Variety (Oct 1936)

62 VARIETY UCI II MA If Wednesday, October 21, 1936 TOVARICH .Comedy . .in. two. acta presented, at the Jymouth,. N. Oct. 15, .'30, by Gilbert (Her; written by Jacques DeVnl;: adopted by Ttob'ert'E; -Sherwood;. -staged, by pco- dueer; $B.SO top. . •'• Prince MUtall Alexandrovitch.John Hhlllday Grand Duchess TaUana.;, ■, ...., :M»rln Abba OlBa i.. . . Ivlna FeodOrova Count Feodor Prekeiiskl..Frederic Wotfock Chauffourier-DubteJt , . Ernest I^wford Martelleau ....,,,,.. ■■....'Ariftttdes fle r.eon Fernande Dupont...........MarKfttet Pale Charles Dupont... .Jay' Ffls.sett Louise; ........ .i;;',.».. ... Barb/irk Gplt Georges Dupont......,;..:,.Jaroes E. Truex Helena Dupont.,. .,,.<«. .> -.Amanda Duff Concierge' .... .V...... .■ ;CoU*lllo '.T)unn- Mine, Vanr Homertv/....>.,'i.'.Leni Stengel Mme; Chauffourler-PubieiT.Adora Andrews Coflinilssar Gorotcbenko. .Cecil Humphrey* icket; brokers have been -waiting for. 'Tovarich' to come: along. It ' looks like a cinch for class patronage and the balcony should draw well, too, for the play will probably be a vogue. V .. "' v ..;" ; .,. ■ Play was London's 'for'. quite, a Spell, with Eugenie Leontovich one of :the leads. Some misunderstarid- . i ng abowt her coming over so Gilbert Miller' selected Marta ■■ Abba, auburn- 'haired 7 Italian actress,. to be the Grand Dutchess Tatania Petrovria, -while opposite her is John Halliday as ' Prince Mikail. -'-.Alexahdrovitch : Ouratiff, that part-having been han- dled by ;Sir Cedric Hardwicke in London., : Whether the current duo at the Plymouth excels the London set-, up is a matter of opinion, but this, is a corking: performance; Cast is the important factor in •• making the play stand put and Mil- ler is one manager, who has no com- plaint that all the actors are in Hol- lywood. 'Tovarich,' Russe name for com- • rade, is the .story of a.: once royal, -pair attached to the court-. of the ,czar, - now exiles in Paris. They .. .are " charming . couple; * in fact, <; .charm. '-.Is . the . play's chief lure; Theme has heen used plenty but the -author; Jacques Deval, currently engaged on the Coast in pictures, .has tossed- aside the usual plot ideas. Mikail' and Tatania 'are broke but /happy, tie. had deposited 4,000,000 francs in- the bank for the czar, and will not touch' a, sou of it. So they. go. into :service,' he as butler, and . she'as maid, in the' home/of the Tb'anker, • Dupont.. For romance there' ■ is the-, love between the prince .and • his duchess, while .her fidelity ,tb the late, ruler is admired even by the emissary of the current Russian -regime.'- '„-'- ... There are introduced some, of the pretty customs ;.that "were native : to the- White. Russians' kiss of friend* 'iship bit the forehead, - touching the. lips to the shoulder, and drinking vodka' with arms intertwined, none of which is new to the stage. But it -is. -the- way • it is done ' that makes' Tovarich'. diverting: Comedy con- tent' not. heavy, "but the prince and his mate . give , the performance gaiety, even in their guise as ser- - vants. \." ' - Comes the: time when the Duponts have a banker for ; dinner and the women guests- immediately recognize the. maid 'as - Her Royal Highness. With the-. Duponts ■ how aware • of their, identity, the couple figure they will be dismissed, but, instead...they are. invited to remain and are quite happy about it. Affection of the younger Duponts. Georges-arid Helehe,: for the exiles, imparts several - amusing scenes. Kitchen scene which, firiales the play• :: is too long, but it is . there, that a Russian commissar obtai . check for th£ czar's hcjrde' and, in return, kisses the hand of . the . Duchess arid promises to restore the monarch's