Variety (October 1955)

70 LEGITIMATE PjfcRltiTY Wednesday, October 19, 1955 Shows on Broadway Will Success Spoil Hock Hunler? Jule Styne production of comedy in three acts (four scenes) by Georgo Axel¬ rod. Features Orson Bean, Jayne Mans¬ field, Walter Matthau, Martin Gabel, Harry Clark, William Thourlby. Staged by the author; scenery and costumes. Oliver Smith; lighting, Peggy Clark. At Belasco, N.Y., Oct. 13. '55; $5.75 top ($8.05 open¬ ing). Rita Marlowe.Jayne Mansfield Masseur .. Lew Gallo George MacCauley.Orson Bean Michael Freeman.Walter Matthau Irving LaSalle . Martin Gabel Harry Kaye . Harry Clark Secretary . . Carol Grace Bronk Brannigan.William Thourlby Bellman . David Sheincr Swimmer . Tina Louise Chauffeur . Michael Tolan As an easy simplification, chalk up “Will Success Spoil Rock Hun¬ ter?” as a bad play but a good show. It keeps an audience laugh¬ ing and thereby seems likely to have a moderately successful run. It’s also a bet for filmization, sub¬ ject to fairly obvious revisions. Practically everything that can be said about this new George Axelrod farce calls for qualifica¬ tion. Although it is patently in¬ ferior to the author’s “Seven Year Itch” (a cleverly developed one- joke play), it may be significant as evidence that Axelrod is not just a one-shot phenomenon. And al¬ though the author is still plainly a shaky dramatic technician, he has a talent for comic situation and guffaw-producing dialog. Perhaps more important, he’s also a skillful rewrite man under pressure. “Success” raises a suspicion that, at least thus far, Axelrod’s inspira¬ tion tends to be a bit personal. There are also vestiginal signs in “Success” that he has a morbid reluctance to throw away anything he’s written. Moreover, as a rela¬ tively inexperienced playwright, he's been unfortunate in his choice of director (himself), raising a sus¬ picion of premature preoccupation with theatrical economics. Although general audiences won’t be aware of it (and wouldn’t be in¬ terested), “Success” apparently has strong autobiographical origin. In that, it appears tp follow the pat¬ tern of “Seven Year Itch,” as well as the author’s unproduced (but sold to pictures) second play, first called “A Successful Marriage and Happy Divorce” and later retitled “Phfft,” and several of his other scripts. There are actually two heroes in “Success,” who could be inter¬ preted as divided personifications of a Single individual. One is the author of a first-play smash (he refers to himself as a “playwrote” —and then insists on explaining the obvious) who is content to luxuriate on a juicy Hollywood contract and the accompanying intangibles, rather than risk an¬ other script. The other, who turns out to be the focus of the plot, is an eager, native fan mag feature writer. After trying to get publishable ma¬ terial from a frenzied interview with a sexy blonde film star (an obvious' caricature of Marilyn Mon¬ roe), he makes a deal with a dia¬ bolically potent talent agent to get anything he wants—for 10% of his soul per item. He starts by asking for and getting $1,000,000, just like that, and one thing leads to an¬ other until he has the star as his mistress, wins an Oscar for the best screenplay of the year, knocks out the star’s pro athlete husband and gets other assorted wishes— but has only 10% left of his soul that he can call his own. This free adaptation of the Faust legend is awkwardly constructed (according to report, the author abandoned his pet flashback meth¬ od in favor of straight action only the day before the Broadway open¬ ing, after an extended tryout tour and several previews). But it has switched from a jarringly serious finale to one that maintains the supernatural premise and provides a “happy,” though spurious and .slightly shamefaced (on the part of Axelrod) ending. The treatment generally through¬ out is farcical, with ‘ emphasis on sex and Hollywood, plus,an occa¬ sional poke at Broadway; The au¬ thor doesn’t bother with 'dOUble- enlendre, but punches up the risque points for escape-proof ^laughs, with liberal use of conver- ^fcation-making terms like “hooker” ^^nd “fag.” So while the show' may ^not exactly delight the moral (or dramaturgy) purists, it should titillate the cafe-society sophisti¬ cates and the cloak-and suit primi¬ tives enough to have a profitable Broadway stay. “Success,” if it lives up to that billing, is bound to spark a lively identity-spotting game in show biz circles. Some of the real-life por¬ traits are clear enough—Miss Mon¬ roe, for instance, and talent agent Irving Lazar and the president of the Hollywood studio—while other characters and references will probably be apparent to in¬ siders, or may be composites. But although ‘the identifications and some of.the jokes may be tradey most should be funny enough to the average square with the price of a ticket. The, show is unevenly cast and, under the author’s palpably awk¬ ward direction, the performances vary from inept-but-acceptable to unobtrusive-but-effective. In the vital and showy role of the satani- cally potent percenter, programmed under the transparent disguise of Irving LaSalle, Martin Gabel gives a vigorously subdued performance that animates every scene in which he appears. Walter Matthau, as the one-play author who knows enough to quit when he’s ahead, also dem¬ onstrates the professional’s knack of underplayed vitality. As the ingenuous fan mag hack ‘diabolically manipulated into fame, fortune and sex-fulfillment, revue- nitery comic Orson Bean is believ¬ able. amusing, likable and unmis¬ takably inexperienced in legit. As the Hollywood sexboat, Jayne Mansfield is physically suitable, and parlays the asset with a famil¬ iar wiggle and voice mannerism, but also reveals ample lack of stage savvy. Harry Clark is excellent as the budget-conscious studio boss who can shed tears at the drop of a dol¬ lar or go into an emotional binge at the mere suggestion of winning an Oscar, and there are acceptable supporting bits by William Thourl¬ by as a muscle-brained pro foot¬ baller, Carol Grace as an eager- beaver studio secretary and Tina Louise as a silent stage-crossing swimmer. Oliver Smith has de¬ signed properly gaudy settings for a New York hotel room, a film stu¬ dio office and a Hollywood hotel terrace, plus the requisite array of dazzling costumes, and Peggy Clark has provided expressive lighting. “Success” is undeniable hokum; but as such, it’s funny enough to get by on Broadway, the road, in pictures and stock. Hobe. A Roomful of Roses Guthrie McClintic & Stanley Gilkey production of drama in two acts (four scenes), by Edith Sommer. Stars Patricia Neal; features Russ Conway, Alice Frost, Warren Berlingcr, David White, Betty Lou Keim. Staged by McClintic; setting and lighting, Donald Oenslager; costumes, Audre. At Playhouse. N.Y., Oct. 17, '55; $4.60 top week nights ($5.75 Friday, Sat¬ urday nights; $6.90 opening). Willamay . Lulu B. King Larry Fallon . Darryl Richard Nancy Fallon . Patricia Neal Grace Hewitt . Alice Frost Jane Hewitt . Ann Whiteside Dick Hewitt . Warren Berlinger Jay Fallon ..... Russ Conway Bridget Macgowan.Betty Lou Keim Carl Macgowan . David White An adolescent’s need to be loved, to be wanted and to belong is the theme of “A Roomful of Roses.” It's not a very original theme and this Edith Sommers comedy-drama is not a very original play. “Roses” is an honest play, though, and it contains several genuine and touching moments. But does Broadway want a play that is only honest and occasionally moving, but never sensational? Probably not enough to give “Roses” more than a moderate run, although there’s perhaps an ab¬ sorbing picture in the script, which has already been sold to 20th-Fox. Possibly the opening night’s per¬ formance was “off.” At any rate, for most of the first act, “Roses” gives the impression merely of a group of somewhat nervous actors trying with increasing desperation to bring the play alive. But there is no real feeling of reality, no sense of identification or concern. Then, suddenly a poker-faced, elaborately polite little girl talks to her father on the long-distance phone, asking timidly if she may return home. And all at once we see—see and feel—that she is with¬ drawn and frightened because she is alone, with a child’s awful dread of being unloved. At that moment, “Roses” is a vivid and compelling