Variety (December 1950)

74 I.EGITIMATB Wednesday^ December 13, 1950 Plays Out of Town Captnin Carvallo Buffalo, Dec. 7. Katharine Cornell production of coniedy in three acts by Denis Cannan. Stars Miss Cornell, Cedric llardwicke, John Buckmas- ier, Nigel Bruce. Robert Kmhardt. Di^ct- ed by Guthrie McClintic; scenery by Rolf Gerard; costumes by Motley. ihent with Laurence Olivier,^At Erlangen ■ Bultald, Dec. C, 1950; $3.60 top. Anni Hope Cameron SmilK narde The Baron •. ■, * Professor Winkc..... • • • 2.^Starkey PrivatA Gross Waller SjiarK.ey Captain Caspar Darde Robert -Emhardt Little Scandal . Pasadena, pec. 8. Pasadena Playhouse production of conar edy in three acts (six scenes) by Florence Ryerson and Alice D. G. Miller. Directed hy Lenore Shahewise, Set by Scott Mc- Lean. At Pasadena Playhouse. Pasadena^ Cal., Dec. 7> *50; $2.40 top. .{ If the American pi’C-hnicre of this j : latest British importation,, which is! rather , enigma tically labeled ' a J traditional comedy,” is significant. of anything, it is that Katharine- Cornell’s modern vehicles have; sch’om proved a match for her j .gifts, and that Engli.sli humor, stage j. or olhf'rwi.^-T. is no belter than it, is ei'acked up to be. Only .the.latter ! proposition could account for the ^ fact tlial Denis. Cannan’s ineptly-- Written dpiis i.s now in .its fourth ; nionth in London with Diana Wyn- yr’ cl featured- ■ , , ' 'J'his American vefs.ion, billed as i “a Katharine Coi’netl production,”. > unwinds as an uninspired piece ofj contrived cardboard carpentry, di- j rcctecl and played in a broad coin- ed v vein and with strong over- tones oT farce, It marks the return • to the comedy milieu of Miss Cor-1 nx'li aftei’-a ■half-dozen seasons with-, the tragic muse. But .iudged. by ' this presentation, the star should, have stuck to her last. The first j act has .•'Onic dreary pedestrian, passages, the second stan 2 ;a goe.s i slapstick and . the final session i proves merely a conventional wrap- | up for the ovonin.g's. activities. j The story line isn’t impressive?. ' A gallant captain of an invading! arm.v O'dls at a farmhouse, in a j myiiiical European country to ar-i range a billet for himself, and his | aide. The handsome middleaged' farmer’s - wife, repulses his seduc- j tive aclvances. onl.v to fall in love i with him later. To save him from death at the hand.s of partisans, of whom her doltish husband is a leader, she turns the tables by seducing him into an alLnight as- signation. The billet is blown . up. but he emerges safely from her bedroom iicxt morning. When he offers to desert to be near her, she repulses him and sends him ruefully on his way. A philosophic teacher Of biolcigy caught up in the partisan plottings, and a pair of young lov- ers complete the roster of onstage goings on. Plot and motivation are jeriy- built and flimsy. Guthrie Me- Glintic directs the proceedings with bold farcical strokes, utilizing most of the stock tricks of farce with doors, closets, under-table antic's and similar pieces of stage busi- ness for guffaws. There are also some touches of fantasy in the di- rection and acting which lend an atmosphere of unreality to the presentation. Whether or not this is helpful to the dverall effect is ! largely a matter of taste. | There isn’t much in the role of i the wifely heroine which is worthy of Miss Cornell’s talents. War Is war, but her mature charms seem scarcely calculated to stir the romantic captain, although a cou- ple of fetching peasant costumes by Motley are a decided assist in accomplishing the job. Miss Cornell, as Usual, surrounds herself with distinguished players, but here it seems like a waste of talent. The wisdom of some of the casting is moot. Cedric Hardwicke’s professorial partisan is a ribbon of bright comedy characterization, although it’s disconcerting to see him relegated to dark closets, un- dertables and to low comedy busi- ness for comic relief. Robert Emhardt projects a shrill-pitchcid Dicken.s-like carica- ture a.s the querulous husband. The romantic Carvallo is limneti by Jphn BuckiTiaster with a skipping touch. . Nigel Bruce draws a stand- ard portrait of a gamey old baron. The junior love interest is satis- factorily handled hy Walter Star- key as Carvallo’s obtuse aide and Hope Cameron as the heroine’s addlehcaded maid. Some where, between Londori and America, by the injcietion . of an overdose of dialog and extraneous comedy business, the .script sCems to have gone off the« dramatic