Variety (Sep 1942)

52 LEGITIMATE Wednesday, September 16» 1942 Plays Out of Town zContlnued from page SO: COUNT ME IN tivelv. register okay, although they haven't too much support from either script or tunes. They add considerable visual comfort in any case. Bob Alton's choreoraphy is practical rather than inventive. Ex- cept for too much contusion in the opening scenes, the book is adroitly £taged by Robert Ross. Irene Sharaflf's costumes, particu- larly those reflecting a military in- fluence, are smartly imaginative. The color scheme is exciting and sat- isfying, though, enhanced by How- ard Bay's piquant backdrops and sets. It's not an extravagant pro- duction as they go, but there's cer- tainly nothing niggardly about it, and it is in generally excellent taste for these times. Among its other distmctions, •Count Me In' is one of the very few college musicals to set foot on the professional stage. It was first done some months ago as an amateur pro- duction by the Catholic University have been connected. Miss Ronell, of course, being the outsider. Elie. Hello Out There AND Magic Wilmington, Del.. Sept. 12. •Hello Out There.' by WIlllHin Suroyan. und •.Mniflc.' by G. K. ClieDleiton. double bill. sUrrlng Kildio DowllnK and Julie llaydon. Slnneil by Eddie Dowllng. Sel- lliiKa lind coalumea by Watson Barrett. I.tRhttng by Teder. Production under llie supervision ot Elizabeth .MIele. Presented at the Playhouse. WllmlnKlon. Del.. Sept. 11-rJ. -Ai: »2.:o top. HELLO OUT THERE Pholo Mnlsh Edille DowllnB >;il,Pl Julie Haydon The Man J"'"' Farrell Another Man Farrell Pelley The Woman Ann Drlsioll MAGIC The SlranBer Kddie DowllnB Palrlcla Cailelon lulie Haydon Huallnxs Farrell Pelley Rev. Cyril ttmltli tlram No-w.'n W. Orimthorpe lohn McKee The Duke Stanley Horrlj.on iforrls Carleon Je«i Uarker Politics are not the only things that make strange bedfellows—so do double bill.-!. William Saroyan's •Hello Out There" and G. K. Ches- terton's 'Magic' are cases in point. They have nothing in common ex- cept that they are acted on the same stage and both employ the talents of two capable players—Eddie Dowl- ing and Julie Haydon. Their N. V. chances are strictly limited. Saroyan's one-acter opens the pro- gram and is by far the best exhibit of the evening. It is full of irony and humor and pathos. The plot's tenseness communicates itself to ;he audience and when the curtain falls one is under the impression that here is a full evening in the theatre. The plot as" such matters little. A man is in jail on a charge of attack- ing a woman. The jail cook tries to comfort him. At the end he is shot by the woman's husband, who leads a mob into the jail. What does mat- ter K Saroyan's pungent, expressive dialog and the Dowling-Haydon act- ing combination. 'Magic' suffers in comparison. Chesterton's quiet, leisurely treatise on faith and religion is much 'oo talky. In fact, it is little more than an illustrated sermon with only yeo- man work on the part of the cast making it a play. Such a play fun- damentally has to be heard and at the opening the audience worked harder than the actors trying to fol- low the speeches. Chesterton has supplie(5 some brilliant lines, but he could do worse than emulate Saro- yan and reduce his arguments on faith to one act. ■ 'Magic' was written in 1913 and presented in N. Y. in 1917 with O. P. Heggie in the lead role of the magi- cian. Here Dowling is the magic man who believes faith is the most powerful healer. As in the Saroyan play, the acting Is top rank. In addition to Dowling and Miss Haydon, Farrell Pelley, Bram Nossen, John McKee, Stanley Harrison and Jess Barker all rise above their roles and at times are successful in bringing the play alive. Watson Barrett's settings are dis- tinctive, and the lighting by Feder heightens the various moods of the two plays. Dowling directed with an eye to dramatic effect, being more successful with Saroyan than Chesterton. Klep. Strawhat Reviews IT'S IN THE AIR . Baltimore, Sept. 11. Comedy In three acts by Francis Swann and Zlon Myers; presented by the Hllllop theatre: directed by Francis Swann; staged by Richard O. Fletcher: set by Jack Lan- dau: at the Vagabond