play. There are other such moments, though perhaps, not quite so affect¬ ing/ notably in the scenes between the emotionally tied-up youngster and her divorced mother, whom she wants to hate because she is afraid to love. As the show moves along toward its obvious finale of emotional reunion of mother and daughter, the case seems to rise to a degree of warmth and plausi¬ bility. But the effective scenes are slow in coming and not quite in¬ tense enough when they do arrive. Meanwhile, the Guthrie McClintic- Stanley Gilkey production loses the audience. Under McClintic’s curiously stilt¬ ed direction the performances are inclined to be slow-thawing and, in the case of several of the juve¬ nile supporting players, uncom¬ fortably affected. As the. divorced and remarried mother, whose out- pCUi'ing Ipve and klhdridsfc finally, melt the teenage girl’s protective shell of indifference, Patricia Neal gives a skillfully shaded portrayal that rises from the drawn-out cas¬ ualness of the opening scene to contagious feeling in the big mo¬ ments of the second act. Betty Lou Keim is excellent as the bottled-up girl, suggesting a painfully guarded intensity that key’s the play’s best scenes.. Russ Conway is competent* in the rather flaf role of the youngster’s quietly sympathetic step-father. Alice Frost gives expert clarity to the part of a perceptive neigh¬ bor who keeps dropping in with laugh lines, and David White is properly poisonous as the girl’s smoothly sadistic father. Darryl Richard, Ann Whiteside and War¬ ren Berlinger seem self-consciously juvenile as assorted offspring and Lulu B. King plays a standard maid. — Donald Oenslager has designed the somewhat unbelievably hand¬ some living room setting, with a backdrop representing a golf course terrain, and Audre has pro¬ vided suitably decorative costumes. But despite its probable matinee appeal, modest theatre party book¬ ings and whatever impetus it may get from its pre-production film deal', “Roses” seems a questionable bet for much of a run. Too bad, but that's the way it looks. Hobe. Show Out of Town Further Than Laughter Montreal, Oct. 8. Script Theatre production of drama in three acts (four scenes) by Myron Gallo¬ way. Stars Marta Ensio; features Saul Lerner, Jack Cuiran, Sandra Gibson, Dor¬ othy Danford. Staged by the author; scenery, Griffith Brewer. At Empress Theatre, Montreal. Oct. 5, '55; $2.50 top. Cast also includes Alan Jack, Geoffrey Taylor, Joan Young, Paris Martin. Although Myron Galloway has appeared in and directed various plays in the past few years for little theatre companies around Montreal, “Further Than Laughter” marks his debut as a playwright. As a first play, the balance is on the credit side throughout, despite certain flaws and moments of tedium. Story concerns a refugee musi¬ cian living with her old piano teacher in Connecticut. She gave up the piano and became a recluse after a bombing raid caused the death of her husband-director and left her horribly mutilated about the face. Plastic surgeons have re¬ stored her beauty, but she has lost the will to live and play, until a young man enters her .life as a stu¬ dent of her old teacher. As the script was written as a vehicle for Finnish-born Marta Ensio she naturally is the most convincing character in it, despite the limitations and situations de¬ signed for her particular talents. Throughout the first act and into the second, the continued reprises reduce the tempo to a snail’s pace, but subsequent sequences end on a probable note. Jack Curran, as the young musi¬ cian, is a typical juvenile, Saul Lenner, as the old professor of music, is miscast and his near¬ comic makeup destroys illusion. Joan Young, as a brash young re¬ porter, offers a sharply etched bit of playing and Dorothy Danford, as a typical housewife, makes the most of a limited part. * As director, Galloway has let the tedious first act nullify what follows. The set by Griffith Brewer is heavy-handed and quite unlike a house in Old Greenwich, Connecticut adding only to the ponderous gloom. The Script Theatre is a new group trying to establish a profes¬ sional theatre in Montreal. It has slated “Picnic” for production in