beam. However, with a single set, small, cast and Miss Cornell’s faith- ful. retinue of ca.sh admirers, it should be able to stick around for a while. For pictures, it can be scored as a loud and emphatic no'. Burt. ^ Leo Kopp, director for the St. Paul Civic Opera Co. and Chi- cago s Grant Park Symphony, has been signed by. the Detroit Civic Light Opera Assn, to conduct its orch for the. 10-week operetta sea- son starting Dec. 25. I f ’( I I Activities of UN personnel pro- vide a new springboard for the familiar mistaken-identity plot re- volving around the parenthood of a seeminglyrillegitimate child in this new Florence Ryerson-Alice D. G, Miller script. It’s a near- miss for Broadway, but ‘‘Little Scandal” has all the elements of pleasing strawhat fare and might easily make a laugh-provoking film. Good comedy writing is stretched a trifle too thin for big- time success in its present form, but careful rewriting might pro- duce the desired tightness to make it a homey comedy click. Laughs stem from the retUm home, after two years abroad, of UN worker Angela Pettigrew. She brings with her a seVeral-day-old baby — and even her own family fihds it bard to believe her story that she smuggled the infant iri from Paris when its mother died iri childbirth. The father is a wildcat pilot, currently somewhere; in the wild blue y 0 n d e r. The town, of course, is wondering whether An- gela hasn’t been carrying world co- operation a little too far. Every- thing gets straightened out in proper order. after Angela has a fight with her diplomat-fiancee, staves off an attempted kidnapping by baby black-marketeers and de- livers the tot to its father in tinie to make the final curtain clinch with her diplomat. Laughs flow freely during the first and second acts, but action is, slowed considerably when the script attempts to bridge a few serious moments. Authors have beautifully captured the flavor of smalltown life and the clubwomen characterizations are devastatingly accurate. Well-selected cast gets the most out of the laugh lines under Le- nore Shanewise’s nicely-paced di- rection. Paul Maxev and Madge Blake are (jornfortanly at ease as Angela’s parents, to score solidly. Genevieve Johnson earns attention as a bookish spinster-neighbor, an(i Sally Parr and John Milton Ken- nedy are appealing as the leads. Production, 358th on the Play- house’s Main Stage, boasts another fine Scott McLean set. Kap. turns in another standout perform- ance, as a slightly rattle-brained music coach, here. By college thesping standards the hard-wOrking cast and well- trained chorus are definitely above average, and in some cases ex- cellent. C. Rpbert Jennings, a^ Peaches, turps in an exceptionally fine performance, while Hugh H, Wilson and Robert S. Goldman are well cast as Gloomy Gus and Happy. James D. R, Harder reg- isters favorably with his skillful performance as the dim-witted Gerard. Both costumes and settings are colorful and eye-appealing. Revi- sions are still being planned. Shane. IBudda Knows Best . Cambridge, Mass., Dec. 8. Hasty Pudding production of musical in two acts with book, lyrics and music by William S. Wheeling, William Wiggin and Sidney Stires. Directed by James MacAlIcn. Dances, by James Venable; cos* tumes, Paul. Etter; sets, David Hays. At Clubhouse, Cambridge, Dec. 8, *50. Too Hot for Toddy Princeton, N. J., Dec. 7. Princeton U. Triangle Club production of revue in two acts (19 scenes),- with Prolog. Book by Bruce H. Kennedy, Peter. H. Bunce, C. Robert Jennings, Edward J. Streator, Walter H. Lleberman, III, and John H. Smith. Music aiid lyrics by Vin- cent M. Hogan, Ford Van Hagen, G. Don- ald Murray, Roger S. Berlind. Craig A. Nalen, Walter demons; Jr.; John F. Ball, Edwin G. Snyder, Streator and Jennings. Directed. by Mark Lawrence. Ch 9 re- ography, Fred Kelly: settings, Edwin G. Snyder: costumes and makeup, George W. Lewis, Musical direction, Vincent M. Ho-' gan. At McCarter theatre, Princeton, Dec. 7, '50: $3.90 top. As college shows go, ‘‘Too Hot For Toddy,” 59th annual Triangle Club’s production, turns out to be a fairly amusing revue. However, it doesn’t rate among the Trian- gle's long list of past hits. The production sags badly in the first act—-a sharp contrast to Act II which, on the whole, proved to be more evenly paced. It needs plenty of tightening and revision. The plot revolves around a fantasy trip in the year 2,000 A.D. |, Gloomy Gus and Happy, two Princeton men who escaped