Variety (July 1953)

126 Stj. hat Reviews from Page 1 at . The F rogs of ■ vidual freedom, is right qui ,, top drawer. V iT Unfortunately, the third act. is letdown . Contused and indecisive, it merely underlines the fact that not much has happened in the pl ay, after all;. As the two Rover Boy types, An* thony Ross is excellent as imaginative Allen while Hiram Shermaii: as the bedeviled Belderi, who quotes JVIasefield and Shakespeare when in his cups, delivers a' topnotch comic performance. In two femme leads as the boys' wives, ValeFh* Bettis and Barbara. Baxley, in ;■ roJes not. so 1 welbwfitten as those of their husbands, are handsome and satisfactory, v Good, bits are offered also by Geoffrey Lumb, Billy Quinn and Kevin Coughlin as the charming Allen and Bolden kids, while young Bruce Marshall is hilariously obnoxious as a neighboring brat who could give Dennis the Menace a run for his money. Lou Gilbert's1 Man in the Window is comically truculent, and Roland Wood makes '.much of his brief appearance as an eccentric and bewildered chemist. Burgess Meredith’s . direction keeps matters moving at a lively pace arid introduces-^ few good bi t s of te l li ng business. Norm a n Rock’s intricate set is also first-. i recreating the haunted psychosis I of the theme; . The original Broadway production (starring Alla Nazimova and Alice Brady as the mother and daughter respectively) began at 5 p.m., with a 75rminute dinner intermission starting ; at 7 p.m. Vilan’s: version, runs right on the nose of two hours' actual playing time. Thus, it is geared ip fit the needs of today’s theatre /and the simple one-act staging (tryout set by Paul Rodgfers, showing the massive Colonial pillars, is excellent) makes it an easy show to tour. Assuming that O’Neill will extend his permission to try out thiscondensed version to . include a standard production, “Electra”. could be an important offering in the; coming season; The; project lifts the script put of the libraries and on to the stage— and the potential is great. . Kap: Three ^len Oil a llor^e CoonamessCtt, Mass., July 20. Richard Aldrich production of comedy in three' acts by John Cecil Holm and Oeortfe Abbott, Slara Wally Cox. Directed h.v' Ilolin. '.Settings by Norman Rock. At Falmouth . Playhouse, Cooname.s,sett, Mass., July '20. '53; $3.90 top. \ Audrey Trowbridge . . ... . . Jill Kraft The Tailor • ; . .. . .Stuart. Townsend. Erwin Ti-owlirldge ...... . .v . . . Wally .Cox the name of an individual employee). j Disputes between agents and actors would be decided by the Equity council, with agents having the right to appeal such decisions to arbitration, In an explanatory report accompanying its recommendation, the agency committee pointed out that it had spent about two years studying the question and .formulating changes. It explained that the present regulations limiting com* missions to 5% for a 10-week period and outlawing exclusive agen* ey contracts actually tends to drive actors from the legit field rather than; protect them in it. It noted that the existing regulations have proved impossible to enforce, With many .actors using non-franchised agents and some-, times paying under-the-counter, commissions of 25-40%. Under such circumstances,; the report .pointed out, Equity is riot in position to penalize : the agent, but must; try to discipline its own members. At the present time, it. added, talent agency operation in •> the legit, field does not pay for Wednesday, July 29. 19-5 Contnued from page -iZ4\ class. . ; “The Frogs of Spring, ^ tentatively scheduled for a Broadway out mg • in October; has possibilities. Bench ley needs 16 strengthen his narrative 'thread, 'though, and he ought to sit down at his typewriter and do something about that woefully uncertain and . unconclusive third act.. : : Dtas. . Mourning Kleetra ;. . Laguna, Cal,, July 21. . T.tii'una Slimmer. Tlieaire (KeTinethBiitlim and Joseph Paul) production of a new version of Eugene O'Neill's trilogy, adapted and directed by Deniictron Vilan. Star* Selena Hoyle. Betty Paul. Setting by Paul Rodgers. At Laguna /'Cal.) Summer Theatre, ;Jul,V 21, '53; $3 top. Selh Beekwllh ...... ...... . Gleh Wells l.ouiaa Ames . , . ... . , . . v . , Dee Dee Boyd Amos Ames. . . ..... , , . ; . Kenneth Britton Christine Manhon ...... Selena .Hoyle . lidvlnia Mannon ;-./ Hazel Niles ...... Peler Niles ..... Capt, Adam Brandt Audrey Trowbridge The.Tallor Erwin Ti-pwlirldge Clarence.. Dobbins : . Delivery Boy . . . . . .Harry ••• v ,v, /. Charlie . ; ... , . ... ... Frankie ... .V. . . . . . . Patsy . . ... . ; Mabel. . . . Moses V. . ........ .. Gloria. . . A'i Hotel; Maid . . . , . Mr. ClaWer / ..... . ...... Peter Turgeon ./..Manuel Martinez. ....: Andre vir Sabllta . /, . •••; .Fred ! Gwyniie . . . . . Teddy Hart ... . : Walter Matthau Kate Harkin Milton J. Williams V .Taini . Lee Grimes . ./Richard Helmann Nainry .Sul.kin . . . . .Edwin Jeroinie . . . Betty Papl • ...Adtly.se Lone Robert Bonds . • Stephen Coit Rng, Gen. Ezra Mannon. , . .Kenneth Alton .fos-lah Borden .... ; Henry Hodge hverett HHIs. D.l). ... .... E. Jay Krause Dr. Joseph Blake ...... Edward. Nofzlger Orin' Mannon . . . . v. ... Frank Jufovlch Moumera .... Ann Allen. Kay Johnson, ‘ Frank La Vigne . Eugene O’Net IKs tremendous trilogy has had comparatively few product ions since it was originally offered' by I he Theatre Guild in 193 1 . Even, in seasons when, heavy tragedies; achieved .some, success, “ M 0 1 1 r n i n g . Becoin es Elec Ira ’’ wa s l>r loo long and costly for any comuiereial producer to risk. Now. however, there Is a strong possihi Illy . that “Electra” Can he offered in a regular season, and achieve the-commercial success its artistic stature lias deserved. Direct or Demel rios Vilari has xuceesfully adapted the:. triology into a conventional-sT/.ed /. drama that packs a potent punch. Unlike too many adaptations, Vilan’s telescoping of the trilogy retains not only the meaning, but the cadence and clarity of the original.; He has wisely clung to much of the best in the. 'original' dialog, so that none of the O’Neill flavor is lost. ; Condensation has bricn keyed to a one-set idea. All of the action takes place on the lawn in front of the impressive Mannon mansion in New England. . The mur. dors of (leneral . Mannon and Captain Brandt still take place on stage, hut the . suicides of Mrs Rlannon and her son are offstage. M u ch pf. vvl.ia L was el.iini n a ted .was in. The realm of psychological prohuvg and examinalmn of the eomph'N-i idden characters. What, rema ins. : is s.l ill: gloomy; of'. .course,-' ‘JMi nu)|T Trapping, since it is not . dtl fused as in. : t lie original/ f.,r addition to adapting' the : seri.[)t, Vilan, has' directed, jt'h is try-, pul pt'eSen I a t ion , hid . t lie staging isuT up to his usual Tevel. ■ He • has nraintained the atmosphere of . Greek., tragedy, ..but . Was probably: too close to: Hie project to give .M..; njyist of the nuances: it* needs. 1 00. hi* . was hampered— as wore Cast momboi;s—hy. the demands of 3 stt’iuvhat ' troupe. \ ().tie \Vock\s rehearsal time is insiifficiont fortins' oUei’ing, even in the cut-down version. : . In this company, most of the' male members are far hevond their depths. Selena Hoyle is fine as the mother despite a few first-act ' opening-night bobbles, and Belt v Paul impresses in most of her scenes as -Xavinia. Of the supportting company, Addyse Lane as -Ilazel^wiFI^ir/rumvm^ = Mannon are most convincing ip ' Wally Cox, TV’s bespectacled, bedevilled Mr. Peepers, has chosen an ideal vehicle in the 1935 Broadway ■ success, 4 -Three Men 6n a for his current, stra what tour. Comedy, which has become a minor American classic, is staged by co-author John Cecil Holm here at Falmouth, and .the; results are some rollicking hot-weather entertainment. As Erwin, the mild-mannered writer of greeting card verse, Cox delivers a good comic portrayal. Erwin has a unique talent— while riding on the Ozone Heights bus, he can unfailingly pick the winners of the day’s Korse raices. Through a series of fortuitous Circumstances, he falls into the hands’of three race track touts, who, naturally hold him incomniunicado, since he is a virtual gold mine for them; Slight, sandy-haired Cox has two valuable assets in his acting. equipment: he can speak dialog as though he is actually thinking and saying the lines for the first time, and lie is a firstrate pantomiinist. This, latter gift is particularly evi^ dent in the scene in which Ei’win becomes inebriated during h is barroom sojourn, and: it is again displayed at the end of the play when Erwin, a-, stage-worm who turns, tells bit the gamblers, his weepy wife, his Babbitt-like brother-in-law and Iiis . irascible employer. In other words, Cox is. a genuine comedian. . His chief fault is that he doesn’t always project his voice successfully. . Audience members in the rear of the theatre and in the balcony complained that some of his line’s were inaudible. Aside from Cox, the Falmouth production wasn’t ideally .