Variety (Dec 1948)

52 LEGITIHIATE P^fHETY Plays on Broadway« Tlio Bladwninaii of 4'liaill»< Alfred cic. Liagrc, ,.lr.. production of comcdv in .two atits by-Jean Oiriuuloux. •daiited bv Maurice Valoncy., I'catures • Martita Tlunt, .lohii' CarracUnei EstcUc Winwood, Vladimir Sokolafl, • Clajrence Derwenl, Nydia Westman. Dons Rich, Martin Kosleck. StaRcd by de Liagie; ■ «ets and costumes. Christian Berard: litJht: ing, Samuel Leve. At Belasco, N, V.. DCL 27. '48. $4 80 top The Waiter , , . , s........ Ralph Smiley The Little Man . Hiiold Gnu The Prospector....... .Vladimir Sokoloff The President . ..I.... .Clarencj Dcrwenl The Baron .. . Le Roi Operti Theresc . .Patricia Coui tley The Stieet Sln?ei Eugene Cibolli The ' Flbwer Girl ; ....;.. .Millicent BroweV The Ragpickei . John Carradinc Paillette ........... Barhara Pond The Deaf MUte . Martin Ko.sleck Irma ■ ' Loora Daiia The Shot-Lace Peddler .Maurice Brenner The Broker: ; ... -Jon'ithan Harris The Street .Jui{t.lci lohn Bcahan Dr Jadin Snulio Giijlio Countess 'Vuielia Maitita Hunt The Dooimiu William Chambeis The Policeman Rallih Roberts piarre ' ' ..... Alan Shayne The Sergeant . . Ruhirrt Sanders The Sewer-Man .. - Jam's ^\c,teltle^d Mme. Const,)"''e F ' ''1< Winwood Mile Gabnelle , N uli i Westman Mme Josephine Dons Rich ■ The Presidents; • . „ ■ Clarence .Derwent, Jonathan tHarris, .- Le Rol Operti ,. . : > . ...'The Prospector.^: ' • „ . .. Vladimh' Sokoloff, Winianv Chambers,; . Maurice Brenner. .. . The "less A"''nis , „ , \rohie Smith; Sandro GigUo.. James Wostei field The Lndics:.- .-ii.' ■, ■ r. j Patucii Couitlcv, Baibara Pond, Sonu Soiel J The Vlolohe Beidauts ■ Piuil BvrOn. Harold Giau, William. Chambers, Cilbeit Smith Tii4> Vi(>ior»i . " New Staffe-s production of drama-in. two■. acts -(tour, scenes) ' b.v ,Iean-Paul .Sartre, adapted bv. Thornton Wilder. ..Di. lecled b^ Mai% Huntei, settings, Robeit Gundlach. At New, Stages, N. Y., Doc. 26; '48 SJ top Francois ......... ......Larry Robinson Sorbicr .... -............. Ernest Stone Canoris . Boris rumarin Lucie ■ . J.. ■■ . , -... Florida Fricbus Guaid Sid Waltcis Henu. . , . , Alexander ScoUibv Dubois Joseph Sllicr Jean . , '"h" Lailvin Clochct Icon Jaiincy Landi-pu ,. •• , ,. 8"''^' Pcllcun . ... Vnold Robertson Guaid . Robert Davis Weiliiesday, Dcccinlicr 29^ 1948 In "The Madwoman of ChaiUot" Broad\\a\ has its most unusual, provocative play- of the soason, written with imagination and taste, and acted and staged with great skill, it's an intriguing piece of theatre Certain to be talked about, it viU make the grade This IS a mad play, and yet not so mad Puie- fantasj based on harsher realism; it's a parable on the greed and cruelty of the modcrr-day world, set in the cen- ter of present-day civilization, •Paris. The rich and poweriul con- tinue to trv gobbling up the earth and all the small fry m tt. It takfes the mad scheme of a demented old lady to rid the world of its para- ■ Sites, and make everyone happy '' 'u' play is talkv and sometimes • slo«'. "It is leisurely in getting un^ der way and a little confusing tor the first five or 10 minutes while one tries to understand what it's all about. The pattern begins to emerge clearlv in the middle of the first act. There are similarly dull spots m the second act. but the overall wit and intelligence of the plaj the many fascinating mo- ments, plus some marvelous per- formances, easily carry the play through. ■ Martita Hunt: Kncjiish actress who scored as anotheu iiiadworaan In the film, "Gicit E\pectation5," dominates the play as the mad Countess who sets the world right, giving a porforiivance that has style.: perception and