STAGE AND SCREEN

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 55, 2 September 1937, Page 21

STAGE AND SCREEN

A FINNISH TRIANGLE, A"Finnish play that had not. baen done in England" before, "Women- of : Property," was recently produced at the Queen's Theatre, London, ;by ■' Annler Hall. It is a century since a Finnish play had been done. in Lopdon. The story of "Women of ,Prp-_ perty" is set in the countryside,-among the class- known as "gentlemen, farmers," and deals with the struggle of three women—a-mother, a wife, and a young school mistress—for possession of one-man. ; Griffith Jones played the man in the Queen's performances,: and the women ■ were portrayed by Mary Morris, Dorice Fordred, and Nancy Jlornsby.

REWARD FOR LABOUR. Nancy Price, Little Theatre producer at Home, had to leave the cast of her successful "Whiteoaks" production tor a short rest alter playing the exacting leading role of Gran for a year. During her absence- she completed a book, "Road, Hopes, and Rascals," and made plans for putting into rehearsal a play about Sir . Walter Raleigh by Edward and Theodosia Thompson. LUBITSCH AGAIN. Ernst Lubitsch, idle as a director for more than two years, once more is in harness. He is directing and producing "Angel," Marlene Dietrich's new starring picture for Paramount.

The late Walter' Emm Melville Robbins, -tetter lfnowri in England' as Walter' Melville, Hampstead, joint owner with his brother Frederick of the v Lyceum > and. Princes Theatres, London, left a fortune of over £205,861, ■with net-personalty £72,232. Mr.! Melville,, who-was, a wqll-known writer of melodramas 'and' pantomimes,1 died this; fpav .at.the age ot 62; He. left £l,?M)o,:,his interest in his house in Hampstead,- and effects, to his wife Barbara-May; £12,000 to Wallace y Treen; £10,000 each to Walter Lloyd Melville attaining twenty-one years, and to Andrew Melville^ of Brighton, hiS"brother. After various other .family legacies, - Mr. Melville left £1000 to Mr.'Bert E. Hammond, business .manager, and-the residue of the property upon' trust to Walter Lloyd Melville attaining; twenty-one,' years, and ' Andrew.. Melville, for their , respective lives, and then as they may appoint, ■or the issue of either of them . that may be dead.

A NEW THRILLER. • One of the latest thrillers in Londonl was "Arid'the Music Stopped," the author of which is Scott. The cast-for the-West End production was headed by Phyllis Dare, happily remembered heroine of many musical plays by- the late Paul Rubens, notably "The Sunshine Girl," "The, Girl from Utah," and "Tina." She returned to the stage after a long absence to play a strafght part, that of a charming and witty society. woman who is a guest at a -ipajfty which. is" f enlivened by a murder. ,■ EdmundvWillard doubled the parts of the, murdered man and his brother, and Bernard Lee was the avenging: law.

DRAMA OF CROOKS. A diverting play by an American playwright, Delano Ames, was recently produced in the West End, the cast including Peter Haddon, Mane Burke (who Was in New Zealand in "J-Catja the Dancer," "Frasquila," and other musical plays), Mabel Constanduros, Martin Walker, and the glamorous American, Claire Luce. Miss Luce is a clever actress as well as an accomplished dancer. The author lived for many years dn Tangier, and he chose that colourful spot as the setting for his play. There is plenty of comedy in the plot; crooks,?.gun-runners, and secret service agents, altogether provide many thrills for audiences.

T,here is a great interest in ballet performances in England. Sir Oswald Stoll introduced the Rene Blum Ballet from Monte Carlo in programmes that included "Les Elphes," by Fokine wjth Mendelssohn music; Florent i Schmitt's "Un Soir," featuring George Gue, a new choreographer from Finland; Fokine's "Don Juan," and the popular "L'Epreuve d'Amour." The British Ballet is in a flourishing condition, too. The Markova-Dolin season at Hammersmith had to be extended, ■ and Sadler's Wells had its most pro,fitable season since the theatre was reopened by Lilian. Baylis six years ago. More/than a quarter of a million attended the North London home of opera and ballet during the first seven months of this year and thirtynine works were performed. The Ballet company followed this up with successes in Cambridge and Paris.

"LOVE IN A BUNGALOW."