room, now an. exhibit in Peteograd. He even gives the. city its former .name, St. Petersburg, out of respect for her. '- - Cast names 'include well-knowns such as Ernest Lawford and Frederic Wor lock ,_Who haye ' small _paHs. "^"CeciFHumphreys ; as, the. commTssaf. Margaret Dale and Jay Fassett as the Duponts, James E. ".True'xand Amanda Duff, as their .. maturing Offspring; and Barbara Gott.as 7 the. cook, all help* make 'Tovarich' worth while. ... '* ;•• k Miss Abba and Halliday deserve ■ the featuring in the billing. Most I of her appearances have been .in f Italy. She is hot. regal in appear- ance., but has a certain chic that fits the part. Halliday.-has the skill to make, his characterization posi- tive, never letti it down. Ibee. Stows in Rehear$al Daughters of Atreus Drama, taken . from Greek legend by Robert Turney, arranged In three acts (six seeneil. presented by .-Deloa- .Chappell' at 44th St.. N. Y.,- Oct. 14. 'Sq; -features Kleohora MendelsBbhn, .Maria Ou'ttpen&knya, Joa'nn.na:' Rosa; •„ staged- . by Frederic Me- Cohnell* . sets, - .Jo MlelzCner;. . costu|ive.s, Jartieti Reynolds: top (Sf.-lU oitenlrig nlplit); .. ' ' v , .-- . Polymnla;;.-. arta'^ Oiisn'eriskaya NepthlB,,.,.;'..,. ; ; . .EHaab*tH Yount; Nerlssa..'.■;. ,;.Carln Ogle Kuterfie,. '. .. i,. .:.; ....>.». Ann' Fresohmnhji Thetis.,.'-.V...Bavlinra Adn'mH- Fria..... ...,.... >.'...... «Ell«ej> Burns Sliaradlia.,;. ■ i: -, ;•. .j. , ...Clara ..Mnhr Klektra. aa ohltd,..; . ;. .Gllda Onkl«y Iphepeneia..... .Olive .Oeevlng Klytalmhestrn : .,.. lCleonora -Mendetsaohn. „V»tJeern..;. j..; ..i,,-,.. . . ..;> . . John: ITlorUlt. Ghenr-a..'.... ■ v;-. .«.';.,. ..; V.detnr 8tehl|. A iS«iutintSiety : . . . . . .. .teslla florall. -.'A°8AJnelnnon-;.<.'; i>... .".'. ; '<.'■.. ..... dale" Gordon Achilles.:v;..........5' war* .'iVevbr I^alchas: ..... i;..-.;.' ■.'iHiirry l .Ir\-Jne' Klektf.i. .... .,.'■;. , .'..... .JoP'nna : .':noo3- Orestes.. ; .HOwavrt' Khoraitin Orestes' i Robert Stewart Aeglstho8.-......-. .; I. .Hal Conklln Hlp'polytos,.. . .',1'onV 'N.eril rhaiin.i-.......i...;.... .'Carpel, Wilde-. Hero';,'■,.... i ;.......j..;...' «ien- ; Walpole' Melissa.,.....;v.. . learior Powers. Orestes...'..... .;; : .'.F.rlo' AVollencfltt .Py.tades.'.:»'-.;. ; .v. ; . .' .■.Fduioiifl - O'-Brlet^: A'ewuliaplosv. .Thprnati Ciiffjn Cooke • Soldiers—James I^r'njore.'.Franklyn-.Webb. Willinm 7 Vn>i Gundy. Beh Edwards,/.Rich- ard Biirdette; -Sidney •Bry'son;. Joifh.-'ni-fm- . s.Hh w,. Arthur:. Sachs, .'Carl - R6df;erK, T'.duls Vai-'ea, ■Michael'-VSage, -Me'lvln. 'Parka.. Goixlon; .'Peters, obert Steivart, iViacent Ourdner; 'Tonight at 8.30'—Noel Coward. The Show is On'—Shuberts. •Don't Look Now'—Gustav Blum. Tortr to Go'—Joe Byron Totten. 'Green Waters*—Shuberts. fPreltide to Exile*—Theatre Guild, : *BIaok Limelight' — Budhat; and Tuerk. 'Double Dummy'^r-Ulfman and Hel- er.-. ... V- 'PJiiittes In the Dust'—Arthur '9weei *lver*—George Abbott. *Ail Editions'—Juliana Morgan. ,/ *j;*luiny J«bnson'—-Group Theatre; Robert Turney,. a young- man bare- ly in his twenties, is responsible 'for the-^writing of. this play.. It is hot. going to-be a success^ being still, an- other expensive flop, of the early '36-37 season, but Tumey's is a name that will be remembered because his. writing sounds very much like, he should, be, very good eventually. It . ' the sort of . production that gives the feeling of reading better, than it plays. Also the production suffers from such, obvious, mistakes of the management that it is per-.: haps unfair to judge 'script thereby... ...'';' ■ Taking the Klytaimhestra-Elelctra- Orestes .cycle from Homer's Iliad as as a base, Turney has. fashioned a healthy series of unhealthy inci- dents