PLAY SLATED

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 868, 11 January 1930, Page 22

PLAY SLATED

j American Production Upsets the Critics A DRASTIC CRITICISM “A Yankee at the Court of King 1 Arthur,” an American musical adaption of Mark Twain’s novel, was recently produced in London after months of advance publicity. It was raked fore and aft by the critics. Here is one criticism, which appeared in the London “Theatre World”: If this is the best Mr. Schlesinger can do for Daly’s, the sooner he has the theatre wired for talkies the better. The worst “iOO per cent, all singing, all dancing, all talking” film is 100 per cent, better entertainment than this witless, vulgar, unutterably fatuous piece. Without exception it is the worst America has ever sent us—and that is saying something, when one remembers/ some of j the specimens imported for London’s | amusement. The film version of Mark Twain’s ! book was exceedingly funny. The musical comedy version is just dull — dull, that is, when it is not almost unbearably irritating. Old pantomime jokes and undistinguished music—the hard-plugged “I feel at home with you” is none the better for being already familiar to London—do not A musical comedy make. They may have done in the past, but most of the making was done by one or two outstanding personalities in the cast. Nobody in this play is more than mediocre, with the exception of Norah Robinson and Sam Livesey (who have my- deepest sympathy, although it won’t help to lighten their burden). The much-boosted Constance Carpenter proves to be a moderately competent dancer, vaguely reminiscent of June and Binnie Hale, but with none of the latter’s cleverness. It is quite impossible to understand why Harry Fox should have been brought from America to be leading man. Fie cannot sing—much—and as he does not dance, I can only imagine he cannot do that, either. Fie does little but display an excellent set of teeth. This he did so consistently that I almost searched my programme for acknowledgments to his dentist. The production reminded me of a bad operatic society doing its best with one of those “costume” musical plays' amateurs love so well. This impression was shattered at certain intervals, when the chorus came on and stamped their feet with considerably more energy than grace or precision. A dreadful evening. LEON GORDON RETURNING TO U.S. LURE OF THE TALKIES When Leon Gordon concludes his Australian contract he will become a talking picture actor in America. His wife, Nancy Gordon, who is popular on the stage, may also appear on the screen. This announcement was made recently in Melbourne by Mr. Gordon,

who appears in the first presentation in Australia of “Murder on the Second Floor” at- the Comedy Theatre. Mr. Gordon will be seen in only a few more plays before he leaves Australia. The actor-author said that he had made a contract with the Fox Films Corporation, which -was to produce an audible film version of “The Poppy God.” This play was written by Leon Gordon and Colin Le Roy Clemence, and produced by Mr. Gordon in New York about five years ago. It is a Chinese story, and is strongly dramatic. Mr. Gordon added that he would like to convert his play, “White Cargo,” into a talkie, and hoped that the ban would be lifted. The American censor would not permit the presentation of “White Cargo” on the screen, though it had been staged in various parts of the world since 1923, and played by as many as 21 companies in the United States, at one time. It is possible that “The Poppy God" may be done in Australia. Mr. Gordon intends to stage Somerset Maugham's “The Land of Promise” after the run of “Murder on the Second Floor,” while the production of two of Oscar Wilde’s plays are contemplated. “Murder on the Second Floor” has had a very successful run in London, and its fate in Australia will be watched with interest. Frank Vosper, the author, is an actor, one of the few actors who are playwrights. The present season with Leon Gordon at the Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, will mark Eileen Sparks’s last appearance on the stage. When Miss Sparks marries she will give up acting as a profession, and her only regret, she says, is that she has not had the satisfaction of seeing her name in electric lights. This actress has played a wide range of roles, and all her work has been done in Australia.

ILLITERATES IN SONG SATIRISED IN AMERICAN PLAY

Those appalling “lowbrow” songs of the United States —false in rhyme, sentiment, and almost every other element—are derided by two Americans, Ring Lardner and George S. Kaufman, in “June Moon,” a play which has been staged in New York. Illiterates who provide the words for such numbers are satirised; but probably they will not see the satire, and certainly they will go on turning out the doggerel for singers and audiences of their own type. One trouble is that through the talkies the cheap lyrics are inflicted on theatregoers of other lands.