STAGE AND SCREEN

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 78, 29 September 1938, Page 21

STAGE AND SCREEN

SOCIAL PROBLEM PLAYS.

Leopold . Atlas, author of "But for the Grace of .God/.' is an American playwright who claims no relationship to the gentleman who carried . the world on his shoulders. ■ He reached Broadway with his first play, "Wednesday's- i Child," the problem of a boy whose parents had been divorced. In his newest play .he deals ', with the problem of child labour, but more particularly with his theory that lack of money is the root of all evil. In "Wednesday's Child" he featured twelve children; in "But for the Grace of God he allows for fifteen of them. But all; his works are not of this type. He has'four other plays to his credit. Mr. Atlas was born in Brooklyn, New York, 31 years ago and seems always to have wanted to write plays. High school pupil, dffice • assistant, advertising, clerk, shipping clerk—he was all these before trying his hand at playwriting. On. the strength of his first work, "He Sat on a Wall," he was admitted to a course at Yale. There he wrote,, "El," which was produced_at the college, •. His other works are The, House We Live In" and "From John Doe to John Doe." . He worked in Hollywood on "The Mystery of Edwin Drood " I

BEHIND THE THRONE.

it E™i_ Mas.chwitz^. the"" Director .. of Variety for the 8.8.C., who wrote'the libretto of "Balalaika," the successful musical play, has., achieved another winner with "Bird on the Wing," which toe wrote .in-collaboration with Cecil Lewis. Their latpst musical: composition, is written round the personality of Lola. Montez, the dancer and adventuress, who, from humble beginnings in Ireland, rose to a: position of power and notoriety. It deals specially with the lady's era when the eccentric King Louis of Bavaria was under her sway; through ; him she was able to exercise an enormous influence at the Court in Munich. The period—the 1840's—gave scene and .costume designers plenty of colourful scope. Mary Ellis, an. accomplished actress as well as a fine vocalist, was an Excellent choice for .-the role.

"THE AMAZING DR. CLITTERHOUSE."

Commenting on Mr. Barre'Lyndon's thriller, "The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse," which Mr. Leo dv Chateau is to produce for the Wellington Repertory Society in .the Concert Chamber for five performances beginning on Tuesday, October 18, Mr. Ivor Brown; the dramatic critic of "The Manchester Guardian," said: —"Dr. Clitterhouse" contains a new idea and. is indeed, as the title admits, amazing. It is not every research .worker whose passion > for • the,, truth will carry him. into criminal company, where he. not only .shares but leads :the nefarious and dangerous activities. The doctor, so eager to study the physical effects of criminal practices on those engaged on their own hazards that he himself becomes robber and murderer, is a very queer card. But he" belongs to the kind of drama which deals queer cards without hesitation. There are no ; false piretences, note, the adjective in the title. This is a tall story and the.test of a tall story is whether it can .carry its weight. This one, as the first-night audience agreed- enthusiastically at the Haymarket Theatre, fully "supported its attitude. "Dr. Clitterhouse" must' be visualised as a quick- - moving .Vigorous and colourful stage • play and not as a medical theatrical dissertation on its Burglars' Blood-, pressure,; or what larceny does to the larynx.",. The cast will include many experiehcied players and . several . making their first appearance with the ■; society. The scenery is being built by Mr. Johnstone arid, painted by Mr. • W.(J.:Conroy.

VERSATILE DANCER.

Tilly Locsh, the Viennese dancer who has appeared on stage and film, is the first dancer to be brought to stardom through the interpretative dance, comments a film critic. She has triumphed' in many forms of art —as a movie star, dancer with the Ballet Russe and Fred Astaire, been a nun (in Max Reinhardt's production of "The Miracle"), musical comedy star in London and New York, danced in the film "Garden of Allah," and actedin "Good Earth" with Paul Muni. Ritual dancing is a specialty of hers. Mile. Locsh became a student and member of the Viennese Opera Ballet School at the age of 6. At 18, Reinhardt featured her in Salzburg in ■ many of his productions, notably "The Miracle" and "Midsummer Night's Dream." She has always preferred to devise her own dances, and in the Cochfan Revue introduced the famous "Hand Dance." In "The Band Wagon" she • and Fred Astaire did a Princess and Peasant ballet sequence that was a rare combination of pure art and sensitive frivolity.