Theatre. Baltimore, Sept. 8, '42. AVarren Mllford Ernest Tannenbauin Klsle Foster l^yn Swann Tony Foster BuB Ellas Helen ^ Helen Slason Cartha Carrowoy .Marjorle Clarke Grandmother Katharine KavanauKh *fra. PealKHly Clara Cedrone Willie Carroway DUkle Miller Buzz Carroway Johnnie Dinning Alfred Carrowoy Maurice Wells Mr. lladley Huk*i Williamson Husan Robinson I^nsale Moores Tom Uadley Mason Adams The Swann family's pioneer straw- hat Hilltop theatre, moved into town this season for a rather lengthy stay at the Vagabond theatre, is winiiing up its current season with another new play by brother Francis, this time in collaboration with Zion Myers. Partnership originated on the Coast, where Francis went after hitling the jackpot a 'glancing blow ■with his previous 'Out of the Frying Pan.' The entire family's again wrapt up in the effort, with sister Lyn playing one of the major femme roles; brother Don, Jr., handling the business; mother Rita, the publicity, and papa Don, Sr., now a captain in the U. S. Army, lending moral sup- port. Current preem reveals a knack for dialog and situational comedy ap- parent in Swann's first play. There are some spots that indicate possi- bilities, but on the whole there is lacking the climaxes and surefire en- tertainment appeal of the trials and tribulations ot aspiring adolescent.'-' as mirrored in 'Frying Pan.' Right now, this new one has some meagre makings and the glimmering of a fairly potent Idea. Conversion into pay dirt depends entirely upon the resourcefulness of the authors in de- veloping the modest material at hand Into more mature theatre. Story revolves around the effects of a sob sister's radio soap dramas on a susceptible matron and her love life. Elsie Foster writes the never- ending dramas of 'everyday life' and not only acts in them with her rather fed-up husband, but goes traipsing around the hinterland, lecturing and gathering more so-called material for her sponsored airings. Her ad vent into the home of one of her most ardent followers almost bre-jks up the menage. All of the vapid sentimentalities and tear-jerking episodes of the legion of characters that have to do with a typical six-day-a-week serial are dragged out and gagged up by Swann and Myers. The long com- mercials also get their licks, as do the boxtops, phone calls and contest gags. Cast is alright, with Lynn Swann and Buff Elias, as the radio actors, and Maurice Wells and Marjorie Clarke, as the heads of the invaded household, quite good in their broad- ly written roles. An inter-twining romance, enlisting Lassie Moores ir.d Mason Adams, is a nice spot. Miss Moores merits immediate attention from the film scouts. She has what it takes. There is also a youngster, Dickie Miller, who reveals ample Ulents and a real possibility for more ambitious development. Stag ing is generally good, with the diffi- culties of handling cued-in recordings a bit too great a task for the limited facilities on hand here. Burm. TWELVE MIDNIGHT Scarsdale, N. Y., Seut. 3. Drama In two ocls (four scenes) by Frank W. Delmar and Harry Wagsloff Gribble. Stars inffW Royve Unndln; features Her bert Berghof. Clay Clement. Directed by Orlbble: seltlngH by Elwcll. Presented by the tjineys ot Si'arsdale theatre. Sept. 1, •4'J: »l.ei.-. loi.. Horand Il.TBcomb Horold MouUon Kiiren Crille Jeitsie Royce Landls Mllo»h KrauMMiilK Herboft Uerghof Ueane Sinne Uean Norton Victoria Weatherby Leslie Bingham 1)111 .-Kinct Wootlward Paul Sidney Stavro Henry Sulllvuii Richard Unrliee Ooorge Hufsell Morrison Krda Iiiyne Colter •Lorelei' Polly Walters Treasurer of 'I.ulher Slater. Inf.* Clay Clement .