keen humor. Estelle Winwood. Nydia We&tman and Dons Rich as three similarly demented noblewomen, ofler rich support, a scene with Mesdames Hunti, Winwood rind Westnian be- ing tlie high comic, spot of the play Clarence Derwent, as a preda- tory corporation president: Vladi- • niir Sokoloff; a venal prospector; John Carradinc. a lociuacious rag- picker: Leora Dana, a romantic V dill ess, .lamc. Westei field, a scwei-cleanci Alaitin Kosleck, as a graceful deaf mute, and Alan Shayne the ioung lover, are all standouts 111 a large, expert cast. Alfred de Liagre; ,Jr., who pro- :duced. also staged the tantasv with deft skill Tlie tuo sets bv Chiis- tian Bciaid that of a Pans caie street-corner and the Countess' cellar apailnient aie buUiantly conceived, alon:?' with . Berard's ama/ing cosUiiiios Sdiiiuin Leve's lighting also hits tlic same high level If the plj\ pu'adips the gospel that san<i people .ue tia/\ and the crazy people sjne in this piesent- ' day.. .'mad.-. wofkl. .. il . isfactlGaliy proves its':ppiril. : Tlij? .:-iitten1pt to do so is certainl.v worth watching-' Bron..... . I Having survived an internal quairel and several censoiship tussels, NeV Stages resumed oper- ations Sunday night (26) at its own 'theatie on Bleecker street in I Greenwich Village, N Y, appar- ently as vigoioi's as ever As the ' first production of its second season the coopeiative organization has presented "The Victors" adapted Ibv Thornton Wilder from a play by 1 Jean-Paul Sartre, author of the ! group's boxotfice success of last season, "The Respectful Prostitute " I This, too, IS a brutal melodrama, which will restore little of the pres- jtige the French dramatist lost with the local .presentation of "Red Gloves" (as "Piostitute" served to redeem the earlier "No Exit") But if the new offering fails to enhance the standing of Sartie, it ofters I renewed evidence that New Stages [is one of the Vital elements m the I New York Icgit scene. I As usual, Sartre is dealing with ideas rather than action m this, play The title itself is a sardonic comment on the story of how a group of French underground fight- er.s defy Vichy secret police and then pretend to betray their cause, : only to be double-crossed by one of their torturers. Also as . usual 'With Sartre, the characters seem ■ more puppets, .than fully dimen- i sioned people with their, own moti- I vations I Despite that limitation and a j tendency toward talkiness that [seems to afflict Sartre, (and occa- I sionally Wilder i "The Victors" I holds interest and builds a fair 'degree of suspense. Certain of its I scenes, notably one in the toiture I room and another m which the girl I returns after her ordeal, have ter- I rible impact. There are also two unnecessarily blunt bits of dialog (which probably couldn't be edited under Dramatists Guild regula- tions) } The New Stages production 1 and performance are better than I the play deserves.. Marv Hunter's I staging IS direct and taut. There ■ are admirable portrayals by Florida I Friebus, Boris Tuinarini Alexander I Scourby, Ernest Stone and Larry i RoTjinson as members of the under-: I ground, by Leon Janney as a psy- I chopathic interrogator and Jim I Boles as a police chief with imagi- j nationy ;John Larkin has trouble 'with the ditficultpart of the under- I ground leader, and Arnold Robert- ison 1.S acceptable as a cowardly j Vichyite :} Robert Gundlach's two settings ^ create considqrable atmosphere With an obviously limited budget, land the sound effects are helpful, though occasionally neglected. In ; hue With New Stages official policy, "The Victors" is not intended to have popular appeal It seems a I