A NOVELL© NOVELTY.

A comedy by Ivor Novello that was presented at the Haymarket, London, had as its leading lady that excellent actress, Lilian Braithwaite, in the role of Donna Lovelace. The "theory that a really great actress can burn herself out at a dress rehearsal and fail on the opening night is dealt with interestingly by the talented young author-actor-playwright. He introduces a. novel twist in that the leading lady, having failed, "expresses delight because now the play 'can be taken across to America and performed, not by a waning English star, but by a promising American one. It is 'also a novel twist to learn that' the hero, of .Mr. No vello's play, the young auttior pfthe piece in. which the leading ladyfails at the last moment, is the illegitimate son of her husband, and she likes the boy so much that she believes her failure will ,spell his success across the Atlantic. The piece was called "Comedienne."

CLIFFORD ODETS COMPARES.

In his play "Golden ■ Boy," Clifford Odets has drawn- a vivid pageant of American city life: his different characters include prize-fighters,. promoters, taxi drivers, and gangsters, all drawn from first-hand observation. On a recent visit to London to see his play produced he found it difficult to classify types as he saw them in the . streets. It was strange to him to walk > 'about London and be unable to distinguish between a clerk and a" member of Parliament. Mr. Odets, who has achieved a certain fame through the > provocative nature of sojne of his plays, is a great music-lover. He confesses -i that he < has learned more dramatic tricks from Beethoven than from- any living playwright. Wherever, possible' he ■introduces music into -his plays— : • someone- either. plays the, piano r or , gramophone; or there is street singing.., Musical ' atmosphere he considers the '. best method for heightening dramatic ( tension. Mr. Odets was . married .to , Luise Rainer,'the Viennese; film star, •- but they were recently divorced.. ;]

. • AN. AUSTRALIAN SUCCESS. "' <

Mary Maguire, the charming Aus- : tralian actress who went to Hollywood ' and carved a niche for' herself in' film- • dom, is only. 19;. she was chosen to go • to England 'to play ingenue in the , second. Gracie Fields picture, "Picca- ( dilly Circus," a Monty Banks production. , Miss Maguire was thoroughly enjoying ! the experience of association with such ■ a'popular star as Gracie Fields and . loved; th.e.;English scenery. Hollywood ' has hot spoiled her naive charm or her ■ air of youthful'expectancy. :

WALT DISNEY PICTURE

RELEASE OF "SNOW WHITE"

Few motion pictures have created such interest as Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and th€ signing of the contract in connection with its release in New Zealand was more of a ceremony than a customary business procedure. The managing director of RKO-Radio Pictures (Australasia) Proprietary Limited, Mr. Ralph R. Doyle, paid a short visit to Auckland from Australia in order to complete the arrangements for showing the picture. The picture will open its New Zealand season simultaneously in the four main centres as the, Christmas attraction and will be shown throughout the Dominion by Amalgamated Theatres, Limited. The contract was signed recently in the head office of the company, Queen Street, in "the presence of Mr. Doyle, Mr. M. J. Moodabe, governing director of Amalgamated Theatres, and Mr. J. P. Moodabe, managing director, Mr. W. Duff, of Wellington, New Zealand manager for RKORadio, and executive officers of Amalgamated Theatres were also present. "I feel sure the New Zealand public will revel in the entertainment pro- • vided by the Walt Disney epic," said Mr. Doyle, "particularly as an analysis of the attendances in other countries, showing that audiences have comprised more than 70 per cent, of adults, demonstrates that it te excellent entertainment for adults as well as children. "Figures also reveal that 'Snow White, ahd the Seven Dwarfs' will earn more money than any film previously made. The production is just finishing its eighth month in London and it is in its fifth month at the Plaza Theatre, Sydney." . Mr. Doyle said that commercial contracts with the picture totalled well over £100,000, and one firm had spent £40,000 for advertising its product in conjunction with the picture.

RECORD STUDIO LIST.

