Evening star., 1932-11-13
.%RouBLED theatergoers often ask

T%RoUELED theatergoers often ask
the drama critics where they
may find protection from plays
that do not please them. They
read in the newspapers and
magazines that certain entertainments
are satisfactory, and their friends tell
them that they must not miss Clear
at Eight" or when Ladies Meet" 3"
Thereupon they buy tickets at con-
siderable disbursement of money. labor
and comfort, and plan an inning OF
recreation. Keen are their pangs, then,
when they discover that they are not
amused. Augmenting their chagrin Is
the sight of persons all around them,
evidently In thorough enjoyment OF the
proceedings. They return home, vexed
with the theater, its audience and It's
reviewers, and ponder how, in future,
they may be guarded against that sour
est of misfortunes-an evening Ill
spent. -
Theirs is, indeed. predicament. Few
disappointments are so bitter as those
suffered by drama lovers who, seeking
to beplile the tedious hours, find them
selves as the result of their search,
more bored than usual. Their discon-
tent is amplified by the realization that
Ihev have been betrayed by ADVISERS,
Law and professional of whose infalh-
biiity they have had high hopes. Ac-
ouaintances whose taste in politics,
music. literature and pictures harmo-
r1ize with their own, recommend Made
moiselle" or THE Late Christopher
Bean" to them. So they traft1c with
ticket brokers. change from informal
IN formal costume. hurry through din
rer and make their difficult way to the
thester, expecting to have good time.
Therefore, when the play and the play
ers however efficient in the opinion OF
others, are not to their own liking. they
hAeorne n1orose Desperately they en-
treat me and my confreres to tell them
how tnev can be defended against sue
cessfrl dramas that fail to bewitch
them and their numerous kind. l,
whose life has been devoted to medl-
tating between the drama and its pa
irons. confess that am baffled by their
inquiries.
Nevertheless. SUSPECT that the book
publishers provide a solution OF the
dilemma. 1t is theiI habit, now, to
print most of the ss-called Broadway
plays soon or Immediately after pro-
duction. All that a fastidious theater-
rper has to do is to buy a bound vol
Iine of a popular entertainment to
study its assets and liabilities, and to
estimate it deliberately, according to
his own ideas Of ediflcation and enjoy
ment. The printing presses, for In
stance, make it possible for one to in
vestieate Dinner at Eight" for ones self.
Independent of the impressions OF
others. It can be read in what is known
as cold type, colored by the readers
Imagination and with its characters
disturbed but a little by Mr.. Harris,
illustrious cast. BY the investment OF
$2.50 any hard-to-please customer can
learn before investing in Dinner at
Right" whether he will be elated or de-
pressed by It. My advice to fastidious
playeoers in their emergency is that
they disregard the testimony Of honest,
but unreliable witnesses, whether ex-
pert OF amateur, and depend upon the
evidence as 1t Is presented to their dis
cerningi eyes In the black-and- white OF
the printed pages.
& x +
ITO several observers Of the, cinema
i scene the popularity of the phono-
eranhic "Maedschen in Uniform Is
mystery. Why, they wonder, is its dim
and awkward photography OF life in a
German girls school 80 appealing TO
public used to the magic glitter OF
Holiywoods clairvoyant fakirs. In the
theaters where it is being played you
the naive and the sophisticated, the
hicks and the urbanites, the Republic
ans and the Democrats, all enraptured
under the influence Of its subtle intox-
icante. Myself an ingenue in the talk
ing pictures, thought that my enjoy
r11ent of aMaedschen in Uniform" was
due 70 its stark simplicity and TO the