freez- ing in. the great cold of 1955 (by drinking plenty of anti-freeze), go through a series of zany adven- tures accompanied by Peaches— the gal who can unfreeze anyone. Choreography definitely proves to be good—and the show’s best feature; Outstanding routines in- clude the finales of both acts and ‘‘Steamroller Operators Ball.” E. Howard HarVey‘’s neat tap dancing rates special mention. Top skits included ”11 Bottle- topera,” a satirical singing duel between the (cohorts of Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola, and the Newark Airport sequence in which Robert A.. Shaw as “Toddy” Cranston, (the Great Hollywood Lover whose name is the rhagic Unfreezing j word) does a side-splitting take- off on a jug-eared gentleman of the screen. Though adequate on the whole, no numbers in the score are out- standing. Best of the lot are “Love’s in Town,” “One Touch of You” and “Where There’s a Song.” The latter was compose(i and is sung by jack F. Ball, who scored as Sally in l; 3 St yeat’s show and This one isn’t up to the level of other productions put on by this famed Harvard theatrical outfit, hut is serves to get enough laughs from the in-the-know audience to make an entertaining evenihg. Main defect of “Buddha Knows Best,” which seems to have some- thing to do with the search for a jade eye' in the exotic jungles of Burma of somewhere, is the book. Apparently pretty heavy with plot at the outset, the book got thrown put along the line, with the result that. the. confusion as to what is going On is considerable. Thus with all chance for situatiori gags gone, wisecracks come out of no- where, when there are any, arid there is no sustained buildup. The boys weren’t too much happier with: their music this year, either, most of the songs being top derivative, the lyrics unpointed and ordinary and the rhythms persistently beguine-ish through- out. Nearly all the songs are set in top low a key, tooj which always mars an effect. In other departments, sets, costumes, lighting, etc., the Pud- ding show is well up to previous standards, and the talent through- out excellent. Frederick Gwynne as Henry Atwater, the head of the mission hunting for the jade eye, has a comic deadpan style, and Nicholas Benton as the princess, inakes a sock femme lurer. Sharps bits are contributed by Kerry Lyne as Isabel Taylor (who draws the show’s best tune, .“Love and the Night”); Lansing Lament, Dick Button, Andrew Sisson and James Wood, with top honors going to the solo dancers Lawrence Osgood and Roger Butler. • The show is well directed and paced and draws laughs - from somewhat blue material, but it needs a good deal more work on the book and at least two more top songs and a couple of dance specialties to uphold the tradition. Production numbers by the chorus are well conceived and smartly, ex- ecuted. Show uses a student or- chestra of no great capabilitids and the conductor might give the do- ings on the stage a little more leadership. Elie. The Tender Branch Philadelphia, Dec. 7. Little Theatre Club of Swarthmore Col- lege production of drama in three acts (11 scenes) by Eugene Lerner. Directed by Barbara Pearson Lange, assisted by Lerner. At Clothier Memorial HaU, Swarthmore, Pa., Dec. 7, *50. The author of “The Tender Branch” has something to say and, at times, he says it well, but there are other times* especially in the earlier portions of the play, when the action is so jumbled and over- wrought as to show little hopri of remedy. The pacifist theme, right now, at hny rate, is loaded with ari- ti-boxoffice dynamite. “The Tender Branch’’ tells the story of Carl Randall, a mid- westerner, son of a violent social- ist and unbeliever, who grows up just as bitter and radical as his dad. When the U S. enters World War II, Randall goes to a con- scientious objectors’ camp rather than take up arms. Even his loving, faithful wife cannot accept the decision, arid her last meeting with her husband, at the camp, finds her in a WAG uni- form. After two years as a C.O., Randall is so d i s g u s t e d and frayed by the monotony and lone- someness that he changes his mind (if not his deeply-routed convic- tion) to the extent of enlistirig as a common $oldier. Later he is killed in the South Pacific and be- comes a much-lauded hero. The Swarthmore college stu- dents who take part-^this is inter- curricular, as there is no regular dramatic group here — deserve plenty of credit for their industry, sincerity and ambition. Barbara