in the lives of : the ancient Greeks. He has written it beauti- . fully and managed to ~keep a clean and .straight line| which " simple enough for anyone to follow, despite his r captioustiess in - spelling the names of the. characters differently from most other people. It's a sub- ject which has. fascinated writers for ages, of course: there are at least four operas oh various tangents of it.. and half a dozen or so -. plaVs. This is the only one (at least, it's the only one. of the accented plays on this. subjectV-which tried, to use all three tragedies as one, bringing, to the fOre once, again: the and or 'Hamlet' notion. Just . under $50;000 was spent bririgihg this show in, and; it- has such' exceptional sets and lighting as to .make it distinctive on. that score, alone. There are' a number of theories. rampant as to Where the. blame belongs for the: shortcomings, with the most prevalent orie that author Turney himself insisted on' supervising . casting and direction.;, thereby ruinihg... his. .<iwn property. It is difficult to believe that any author no matter how inexperi- enced, could have committed or permitted the blatant errors here.. : : Eleonora Mendelssohn makes, her American;, debut as Klytainhnestra ^to use Turney l s spelling). s*hd gives •the impression she may :do pome- thing ^sometime. She is an ex-G'eiy. man- actress (not quite a fefuaee: her^ people are still in. the 'b.mVinF! business .in. Berlin)' who-hasn't had as : much exnerierice abroad as hef promoters claim, although, she did perform jriVa couple of Reirihardf shows. She has a fine figure and -face vand an iritelli<?ept approach She also has a heavy. Teuton ifi cent-which, in this case", added to a LBeariMeyash-i^makfeup, J_hur.t&^couir siderabiy. Maria Our oenskaya, with the Moscow Art trouoe, is a thor- oughly schooled and experienced actress. She. ..makes' S3me of Polymnia's soeeches stand out in Spite, of her heavy Moscow . accent; When those two get together io a scene with Hal Cbnklin (AegysthosX whose Irish ' brogue, .is . heavyish. there is. something to ^hear. . Only one of the featured nipycrs to satisfy is Joanna Rosa as Elektra. And she : is permitted by the direc- tor to chew scenery a bit too ob- viously . in a couple ' of spots.. - With' just a tiny.'-bit of playing dowih rs could be an A-.l job. . This js a . play '. i which • scenery has a lot of import and JO Mielziher took it quite, seriously. It's a lush job he's turned ', ith sky blue and gold as. the. predominating color motifs; but he makes it. really im- press Without - crossing the border- line.; of ;bad taste.. Lights are .ex- cellent.- in connection; adding conr siderably to the whole picture.. . Edward McCpnriell. who diretted. has been the stage director of the Cleveland Play House; little theatre group, for about 15 years. His or- ganization is. considered about tops, in the country, ranking with.Hedge- 1 . rOw, etc., and his work out, there has frequently been, praised. But in an important assignment like this Even in Colleges Syracuse, Oct. 20.. Broadway isn't alone a ■ lack of maile leads, Faced with ah apparent lack of male talent, ' PrOf. Sawyer Falk, Syracuse : University drama head, -has been looking for an all-femme ' nearly all-femnie play for the first Boar's Head produc- tion; '' Philip Barry'sVSpring Dance* and 'American Dream.' George O'Neil script, are being eyed. Falk had Andre Obey's *Noah' .. in rehearsal with a skeleton cast during August but dropped it when the male lead failed to return to college, one, he is lost; the total effect is Somewhat little theatreish, in fact. The mass action- scenes,., especially., are bad. " First act, where Agememnon sends for his-.wife and