Judge — January 1938 — page 22: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

20 THE THEATRE By Carroll Case To speak words of praise for Of Mice and Men is gilding the lily because that play speaks for itself in the strong, simple language of the soil. Here at last is a play that has everything to the nth degree: story, direction, settings, and acting. Primarily, it is the story of great lone- liness, and a hunger among wandering men for affection and the right to be the masters of their fate and the captains of their souls, John Steinbeck’s adaptation of his own novel showed that it was pure stage mate- rial while still between its jackets, and that his is indeed a name to be reckoned with in the theatre. : The single note of apprehension that one felt was that in the transformation from book to play the character of Lennie might become offensive, or even comic if badly played. That Broderick Crawford manages to make of Lennie a pathetic, lonely figure, who, in his half-witted way, is the soul of gentleness is high praise, and this he does with conviction. Wallace Ford, as Lennie’s somewhat ex- asperated guardian, is perfect, and the performances of John F. Hamilton as Candy, Will Geer as Slim, and Leigh Whipper as the stable-buck, add to the stature of this play. "Tuere has been much fanfare and drum-beating about Father Malachy's Miracle, but not from this department. The story of Father Malachy is the story of a lowly Benedictine monk, an. gered beyond prudence by the scoffing of a neighboring Anglican rector who re- fuses to translate literally the words of the Bible. Father Malachy offers, as far-fetched proof of their authenticity, to rare himself back and perform a good old-fashioned biblical mir- acle promptly on the stroke of nine that very night. This he does by transport- ing a local night club, called The Garden of Eden, from its site near the church to a spot known as Bass Rock, some twenty miles distant. As a result of the miracle, The Garden of Eden grows from a locally known to an internationally famous hot spot, and becomes more prosperous and bawdy than ever. Nothing will do then but that Father Malachy must play a re. turn engagement of his Miracle, and rare back and pass another one. This he does by going to Bass Rock on Christmas Eve, and, with prayer, floating the sin den tight smack-bang back to its original site, so that no proof remains of its ever hav. ing been elsewhere. Al Shean, who will be remembered as half of the old-time team of Gallagher and Shean, or, if that strikes no respon. sive chord, as the uncle of those mad monkeys of the cinema, the Marx Broth. ers, plays Father Malachy. In a play over- flowing with accents and as full of burrs as a briar patch, this humble priest of Erin has a brogue about as Irish as Fanny Brice. I SUPPOSE the Theatre Guild would thank us to keep a civil tongue in our cheek about Flaubert's tarnished heroine loitering on stage at the Shubert Theatre for sixteen scenes and three acts, during which time she tries to make up her mind about remaining a virtuous wife. It does not take the audience quite so long to make up its mind as to whether or not they approve of this indecision, for by the end of the second act they don't very much care what happens to Madame Bovary. Flaubert's story is, I'm sure, familiar to most theatre-going folk, and the Ma- dame Bovary that so thrilled and shocked the good burghers of a past century is the same Madame Bovary now boring them at the Shubert Theatre. She has not changed one whit, but the public has, and they now find her a dull, sordid and uninteresting person. The Judge Ox produc so ago theatre start 0 out all hada to con and t When sugge were $ ly hay in its ing h woul got tl Holly Holl; “Stan on th try is work think “sne comfy goes ably new the see. furiz Asta wou The comicbooks.com