Pearson Lange has staged the play (with the author’s help) with con- siderable imagination. Waters. I . » Decision was reserved last week by U. S. circuit court of appeals justices Harrie B. Chase, ThofnRS W. Swan and Learned Hand in the suit of Carl E. Ring against the Dramatists Guild. Both sides had appealed the finding of the lower court ... Allyn McLerie, the orig- inal Amy of “Where’s Charley?,” will resume the part in support of Ray Bolger when the Frank Loes- ser musical opens its tour Dec. 25 iri Boston , . , Actress Dorothy Storm resigned as publicist of the Equity Library Theatre to become p a; for Pat Hurley’s St. Peters- burg (Fla:) operetta festival . . . Edwin Lester is dickering ^ for “Call Me Madamy as the principal production of his San Francisco and Los Angeles Civic Light Opera season next spring. The deal may I be for him to produce the show, which would revert to Leland Hayward’s manageriient as a tour- ing attraction after the two Coast engagements ... Vincent Sorey, who operates the Sea Cliff (L. I.) strawhat, has leased the Newark Opera House and is seeking to book it as a road stand. Saint Subber and Lemuel Ayers, producers of “Kiss Me, Kate” and the incoming “Out of This World,” posted. $40,000 in bonds in order to obtain a delay until January of the trial of agent Richard LaMarr’s suit against them for a share of the ‘’Kate” profits . . . Betty Field apparently changed her mind and is now set to co-star with Elliott Nugent in the Playwright’s Go, production of “Not for Ghildfen,” by her husband, Elmer Rice ... Frank Smith, recently company manager of .“Edwirta Black,” will be house manager of the National, N. Y., for the engagement there of the Louis Calhern revival of “King Lear,” He’s president of the Assri. of Theatrical Press Agents & Man- agers . . . Robert Lewis, who staged the Alan Jay Lerner-Fred- erick . Loewe“Brigadoon” for Cheryl Crawford, reportedly asked for 2%. of the gross, plus 5% of the profits to direct their new musical, “Paint Your Wagon,” Lee & J. J. Shubert, already scheduled to present the Fridolin show, “Ti-Goq” (“Little Booster”) on Broadway next February, are also announced as planning the production of “Mrs. Candy and Saturday Night,” the Joseph Field- Irving Elman dramatizatiori of Robert Tallani’s novel ... Arthur Schwartz, producer of - Samson I Raphaelson’s “Hilda Crane,” star- I ring Jessica Tandy, has already ' optioned a new, untitled play be- • ing written by the same author . . . ! “Clash by Night,” the. Clifford Odets drama of 1941, has been purchased by film producers Jerry Wald and Norman Krasna for $40,000 ... Martin Manulis and Philip Langner planed yesterday (Tues.) to Nassau, B.W.I., to close a deal to present a lO-week winter stock season, starting late in Janu- ary, at the British Colonial Hotel there , . . Screen rights to “Maggie,” comedy by Caesar Dunn, have been acquired by Paramount for $25,000, The play was never produced on Broadway, but was tried out two seasons ago in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Ted Goldsmith pressagent on the “Where’s Charley?” tour, in- cluding Coast engagements as a San Francisco and Los Angeles Civic Light Opera Co. presentation . Cloris Leachman, who scored a personal click in “Story for a Sun- day Evening,” has turned down a picture bid for an undisclosed legit show, due in January . . . Follow- ing his current date at the Capitol, j N. Y., Charles Fredericks will re- sume his TV series. He has no im- mediate plans for returning to his home on the Coast . . . Standard Light Opera Corp. has been char- tered in Albany by Franz Steinin- ger, George P. Clere and John T. Cusack . * . Leland Hayward, producer of “Call Me Madam,” “Mister Roberts” and co-producer of “South Pacific,” is due tomor- row (ThurS.) on the Queen Mary after a European vacation. Backers of “King Lear” have been notified to put up a 20% over- call on the $80,000 production . . . Betsy Blair (Mrs. Gene Kelly) will play the Queen iri the N.Y.. City Center revival of“Richard H,” star- ring Maurice Evans . . . Author Samuel Spewack sailed yesterday ; (Tues.) on the LaGuardia for I Israel. Before returning he will go to London to direct Jack Hyl- ton’s production of “Kiss Me, Kate,” for which he and Bella (Mrs.) Spewack supplied the book and Cole Porter the songs . John van Druten’s “Bell, Book and Candle” will be published Jan. 18 by Random House . . . Carol Channing, who returned last week as femme lead of “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” after being out for a tonsilectomy, is conferring with Anita Loos about playing the title part In the latter’s contem- plated dramatization of her own novel, “Effie Huntress” V . . Nan- cy Andrews, understudy to Ethel Merman in “Call Me Madam,” will double into the Maisonette, N. Y., in March, following Julie Wilson's engagement there . , Phyllis Perlman and Theron Bamberger celebrated their 20th wedding anni recently. Arthur Edwards, who appeared In several productions at St. 