeley. Dick Bawles, Richard Allen, Fay Wiley. Frank Thompson,' Eddie Grace, Jane NIchol, Susan Court, Beatrice Beacher, . Douglas Parkhurst, Norma Way, John Raby, Clara Nl^en, Polly Klock. Fanny De Koven, Ada Parker, Ed Stanton, Gordon Peters, Raymond Mitchell, Wallace Banfleld, Henry Schaeffer, Al Mllllken. A page oi^t- of the melodramatic past, hackneyed in theme and rather ineptly played,. 'Arrest That Woman* will not linger long. Firstly titled 'Calling All Cars,' and in the nature of things suggesting 'Calling All Flaws,' it is not easy to discern just what, Al Woods perceived in this Maxine Alton play. Mellers have^ been good to Al Woods.. Years ago 'Broadway After Dark,' produced by Sullivan, Harris & Woods, sent him on his way in show biz. Later, with Theodore Kremer scripting sedulously in his behalf, they built him a fortune. 'Shanghai Gesture,' with the nude gal en casserole, an(| the-Chinese bunks might be bunk now but tiiey Were highly .palatable fare just a few seasons back, and last year, of coiurse, Wight of January 16th' helped Al's roll materially. Mellers are hard to pick. Line of demarca- tion is not so decided until the show plays before an audience. 'Arrest That. Woman' started miss- ing at the outset from the fact of its utter obviousness' and the con- ventionality of its lines. Another thing against it was the ultra familiar character drawing. The guy, his moll, the cops, the district attorn.ey, the quick murder after the heroine has been maligned, are all now too palpable to be easily wel- comed. • Opening night audience tittered throughout the last act which pre- sumed somewhat against ordinary intelligence and because of the sheer banality of the dialog. Most audi- ences are kind and this particular gathering^was expressly so, for they renrain;gd to the end. > Woods mounted the show neatly and in the scene by the bridge, rose to 'pretensions. Cast was a detracting factor, however, the exceptions be- ing Frank Andrews as a venerable butler and Walter Greaza's district attorney, 'Arrest That Woman' is outmoded. O. M. Samuel, NEW FACES (REVISED EDITION) I Leonard Slllman revue presented by Marr tin Jones at the Vanderbllt, N Y., Sept. lU, '36. , Co>-featurea Imogcne Coca and Charles Kemper. Cast Includes; Mlldried Todd, Marlon Pierce, Blllle Haywood, ClirC Allen, Tom Rutherford. Robert Bard, Jack and Stme- Blalr, Gcrty Probst, Jean Bel- low.), Irene Moore, Eleanor Bunker, Eliza- beth Wilde; Frank. Ciagen, Robert Burton, Wirnle Jcdinoon, Stretch- Joh.naon,. Robert Johnson, Van Johnson. Dorothy Chilton, Kathryn Mayfleld, Bea Thrift. Kdna Rur. sell, lone ,Reed, Dorothy IToung, Ralph Blane, Peter Garey, Marian <Martlni Nancy Weathertn, Roy Sensun, <TostumeB and erts,'. Stewart Cnaney; lyiMcs, June Slllman, l>:d- wln Gilbert; music, Alexander Fogarty, Irving Graham; sketches. MIndret Lord, Rvtrctt Marcy; orrhestr.i under dliecllon of Ray Kavanaugh; fl.SO top. Hays Out of Town So-called winter edition of 'New Faces' has a rearrangement of skits and new punch lines added here and there. Score is the same as when the show opened last summer. Stand-outs are . still the colored per- formers, Allen and Haywood, and the Johnson Family, Show sags on dancing and full voices. Some of the sketches are Love From a Stranger Philadelphia, Sept, 21. Melodramia by Frank Von>0r, baaed on story ty Agatha Christie, Produced- by Alex Tok«l; staged by Aurlol Lee; designs, lEate Drain Lawsoq; presented at Blrlanger, Philadelphia, Sept. 21, 'SO. Louise Gerrard Nelly Malcolm Mavis Wilson.. .Olive. Reeves-Smlth Ceolly Harrington......Jessie Royce Landls Bruce L'ovcll Frank Vosper Nigel Lawrence Leslie Austen Hodgson ,.,A. Q, Andrewa Ethel >i.Mildred-Natwlck Dr. Grlbble i .Geor^ Graham For the first time in four or five years Philly's legit season got off to familial:, being holdovers from pre- ceding editions of last year and the year before. Only time catdiing on Is 'You'd Better Go Now,' a quiet, plaintive ditty by Irving Graham and Bickley Reichner. Alex Fogarty is the most frequent of the contributors to the revue, and. turns in a creditable job. Featured is Imogene Cocoa, who does the best^work.. Her best laughs are derived in a strip-tease bit, and a girl learning toe chancing, both from the original production. - 'Faces* slid through the warm months'largely because of the dearth of.musicals on Broadway. Season opening now makes the - chances for a much longer stay dtibious; Bral. . TIMBER HOUSE Melodrama In three acts presented' at Longacre, N. Y., Sept. 10, '86, by Flsko- Hammond; written by John Boroulf; staged by J. Edward Shugrue; $3.)t0 top. Edward BcIaoM........... Donald Cameron Mohena. ; '.....Ann Dere Miriam Brlnold Iienlta Lane Markam Wi^lllngi,r«.«.'...Thomas Louden Al Roberta Melvln Benstock Martin Winnow Edward Mnrr Ralph Miller... .Robert Shayne Alvlna Glouster Frieda Altman Allen Qarver; - Paul Hammond One of the younger managerial duos, Fiske-Hammond, oilers' this mystery drama which' is not good enough. It is good writing, btit too talky and overtime. Casting might have stood the play in better stead, too, although the central character, that of an author; is distasteful at best. Th^e is a similarity in theme to last season's handsomely moimted 'A Room in Red and White,* in* which a novelist with a brain cancer framed a diabolical {ilot to torment his wife and son. Timber House,' too, has an effective setting. 