worthy selection for cooparative ■ presentation, however. Hohe. tilled "Make Way for Lucia " The comedy will probably prove suf- ficiently entertaining tor the Guild's subscriber!., but seems torf specialized for general popularity. It has no screen prospects PUv IS a satiiic pictuie of 1912 provincial English society, some- what in the style ot Sheiidan, Goldsmith and Wilae. The produc- tion and performance strive for the same mannered quality, but the ettect doesn't quite register, StoiWr about a battle for social su^ premacy in the town of Tilling, is a -field day of genteel bitchery, with the. romantic men merely I guileless bystanders I . Isabel Jeans has been brought I from London to give an artlul per- formance as the teline heroine, and I Cyril Ritehard, another importee, skillfully plays her devoted partner I in esthetic pretense. Catherine Willard-IS convincing as the forth- rightly catty rival Philip Tonge scores as an asinine ex^major; while I Viola Roache; Ivan Simpson, Cher- ry Hardy, Guv Spaull and Kurt Kasznar contribute to a generally vigorous portrayal. Lucinda Ballard's drawing room setting and splendacious costumes have hideous elegance, and the dramatist's staging is properly un- obtiusive. Bu'. with all its individu- al assets, "Lucia" just doesn't add up to much of a show Kobe. Plays Out-of-Town . Continued trom page SO . I U»n*i Lisioii* Ladies and theirmasterful command of men. Placing the entire action in I the antique shop (Instead, ot the I usual bedroom known' to Parisian I larces) sets up many lines about i ancient objects, incluchng Daniel's !being,25 years older than his new I wife. I Buchanan's savoir faire, pro- ] jccted mostly via amusing ili teni- i [per, gets plenty oi support from | i the remainder ot the company,! I brought over intact from a success- ! lul London showing.: Best ot these I is Moira Lister, whose; saucy: eyes, iPaiisian gowns, and hour-glass I figure should take Broadway's eye; lAdele Dixon is handicapped by iiumpy clothes. Ivy St Heliei is ■a-'Salty. old.:dame as .lulie, Daniel's earliest Hame. Ian Lubbock as the shop assistant; Austin Trevor as the millionaire and Hugh IMiUer as a racy old baron add spice to the situations. Bran. Jenny Kissed Me James Russo, Michael EUl» i Alexander Cohen (In association with Clarence M. I Shapiro) production of: comedy in Ihrei;; ) acts (four scenes) by Jean Kerr. Stars Leo G. Carroll: features Alan Baxter, I. Pamela Rivers. Frances: Bavier., Bren- | .nan. Moore, William A. Lee. Directed bv I .lames. Russo;. scttin;;, Ralph Alswang;. cos- I tumes,. Eleanor GohLsmitli. At Hudson;' tN. Y:;, Dec. 23, '48i $4.80 top ($U opening). LeO' G.; Carroll Father: Moynihan. Michael Saunders.. I Mis Dpa7y [ Sister ;Mary ■.....; Shirley Tirabossl; Miss Stearns. .;.. Mary Delaney."... Harry.. ....;; .Jo. . .. Owen Parkside.>. Jenny ... . Oili Another Girl...... Mr: Parlcside .;; : -Alan Baxter :.;;-. .Frances Bavier ....;.. Sara Taft ....... Bonnie Aldeu ..;.. ..Ruth Savlile ...Bette Howe . Jean. Jordan .Winnie - Mue-Martin. -... : Brennan Moore , Pamela Rivers ... Camilla de Witt Dorothy Kins .. . . William A. Lee I :>Iake Way lor Lncia I . Theatre Guild presents . Theresa Hel- ■ burn and Lawrence Langner production ! of comedy in three acts (seven scenes) ■ by John van Druteit, based on novels by ! E. r.Hen.son. f eatures Isabel Jeans, f.yril Ritehard, Catherine Willard. Viola Roache Philip Tonge Staged bv van i Drutcn; scenery and co.stumes, LUClnda I Ballard. At Cort; N. Y., Dec. 22. '48; S4 «0 ; top ($(i opening). I .Ma,i., Bcn.)aniin, Hint; Philip TohRe I Oio6venoi Chtiiv Haid\ Miss Ma )p tatheiine Wilhiid f Georgle