'John Terrell’s Musical Circus in Lam- bertville; N. J., last summer; Car- oline Richter, who sang vat tlie Lyric Theatre, Houston, during the strawhat season, John Malcolm and Harold Mehaffey have been engaged to appear in “Of Thee I Sing,” first musical production at Malcolm Atterbury's. Playhouse in Albany. Show will run three weeks. Duncan Baldwin and At- terbury will be among the regular company handling principal roles. Gordon Seaman, WOKO, Albany, musical director, will conduct. Maude Adams, whom the man- agement of the current “Peter Pan” revival was trying to locate recently in connection with the productipri. setting a new perform- ance recor(i, is living in a cionvent on Long Island, adjacent to her Old home . v . The ANTA costume ball has been postponed from Dec.' 31 to Jan. 15 in New York . . , Hume Cronyn returned to ’the Coast over the weekend to com- plete a film scripting stint and confer about a screen acting offer. He and his actress-wife, Jessica Tandy, decided not to lease a house at Greenwich, Conn., as previously planned . . . Pressagent Robert. Hector has gone into hiding to work on a play . . . Actress Mer- cedes Gilbert has published a mu- sical pageant titled “Cavalcade of Negro Music in Ariierica,” for presentation by civic and college groups. The Cellar and Ihe Well American National Theatre Sc Academy presentation of George Fr^edley and R. L. SteVens production of drama in three acts (four scenes) by Phillip Pruneau. Staged by Henderson Forsythe; scenery and light- ing, Paul Morrison:, costumes, Ruth Mor- ley. At ANTA Playho^e, N. Y., Dec. 10. *50; $3 top (membership rate). Maureen Mayo ............ Ann Dearintf Grandma Mayo Eda Helnamann Theona Pringle; ...Helen Harrelson Maud Mayo Dorothy Sands Howie Edgar Grower 'Miss Triumph Mary Finney Mr. Hubble Henderson Forsythe Robert Francis Mayo..Eric Mattson Mrs. Farley.......... Florence Beresf brd Mrs. Dennis.... .Kathleen Bolton Mrs. Lofab Hannah Toback Young Woman Alice Winston Her Husband. ............Gerry Walberg Mrs. Flynn ................. Susan Stpell Mrs. Haggerty .Fay Sappington Ml'. HaggertyFrank Rowan As the second bill in the ANTA Play Series, George Freedley and Roger L. Stevens have produced Phillip. Pruneau’s “The Cellar and the Well,” which had previously been presented by several stock companies and little theatre groups arountl the country. Perhaps its chief interest in the present cir- cumstances is its novel perform- ance schedule, being offered at 5:30 p.m. on the same stage where “Tower Beyond Tragedy,” the initial bill in the ANTA Play Series, is being played at the reg- ular theatre hour, 8:30 p.m. If such a, setup were to prove practical* it might offer a valuable method for spreading theatre rental over a greater number of shows. But it may require con- siderable playgoer education, be- sides involving technical problems and p()ssibly prohibitive expenses for shifting and storing scenery, re-setting lighting,. etc. Regardless of whether the experiment pans out, however, it’s a commendable try. • ; ; v ■ ■ : ■ ; As for “Cellar and the Well,” it is a down-at-the-mouth study of the ragtag Irish-American resi- dents of a "grubby South Side Chi- (?ago apartment. The author ap- parently intended it as a sort of combination “Street Scene” and “Awake and Sing,” but the script falls considerably short of such a standard. It’s a sprawling yarn about an assortment of (Irab and relentlessly unsympathetic charac- ters who rant and quarrel without assuming dimension or conviction. As a prospect for commerciai presentation, “Cellar and the Well” is negligible, and it is a disappointing item in the ANTA series. The writing is labored and disor(iered, the staging is chaotic and the performances are under- standably (Under the circum- stances) distraught. The cluttered layout of the multiple setting apparently stems from the script specifications. . Hobe. , I rj > • r ' I _ ' 1 » 1 . , ' I ' '