There must be something in the title of the Universal picture "Love in a Bungalow," which was written by Eleanore, Griffin and William Kankin. The other day they ran off and got married. Both of them are under contract to Universal, and they have written several plays together. The picture in question was previewed in Wellington recently, and is'due for early release. Nan Grey, one of the "Three Smart Girls," is the chief member of .the cast, with Kent Taylor in the masculine lead. The story deals with the hostess of a mo^el California bungalow whose business it is to show possible clients through the model house. The persevering young salesman out of work brings compassion, from the girL During a heavy storm he takes refuge in the bungalow, .and while they are listening to the radio a contest for the most happily-married couple in America is announced by a big adver' tising station. To amuse themselves, the young couple invent a letter purporting to come from a happily-mar-ried couple with twins! 'The. mass of compilation is amusing. - RUINED BY A SHADOW. The • phrase, "Your days shall be as a shadow" took on an entirely different meaning for James Whale while he was directing Universal's "The Road Back." He had rehearsed an outdoor scene, working over every detail until he had the desired ; effect. Then the "take" began. Everything was going smoothly. Towards the end of the sequence, supposedly occurring in 1919, a giant passenger plane sent its shadow racing down the street of-the German town while the cameras were turning. "Retake!" the director called out. "They never had a plane that looked like that in 1919. That shadow killed it." Two thousand players, including John King, Richard Cfomwell, Andy Devine, Slim Suirimerville, Maurice Murphy, and' John Emery, had to repeat the sequence. OLD BALLAD TOUfS. With composers of popular tunes straining their keyboards to pound out something new and original for filmland's army of singing players, Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi startled Hollywood recently when they .expressed their preference for1 an. old ballad. These players, who are fea- ; tured in Paramount's "Make Way For Tomorrow," looked into the files for "Let Me Call; You Sweetheart." They dance to it in the picture. "Make Way for Tomorrow,"' the universal conflict of generations in the average family, based on Josephine Lawrence's bestselling novel, "The Years are So Long," was made into a screen play by Vina Dslmar, author of "Bad- Girl." The picture, in addition ,to Moore and Miss Bondi, features Fay Bainter, Barbara Read (one of the "Three Smart Girls'!) Thomas Mitchell, Porter Hall, and Louise Beavers. "I MET HIM-IN PARIS." Paramount's "I Met Him in Paris" enjoyed a sensational opening at its Australian premiere at the Capitol Theatre, Melbourne, according to telegraphed information received at Paramount's Sydney office by managing director Mr. Harry Hunter from James L. Thornley, general manager of the theatre. The message reads:—"Entire theatre booked out Saturday morning. Of all good! shows at Capitol 'I Met Him In Paris' tops the lot. Finest audience.reaction in years. 