Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-22
N interesting chance to compare
French and American version
Of French play was offered
L last week when Marcel Pagnol's

~ French and American version
| ~ OF French play was Offered
4 4 last week when Marcel Pagnol,
"Topaze," in which Frank Nor
gan played for several successful
months in New York last season, wa:
put on in the original by French
company, with M. Antoine Arnaudy ir
the title part.
"TopaZe," which has been played ir
most of the languages of Europe, Is
the story of a French Schoolmastel
who turned into a gilded racketeer. Fol
more than half the play, a downtrod-
den. Woodworking school teacher, be-
lieving firmly that honesty is the best
policy and getting himself into all sorts
of trouble in consequence, he becomes
the innoncent tool of get-rich-quick
municipal CRATER, and when, through
the latters wire-pulling, he actually
gets the academic degree which he
couldn't get by his own hard work, his
character flops completely. He beats
his employer at his own game, and
is a gilded cock o. the walk when the
final curtain falls. In the course of this
frankly cynical and highly amusing
yarn, the author takes pot shots at all
sorts of aspects of French society and
politics; and makes a good many hits,
which, naturally, are less deadly here.
The French company make the
whole piece more broadly farcial than
it was made by Mr.. Morgan and the
American company. In M. Arnaudy'S
"Topaze" there was none of that slight
ly sentimental, Dickensy quality in the
earlier scenes, when TopaZe was still
the stubbornly honest and downtrod-
den school teacher. Even here, M. Ar
naudy seemed to give intimations that
the final transformation of the acad-
emic grub into the grating butterfly
was not going to be as startling a twist
as it was in the American version. His
treatment of the role was decidedly
broader and more florid. He stumbled
over furniture, choked violently on a
cocktail and his exit from the school
room from which he had just been dis
missed, while effective and in keeping
with the character as he viewed it, was
held too long and Just bit overacted,
from our point of view.
Contrasts Of this sort are rather fruit
less, however, and of interest to no one,
perhaps, except to those who remember
clearly the American performance. Both
the light comedy and farcical methods
that the whole piece Is delightfully."-
amusing and in several of its Subordi-
nate roles more capably played than it
was in the American version. Nine.
Suzanne Rissler as the sweetheart of
the racketeer who effected the transfor-
nation in Topaze, M. Paul Asselin as
that suave gentleman himself and M.
Berger as the Pecksniffian school prin-
cipal, Muche, are among those who con-
tribute to highly amusing evening.
\ X X
IS A MERICA'S SWEETHEART" the
new Rodgers-Fields-H Hart musical
show, is good, workmanlike job of its
kind, several jumps behind "Once in a
Lifetime" in its satire of Hollywood, as
was to be expected, but genuinely en-
piece, nevertheless.
The dozen scenes, but for a brief ex-
cursion to the Tennessee mountains to
bring in the Misses Forr11an in Groom
ing trio in up-country Southern dialect,
are all in Hollywood, and most of them
center about the offices and Tot" Of the
Premier Pictures.
John Sheehan as the manager of the
film company and Gus Shy (aided by
Inez Courtney as Q comedian having