By far the largest roster of stars, featured players, directors, writers, and producers. in the history of the company, is under contract to Warner Bros.-First National, says a statement from America following the voicing of that claim by Gradwell Sears, general sales'manager, to delegates at a convention recently concluded in New York. The company is to maintain topspeed production pace with a total of 160 people under contract. It is planned to increase the list by at least 75 more names before the current season is over. The production roster: includes 20 stars, 50 featured players, 9. artists engaged wto appear in special pictures, 14 directors, 8 dialogue directors, 43 writers, 6 song writers, and 8 associate producers. The list ol 20 stars comprises:—Paul Muni, Bette Davis. James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson,, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Pat O'Brien, Dick Powell, Hugh Herbert, Joan Blondell, Wayne Morris, Priscilla Lane, Rosemary Lane, George Brent, Kay Francis, Humphrey Bogart, Anita Louise, Miriam Hopkins, Leslie Howard, and Rudy Vallee. . The Hst of nine artists appearing in special pictures comprises:—Basil Rathbone, Alan Hale, Eugene Pallette riaire Trevor, Ralph Bellamy, Walter Connolly, Rosalind Russell, Jackie Coooer and Tnomas Mitchell. The.lost-. S*?sk£S is:-Lloyd Bacon, Busby Berkeley, William Clemens/ Michael Curtiz, William Dieterle, Ran fright lohn Farrow, Edmund Golding,. wn nS? Keighley, Anatole Litvak Stanley X William McGann, Noel.Smith, and William Wyler.

"WHO WINS?"

The celluloid "match of the century" -Man /Mountain Dean, the actor vpr«?iis Joe E. Brown, the wrestler—has E fought and filmed, but the winner remains undisclosed. Dean, at SJV pounds ringside, and Brown, at exactly half that' weight, have been swapping falls in the spectacular wrestling finale of the Columbia picture, "The Gladiator," produced by David L. Loew. The script reads, that Brown, should win the third and .deciding fall for the "world's championship. But the Man Mountain entered an eleventhhour protest, on grounds that-. it will ■ ruin his professional reputation to be defeated, if- only on the screen, by a man just half his size. "I don't know, and I don't care what the script says, : declared Dean, who plays "himself in the film. "I will lose a million fans J if the picture shows me on the losing : end."- "I happen to know what ( the : script says," -countered Brown, "and • we will stick to that. My public will 1 leave me cold if they give the nod to •; the Man Mountain." <

MUCH ACTIVITY. \

'Within recent weeks Columbia Studios started production on six new productions, two of which are now completed,. two • are nearing completion, and.two others are' either in process of preparation or> being filmed. Outstanding :among the pictures, being produced and scheduled for- early completion are . the Frank Capra production of the Pulitzer Prize winning stage success, "You Can't. Take It With You" and the Edward G. Robinson starring 'vehicle, "Outside; the Law,"' being directed by Alexander Hall, who was responsible for "There's Always a Woman," co-starring Joan Blondell and Melvyn Douglas. More 'than seventyfive part players•",in addition "to hundreds of extras, are to be seen in the Capra production. The leading roles are >" portrayed by Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, Mischa Aver, Halliwell Hobbes, Ann Miller, and others. Prominently featured in the cast of "Outside the Law" are Wendy Barrie, Otto Kruger, John Beal, and a large supporting cast. The film is being produced by Everett-Riskin. Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant recently completed a new co-starring comedy, "Holiday," in which Edward Everett Horton, Lew Ayres, and Doris Nolan also occupy important roles.

BEATING HOLLYWOOD.

Hollywood can be licked—but not without a battle, says Rosalind Russell. The strongest weapon is determination to see it through. I set my course and followed it religiously I did my first acting in a tent show. I played one night stands in stock. I found that Hollywood could be conquered by following certain hard rules. You must be determined enough to go through every conceivable dis* appointment. You must have patience and perseverance enough to spend month after month waiting in. casting offices and sit. month after month at the telephone, waiting for a call to go to" work. You must swallow your pride and have the courage to go from person to person, begging for a job. If you are lucky enough to gain a small part in a good stage play, take it and give it your best. It may help. At least, people will come to see you and they will judge for themselves whether or not you merit attention. When you have gone this far, you may interest one particular person in one particular thing that you can do well. If you can convince this person, who usually is a talent scout, that you have, the talent and you are given a chance to show it, that is about the first step in pictures. But in displaying that talent, you must convince everybody that you are good and that you can do that tiny bit better than anyone else. So, if you can do all these things and still live to tell about it, if you can face all the hardships of a critical world, if you can deny yourself this and that, and can prove your merit —then you have Hollywood whipped.