Pil.son ;; ,... Cvril. Ritehard Mrs. tnimeline Lucas (Lucia) Lsabcl ;ieans Ml Wise Ivan Simpson Mis W\se Lssex Dane I Rev Bditletl . Guv SpauU Mis BiiUett ., DoieCn Lang Godi%a i'ldislow \iola Roi< he Signui Coitcse Kuit IC,>s/ri,ii A te^v - years ago there would have been a place on Broadway for an innocuous little comedy like "Jenny Kissed Me " In the bvgone days of reasonable: production costs, such a play could have been operated foi about $4 000-$5 000 a week and would have pleased enough people to have had a mod- estly profitable run But under present conditions it lacks the vi- tality to survive in the commercial theatre, seeming better suited for s(?hdOl and amateur dramatic groups. It might be adaptable intc a passable picture originally presented at Catholic Univ., the Jean Kerr concoction tells of the priest who. in -order to get his'household back to nor- mal, schemes to marry off an or- phan girl who comes to live there, only to have her fall m love with a sympathetic schoolteacher. This is unpretentious and has a tew genuinely amusing passages, but generally seems pasted together, predictable and inconsequential, Leo G Carroll's poitrayal of the well-meaning ■ but innocent and somewhat obtuse priest almost suc- ceeds in giving substance to the play, and Pamela Rivers is unaf- fected and appealing as tlie orphan. Alan Baxtei is baffled by the un- playable part of the teacher, but Brennan Moore is; notable as a brash teen-ager and Frances Bavier is acceptable as the priest's house- keeper. James Russo, who took over di- leclion altei John O'Shaughnessy Withdiew during the road tryout, has done a routine job, and Ralph Alswang's living room setting seems plausibly commonplace. Kobe. As its third production ot the season the Theatre Guild presents John van Druten's dramatization from the novels of E F Benson l Oiiij Mr. Meadowiirooli;! ! ..John Yorli. production of cumedv in : thi-co. acts bv Itoiiald iclfer and Pauline- i .Jainerson. Stars I'.rncHt Truex; features I Vicki: CuinminKs. .Stayed by Harry Eller- i;he:^ .setting. WolfgauK Roth; vostumcs; . LucUle : Little, At John Golden, N.. Y.. I Dec 2b, '48, $4 80 top I C;onstancfe . Vye-..;; -.-tirace McTarnahan llailand Vje Hin\ Eilirbe ; Sophie MarDonald .Sylvia If icid j-.I-apliei .-MeacIoWbrook . :',: l^i-hCsl- 'True)( NesLa Madnqale ,.:. ; . Vicki. C:umin.m«H .)allies llowella.. . -Morton L.:Stevens "Oh. . Mr. Meadowbrook!" is no lark. A dullish comcdv turning on one jest., it's a labored concoction enlivened only occasionally by some amusing pciformanteb. Its chances are limited: The jest il leans on is the an- gle ol a middle-aged British bach- elor prude who has never known se.x,. who comes to America to find and taste it.' It's doct6rs orders Not a particulai'ly tasteful joke, the plot isn't helped any bv its lack .ot wit. The lines are corny, famil- iar and lunny just one in a while. It's pretty thin taie these fiigid days. Perlonnances make the comedy seem better than it is while at the same tune showing Up its thinness Ernest XiupjiL as a Biit- ish taxidermist come ibsa Con- Tlie Shop at Sly 4'orn«>r Boston, Dec. 25. Gant Gaither production of melodrama I in two acts (three scenes) by Edward ) Percy. Stars. Boris Karlofl. Staged bv .j: Martcaret Perry; set and co.stume>, Willis ■ Knighton. At Wilbur, BostoVii D<ic. aS: '48: I $8.80 top. ■ ■ : I Descius Heisi.... .... Boris KarloiT > Archie Fellowes.. .: .lav. Robinson i Margaret Heiss. :.. .Mary MacLeod I Joan. . Deal.....:..:.... Jane - .