^^p8BenEer Boy J. Olncy. Jr. Mr. Berry 1."w1h Herbert Mrs. Berry Teresa Catalno •Oh, How I—' Figuring on the youth of most of the 'Best Foot Forward' cast, and the fact that the current tour is the first for most of the players, company manager Sid- ney Harris took no chances on the show's trip to Chicago, where it opened last week at the Erlanger. Harris arranged for Julius Bcrkin, trumpeter from the or- chestra, to walk through the three sleeping cars and play reveille at 7 o'clock the morning the troupe reached Buffalo, where there was a change of trains. That?' the following elements of motivation move into focus: (1) the temperamental director, who, show- ering his American ac'ors with con- tempt and hardly able to restrain a like contempt for things democratic, is an implacable Hitlerite: (2) that the rehearsals are a cover for his salMtage scheme, and (3) that his leading lady, a former continental St r, is allied witli him in the Nazi eiianigans. As for the acting, top kudos are due Herbert Berghof. His role is V of the director and Nazi master- agent. Berghof's concept of the char- acter is brilliantly woven and sus- tained. Jessie Royce Landis has to juggle a dialect as well as a hardly sympathetic part, that of the former continental star and apparent Nazi agent. The results in her case are commendable. Other fine perform- ances are contributed by Jayne Cot- ter, as the daughter of the American financier of this ring of Nazi agents; Clay Clement, as this same agent w!io in the final scene proves a good A erican after all, and HaroKl Moul- ton, a member of the rehearsing troupe and a crack exponent of the slow and quick burnup. Moulton has a walkoff line in one scene that couldn't help but send the Broad- way cognoscenti rolling in the aisles. Dean Norton figures handsomely in the assignment ot the American ac- tor who helps foil the Nazi agents' plot. The title ot the main play derives from the circumstance the 12 mid- night was to represent the X Hour for the air attack. Odec. Pro-Axis Editors Jailed Two editors of notorious South American Nazi propaganda sheet. El Pampero,' hava been Jailed on charges ot disrespect toward Ar- gentine congressmen, who are members of the Parliamentary Com- mittee investigating anti-Argentine —meaning Axis—activities. Sentence caused a sensation here and south of the border in view of fact that the rag, paid for by Berlin coin, has been able to get away with so much since its founding several months after the start ot the war. Believed reason for crackdown was the tact that in present case the sheet named Argentine congressmen directly and courts here unable to find a pretext to' let the swastika scribblers go. Thos.e jailed are Fausto de Tezanos Pinto, 37, 'who was given six months, and Oligario Victor Andrada, 32, who was or- dered to 10 months behind bars by Judge Dr. Miguel Jantus. Court held remarks in Pampero 'offended the dignity and decorum of mem- bers ot the Congress.' Nazi sheet, which is still widely sold in Argentina and shipped else- where, particularly to still 'neutral' Chile, has shrunk to four pages in recent months, although not pulling in its horns in the nature and venom of attacks. Daily continues to fea- ture dispatches from - the officially blacklisted Tranocean Agency and plays up GoebbeU versions ot the war on the Russian front together with repeated attacks on the United Nations. Newsboys get the rag at cut price, and thousands of copies are mailed to an extensive list compiled by the German Embassy. 'Twelve Midnight' posts a grisly theme for Americans, especially those living in New York, to con template. In its fairly vivid but cui ibersome way .he play deals with the plotting of a Nazi master-agent to unloosen, through a band of clev- erly cued saboteurs, a ring of fires and explosions around New York which would serve as a guiding light for an air attack. It's iloubtful for Broadway. The casting and production of 'Twelve Midnight' ranks far above thj merit ot the script itself. The <"'.log is badly overwritten, and the drift of the play's course often be- comes obscure. The welter of espi- onage and cou>iter-espionage, the clash of ideological exposition aAd general Interplay ot the characters f..il to take hol'l on the spectator's emotions until almost the very last scene. Compared to the rest of the play that closing scene stands out like a gem. It's so different in tex- ture and treatment from th« preced- ing that the affect is one of pleas- urable amazement. Tvelve Midnight' Is a play with- in a play. The entire action takes place on the bare stage of a theatre of- Broadway. As the troupe ot ac- tors are being put through the re- hearsal of a play titled, 'After All Current Road Shows (5ept. 16-26) 'Angel Street'—Cass, Detroit (16 IB); Royal Alexandra, Toronto (21' 26). 