Charlie McCarthy.

A £7 investment, made some 17 years ago, now is netting Edgar Bergen a six-figure return annually. At this moment Bergen's "Charlie McCar- ■ thy," originally purchased for £7 from T a Chicago woodworker, is the greatest * figure in the American entertainment [ field. His wisecracks, impertinences, . and brazen utterances are on every lip. r He is an entertainer, par excellence, on the air, on" the screen, and in night , clubs. Bergen, born in Chicago on February 16, 1903, early discovered i that his voice had the habit of dropL ping down somewhere in the region of i his diaphragm and coming out with a strange quality. For a few dollars . he purchased a dummy, modelled after ■ the -face of an Irish newsboy of his acquaintance. He named it Charlie ! McCarthy, and earned enough money , with his dummy and gift to "pay his way through North-western University. Vaudeville, which flourished at the f time, died after a few years, and Bergen took McCarthy into night clubs. It was-not until he was seen by Noel Coward, at a society gathering in New York, that he became famous. At Coward's suggestion, Rudy Vallee engaged Bergen for two radio appearances. Almost overnight Bergen and ; McCarthy became the rage of the nation. The pair (no one ever speaks of McCarthy as anything less than a person) were almost immediately signed by Hollywood producers, at a salary reputed to be in the neighbourhood of £2500 weekly. The team costar in Uniyersal's "Letter of Introduction," where Bergen and his £7 dummy receive stellar billing along with Adolphe Menjou and Andrea Leeds. "Two' years ago I was told there wasn't any place in the amusement world, for a ventriloquist," says blue-eyed, blonde-haired Bergen. Today Bergen is the head of the Charlie McCarthy Corporation, a , business office to take care of Charlie's affairs, ' a millionaire in the making, and radio's most popular figure. "I still don't know how it happened," Bergen says.

UNIFORMS IN PICTURES.

* '■ Uniforms suddenly dominate the new motion pictures. The! soldier is the -current screen.hero. * All;of- these films were started before recent changes in. Europe. . Unlike: war pictures of the ; past, these productions are not based on actual battle- sequences, but deal with the individual rather.' than the mass of soldiers. "Yellow Jack" presents a picture of the army during the ' Spanish-American "War period. Robert 'Montgomery, Buddy Ebsen, Alan Curtis, _ and William Henry offer themselves as human guinea pigs' in Cuba •in a. scientific war on yellow fever. .The picture was filmed by Metro-Gold-wyn-Mayer, closely following another drama •of uniformed men, namely, "Test Pilot," the story of giant army bombers which are tested by Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy. The forthcoming picture, "Shop-worn Angel," finds James,Stewart as a.young soldier from Texas who falls in love with "Showgirl Margaret Sullavan while awaiting his orders to leave New York for France. The same studio recently completed "Three Comrades," in which Robert Taylor, Fanchot Tone, and Kobert Young face the problems of the post-war period as Erich Remarque.described them from his own experiences in his remarkable novel.

THEIR FbURTH FILM.

Jeanette Mac Donald and Nelson Eddy, -co-starred for the fourth time, introduce to 1938 audiences eight new and beautiful song numbers, composed and written by Sigmund Romberg and Gus Kahn in "The Girl of the Golden West..-'- The numbers that the world is to..first hear from the voices of the singing stars are "Shadows on the Moon," "The Wind in the Trees," "Soldiers of Fortune," "Senorita," "Sun-up to Sun-down," "Who Are We to Say" 'Mariachie," and "The West Ain't Wild Any More," all by Romberg and Kahn. Miss Mac Donald also sings Gounod's Aye Maria" and Liszt's "Dream of Love." Based on David Belasco's play, The Girl of the Golden West" is the story of Mary, owner of the Polka saloon- and dance hall, in a California mining town in 1850. She is loved by the sheriff, Jack Ranee, but she fallsin love with Ramerez, a bandit, believing him to be an army officer. Ranee eventually captures Ramerez in Mary's cabin after wounding him. He consents to play cards with the girl for the bandit's life, but the sheriff catches her cheating. She promises to marry Ranee if he frees Ramerez, but shortly before the marriage he realises that Mary can love no one but Ramerez and permits them to be reunited. William Anthony McGuire produced "The Girl 3f the Golden West*" Robert Z. Leonard was the director, and the supporting cast includes Walter Pidgeon, Leo Carrillo, Buddy Ebsen, Leonard Perm, Priscilla Lawson, Bob Murphy, Olin Rowland, Cliff Edwards, Billy Bevan, Brandon Tynan, H. B. Warner, and Monty Woolley.