'Itis story has a middle-aged writer plan- ning to have his young wife and her lover sent'to the chair for his mur- der, . Edward Bi;inold has won fame with a book iii which he described' the living hell that is the lot of men in the death house, convicted of murder. He knows his wife hates him and he knorws that she is having an affair with a young man who wants to wed her, Brlnold plans to ruin both their lives by cmmingly killing himself and making it ap- pear that they were guilty. His summer home is atop a moun- tain and he invites Ralph Miller, the other man in the triangle, for a visit His is to be a 'perfect crime.' Brlnold had just taken out a large insurance policy, part of his scheme to show a motive for his killing. There are a couple of comedy cops simimoned, to appear as hikers. Another hiker, femme, comes on the scene and she proves to be an in- vestigator for the insurance com- pany. It is she who proves that the shot which killed Brinold was fired by his own hand. Author knows that his wife's brother had Jdlled a man during a brawl, but was not suspected. That character also arrives and .Brlnold kills him- by tossing him down a ravine. Reason for this is not clear, nor the value of the character, although that deed tends-to make Brinold the more despicable. 'Timber House'. was tried out in Deali N. J., by the present present- ers. . It is one- of several summer products which have already ar- rived, none of which impressed as having much chance. . The leads are played by Donald Cameron, Lenita Lane, Frieda Alt- man, Robert Shayne and Thomas Louden. Melvin Benstock and Ed- ward Marr are the dumb cops. ■ Ibcc. (Closed SatUTda'y (20); printed JOT the record.) Sheehan Dropped "Chicago, Sept. 22. James Sheehan, vet of Chicago box-offlces,,fs out of the Studebaker b.o., and will be replaced by Ray West. Treasurers Union, with the back- ing of the Stagehands (lATSE), In- sisted that Sheehan was unemploy- able because he was not a member of the union. Expectation is that Norman Bel Geddes, ■\Vh6se "Dead ?nd' is in' the house, will install Sheehan as house manager, leaving Al Spink to handle> the show. a rather auspicious start. Starts off with a suave and mucfa-b^tter-than- average English meller, 'Love from a Stranger/ which has as its main as- sets a last act of terrific power and a star who gives a sUck performance and is weU supported. Based on one of the earlier Agatha Christie npvels (before she invented HercuIePoirot, her famous detective), this thriUer proceeds at what, to American^atiaiences, may seem a too leisurely pace for two acts, but thai do^ not mean they're dull Far from it. Characters are Interesting; diialog is good and, most important, the dramatist (sticking fairly closely to the novelist's original) buUds an air of almost unbearable suspense 'which crashes into last act pyrotechnics. Frank Vosper, the playwright, han- dles the leading role, and his appear- ance, almost as much as his per- formance, accomplishes the purpose of the thriller. In other wofd^ 'when, as a prospective tenant,.he enters the flat of the hei^oine, who has just won a sweepstakes ticket and is preparing to travel, he is a dapper and prepos- sessing young Nordic with .an engag- ing smile and ia gift of gab. The love-at-flrst-sight motif is thus made more bearable, and a goodly percentage of the first-night audience settled, down to watch what they fondly believed was td be one of those British'drawing-room comedies. Only once in the entire first act did the handsome 'stranger* malce a move that seemed in the least suspicious, and that was l^noticed by-many, Aci two is laid in a lonely country cottage at the conclusion of the sud- den honeymoon ot the pair. She is stUl deliriously happy and oblivious of any danger, but bit by bit and cir- cumstance by circumstance the audi- ence begins to realize that something is decidedly ■wrong. By t&e last set th& sense of im- pending pern has becqme acute; the man*s face (a capital' bit of make-up and facial pantomime) is changing before the very eyes oil the audience. One or two of the girr« friends and a country doctor are on the verge of suspecting. A certain date, often mentioned and increasingly menac- ing, arrives; the servants are all away; and then the wife realizes who the 'stranger' really is. -.There are a couple of swell twists to follow; an eff^ctiv^ piece of staging that caused as sincere gasping reaction as has been seen'- here 4n- a long- time, and then a final scene, splendlBly played, of medo^aimatic theatricality that keeps 'em all on the qui vive. End is sudden (perhaps too-much so), but the punch is tliere, and anything more might have marred it. . Vosper"'s acting is everything Lon- doners claimed for it It may be that in some of the intermediate scenes he overpoints some of the bits of business that serve to suggest he isn't what he has been painted, but his transition is corking. . 'When he hits the melodramatics of act HI he knock? them for. a field. It is a Laughtonish performance that ranks high. ■ . Most of the cast is English, but one American, Jessie Royce Landis as the wife, gives one of the best perform- ances of her uneven career. Here she's just in the right key through- out; ingenuous and affectionate for two acts and a half, and suddenly a terrified, shuddering female stalling for time as she sees death approach- ing. Mildred Natwick as a clumsy coim- try servant girl, and A. G. Andrews as the old gardener are exceptionally good, and George Graham does a neat bit as the doctor. PJay has been exceptionally well staged. Plays notorious as 'last act master- pieces' are not always worth much, but 'Love from a Stranger' is more than that. Although most of the power and wallop comes in the last act the first two acts are consistently -well written and intelligent. If American audiences don't insist on haying bloodshed and fireworks in their thrillers, I'nis one; ought to click solidly. It deserves to. Waters^ CHRISTMAS CARD AGENTS Large profits easily earned selling cow 21-Folder Assortment. Sella on Bight lor il.OO. Write for particulars. DOROTHBA ANTEIi 226 West 73na St., Hew Xork, N. I.