-cast. Jill Kraft and Kate Harkin in the leading femme roles are barely adequate. But the three touts are uniformly excellent, with Teddy Hart scoring in his original Broadway role as the neurotic worrywart Frankie. Walter Matthau good as the -fast-talking Patsy and Fred Gwynne laughingly dense as the in 0 ro 11 i e Ch a r 1 ie , . There are good , ds; Too, by -Andrew Sabllia as the helpful bartender: a n d : Edwin Jeronie as Erwin’s grumpy env-T plover. -.■•j' For. the capacity bpMihg-nighl' audience here, though; it was C ox s . show. It’s obvious that for his devoted fans, Mr. Peepers can do np wrong, . : Dias |. ; Under the suggested code Changes, the report declared; with all qualified agents franchised; there would be healthy competition among percenters and Equity could control the situation and, if necessary, take effective action to deal with infractions of. the rules; Report containing the recommendations was submitted to the council by the committee; some weeks ago; Governing body is making slow progress with it, however, and definite action isi not expected for some months at the least. Moreover, any decision by the council is subject to ratification by. the union's; membership. A g e n c y ; committee includes Ralph Bellamy, Edith Meiser, jane Seymour, Ruth Matteson, Ben Kranz, Donald Cook, Scott McKay, Edwin -Clay and ' Willard Swire, chairman, y cerpts from that mag; includes pieces by Hemingway, $teinbeck, Schulberg, Wolff, Wouk, Ruark, Shulman. The editors of “Aft News' have compiled the 1954 edition of “Art News Annual" also for SfcS; In a lighter vein, “The Best Modern French Cartoons" haye been collected by Edna Bennett, w'hile comedian-humbrist Roger Price has another of his “Droodles.” David Low’s “Low’s Cartoon History” (1945-52) is art October publication. . Yale coach^TV raconteur; Herman Hi.ckrrian has “The, Herman Hickman Script Book”, also due in October. In; the musical1 comedy idiom, veteran Broadway and West End librettists P. G. Wodeliouse arid Guy Bolton have done art informal book of memoirs, titled “Bring On the Girls,” treating with their long experiences as musical comedy collaborators with Ziegfeld, Gershwin, Berlin, Noel Coward, Marilyn Miller, Gertrude Lawrence, W: C, Fields, et al. Noel Coward has edited “The Noel . Coward Song . book” (51 numbers) with introduction and annotations by himself. Arid Louis Kroneriberger’s : “Cavalcade Of Comedies” embraces 23 ; plays, in the last three centuries, ;. ranging from Ben Jonson’s “VoN : pone,” through Shaw’s “Pygmal i lion,” O’Casey’s “Juno and; the . Pay cock” down to^John van Dru Whal’ll Ike Do? C o nilnti t*d fro m . |»a g e 1 10 »—• ' franchising “f: all agent applicants utilcss ■ disqualified, on, specific grounds. . Also, franchises . would he issued in the name of business (irms, instead of; only to individuals, us now. Up Fees to $30 . Annual fees: for agents \Could be upi)ed from $2o to $30 a year, with sub-agents, paying $10. .Agents would be penriitted to invest in legit productions; up to 10% of the show’s budget (this is "alreariv cepted practice among agents with' the investment Usually made under || Continued from page 3 1 here, he had never seen a belter i job done by any organization in v presenting facts to Congress. 1 Second, and tying in directly ? with the first, is the adverse effect which the closing of film theatres would have* on the general 5 business of smalltown Main 1 Streets, It is known that this was a potent factor , iti voting of the ’ Senate last Friday (24). Most Sena^ tors -had been reached by .. sma II1 town chambers of commerce • ex;. plaining how the theatre brings" 1 people in to. shop for a wide r variety of goods. !' Third is a reason . which weighed ’ heavily in the House voting— ap; peasement of old Dan Reed, eliair1 man of the House Way and Means Committee, whom the Administration had rubbed live Wrong way ‘ by slamming through extension of the excess profits tax. The WJiile House lias at least ' one major tax bill coming up next January,.