A CLOSE SHAVE. .

Charles Boyer and Johnny Downs faced danger while making Walter Wanger's "Algiers," shortly to be released in New Zealand. The star and Downs appeared together in a close shot inside an open window, while a bullet from the street below shattered the plaster of the wall just above their heads. Here, of course, was an instance in which no doubles could pos- ' sibly be used, since the two players stood in the immediate foreground. Accordingly the studio enlisted the services of Captain William Preston, former Texas Ranger and now one of Hollywood's crack shots. Stationed '. just outside the view of the camera, : Captain Preston, at the proper instant in the scene, placed a rifle shot at a • designated spot in the wall, which had : been "backed" with several thick- ; n esses of heavy planking to stop the bullet. The scene was filmed three : times before it was satisfactorily recorded, with a new section of wall moved into place after each trial. "No one could blame us," said Boyer after- ' wards, "for wincing a little and reveal- ' ing a bit of strain, as if we were expecting something to happen. We really were, you know."

OSCAR NATZKE SUCCEEDS.

. Mr. Percy Heming, who is organising the autumn opera season at Covenf Garden, to open on October 10, mentions that one of the singers will be a young New Zealand bass, Mr.-Oscar Natzke (Auckland), who is to app'ar in "The Serf," writes "The Post's" London correspondent on September 5. "The Serf" is a new opera by Mr. George Lloyd, who is a young composer nearer 20 than 30. The programme for the season, writes Mr Heming in the the "Daily Telegraph," contains old favourites and a new work —old favourites because that is what most people want, and a new English opera, by 'a young composer, because it would surely show a want of spirit to stick in the rut of the repertory. "If we believe in opera at all, we cannot allow that everything worth saying has already been said. At the same time, the world we live in must be recognised, and if George Lloyd's new opera, 'The Serf,* is to be our adventure, there will be steadying compensation in 'Faust,' 'Rigoletto,' and 'Madam Butterfly.' We have not lost our heads in the clouds. As for the singers, the names of most speak for themselves, but there will be a few newcomers who should interest the public. I will mention a young New Zealand bass. Oscar Natzke, who is to appear in 'The Serf; a Welsh tenor, John Fullard, and a new soprano, Hella Toros. Miss Tords was born at Trieste, but is English by marriage."

"THE GREAT GARRICK."

Ernest Va'jda, who wrote it, got the inspiration for "The Great Garrick," the James Whale production for Mervyn Leßoy at Warner Bros., twenty years before the film was made. Vajda, a noted Hungarian stage * and screen playwright, came across an old legend attaching to David Garrick, the central character in the film and one of the most famous players ever to tread the boards of the Drury Lane Theatre in London. According to the old story, Garrick was the victim of a practical joke. The Comedie Francaise had enlisted its personnel of players in the execution of the joke. They took over an inn outside of Paris where it was known that Garrick would stop on his way to Paris. The inn's personnel was dismissed, for a day while the actors took over the various jobs-—innkeeper, chef, stable boys, waiters, maids, blacksmith, etc. When Garrick arrived everything in the inn proceeded to go wrong. The inn became a madhouse. So the legend -went. Vajda found it in an. old book twenty years ago and began thinking about it. It started him ■ on the plot of the film which emerges now as "The Great Garrick."

NEW UNDERSEA. DRAMA.