-Llay4*Jones Hathilde Heist ... Elhel GriAies' Mrs. Catt.. ... . ;. i. .Una O'Connor 1 Robert Graham........... Philip Saville: I Corder Morris . -..Emniett Ro);era j Steve HubbardAlfred Hyslop I John EUiot . ..i .. . . . .. . :. Reginald Mason { It will , take a Jot of sly .maneu-' vering to put this: meller across: i That tlie basic ingredients, are; present seems clear from the twor i year London run; the British pace,:' however, is not always . ik- trans- plantable qualityj nor are the back-; ing and filling in this tale ot a fence driven to murder via black- i mail. . .. . I Much of the first act; is devoted to establishing: the fact that Boris i Karloff, as the bearded antique: dealer, in the shop at Sly Corner, I who melts down golden baubles in an electric furnace behind his fake fireplace, is a tamily man with a h»ait as well-tarated as the gob- lets he :stufls into his furnace. The menace is quickly established in • the person of Karloff's shop assist- i ant, a gay lad giveij to wearing i silk underwear and walking with i a mincing gait who- presently ] catches KarlofE with his fireplace I dowin. The final resolution is like- i wise: of no great surprise since | there is a good deal of business i from the outset over a couple of : poisoned thorns, and it takes no mystery: tan to hgure out that Karl- off is going to prick himself on the i one left over after he nicks the! menace. i The running time is consequently : filled out With a semi-vaudeville i turn bv Una O'Conner,^ as a hypo* ! chrondriac housekeeper; a good i deal of small talk about Karloff's ■ daughter and her concert career, a rather over-done aulobiograph-1 ical sketch purporting, to show, why, ] Karloff,: lives a' shadowy life* and j. how he keeps the fact from his i daughter, and some highly intuitive - Sherlock and Holmesing by the daughter's girlfriend once she' suspects Karlofl did the deed.: i On the other hand, there are i some excellent scenes with: botlr: suspense and excilrment, and the , leading performances are splen-; did. The top scenes are .those in-:; volving Karlofl when he success- > lullv throws the .scent of Scotland : yard off his trail, and those in-v volving Jay Robinson as the ele-' gantly perverted assistant. Robin-' son's portrayal, in lact. is the most interesting aspect of the play, for Karloff's style, though most accom- plished, IS more familiar. Here,' however, he gives the role a much warmer: and more introspective quality. Shd is'effective throughoul Other standouts' in the .cast are ; necticut writer's home to seek re- lea.se trom hi.s inhibitions, and getting involved With not one but three temmes. has a little lun with the role, and communicates it to the audience. The lamiliar comedy tricks, smoothly handled and ex- pertly ■ limed, have their appeal. Vicki Cummings a brash predatory playwright, is volatile and often, amusing. :Svlvia Field, as a - Scottish companion-servant, lends bome wainilh to her char- acterization. Harrv Elieibe, Who staged the comedy well enough, a!,50 handles the i*ole of Connecticut host amiably Moiton L Stevens is on foi a shoif satisfying bit as a short-tempeied theatiical pro- ducer, and Grace McTarnahan is attractive as the wife. Woltgang Roth's set also di esses up the v\oik more flatteringly than it deserves. Bron. Miss ©Conner, who, until shi. gives the one piece of mloimation that gives hev reason loi bcin» makes the housekeeper a cnmio^i figure, Ethel Gritfies, who doesn' have too much to do but makps every word and piece of busines^ count; Reginald Mason as the in spector, Emmett Rogers as a thief and Philip Saville, who proves himself a capable and attiactive lead. Elie. Loaf anil llouji<li Boston, Dec 27 Chdiles P Heidt luc-.eni-, Rimlieii Ma moulian production: of draimi Ih two all. (, scenes) by Joseph lli\es IcatuiVj I! child Ilait. ColciMi Gid\ and DdJ t)Heilih\ staged b^ Mamouhan scttinw Call Keni Opened at PlMnontli, Boston' Dec..,27, '48. :'..;...