-. complete revision of the fax statutes, including the excises, ! It needs Reed’s help on this bill. Hence, it figures that President Eisenhower will, sign the 20% repealer so as riot, to anger Reed any further. , There is also a whisper about thaf when Eisenhower had dinner with Darryl Zanuek at the White House last week. Tie indicated that ; he might approve the bill. | ' . Finally, the Treasury. Dept. di,d ' very. I itt-le to iridicate' to tlTe KenaTe 1 ; [that it opposed. the measure. ' /.j! I the other side of.The picture | are a couple of poiverlTil argu.ments, too. .: First is the Administration stand [ that it .’cannot... afford to lose any 1 j taxes, because .of the huge deficit'. \ That was the reason given for ex i tencling ...the obnoxious excess profits; tax/ . ; Treakury Dept. . lias > estimated a/ net loss of revenue ‘i antounting, to $100,000,000 from ' the bill. , . Second is the fact that the Ad T .miriist ration is preparing an overall 1 fax revision measure for introduc1 lion next January. It is felt that i ! no one industry:, should be exempt > from consideration under the .measure. ■ ;. '■ . ], 1* in ally, there is .pressure from ■> 1 other, industries, such as furs,. If, which are hit very hard by the excise taxes,; , Their spokesmen . j haye argued That tlie , Admin isfra f TLonJiax=no-=riglit=t<>-free=-a"=singlTr favored industry from the tax remain on the others. F ten’s “The Voice of the Turtle” and “The Male Animal” by James Thurber and Elliot Nugent; Still, more anthologies: include “The Scientific American Reader” and “House and Garden Complete Guide to Interior Decoration.” !‘Qh.M*’^hfU . by', his’ contemporaries, edited by Charles Eade, in/ eludes contiTbutions ori the 80year-old statesman, written : by Compton MacKenzie, Viscount Simon. Eisenhower, Hitler, Eleanor Roosevelt, A. P. Herbert, G. B. S.liaw, Leslie Hore-Belisha, et al,; !Xear j953.’:’ the annual picture, history; “A Treasury of the World's Great Speeches” edited by Houston Peterson, including fa-; rivous orations from Moses and Demosthenes to Churchill and Eisenhoweiv ‘’A Treasury of Hymns,” .selected and . edited by Maria * Lie per and Henry W.. Simon; “Thurber Country,” 26 pieces by the New. Yorker’s James Thurber, eight of which appeared in The Bermudian but never before published in the 'U.S: In another idiom, Ward Greene/ editor of King Features Syndicate, has wrilteh a dog story, ‘‘The ’Lady and the Tranl'p,” With a foreword, by Wall Disney and •illustrations by the Disney Studio; and Life photographer: Philippe Halsmari. has authored “A Juvenile Picoti ” »s “What / .Hollywood Thmr«i * k, Mickey Spillane.” ugIlt of k, ,?,°hn /Conway resigned , i*t editor of Look maearinp i • dri i .staff of Tempo,' pSckeLsi7i° nJ0,f> 0 wie^y that succeeded Quick nev,s Esther Williams is riTitirig ^ K6nir on swimming, titled “Or w it Vdu Rather Be a ft,/0'1* e licatioiv by Dpubleda^bitaiv P *" r tor at Cue mag and as-soeiale ed ' * ?„r Coronet, joined public «■' Uo7ns fifm of Hill & KnowUo„ 'J' ' u ' devptee-naveli.st Edwin Oil f ’JEJ* h hS *?onr. a novel, “'iv S Hot and. the Cool “.which Dm. ml t September xr-Y®1 H0llyw°od .director k;fla . Vld.or has written his aulobi!? raphy, “A Tree is a Tree ‘’T,,r Huf.’ court-Brace, due in NoVemher V . Leonard B. Kaufman flackery in Los Angeles has been, retained* w Larry Core Associates/ N.Y. pubi c' \ :.reUtions outfit, as . its Coast S . Marghanita Laski’s novel, wl k i • 5?^ of Paramount s 1 . Little Boy Lost,” will be reprinted . ln TSe^tenjJ;er , by Houghton Miitlin ; §?y Stockton, sports editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Tm ■ edited .