daughter in order, to allegedly marry the daughter, but actually' to .offer her; in sacrifice, is a peach, ictorially and effectively; From there on; it all dies down and goes to pieces. Story has something to do with that, of course, dealing as it does with a - constant ^stream Of murdefs for revenge; but. the thing that the producer and director muffed was realization . that, it is hard enough to engage an audience, of today' in the story of ancient Greek legend without handing that audience hurdles. And poor casting and direction are - those hurdles. Theatre Guild . optioned the play twice and.dropped it because it. felt- it couldn't find, ; the right actors. And that is Vhat Delos Chappell should have done if he "couldn't com- plete his job any better than n* did. Kauf, IRON MEN . Melodrama in three facts'' .presented: >.t LOntfarre. N. Y., Oct. 2t>, '8ft. .l>y Xonna.b Ker CeUdes; written by I'-rancisr Gallagher; K.tH^ed ;by nroducer; $3.1{0 top.- Joe Musbkrd. CooN-le ; SoiTitcb,. AHdy.i.; Nils;.........y.. Pusher..i Wfiltey. , . .■....». Mohk^ . .;•«•» Wlnily.-..w.... Jipe,—.. Insurance Ma' "Sadie... Mr?. Murphy.. Dutch. .V.....-.', Katd. PI u 111 ....... Fre<i.;;.......... 'SmallenSj.;..;;. tdh j. ....'.,. Maliel...'...,;. ., Colllntr. ..i- Barney..,'. . ?Tns' Pi'lvei-.... Sml'tH. ... Kelly,',y: v ...FrahK' Jaquet .loha V. Hamlltort rlon Stephenson .. .Richard Taher Clunk '.TwelTetreeiji .-. " ..•.WlHiani.Hna/le ....... i. ^Harold Mpltet ,.;...;...... ..loser. Drtmet .'..... . ; . Ditha .Hardwlf.k ; . :iu-i.L-, .. •».. Jr'M.«k. <>arr RnridHU .......Ha'rrto • WlHha'rt'. ,P; ...l.. .;Il«nilJton ....,'. i.;. Jeatine Ma'rloWe. ...',.'..;'.... i. ary.. Perry .;'.-... : .Vv\ 7. Gerliw'li ;. .;., ..Ko : thlPPn KHz J . lOdwa wl • V. Bra<'k>n .......;.-.'. .O.era'lil . : I\«>nt- ...,... i.. H«f i-y jfrorner ..i . i'.-. .1. .'.Tolinne. "ftarric ...'-. .Gloria^ lomlHl ..';...•'... .('a)'l *-.|<Mili»r AVllUanr 13.. Mon lH .'..-.». ... .. . ;^T.ile 0'.:urt .'■ Mev'ei' "Bnren«<o,n .; . ;.•.'.'.''... .'..Idhn Quartell more girders placed and bolted into position. . ■ , ■ Two-way petting ha« much to do with the play* Low ceiling barroom is first scene. For the. skyscraper skeleton the lower setting is screened off ahd the bare girders shown. Iron derrick that frequently hauls girders aloft is one of the most effective of props. Beams are less so, being of wood, painted the usual reddish brown; Lighting js elaborate and some striking effects, are attained. ; • Cast standouts in addition to Haadc are Harold Moffet as Nils, Richard Taber as the smallish..but tough. Scratch, Clark Twelyetrees as Kid. Josef Draper as Pusher, Edward V. Bracken as the. fresh punk, a young plumber. Yale Okun, former pro- fessional fighter,, is listed as a taxi driver, but the bit may have been eliminated, John F. Hamilton as a bar fly and Frank Jaquet as the bar- keep are okay. ; " Feminine assignments .are mostly bawdy persons' who inhabit dives, and poorer neighborhoods. But Kathleen Fitz as Nils! young wife does very well."'' There is a bawdy stoi-y told at the bar and there is cursing, as is to be expected from men of the type, but 'Iron Men' • is a Vivid, performance heightened by varied sound effects. ■ Ibee. The Laughing Woman : Drama in t wo. acta (six scenes), Jepllog and prblojr by Gordon; Davlot 1. .Presenr.e.d .by James It. Ullnian in' association with -'.(l)«i Shubert? at' the Golden, -N. y.. Oct'. 13,. '30; atui-s Helen' Menken, featur«H: Tonlo Sel^- wart;-.staged toy' Alexander Pean; sets 'i|>ys WatKo'n Eanatt; $3.3K ttfp.- ■- .-..;. Young' Man..-. ',,:. ;-T...... .Richard Donnelly Attendant; • •'•'*. .i.'. . . ,. .'.William' Origin bMist Chit..'