Proclaimed as the greatest motion picture ever made with an under-sea boat as its subject, "Submarine D.I" will be released shortly. It is a Warner Bros, melodrama co-starring Pat O'Brien and George Brent, and featuring Wayne ("Kid Galahad") Morris; In the making of it the United States Navy Department deserves as much credit as the movie folk, for it threw open to the Warner's its submarine establishments at San Diego, Cocos Coco, in the Panama Canal Zone, and Newport, Rhode Island. The'most modern of submarines, officially called the D.l and also bearing the title of Dolphin, was used in all diving and surface-run-ning scenes. Pat O'Brien and Wayne Morris play a couple of young submarine crewmen who have developed two great inventions—a device to shoot men-safely to the ocean's surface if a ship is sunk, and another device to raise the U-boat itself. In the story the D.I is rammed and sunk during some war game manoeuvres, and the hero's inventions, get a chance to show their worth. They are successful in saving the submarine's whole crew, and its heroic commander.

SOUTH SEA MELODRAMA

George Houston is a likeable type in the role of Wallaby Jim in Action Pictures new release "Wallaby Jim of the Islands," acting with, robust assurance and singing in a manly baritone. He is ably supported by Ruth Coleman as the matter-of-fact fiancee of the 'best .friend," this latter; weakling role being presented with appropriate diffiience by Douglas Walton. Another =jobd performance is given by Mamo Slark as Lana, the high-spirited young* native amorist, with affective villainy coming from William yon Brincken and Kenneth Harlan.

"ALEXANDER'S RAGTIME BAND."

"Alexander's Ragtime Band" lands upon, the modern screen as one of the most ambitious productions, says the Australian "Film Weekly." Pictures^of the calibre of this one give the backbone to- the world's realm of enjoyment and relaxation. It is a grandly-fashioned piece of sheer entertainment, based upon all the elements which are acknowledged as wel- ] come factors by a fickle public craving variety in its mental stimulation. Its action swings from 1911 to post-war - modernism. A cavalcade of changing styles, with the increasing speed of J humanity's momentum attuned to the ] varying rhythms that are provided by ] something like. thirty-two songs and ' orchestral numbers. Rhythmic classics j which have been written by America's * —and other nations as well—accepted wizard of syncopated melody and < rhythmic beat. In the hysteria of the ] war days Berlin's newly-created, care- i destroying style brought an idolatbrjr ( throughout the world which has per- £ haps not been equalled by any other ' composer. No wonder, even to "this < day, that with over 700 published songs j and some twenty musical productions -\ as his tally, he remains the modern 3 master melodist, and each year, sees c him turn out at 'least one number £ which heads in the top class. c

"IF I WERE KING." J

The other day we saw. a movie I plucked palpitatingly from the camera, and it was only ten minutes old. We drifted on to the set. of the. Ronald Cblmah picture, which Frank Lloyd has before the cameras for Paramount under the title of "If I Were King," says a Hollywood writer. There was a lot of bustle going on, archers and soldiers in helmets practically forcing their way into Canon Villon's kitchen. There was a heavy fourteenth-century door, with inlay of / a hundredweight of iron. A rap, and the Canon, after a moment's hesitation, dragged it open. It seems there is art in opening a door the right way. Some actors do it, even in the tragic mood, as. if theywere going to fetch in the milk bottle and paper. But this actor, C. V. France, opened it to convey a sense of impending calamity. There was a guarded colloquy, the Captain of the Watch grunting. That was Henry Wilcoxon, whose accent fits so well in "If I Were King." And there was fine, flurried acting by France, who portrays the foster-father of Ronald Colman, the Francois Villon of the piece. \

"WRONG WAY" CORRIGAN.

Douglas Corrigan, the young airman who flew solo to New York City from Long Beach, California, .and thence to Dublin, Ireland, has been elected to .membership in The Black Cat Club, fraternal organisation of Hollywood stunt flyers. When Corrigan returned to Los Angeles, he was presented with a scarf ahd membership certificate -by William A. Wellman, a Hollywood producer, who is currently making a new aviation picture 'at the Paramount Studios titled "Men with Wings. The club has thirteen members who bear the distinction of defying all superstition. '_

MERLE OBERON.

Alexander Korda has announced that upon her return from Hollywood Merle Oberon, who is under joint contract to " Korda and Goldwyn, will be starred in ' "Elizabeth of Austria," a romantic adi venture story woven around the wife :of the Emperor Franz Josef when , Vienna was at the height of its; glory.

AMERICAN ACTRESSES ENGAGED.