mid-November. Newt. SCHEDULED N.Y. OPENINGS (Theatres indicated if set ) N6 Tima For Sgts., Alvin (10-20). Desk Set, Broadhurt (wk. 10-24). Comedie Francaise, B’way (10-25). Chalk Garden, Barrymore (10-26). Deadfall, Holiday (10-27). Heavenly Twins, Booth (11-4). Reuben Reuben, ANTA (11-8). Hatful of Rain, Lyceum (11-9). Vamp, Wint. Gard. (11-10). Lark, Longacre (11-17). Janus, Plymouth (11-24). Matchmaker, Royale (12-5). Child of Fortune (12-26). Fallen Angels (12-29). Hot Corner (1-24). My Lady Liza, Hellinger (wk. 3-10). OFF-BROADWAY Macbelh, Jan Hus Aud., (10-19). Song of Sorrow, Blackfrlars (10-24). Amedee, Tempo (10-31). Trouble In Mind, G'n'w'ch Mews (11-2). Highway Robbery, Pres. (11-7). Dragon's Mouth, Cherry. Lane (wk. 11-16). Six Characters, Phoenix (12-1). Marching Song, Phoenix (3-8). Paul Derval, head of Folies Ber- gere, Paris, in London for a quick looksee at the West End shows. Inside Stuff-Legit Philip Loeb, the legit and tv actor who died, recently in New York, continues to receive eulogies from numerous sources and in various publications. The last issue of Equity, the official organ of Actors Equity, in which Loeb was long a council member and influential force, carried not only a resolution of regret voted by the union’s council, but also a personal tribute from the late actor’s friend and fellow- council member, Hiram Sherman. Another personal tribute, from actress-director Margaret Webster, in the form of a letter to the editor, was published last Sunday (16) in the drama section of the N. Y. Times. It read, “I am sure that many of your readers have been deeply shocked and grieved by the recent death of Philip Loeb . . . Philip Loeb died of a sickness com¬ monly called ‘the blacklist.’ The direct and obvious effects of this disease, the blacking out of employment in the entertainment indus¬ tries, are well-known. But this is not the whole of it, nor in Phil’s case, I think, the worst of it. He was submerged by the wave of fear and mistrust which swept almost all of us. His motives and public actions were rendered suspect ... We must resolve that never shall such things happen again. This is the only adequate memorial we can offer to the real Phil Loeb, who was unafraid.” Lola Membrives was booed off the stage of the Comico Theatre, in Buenos .Aires, on making her initial appearance in the first night of Jacinto Benavente’s posthumously published, “Su Amante Esposa” (His Loving Wife). It was obvious before the play opened that the sparse audience was there for a purpose. And as soon as the actress appeared, the hisses, boos and catcalls began. There were some shouts criticizing her support of both the Franco and Peron regimes. The veteran player (she is in her late 70’s) tried to explain her position, but the curtain had to be brought down. The actress herself was anxious to go on with the show, but the management insisted there should be no performance for that night. These manifestations are the effect of popular feeling and a desire to be revenged by many who did suffer slights from those who they feel were willing to toady to the deposed regime. “Taming the Forty-Niner” by Elizabeth Margo (Rinehart; $3.75), contains considerable material on show biz in Gold Rush days. Steve Massett, monologist; Yankee Robinson, playwright and comedian; Tom Maguire, early San Francisco impresario of the Jenny Lind “Theatre; the Booths; the canyon circuit—whose brightest star was Lola Montez; bullfighting; saloons; sporting houses; potatoes and edibles—all come In for merry and authentic assessment in this highly enjoyable tome. Author, a native Californian, works at Columbia Teachers’ College. New York City. * * Ralph T. Kettering, veteran author-showman-advance man, has been rewriting his Chicago show biz book, with accent on. the late A1 Woods, chiefly due to the wealth of new material rolling in. From Irvin Marks, longtime Paris rep for American showmen, and from Arch Sel- wyn, now retired in Palm Springs, Calif., much of the new material has been coming in. John Ireland and Joanne Dru (Mrs. Ireland), as costars of Leonard Lee’s “Deadfall,” currently in Washington before coming into the Holi¬ day on Broadway, get 