'Arsenic and Old Lace* (1st Co.).— Curr^n, San Francisco (16-26). 'Beat the Band' (tryout)—Shubert New Haven (17-19) (premiere); Shubert, Boston (21-26). 'Best Foot Forward' — Erlanger, Chicago (16-26). • 'BUckonts of 1942' (vaude)—El Capitan, Los Angeles (16-26). 'CUadU' (1st Co.).—Geary, San Francisco (16-26). 'Corn Is Green'—Locust, Philadel- phia (21-26). 'Count Me In' (tryouD—Shubert, Boston (16-19). 'Eve of St. Mark' (tryout)—Wil- bur, Boston (24-26) (premiere). 'Franklin Street' (tryout)—Play- house, Wilmington (18-19) (pre- miere); National, Washington (21- 26). 'Good Night Ladles' — Blackstone, Chicago (16-26). 'Heilxapoppin' —Nixon, Pittsburgh (21-26). 'Junior Miss' (2d Co.).—Erlanger, Buffalo (16-19); Harris, Chicago (21 26). 'Magic' and 'Hello Oat There' (tryout)—National. Washington (16 19); Walnut, Philadelphia (21-2ff). 'Moon Is Down'—Masonic Aud., Rochester, N. Y. (16); Hartman, Co lumbus, O. (16-19); Cass, Detroit (21-26). 'My Sister Eileen* (2d Co.)—Har- ris, Chicago (16-19); Davidson, Mil waukee (21-26). 'My Sister Eileen' (3d Co.).—Royal Alexandra, Toronto (16-19); Court Square, Springfield, Mass. (21-23) Bushnell Auditorium, Hartford (21- 26). 'Pirate* (tryout) — University, Madison, Wis. (16); Pabst, Milwau- kee (17-19); Hanna, Cleveland (21 26). 'Priorities ot 1942' (vaude)—For- rest, Philadelphia (16-19); Ford's Baltimore (21-26). 'Show-Off' (stock) — Lafayette Detroit (16-26). 'Street Scene' (stock)—Playhouse, Providence (21-26). 'Strip for Action' (tryout)-Nixon Pittsburgh (16-19); Shubert, New Haven (23-26). 'Susan and God' (stock)—Flatbush, Brooklyn (16-20); Windsor, Bronx (22-26). 'Vickie' (tryout) — Ford's Balti more (16-10). 'Watoh on t|»e Rhine'-Biltmore, Los Angles (16-26). 'Ton Can't Take It with Tou' (slock)—Windsor, Bronx (16-20) Literati Trenton Times' Makeshift The Trenton 'times, 'which last week suspended publication when printers refused to pass a picket line ot striking circylation men, came out Thursday (10) with an eight-paga 12 by 16Vi inches tabloid. Paper, a photo-offset typewritten job, was printed at the Times' auxiliary plant, formerly used for getting out Sunday supplement ma- terial. Edition was run off on an off- set press and a limited number of copies sold at downtown newsstands for 2c, instead of the regular 3c rate. Paper was made up ot two and a halt pages ot local and wire news, two pages ot comics, a page of pix, two pages of legal advartlserrients, mostly official eleotlon notices, and a halt-page statement of the Times' stand in the strike.. Statement also held for the morning State-Gazette, which was forced to discontinue publication because of a similar strike in its own plant. Times has announced that it would issue its t^loid edition daily until regular publication can be resumed. entering military service. Going to Columbus from Washington, where he served the last two years as op- erating secretary of the Retailers' Advisory Committee, Morrow is well acquainted with the Ohio newspaper field through previous service with the Cleveland Press and as editor ot the Akron Times-Press. He also served previously as editor-in-chief ot the southwestern group ot the Scrlpps-Howard chain. Artists-Writers' Show Artists & Writers Association, which includes newspapermen, car- toonists and legit managers, will sponsor a series ot entertainments, proceeds to the American Theatre Wing. First show called 'Incentliary Blondes' will be held in the grand ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria, N. v., Oct. 23. Stage names will ap- apt>ear, while models will as host- esses. Committee for the hotel event: Frank Crowninshield, Ted Saucier, Grantland Rice, Rube ' Goldberg, Charles D. Williams, John Golden and Mrs. Robert L. Clarkson. Bunyon's Observation Since running a column on the 'correct' type of war songs, which the Office ot War Information would like to see Tin Pan Alley propagate, Damon Runyon has lieen inundated with crackpot amateurs' song mss. "There are two things every man thinks he can do—write a song and run a newspaper,' observes the col- umnist, now also a 20th-Fox