Described as a stage smash hit that • has set the whole world laughing and talking; Claire Booth's American comedy, "The Women," will be staged by Australian and New Zealand Theatres, Ltd., at Melbourne in October. '.Over two hundred cases containing the' entire New York production of "The Women" have arrived in Melbourne. The twelve scenes used in the three acts of this fast-moving play have to dovetail and move like clockwork to keep up the continuity- of the story. The cast of 40 is entirely played : by women, and several actresses wellknown on the American stage have been engaged for the Australian tour. They include Irene Purcell, who : has appeared in many films, the latest of which are "The Man in Possession" 'and "Westward Passage"; Dorothy Zimmer, Debby Dare, Suzanne Jackson, Christine Maple, and Mary Dees, the late Jean Harlow's stand-in. Mary Dees saved the picture, "Saratoga," in which Jean Harlow was at work with Clark Gable when she contracted her fatal illness last year.

PREMIERE OF PROMISE,

A distinguished and discriminating theatre-going audience left Wyndham's on Tuesday night convinced that they had seen a good play, perfectly cast, well acted, well -directed, and richly dressed in the fashions of the seventies," writes "The Post's" London correspondent on August 18. "She Too Was Young" is a'sentimental play of the seventies ,by Hilda Vaughan. and Laurier Lister. A very much impoverished family, resident in a country house in Wales, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Treowain. (Edmund Gwenn and Marie Ney), the latter's aged mother (Katie Johnson), and two attractive step-sisters, one, Kate, the daughter of Mr. Treowain, (played by Ann Todd), the other, Rose, the daughter of Mrs. Treowain (played by Dorothy Hyson). The eider, hard by nature, js jealous of the younger, feeling herself the Cinderella. .Love element is introduced through the persons of Harry Lestrange (Barry Sinclair), a poor Army officer dependant on an uncle, a corsetted caricature of an elderly fop, Sir.Eustace Lestrange (Esme Percy), and the family doctor. Evan Jones (Alan Webb). But the course of true love does not run smoothly, mainly because the overfond, carefully calculating, and-man-aging wife desires - that ■ her lovely daughter shall marry someone of means and not the penniless subaltern. She, too, had been young, and married life had not gone well. So, for two years, she burns letters, incoming and outgoing, in her scheme, .that. Rose shall .marry the doctor, who has inherited money and who now has a lucrative practice. In the last act, this wedding is about to take place, when to the surprise of all except Kate, the soldier from India turns up, at' the' 'invitation of this same Kate, who by now is the widowed Lady Lestrange. . .Kate tells Rose that she is going to marry Harry Lestrange as soon as she decently can. However, Rose does not marry the doctor, who now knows the truth about intercepted letters, but she does marry Harry. ' There ' are several" powerful scenes, but none more so than the one where the mother is forced by her husband to confess that she has intercepted letters and destroyed them, and Rose learns of what has happened. Miss Ney has a complicated part, and-is harassed by her husband's indifference to his monetary difficulties—what with bailiffs in the kitchen and the butcher who won't, bring, any more meat. Her attitude* is "one of- austerity, -but her one desire is to prevent her pretty daughter from experiencing the matrimonial trbUbles- that she herself has had to endure. Dorothy Hyson acts delightfully! as. .the. pretty .young thing, while Ann Todd is brilliant as the hard and jealous K^ate, who deliberately marries the- much-dyed old -fop for his money, and then expects to marry again the soldier cousin from India. Marie. Ney, Ann Todd," and Dorothy Hyson . are all graceful women, and ; they wear their .dresses to the mariner born^. Complicated hairdressing also was Jr. feature of the period. Marie Ney has the grace -of- a swan", the younger people prance about like' nymphs. Miss Molly : McArthur deserves every compliment: for the exquisite taste she has displayed in the dressing of the piece. The benefit of expert advice, too, was given by Dr C. Willett Cunningham,' an authority on the subject of costumes. "She Too Was Young" had an enthusiastic reception on the .first night.