“My Kind of Baseball*.” by. ‘ R Hornsby fpr David McKay / n/f alumni of tlie ' ■ Martha Graham dancing group written a ;-book; “Betty ^itFs Dancing Made Easy” for David : McKay. . : " Thomas Y. Crowell '(Via bringing, out the. 23d annual edition °5 Publicity (t 953-54 tv edited by Frank A. Merce r, in No/ . vember. * of Ti ue magazine contains a. feature on Fred Waller inventor of Cinerama. Written bv ?A'p^®'-''Ma^Hn*-.ySril-is entitled “Mr. Cinerama.” Kimball Flaccus seeking info on poet Edgar Lee Masters whose bio he's writing, Flaccus recently received a Eugene F. Saxton Fellowship to complete the tome .Niven Busch’s “Hate Me re ha nr scheduled for publication this fall by. Bantam Books in a paper-back edition. Incidentally, Busch ‘ -lust ----signed by RKO to screonpjav'“Tlie Big Rainbow.” % Cartoonist1 Syd Hoff’s. “Oops, Wrong Stateroom,” due for Ives ; Washburn publication in November Same, pub issuing “Weekend Book of Ghost Stories” edited by Herewood Carrington; Dari ton -; Walker flies to Biwii ills' oday (Wed.) to cover studio iie* tivity for Iris Screen land niontli I v column, “Hollywood on Bro;id..way..” Title gets switch for one is*. sue~“Broadway in Hollywood.” / Earl Wilson. Ohio-born, has been named master of ceremonies lor the Sesquicentennial . Ball, to be .held in four Columbus ballrooms simultaneously on ' Aug. 27; to | celebrate the isOL'libirthday of Hie state. . .j.-: Barnes* Sports Anthologies Arch Ward has . . edited “The Greatest Sports Stories from the Chicago Tribune. 1847-1953” for Barn0f; publication ..in October. Another Barnes anthology is “This Was Raoing.” by the . late Joe H. P .NY Herald Tribune and in? expert, with an intro bv (Red) Smith, also of the , Still another Barnes anthologv is T he Argosy Book of Sea Stories.” Teridfl Argosy’s editor, . Rogers v Still M o re Anthologies • Rolaivd Emett. regular corttribuI loi to Punch (England), has com • Hpcl / (,an ^ anthology ent i tied -Em ell .s -Do m a in: Trains, Tranirs and of Englishmen,” which Harcourt -Brace is publishing ii. October, . ; • CHATTER ;^T AMen Cburchill ^profiling/ Louis :';\izer'.fo-t'.^5«quii:e^ ■ Dale. WiTghf now New York ;edi | tor ot Jet>. weekly Negro news mag. Crowell to publish eX-Senator Tun Connolly s autobiography next spring. r • ,. •f?ac|rT*,h; Jo.esten has written Luciano Story’' for David McKay publication in the fait. ^ August issue of Coronet maga7j,ne carrying . elgh t -page . picture ;^W’, entitled. “Betty Hutton’s. Al-j. Scottish Daily Record. Glasgow, ] r u n n in g a 1 1 i cl e s by schoolmaster , Archibald Neil condemning U. S; 1 comic books. ; T Sa ra Ha rr is and Ha rriet Crid?re,,ldoH tell the “Father Divine: Holy Husband” story for_ Donhle-/ day in October. Jqe Hyams ri'rote The. cover story J for the Aug. 1 Cue mag, titled I , . Charles G; Pearson has been ap*. pointed, city editor of tlie Topeka : Daily Capita!; Edward FT -Hoff-, man, who has been city editor, returns to Kansas City to become bureau manager Of United Pr'ss News pictures. Scribe Mike O’Shea departs today (Wed.) .lor return junket to Alaska/ as guest of Nome Visitors Assn, and Alaska Airlines. He will cover Yukon nightlife and military installations from Juneau to Point Barrow for a mag series. .Charles Morgan’s play* "Tlifc River Line,'’ current at the Lytic,. London, and due for , T 1 1 e a t re . G u 1 1 d production this fall, is being . piil)tished by St. Martin’s Press, which is also. bringing out Morgan’s 0! I) t play, “The Burning Glass.” British dt?.signer photographer Cecil: Beaton traces tlie changing customs and ' tast es in . fashi mi . t h rough . t he year.srn. Jifs. rie w .liiKik, T -The Giass of Fashion.” with* liftdrawings by the author, for. Doubled ay publication in November. ; Doubleday reissuing DuBiisi : Heyward’s “Porgy”/ (j’oreword hV Dorothy Hey ward). The novel, origin ally .. Published in 1925, liis been roptirited. five times, sftu-iv and is: the .spririghoard, of course, for the: George Gershwin opera. Another reissue is “50 Great Americans,”; by Henry' Thomas / WT Dana Lee Thomas,, including such , personalities: as .Boone. Franklin/ F u 1 1 on , Wahamaker. Pulitzer,. Gershwin, Baruch, and Eisertiioweiv. • Amy . Loveman who did the in * '• Iroductioh, edited it./ along /with /Marjorie M; Mayer, both Bafn-ii T alumnae, and Frederica Barach, of the Barnard English DepartnionT Among the contributors are Alice-;' Puer Miller; Leonie. Adams, .Judge Justine Wise Polier. Babe! to Peulsch. Virginia C. Gildersleexe, Elizabeth Jane way, Dorothy Van Annie Nathan Myer, et al. IVm Macintosh of Barnard has written the foreword.