pro- ducer. Incidentally, he and Mark Hellin- ger are the two Hollywood expatri- ates who hang on to their regular newspaper chores while producing pictures (Hellinger is at Warner Bros.). Others, such as Walter Win- chell, only did casual film chores, while scrivening, and in the letter's case it was as an actor, not a writer or producer. Whitney Bolton, David O. Selznick aide. Is also con- tinuing his syndicated column. Gene Lyons la Jait # Softie It Gwen Dhu never sells another article, she'll at least have the sat- isfaction ot knowing that all editors aren't as calloused as Action would have them be. At the Overseas Press (jlub luncheon In New York last week, tendered to American newspaper people recei^tly returned from the Far East on the exchange ship Gripsholm, Miss l5hu sold her first article, sight uni^n, to editor Eugene Lyons ot "The American Mercury. Miss Dhu had Just finished narrat- ing her experiences as an Internee in Hongkong when along came a note from Lyons, who was present, to Lowell 'Thomas, the club's presi- dent and the luncheon's'toastmaster. It said, in effect, that the first article by Miss Dhu, a struggling freelance reporter • photographer, was com- mitted to die Mercury on whatever subject she chose, presumably on the Far East. Pitt Dallies Till to 4o All three Pittsburgh newspapers, morning Post-Oazette and the after- noon Press and Sun-Telegraph, an- nounced an increase In the price of single copies, from 8 to 4a, over the weekend, the tilt going Into effect on Monday (14). Circulation hike had been con- templated for soma time but in cer- tain quarters wasn't expected to come tor month or so. At same time. Press and Sun-':fela increased their Sunday editions from 10 to 12c, this boost beginning next week (20). Post-Gazette publishes only six days a week and has no Sunday paper. Morrow's Colnmbos CItiieil Walter Morrow, Sorlpps-Howard veteran, has begn qpmed editor of the Columbiis (,0.) Citizen, succeed- ing Robert W, Brown, resigned after Crowcll Names Pub for Each Maf The Crowell-Collier Publishing Co. has announced the appointment of a publisher for each of its maga- zines, a title never before used by the organization. Thomas H. Beck, president ot the company, has been named publisher ot Collier's, he also retains the pres- idency. J. A. Welch, v.p. of the company and president of the Ad- vrtising Federation ot America, has become publisher of the Wwnan's Home Companion, and Arthur H. Motley, also a'v.p. of the organiza- tion, was made publisher of the American Magazine. Oardner'a Fancy Sales Erie Stanley Gardner looks cer- tain to set an all-time high sales record this year for an American mystery story writer. H)s books, in $2 and 75c editions, will sail over 1,000,000 copies in this country alone. He sold 841,952 oopies last year In the new and reprint editions. Gardner's first two bookf were published in 1933. They employed his Perry Mason character as the lawyer-idetective who solved every- thing in sight. Later books use Doug Selby as the sleuth. Can. Authors Eleot Officers elected at the concluding . banquet of the 21st annual conven- tion ot the Canadian Authors' Asso- ciation held" in Montreal Saturday (12) were: president, succeeding Madge Macbeth ot Ottowa, Dr. Wat- son Kirkconnell, Hamilton; honorary president. Sir Charles G. D. Roberts; vice-presidents: Evelyn Eaton, Vic- toria Beach, N. S.; Leo Cox, Mon- treal; Wilfrid Eggleston, Ottawa; Kathleen Strange, Winnipeg, and Yvonne Stevenson, Vancouver, CHATTEB Erskine Johnson heads Hollywood bureau of Newspaper Enterprise Association, succeeding Paul Harri- son who Is moving east as chief ot the organization's N. Y. office. John- son continues his Hollywood radio program and his column In the L. A. Daily News. Relman Morin, Associated Press correspondent recently released by the Japs, feted by Hollywood friends. John McDougal Bums II, state news editor of the Nashville (Tenn.) Tennessean, in volunteer officer can- didate training school. He has a wife and one son. Salamanca Inquirer Co. chartered to conduct a printing-publishing business in Salanlanca, N. Y. Di- rectors are Paul M. Hassett, Edmls- ton Hagmeir and Albert M. Kraus.