.,. . .... . VBdna Ranrisey= Second Chit, i................ .v .Ruth Kranlc Han.......Fred Ijeellc M r. Hooneyxnoon..:..; * ,i\.... . Neville Percy ■Mrs; Honey moonPatricia Morgan llejva Latouf. ^....;.i.>.. * »> .\X6nlo Se.lwart lhgrld Rydnian......i........Helen Menken. Mme/ GrUiiiler.,..Beverly Sltfjreavea Siiiith...........„Wilfred Seaferani 'Mrs. Smith llaabeth-Valentine- Ua'/.8l GialiHi .;.. : ; . .v. .Tjbra ' Baxter Laura Gadd....... ... .Marga Ann Deigbton Marlon- Slade.w.......;i'eresa Guerlnl O'PHen,..; ; . ......... Lloyd: Gongh Burehesd.. .v...^. J..... Roland Bottotnley Sir Vuthbert Gmhaniv../...-;.J. W. Auatln .Butler:,............ > ...-Hi .Gerald Corbet Doll Sluinii ..............;..'.'.Mary Howes Hei-gCHhel ' ......... . d-i .. . A. J. Herbert ■ MI'su. Casson•>i.« . .'Cynthia Sherwood Fll-St fteliobleirl. ,..;.;^.... . .Mliielda LaiiR-e secohd'Sf'hoolKli'l...........Patricia Water* Third:■Schoolgirl;,.-...;...... . ...., Lk>Is Hall . Norman Bel. Geddes, specialist • i n scenic designing, came, to attention ?s a producer last season With 'Dead End.' In this new work he a^aini dis-.. v lays hiitl 'skill'-'in" no.yel stage ap-; purtenances. but. the story is ..riot ?s powerful. Even so, it should get by. . 'Iron Men* Is..;to'u<?h-: drama, not as t much so as 'Dead - .End/ st ill ' th sre probably will hot be any plav to nose out 'Men* this season. Steel workers are' master ,worl;»v>etv in nky- scrapei: cbristviiction. They take chancjes and'-they:,--blay hard, mostly in downing their booze straight: 'Men' is a man's play and the .char- acter's seem* genuine, -'-with good ac^-. tors walking the steel beams sure- foote Theie is one surprLsin^ exceotioti in the It is William Haade, who is or was a steel wb.rkei% cr'ed* ited with connecti ig girders high ,'iiv.the air fb^ a number of Nev/" York's', tall buildings. vGeddes Has madp aii actor■ out of! hi '. and nri excellent one. Haade plays the lead;, Keadinst a .gan's of i'•on men who are -tops-Th-the^/ler^T-^iere^re^evev additional rfteel workers who amble svlonK the 'oaarnS; bolt them, into place shd also have a line or two. It is the producer's idea of suoDlyinsf fur- ther authenticity to his highly atV mos'pheric production. jtaade.' enacts ;th'e - part of Andy, of the- crack gang which includes. tfi)s, Scratch and Kid. Andy and Nils : have, bean close friends but the Swede marries and ;hc seldom • Ibins 'the gan£ in the gin-Tnill; Nils announces it is his last job. Th^t starts the break"? against-Andy. Kid- fails to his death., men knock off for the day and proceed to get ; drunk. Nils is along and argue, . with Andy ^bout quitting, the work, tha .Swede havihrt promised his young wife they; woiild cb into the country and set up a aas station. ; Andy Nils' : disarTecti is tho wi . He does the .wrong thin^ in sehdinitl a punk on the make : to, .Nils' flat, telling the youth: it; is okay. Nils.- in a rage, kilisi his wife, though. she is. innocent of any wrong, then .'hoots himself. Those incidents are'off stage but, in the saloon. Andy " ; kayoes the pusher, who is the over- peer, of the steel . Workers. . Then Scratch bitterlv curses' Andy for"the. Nils tragedy. It is the finish of Andy as a steel worker. Last part of the show, with the other men: working a night shift, could, be shortened, for the play is over, except' for seeing This play has been in the wind lor some time and was generally consid- ered the most likely of last. summer's # straw hat; trybuts• for; a Broadway click- chance. On view in New York, however, it turns but to be a pretend tibus and -gabby item Which ish't. likely to linger long.; If this is the best the summer tryouts could mus- ter, ft was a mighty poor season for plays of that ilk, indeed, as, for