'I Met Him In Paris' is the answer to a: showman's prayer. Certain to establish new records."' ■ ' This is perhaps/one of the "happiest" pictures to come out of Hollywood for some time. The freshness of Claudette Colbert's performance reminds one so much of her memorable appearance in "It Happened One Night." Playing'the male leads opposite Claudette are Melvyn Douglas and Robert Young, two stars admirably suited to their respective parts. THE MUSICAL SIDE. Sea chanties, love songs and polkas, wild gipsy dances, and an underscore of symphonic power give Paramount's "Souls at Sea" graphic amplification. The score is notable primarily because it marks the debut in the motion picture field of Arnold Schoenberg, regarded as possessing one of the greatest musical gifts of our time; secondly because it teams him with Ralph Rainger, his direct antithesis in musical achievement. Schoenberg, who has been studiously avoiding the movies for years, is best known for his uncompromising "Verklaetre Nacht" and "Gurre Lierder." Rainger, still in his early thirties, wrote "Love in Bloom" and "A Rendezvous With a Dream." The astonishing feat of combining these two opposite abilities was rather neatly performed by Boris Morros, head of Paramount's music department. Formerly director of the Imperial Russian Symphony, Morros is a queer spiritual combination. Wanting Schoenberg for "Souls at Sea," Morros went very subtly about the business of getting him. First he put Rainger under the master's tutelage and waited a month while the two got acquainted. Then he assigned Rainger to write the music for the picture and had him ask his teacher's help in the difficult task of counter-pointing four themes in the score. To do this, of course, Schoenberg had to see" (he picture himself. Then Morros had Rainger bring him to lunch. .The rest was easy. LANGUAGE DIFFICULTY. "Nationalising", international. accents was one of the odd problems of • a dramatic coach in the filming of "The Good Earth." Oliver Hinsdell, in charge of dialogue and dramatic coaching at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, accomplished the task of making uniform a dozen different accents among principals, Chinese and others in the filmisation of Pearl S. Buck's novel, which was adapted for the.- stage by Owen David and Donald Davis. Paul Muni, for instance, speaks in typical New York fashion. Luise Rainer's Viennese accent is pronounced. Walter Connolly speaks with a Bostonian intona-t tion, ana Charley Grapewin with a Yankee drawl. Among the Chinese players each has a different Oriental accent. William Law has a suggestion of Cantonese, Sbo Yong a trace of Hawaiian with clipped ends of sentences, Keye Luke speaks as a typical Westerner. Roland Got has a slight English accent. Hinsdell, going over the dialogue with the players, gradually worked out a sort of common denominator, and finally achieved a "general" accent that all could use so that all speeches were uniform. Though j most of the players are Chinese, all dialogue is in English. Sidney Franklin directed the picture.. THE VICTORIAN ERA. Victorian England is taking a firm hold on the imagination of Britishers and Americans, and seems, to have a curious charm for the latter. Numerous plays have been written about the period, and the triumph of "Victoria Regina," in the States proved that American appreciation of the : story of Victoria and Albert is almost as great, as if it were a story of early America. Now comes antfther play about Victoria, entitled "The.Queen's Image." It is by Miss Marion Bowyer, who wrote it before the censor's ban on the Housman version was lifted in England. She adopted a curious way of evading the ban. Miss Bowyer wanted to write a play about the young Queen and her relations with Lord Melbourne, and so she invented a mythical duchess of the same age, the same temjfcrament, and the same spirit as the Queen, and showed her In the 'Same situation as Victoria on her accession to the throne.