■- . Bert Wancn Gtesoi\ Rubin, Jivia Wan en ... Doroth\ Udti Attie Warren.:...: : Louise Bucklev Maiy Wan en Maiv Liim BoUer Gi andpa. Nelson.,.,..:,.: Wllliaiiv Jeffrey Laura Ganipbell:::;.:.; Alice ReinHeart f rederlck Campbell. . , David Whii* Glenn Campbell.. ;..... .Daii (J'Herlihv Marli Campbells.......... llichard Hart Nan Waiten toleen dav Il.irlan Adams. v .. Jared Heed Dr. Vincent CuUcn...:. Tom McElhaney This contemporary .American folk drama must certainly require that somebody take aspiuii on the hour every hour. That somebody will certainly be Rouben MamoUl- lan. who has come up. m "Leaf and Bough." with, a bit ot America to end all Americana. It. he can pull It together it will be ^practically « miracle. Play, which sounds as if it had been written by a writer who had- flunked out of a Tennessee Wil- - liams class in playwTighting, tells of a starry-eyed farmgirl near Vmcennes, Ind., who falls in love with the second son ol-a dissolute- city couple. The boy, -who hankers lor the better things, plays viohn pieces on -the phonograph and once took a book out ot the library, is dominated by a ruftian of a broths er who keeps urging him to "take a swig of hooch" and "knoclc oft a tew broads." When the 'boy (Richard Hart with a foreloeki climbs to a hilltop wiih the lirl (Coleen GrayV with : the intention of "knocking her off." lie IS himself knocked off with poetic references to life, stars, the smell of growing things, the sound ot wind in trees; and so on.' So, they become engaged. The girl's father orders her out of the house, ■ and the boy's brother sets up a stiategem to break up the en- gagement, but love in Indiana con^: quers all. There's bascially nothing wrong With the storv except that staged, as It IS, with the farm and the city house side by side, people rush in and out of the two sets like char- acters in a French farce. The main ■trouble is that everybody talks too mucli. and that all speak like the autfior, not like living characters. As It happens the author speaks in one platitude after anothcji-, thus the chai'acters, one at a time, square off and deliver "significant" messages, each one of whicli dem- onstrates thai life is awfully com- plicated The acting, oddly enough. Is pretty generally poor, largely be-. cause it IS almost impossible to deliver the ornate I tnes with con- viction Hart and Miss Grav, m the leads, make an attractive couple but he IS given to teelh-gnashing, she. to simultaneou.sly clenching hci fists and looking ladiant The one standout performance is that by Alice Reinheart in the lole of the boys' mother, the otiiers bear down, on the pseudo poetic dialog ■ so hard: the audience li-oquently giggles in the vviong pUices II takes a teiiiflc cii lo catch the words and music ol rural Americana, and the aiithoi lusf hasn't caught it. In auv case, the : only possible chance here iS: a thorough toning down ot the pur- ple-wordiness and a more exact re-creation of the Ameiican idiom. £lte. / SAMUEL FREHCR SINLK I8SA Play, Brokers and . Authors' Rcpr«8ciilativc» 3,1 West mih Street, Ne» lork rtmi SiniKet Bird.; Ilonvwood *«, MOW .IKRSKY IHtrii Mo«l<Tn V'f ( icnnln); eHtiibllHhmcnl — li minutes from <jir»r|!i> )VnHl)ll>K<»'i ISr'dBe I'rorcn ItlKlii-Kt iitiitlHv mih'Ii oii <•<'"" -ttiiiietf, eveninif frotvn.i. aiiil ..dt*I,i*'*'T fiiitrirH. SerkH infill lilntil "lUi "'e"*' rliul follouing (or «oiiliMt work—i'" lirorUiilile lirrliiiKeliiehlH filii be IMinne II. C'llARV, IliK Ueniui h