that matter, has already been indicated. Originally' done in England, Gror-. dbn Dav jot, author, had a lot of hope in the ptece. It didn't last there, got about' eight - weeks, but the writer and agent thought it had sufficient for them to turn down a $25,000 film, offer, Probably; won't get that noW. . James R. Ullman, most prolific pro- duct-r of the season thus far; (this is his third), did all he could for the play. Cast is-• a strong one and pro- duction effective. What he couldh't do was to imbue the proceedings' with Jife—-no One could With the' sort of language the characters are asked to uttsr.. ; : "- ..■:■'' Eased' on the life of Henri Gaudier,. sculptor, and:. Sophie Brzesk au- thoress, the play is a hew variation., of 'La Vie Bohenie,'- with 'serious' undcxli ing. Names of the charac- ters are changed, and Helen Menken and Tonio Selwart have the two parts. Selwart is a pleasant and en-^ paging juvenile, but. .one feels, throughout that he is a juvenile making believe he's a sculptor. Miss Menken, too, is 'way off. but here the blarhe ' directly traceable. She soeaks .with a Swedish accent throughout arid, goes: through a lot of difficult rigmarole, clearly traceable to direction.. . Alexander Dean, Yale prof ort: a sabbatical to Broadway, once more p roves, -through Miss ■ Menicen;s work; an oia fault orTus^T he hasn't any control* to speak of, over women. although his male" char- acters generally come through beaUr tifully. ' ' It's a ; tender little story that th^ play , tells; and if it weren't for an uhhecesearily difficult finale might conceivably have femme appeal. Boy and girl fall in love and* being art- ists, live together as brother and sister for comfort, and economy. There's gossip and trouble, of course. But it's real;love, and. they brave the world successfully. Boy is Just about to gam world recognition when the war starts. His native patriotism gets the best of him; he joins up pronto and is killed in action. Epilog shows the girl sitting ih front Of one of. his statues in a museum while, in the background, the; guard explains to. someone that 1 she sits there day after day. There's not quite enough meat (there to grasp. It makes for a lot of chatter. and a number of clearly un- •necessaiy and languorous scenes.. . Sets by Watson Barratt are quite good, although the lighting, on bpen- ning night, was not all it should have;been, .:. , ' Besides Miss Menken and Selwart the cast includes Wilfred Seagram in a nice characterization; Lora Baxter out of kilter as •*» sort of social vamp —a clear matt'. | of miscasting: and Mary Howes in a nice bit Kauf. SWING YOUR LADY Earoa In two nets presented -at; Booth, 21. T. t Oct. 18, .'30, by. Milton Shubert; written "by Kenyon Nleholaon and CHarlea Kotirhaon; staged t>y , Bertram Hurriaon: 93,90 top. Shiner • Ward... . .... .Henry. Korell Popeyo Brons.in,....»..,'... < .Matt McHjieli Joe Skopapoul63,,........ .John Alexander Mabel ,',.. . Hu'th'. fhorpennlnt; Cooklo McGinn... w,...........Dennle Moorn J5d -Hatch.»..,;; ."T...,,.7oe Laiirle Jr.- Sa'rtle.Horh.,.. .;•;.;»•„,;. i.Hope' KmeiTon :K«.fe Horn..........-.... . Junior' firlc, Biii lla Viney Horn> ... .\ ........;.. .Teresa Keana Hoscoo Horn........,.., ; BUHq ' nedflpia' : Waldo Onvl«.... 'niter Baldwin : oiiie aicr^n....-, a.. F .i2ddi* HodKtf ^^jafl 1 }^"'■ • •■• ;; - ; " m <> i, » Shtritt Tude Sc .,...Koftene .Keith Loprlon.nniro ... ..fnclt- Hey liolrtu, lieplorinnlve .............; Frnnlc Harvey Mort .-laxtctn ...........Charles iemever Jtoterea:,Sinlth...i.•;-*;..V... ..Tnck Jlyriio JPeanut Man;.. ..,. . ,. ;;. .:.;.; Warren rnrker Girl .-,,...... j.,..........; .GIoHh -bo'r'ny' Voung Man..,.... i.i.i.; , .