FRANK FOREST. . Frank Forest, young American! opera tenor, who has sung in many capitals in Europe, was engaged as the' first member of a notable cast with which Columbia intends to surround Grace Moore in her new starring musical production, "I'll Take Romance." Melvyn Douglas will be the star's leading man, while Edward H. Griffith has already been engaged to direct. Rehearsals with a huge orchestra started recently, with actual shooting scheduled to begin within a short time. The story is by Stephen Morehouse Avery and was prepared for the screen by Jane Murfin. Having completed his musical engagements abroad, where he has been singing for a number of years, Mr. Forest returned to this country last year to appear with the Chicago Opera Company. "THE AWFUL TRUTH." Wyu Cahoon, .talented young < New York" actress, who was playing the ingenue lead in George Abbott s ' stage success. "Brother Rat/ when she was placed under contract by Columbia, will make her picture debut in "The Awful Truth." The company's latest screen "find" was assigned, to an important role in the Irene Dunne-Cary Grant co-starring vehicle recently. Shooting on this Arthur Richman play is scheduled to-«start shortly under the direction of. Leo McCarey. Miss Call oqn received her initial theatrical training on the road playing an ingenue role in "Cyrano de Bergerac" and later singing the role of "Fritzi" in "Blossom Time" and the part of the Princess in "The StudeiTt Prince." She was subsequently seen in "Jubilee" and fhen went on the road as the ingenue lead in "Jumbo" which again drew the critics' praise. CINDERELLA STORY.' The Cinderella theme has ever, been a popular one with the movies. Occasionally it comes true, as in ,the case of Mabel Todd, pretty singing comedienne. Miss Todd was singing in a' Chicago night club-.; when a Warner talent scout observed her one night. It was a Monday night. The scout approached her with an offer o£ a screen test. On Tuesday the test was made, and a few hours later Miss To'dd was aboard*a plane bound for Hollywood. On' Thursday she made another test at the Warner studios in Burbank, was signed to a contract, and on Friday she was rehearsing a role in "Varsity Show." JOHN LITEL GETS LEAD. John Litel will play the leading masculine role in "Alcatraz Island," says the Warner Bros, West Coast Studios, and Ann Sheridan will be the heroine of the story, most of whose action takes place in the grim Federal prison in San Francisco Bay. Dick Purcell and William Hopper will have strong supporting roles, and the film is to be directed by William McGann. The screen play is by Crane Wilbur. FAVOURABLY RECEIVED. ..In. the course of a very favourable notice of Dr. Merton Hodge's play, "The Island," the critic of "The New Statesman" remarks: —"There is nothing so trying to even the most perfect character as the feeling that your immediate world is on top of you.1 The small garrison on the island belongs to this type, sometimes unkindly generalised as Anglo-Indian, which is called upon more often than not to endure such circumstances. It is one of the truest observations of the play that the type as a whole wins; through'at"the.' cost, as a rule, of something vital. Dr. Hodge has a winner here, it has plenty of meat and plenty of amusement; the dialogue is easy and the situations natural." FAY COMPTON'S ART. Fay Compton, England's leading actress, who is to commence her tour of Australia and New Zealand on October 23, in Melbourne, under the-J. C. Williamson, Ltd., management, is an artist of extraordinary versatility. Like another great comedy star, Marie Tempest,\Fay Compton commenced her stage career in musical shows, including! the', famous- -Pelissier Follies, then, later, in "The Pearl Girl," "The Cinema Star," and subsequently made her first appearance in New York as Victoria- in "Tonight's the Night." In comedy, drama, and every other phase of the stage,' she has.achieved success. She is world-famous for her creation of- the role' of Mary Rose in Barries play, the title role, in "Peter Pan," as the wife in "Tea for' Three," and in many Shakespearean roles. In 1930 she put the seal on her versatility by appearing as principal bpy in a "Dick Whittingtori" pantomime. At that time,1 in the course of a' newspaper interview, she said: "I have ■ played in almost every other type of stage entertainment, including .drama,-, comedy, revue, musical comedy,-Shakespeare, and burlesque, so I am anxious to complete the list with pantomime." NO CURTAIN SFEECH. Humphrey Bogart, who will be seea^ in "Kid. Galahad," has died a thousand deaths' for his art as a villain on stage and screen. Unfortunately for his curtain-line speeches, says Bogart the heroes he takes with him to the land of shadows invariably survive him long enough- to deliver effective last lines. When Bogart dies he dies quickly, with seldom an extra twitch or writhe. The heroes he shoots die nobly holding the heroine's hand, or with their head in her lap. For example, Leslie Howard's death scene in "Petrified Forest," the picture which ushered Bogart into the film business. Now again Bogart dies his latest death for art. drama,'and Warner Bros, in "Kid Galahad," He duels with Edward J. Robinson. Pistols are the weapons. The star's bullets silence avid still "Boggie," who must. needs lie motionless while the hero takes his time about dying (and who wouldn't) in Bette Davis's arms, as Howard did in/ "Petrified Forest." ,He even has time to do a bit of bragging, and to bless the union of the "romantic pair" of the picture, Wayne (Kid Galahad) Morris and - Jane - Bryan.