HAPPY COLLABORATION:

The collaboration of Miss M. J. Farrell and John Perry in the comedy, "Spring Meeting," has been a happy One. The comedy was presented in London at the Ambassadors, and proved highly diverting. Miss Farrell is an impish writer, who has a pretty turn of wit. The plot is a delightful concoction about a real family. The Irish land owner, more concerned about his horses than alaout Ireland's distress; the ailing, querulous sister, ever venomous, bitter and . frankly outspoken; the elder daughter beginning to fade; the younger sister, hoydenish and puckish; the smart London divorcee; the aristocratic young stud groom; and the loyal servants. The piece was well received in London, where the audiences liked the acting of Margaret Rutherford as the vinegary aunt; Betty Chancellor as the younger daughter; Joyce Carey as the alder daughter; Niall MacGinnis as the stud groom; Nicholas Phipps as the divorcee's son; Zena Dare as the divorcee herself; Arthur Sinclair as a butler; and W. G. Fay as an odd man. Roger Livesey as the squire gave a perfect performance.

HIGH JINKS IN HUNGARY.'

The world-renowned musical piece, "Maritza," which has had recent"presentation in London at the Palace Theatre, was .a, big success among theatregoers. . The title .. role was played by, Mara Lossef, a .young-Rus-sian actress new to the JLondon stage,. although she Had-appeared "in" "the Jack Buchanan film "The Sky's 'the' Limit." Others in the cast were John " Garrick (who will be better remembered as Reginald Dandy, the leading man in the Williamson "Rose Marie" company that toured New. Zealand, and in which Harriet Bennett, who later became his wife,- was starred), Shaun Glenville, Douglas Byng, and Patricia -Leonard. The productionmarked Mr. Byng's first appearance in' a musical play since he was with the Grossmith - Laurilliard managementHe played a broken-down .aristocrat an "Maritza,"-and in the cabaret scene, his- own; composition, a. song • entitled," "The Pest of Budapest," introduced a vivacious lady orchestra leader. The Hungarian background of the piece, written i>y Emmerich Kalman, with its cosmopolitan .■ \ characters, made the musical contribution a . popular * box office success.,

"DAD AND DAVE COME TO TOWNS'

Cinesound have completed their first cut copy of "Dad and Dave Come to Town," and Associated-B.E.F. executives are enthusiastic regarding its potentialities.. Characteristic of this enthusiasm is the statement of the general manager, Mr. Gordon Ellis, who says: "I have been advocating the production of another 'Dad and Dave' Cinesound comedy for a long time, and after seeing the first cut copy of 'Dad and Dave Come to Town' I have no hesitation in acclaiming it the greatest certainty ever offered to Australia and New Zealand. The story moves from the country home of the famous Rudd family to an ultra-modern ladies' gown' salon, which Dad has inherited, and ivhich the'family comes to town to run. [t is literally crammed with comedy—' :omedy that kept our critical, audience in convulsions of laughter."

TO STOP WAR.

Karl Capek is a prolific novelist whose short stories and essays aire- also well known. His newest play. "Whjte Malady," is the. story of a physicijan who, having discovered the' cure . for what has been a universal illriesg, withholds it until the world forsalse» war. • The play has three acts, fourteen scenes, and deals-- very convincingly with the rights of-a'small nation lto defend itself .^against. the .'< aggressor. 1

, DIAMONDS ON LOAN.

. .^wp diamonds valued at. £1000 each were lent to RKO-Radio Studios recently for use in "Blonde Cheat,"-$n which-Joan Fontaine and*-Derrick De Marney, English favourite, have the top spots.- The stones weigh ten carats each and are set ~in earriiigs worn by Miss Fontaine throughout almost the,'entire picture. The plot revolves "around the fact that the earrings supposedly cannot be -removeel from her ears although • they ; have been pawned to a London jeweller for their full value. Real diamonds had to -be used in order to accent tlie beauty and value of the jewels ' Jja close-up photographs of ■. them. - '"£:.

LURE OF BALLET.

The preliminary booking for '..tho. Covent Garden Rtissian Ballet season in Melbourne.is the heaviest since/tha days of the Melba Grand-Ojpra Seaspn. The introduction of season ''tickets has been a popular innovation/-; and the rush quickly exhausted. the supply;of the cheaper-priced tickets." The booking manager at the Comedy Theatre - has been inundated with; inquiries for : tickets from all over the State, applications coming from New South Wales and Tasmania also. One applicant wanted a quotation for two seats for every night of the season, '.' As the Ballet will not be seen in ; Adelaide until next year, a party of enthusiastic balletomanes are journeying overbad* the first two weeks of the Melbourne season. ----~. -