7Ms% each of the gross off the top. Director Michael Gordon’s deal calls for a-2% royalty. There is a 20% over¬ call on the $75,000 investment. Legit Followups Kismet (FORD’S, BALTO) Baltimore, Oct. 5. By virtue of its presold hit tunes and Broadway longrun reputation, “Kismet” should mop up this sea¬ son on tour. Manny Davis has ac¬ quired the original sets and cos¬ tumes and is bankrolling this tour on a similar basis to his last sea¬ son’s presentation of “Guys and Dolls.” This version of “Kismet” is likely to be a road click despite its questionable values. While hinter¬ land audiences may welcome this “musical Arabian night” with open arms, however, more fastidious legitgoers are likely to find it as hollow a spectacle as some of the critics did the Broadway original. Minus the bravura performance of Alfred Drake, the shortcomings of the Charles Lederer-Luther Davis book become more apparent, and the arrangements and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest seem unfortunately mismated to their original Borodin themes. Spotty casting makes this con¬ glomeration of oldhat operetta, highblown romance and bump and grind burlesque seem pretty much a mishmash. Earle MacVeigh, pro¬ moted from a minor part in the original troupe, takes over the Drake role, Hajj. As the mendicant beggar turned Emir of Bagdad in one day, MacVeigh goes through the paces adequately. but misses most of the opportunities that the flashy role offers to an imagina¬ tive, mettlesome performer. Marthe Errolle plays Lalume, wife of the Wazir of Police, and makes full use of her shapely fig¬ ure, although her genteel soprano doesn’t mix too well with the bawdy lyrics she sings. Margot Moser scores on voice and looks as Marsinah, Hajj’s daughter, but Donald Clarke is colorless as the young Caliph. George Lipton doesn’t do much to brighten the rather primitive comedy of the part of the Wazir of .Police. Jack Cole’s original choreog¬ raphy and the staging (still credited to Albert Marre) occasionally lift the proceedings out of a common¬ place groove. Dancers Ethel Mar¬ tin, Rosemary Fuhrmann and Ade¬ line Gaheton are particularly di¬ verting, and Lucy Andonian and Robert Goss stand out as soloists in the capable choral ensembles. Tipoff as to the quality of this, touring edition is the realization that the most memorable contribu¬ tions to this company of “Kispiet” are the sets and costumes designed by the late Lemuel Ayers. . They have opulence and the impression of massiveness without excessive gaudiness. Burm. Teahouse of the August MoOn (HARTMAN, COLUMBUS) Columbus, Oct. 5. Having already netted $1,000,000 profit in two years on Broadway and on the road, “Teahouse of the August Moon” got off on another remunerative tangent when the third company premiered at the Hartman here last week. The John Patrick-Vern Sneider play’s warm charm has been kept intact by the new cast, headed by Larry Parks in the role of Sakini, the Okinawan interpreter and mid¬ dleman between the audience and the drama. The star does not devi¬ ate far from precedent, but the in¬ dividual touches he does inject serve to ‘freshen the part. Thomas Coley is good as Capt. Fisby, the inept young officer who tries to bring democracy* into Okinawan life. Reiko Sato is a dedicate and lovely Lotus Blossom, and John Alexander is a successful, if sometimes a bit overdone Col. Purdy. Don Lochner is standout as Capt. McClean, the Army psy¬ chiatrist. . Costuming, lighting and the stag¬ ing of the teahouse and wrestling scenes come up to the caliber of the original production. This one is presented by Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse, whose first tour¬ ing company is playing in Chicago after premiering here last season. Gapp. London Legit Bits George and Alfred Black have already signed their femme stars for their next summer shows at Blackpool. They are Eve Boswell for the Opera House show, and Edna Savage for the Winter Gar¬ den shows. S. A. Gorlinsky is again staging “Where the Rainbow Ends” as the Christmas show at the Festival Hall this year. Last yfear the stars were Alicia Markova and An¬ ton Dolin. This year Dolin will costar with Violetta Elviu.