MONTAGUE REVUE COMPANY. The Montague Revue Company, now in Auckland, is having a sensational success in,the northern city and will be coming to Wellington later by arrangement with Sir Benjamin Fuller who is "sponsoring, the tour of this famous company. There are stars from England and America in the huge cast and'a ballet of beautiful girls from Hungary is one of the main features oi the show. These girls are led by Madame • Damora, and their dancing and costuming is startling. The Londoii producer, Lewis Marks, travels with the company and the* leading artists include George Doonan, comedian direct from the London production; Barbara Vefnon,' famous comedienne from America, who was in the American success, "Transatlantic Rhythm," and stepped out of the show the day before her ship sailed for Australia. The Montague Revue had an enormous success in Australia and is making a popular, appeal in New Zealand. . LOVELY KIRSTEN FLAGSTAD. Lovely golden-ha;re.d ,Kirsten,> Flagstad, the great Norwegian dramatic soprano, is coming to Australia and New Zealand next year as a Tait attraction. She is young, and is acknowledged to\be the- most beautiful and accomplished Isolde ever heard in "Tristan and Isolde." Kirsten Flagstad was a big attraction in London during Coronation month and attracted huge audiences to Covent Garden. She is very popular on the Continent and is a first favourite at the. New York Metropolitan Opera House. She is a fine dramatic actress as well as a golden-voiced songstress. Lawrence Tibbett, the famous baritone, is also.coming to the Dominions next year as another Tait celebrity. He is probably the finest baritone of the present generation. Richard Crooks will be returning under Tait management in 1939 and Yehudi Menuhin will be a 1940 attraction. Yehudi and his parents and sisters are very anxious to revisit New Zealand,'Avhere.they spent such a happy time. £4000 A WEEK. . Experienced but youthful Eric Maschwitz, director of Variety at- the 8.8.C. and husband of Hermione Gingold, a charming London actress, has certainly written a winner in "Balalaika," which took nearly £4000 a week at His Majesty's, London, and proved one of the most popular musical plays since "Bitter Sweet." Mr. Maschwitz is now contemplating a new work with a Hungarian flavour, to be called "Paprika," as a successor to "Balalaika. This lovely musical gem is being presented in Australia by Messrs, J.;C. Williamson, with one of tire largest casts ever assembled by the firm. :There are 42 speaking parts, and the cast is headed by Robert Halliday, the original: "Red Shadow" of "Desert. Song";' Margaret Adams, noted New York,actress;-MarjorieGor-don, well-known London: comedienne; Don Nicol, Gaston Mervale, Douglas Herald, Thadee Slavinsky (one of the principals of the' Colonel de Basil Russian Ballet), Hori Thomas, Jan .Kowskey, Yvonne Banvai-d, Arthur Clarke, Clifford Cowley, Mayne Lynton. Charles 'Zoli, Sydney Wheeler, Leskey Crane, and many others who have recently been in New Zealand with Williamson shows... < YOUTHFUL; PLAYWRIGHTS. A; cheerful feature 'of the London theatrical season- has been '.the success of a first play "Bats in the Belfry," by Diana.Morgan and her husband,.Robert McDermot. It is a pleasure to record the measure of success1 ■ achieved by young and" practically ■ untried writers for the stage. "Bats in the Belfry" has f had a wonderful - season at the ; Ambassadors .Theatre, where Lilian, Braithwaite' has' had' a remarkable: triumph. It was her faith in the, play,-that was; responsible for its West End production. After a quiet opening, it began to "draw 'capacity houses, as.was the case with two other plays, "French without Tears," by Terence 'Rattigan, and"George'and;Margaret," by Gerald Savory.! This latter play, it is interesting to record, is in the repertoire for Australia and New- Zealand of Fay Compton, noted London actress who is coming out to the Dominions under engagement by Messrs. J. C. Williamson. The. author isa son of Grace Lane, a distinguished English actress who was in Australia playing in "Fresh! Fields" and other plays, but did' not' come to New Zealand. It is an age of youth apparently in the world of playwriting and composition, for both Mr. Rattigan and; Mr. Savory are under 30. PLAYWRIGHT AND SISTER. Rosamund Lehrriann wrote the successful London play "No More Music," which has its setting in the West Indies, the locality chosen by Noel Coward for his "Point Valaine." Beatrix Lehmann, sister of the authoress, had a big part in the production, and other parts were ably played by-Hugh Sinclair and Valeric Taylor.

"THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL." Arnold Pressburger is due to start "The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel" at Denham. An exciting script has been prepared by Arthur Wimperis and Adrian Brunei and the film will be directed by Schwarz. An interesting cast is now being assigned to this important production; ARLISS MEETS QUEEN MARY.

George Arliss met and had a long talk with Queen Mary at the horticultural exhibition which was held at the People's Palace recently. It is significant of the Queen Mother's interest in British films that during her discussion of his plays and films sha referred to "Dr. Syn," Arliss's latest film which has not yet been shown to the public. JESSIE MATTHEWS. While Jessie Matthews and Sonnie Hale are holiday-making in Cornwall, studio executives are going ahead with preparations for Jessie's next picture. Given the working title of "Full Sail," the film introduces the' star as the adopted daughter of "a London bargee, and will include numerous exteriors to be filmed in the upper and lower reaches of the Thames. Arthur ("Pennies from Heaven") Johnson and Maurice Sigler have been engaged to write the lyrics and music for "Full Sail," and will arrive from America shortly. Sigler will be renewing an earlier association with Jessie' Matthews, as he collaborated in providing the music for "First a Girl." Sonnie Hale will again be directing his wife in "Full Sail." .'.■*. "WEE WIXLIE WINKIE." At an isolated spot in the rocky Santa Susanna Mountains, where Nature provided a geographical replica of India's famed Khyber Pass, the largest and costliest location sets ever built by 20th Century-Fox were erected for "Wee Willie Winkie." Rudyard Kipling's frontier of 1898 was reproduced in faithful detail in a series of thirtyfour permanent^,- outdoor sets which sprawled over, an area of one mile square in the rock-strewn mountains. The golden-curled Queen of Hollywood —Shirley Temple-^is the star of ','Wee Willie Winkie," with Victor McLaglen heading the supporting cast, which includes June Lang, Michael .Whalen, C. Aubrey Smith, Cesar Romero, and Douglas Scott, who will be remembered as the young boy, Horatio Nelson, in "Lloyds of London." "THE FIRST AND THE LAST." The final script scenario for "The First and the Last,"' which is being directed by Basil Dean for London Films, has been written by Graham Greene, author of best-seller "Gun for Sale," and Basil Dean. The original story is, of i course, by John Galsworthy. .The principal parts are played by Leslie Banks as the King's counsel whose wild young brother, as played by Laurence .Olivier is a source of embarrassment to him in view of the appointment of Judge which he is ex-' pecting. The girl is played by Vivien Leigh and her character as Wanda is full of dramatic possibilties. It will be interesting to see Laurence Olivier and Viyien'Leigh together, for the first time since their team work in" "Fire Over England." 'Supporting parts are also very strong. Robert Newton, Denham's busiest actor, is cast as Tolly, defending counsel. . Newton has just completed playing in "The Squeaker" with Edmund Lowe. '■? ,' \ T; • • FOMMER ReEIeIT ON STORY. Ah interesting casting experiment is tried by Erich Pommer in his new film "Farewell Again." He adds further fuel to the story v. star controversy. "Farewell Again" boasts ef'no obvious star names, no Laughtons nor Oberons, yet it has one of the strongest casts ever presented in British films. There are twenty-five important parts and each one of them is filled by an accomplished and well-known actor. But you will look in vain for : glamorous personalities. The leading players and most famous are Flora Robson and Leslie Banks. Both are grand actors, but neither is a starring "name" in the accepted sense. Other parts are played by Patricia Hilliard, a London Films starlet of whom great things are expected; Sebastian Shaw, who made a big impression opposite Miriam Hopkins in "Men Are Not Gods"; Leonora Corbett, Rene Ray, Anthtmy Bush ell, Robert Cochran, and Robert Newton. Another interesting fact about "Farewell Again" is that it is based on an actual news item. / ACTOR AND DENTIST. "Actor and dentist, too," is how Donald Burr, the American leading man of "Over She Goes," the successful J. C. Williamson show in Australia, might be described. He graduated as a dentist from the University of Cincinatti, but having taken part in several musical comedy productions staged at .the university, he decided to go in for a stage career instead. He has appeared in many musical comedy and cabaret productions in New York and London. In New York he was .associated with that popular English' favourite, Beatrice Lillie (who afterwards became Lady Peel) in "Walk 'a Little Faster." He appeared in the London production of "Anything Goes," and also "Certainly, Sir," in which George Robey appeared. In the London cast of "Darling You," in which he was leading man, Kitty Reidy, the Australian actress, who commenced her stage career with J. C. Williamson, Ltd., had a prominent part. . , AN ACTING TEAM. The stage association of John.Gielgud and Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies 'in Emlyn Williams's historical play, "He Was Born 'Gay," is not their first experience of playing together. So far back as : 1924 they were seen at the Regent Theatre, London, in "Romeo arid Juliet," and*as both are only in their early thirties, it will be seen that they began stage careers at very ,young ages. In "He Was-Born Gay," Mr. Gielgud played the Dauphin,: and Carol Goodner. (who. played - opposite Mr. Gielgud in the long-run of "Musical Chairs") and Gwen FfrancgonDavies played the two women who attempt to mould' the young man's destiny.

NEW AUSTRALIAN STAR. When Aileen Britton, of Kirribilli, Sydney, made her first professional stage debut in Shakespeare, with the Augustus Neville Company, after considerable amateur experience, she little dreamt that her second professional engagement would be a featured player in an: Australian film. Discovered by Cinesound two months, ago,: she so impressed with her dramatic ability that a special role was written for her in the new Cinesound production, "Tall Timbers." In this picture, which costars Shirley Ann Richards and Frank Leigh ton, Miss Britton will play the second feminine role.