-.AI -Bart'olot At least 'Swing Your Lady': has a topic rifew to the stage, though quite familiar -to those who go for wrest- ling. Authors,. who pulled a prise hit with 'Sailor Beware' couple of seasons back, have been^ toying With the idea for sometime. Questionable if -they' struck oil' again. However a moderate engage* ment is likely. Play is ih two acts, localled in the Ozarks, There Ed Hatch, diminutive manager of a Greek wrestler, makes an unusual match for his food de- stroyer because they, are broke. He comes across Sadie Horn, Amazonian blacksmith who has three youngsters. but; was never" married. Sadie; .wants a bedroom , , r tired . of sleeping on corn husks; and she agrees to wrestle the Greek Joe to that end.; But the idea turns sour when. Joe falls for Sadie in a big way—he likes 'em; very big. . Along ambles another large person. Noah. Gulliver from .the hills, whiskers and all. He was the pappy of Sadie's youngest and he Is jealous pf the Greek. Hatch quickly gets another idea;, that of. Joe wrassling Noah, the win- ner to get Sadie; Latter has been' soured on Joe, Hatch: having told her that his man is married and. has four kids. So Joe is instructed to. lose the match to Noah and one of the. funnier lines comes when the referee asks who is supposed to win fhat night. Fihnl scene is a. limited size ring with the men finally com- ing to grips. Joe gets, excited on seeing^Jiis big mamma and . tosses Noah.' Sadie won't.take the winner until Hatch, admits trying to double- cross. It is agreed that the mammoth lovers be. married, she to tour With him and in that; way Hatch serves his. meal ticket. Casting was no easy problem, but Milton Shubert .finally, assembled several of rthe biggest players in legit. Hope. Emerson, who attracted (Continued on'.pase. 6.7) . M FILM HURTS ' IN PfTTS. .ittsbufgh, Oct. . Playing to $2 top last week at the Nixon; the Shubert : revival of 'Naughty Marietta' got around $9,500, just so-so arid "considerably under exnectations. Generally believed that recent re- issue of the MGM film of the same name cut in severely. Although the production. Was fresh-lbokiri and colorful—Pittsburgh was its first Week-—obvious comparisons with the motion picture version worked, against it. . x Nixon has its third ATS subscri tori play currently, 'End of Summer,' with the house certain to have ab- sorbed the. entire series of six by the end of the year; 'Lady Precious Stream' week of Nov. 2 will be the fourth; -Children's Hour.' a fortnight later,. the fifth,: and 'Call It a Day,' end of December, last. Next, week 'First Lady' is due in. and .orii Nbv> . 9 another engagement, for the per-, erinial 'Blossom Time.'- Estimate for Last Week . T^'Naiirghty -MBrie.tta' (Nixon2,100:- $2.28); Interest; only lukewarm, ?vith gross around $9,500, ordiriary. cent film version- believed to hurt considerably. : "END OF SUMMER'FINE WOO IN WASHINGTON Washington. Oct. 20. ... Aided .by.heavy ATS subscription and local popularity of Ina Claire, 'End of Summer' chalked: up approx- imately $16,000 the National last: week.'-.. C . Town's only legit spot is now. pack- ing 'em in with Jane CowFs .'First Lady.* Next on tap is 'Plumes in the Dust' with Henry Hull, Opening here next Monday. Plenty Of.interest in the debut to- morrow (22) of the new Washington Civi Theater, first amateur group here to. have paid directors and a business manager, Newspapers are. heavily. behind; the unit as the. first attempt: at a. representative little theater. here . and . outfit ..shows . it means business by two-col ads In all sheets; : Open ing show, Shaw's^ 'Caesar rid Cleopatra/ bows in. at the renovated Wardman Park Hotel Theater, scheduled to play four nights and a Sat mat