AN ELMER RICE FLAY. Ronald Adam and Stephen Mitchell, producers, have a new permanent home in London, the Phoenix Theatre, and recently presented there, as their first play in partnership/"Judgment Day,'.' which was transferred to the Phoenix from the Strand. This play so caught the public imagination that every evening on the fall of the curtain the audience burst into cheers. This phenomenon, according to critics, is usually reserved for the hectic-atmosphere of a first night. "Judgment Day" is a melodrama by Elmer Rice, and its action takes place entirely in the courtroom ■in a Slav State in Southern Europe, where a trumped-up political charge :., being heard; > The play has an irresistible surge, and the momentum of a Russian novel. ' ■

BUSY PRODUCER. Guthrie McClintic, New York's busiest and most celebrated producer, who is the husband of Katharine Cor-, nell, famous American actress coming to Australia and New Zealand next year, recently, spent a few weeks in London seeing current shows. He visited Ireland, Glasgow (where he saw "The Constant' Wife"), arid Birmingham, where he threw his experienced and critical eye over Emlyn Williams's "He Was Born Gay," the first venture of the young ■ Welsh playwright (who wrote' "Night Must Fall' and other plays), into historical drama. "He was Born Gay" had John Gielgud in the role of the Dauphin, but somehow it did not appeal to the public, and had only a short run. Mr. McClintic was greatly interested in the London play, "The Ascent of-F6." He informed a theatrical critic that his next production on Broadway would "be a murder mystery play, "Blind Man's Buff." DAME THORNDIKE IN COMEDY. Dame Syfcil Thorndike returned to the West End Theatre recently in comedy when she played the role of a mother in "Yes, My Darling Daughter" with a cast that included Margaret Bannerman,\lessica Tandy, Leon Quartermaine, Evelyn Roberts, and Alee Clunes. Rodney Ackland prepared Mark Reed's play for English audiences, transferring the scene to the neighbourhood of Chichester. The piece has been described as a "comedy with an undercurrent of seriousness in which can ,be detected a satire on most people's muddled ideas of morality.'' Dame Sybil had the role of a mother settled down and comfortably married to a wealthy banker. In her youth she was a leading Suffragette and Socialist. The free and emancipated ideas of her early years are put to the test 'hen her daughter goes away for a weekend with a young man. The play is a study of three generations. Dame Sybil represented the fanatically brave /oman of the pre-war period; Margaret Bannerman depicted the hysterics of the nineteen twenties, and Jessica Tandy handled the point of view of the modern girl. Mr. Clunes is a Shakespearean actor of note. INTERRUPTED HOLIDAY. Ivor Novello,. the gifted young playwright, spent a vacation recently at Venice and the Dalmatian coast, and on his return to London started work on the details of his .forthcoming production, "Crest of the Wave," written, devised, and composed by himself. He did a round: of the London theatres as one form of . recreation while on vacation, and then went to North Wales to complete his holiday.

"GOLD IS WHERE YOU FIND IT." Warner Bros, announce, an, allTechnicolor production of.; "Gold ia iWhere You Find It," Clements. Rip-' ley's notable romance ,of adventure, to , go before the colour cameras in the near future with George Brent and Olivia de Havilland heading; the cast . and Donald Crisp in a featured role. "Gold Is Where You Find-It" 'was originally published -in a-magazine, and in book form was - a best .seller. The screen rights were .purchased some time ago by Warner Bros., who have held up production .pending .the perfection of the latest Technicolor devices for securing the most'effective natural colour photography.

BUILDING BOOM. Home-building booms in. Hollywood —450 carpenters, bricklayers, painters and other workmen labour night anc day in six-hour shifts to erect dwelling! which, if assembled all at one time would cover four-fifths of Columbis Studios and house 25,000 people; Foui grand apartment suites are being-buili for "The Awful Truth," in addition to two. spacious country homes, a New York hotel, and a night club.. This film co-stars Irene Dunne and1 -Can Grant. By contrast, middle-class domi ciles are needed,in "Life Begins witl Love." Four complete cottages, twc bungalows, and an orphanage' of112W capacity are under way for this com edy which features' Douglass Mont gomery, Jean' Parker, and Edith Fel lowes