Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-12-18
Theater Guild Produces
Another Play in New York
Ina Claire Has Starring Role in TYPOGRAPHY "
Which Affords Amusement for an Evening.
Ben Hecht Writes From His Hiding Place
By Percy Hammond.

you will, what has become of Billy
Rose, our producer, whom We last
saw drop into a pit silo an inch
ahead of Cotton Mather, brandishing
a pitchfork. Herr Rose IS dapper
fellow, with flashing Broadway eyes
and penthouse pallor, in case you
should see him.
Also, if your absence from the posse
the other night was not due to some
oversight or previous engagement;
mean II you are really sincere ad-
vocate of letters, could you smuggle
us some chalk so we can finish our
next opera. Inf1amed by the sug-
gestion of your baying colleagues, we
are writing it on a barn door and
out-of-the-way fences by the light of
leering moon. If you wish, you can
use this piece OF theatrical news a.
a scoop.
In case there is any check-up by
the posse as to where you were on
that horrendous night when mems
passions ran amuck Fowler and I
are willing to testify that We saw
you in the forefront with a sickle.
Should you care to communicate
with us during the next "a hours, We
shall be leaning on a police box on
the corner Of Forty-second street and
Broadway, disguised as Congress-
man Sroyitch, kicking critics as they
bend over to salvage cigar butts.
Lucky for you you weren't in the
posse. as Fowler can drop-kick
against the wind from the 40-yard
line. As for myself, l refer you to
my record against the Carlisle In
dians
In case you need either of us for
anything-advice, comfort or under
standing-three shrill blasts will
bring us running. BEN HEIGHT.
Despite his gallant grinning Mr..
Hecht probably wonders why there were
violent complaints against The Great
Magoo's' improprieties when those of
other entertainments are immune.
can hear him whisper to Mr.. Fowler as
they hide in their lurking place. How
is it that the authors of Take a
Chance and Walk a Little Faster
can get away with ugly words and ref
erenceS while we cannot?" I suggest
that when. or if. they creep out again.
as hope they will. they make a studious
survey Of Times Squares more popular
prose and musical dramas and adjust
their works accordingly. They may find
in such an investigation that obscenity
1t is to be practiced with success only
by artists skilled in identifying odious
words. ideas and actions. ! advise
them to spend an evening with Walk
a Little Faster" for instance, and there
learn from Miss Beatrice Lille and
others the trick of being indicate
more or less delicately.
MISS LILIES efforts in her lively
4@1 revue are unlimited. allowing her
to burleSque many of the stock pot
roles of the theater in her broadly sub
tie fair for tavesty. She is now Klon-
dixie Nell. looking CHASTITY, as the poem
says. beneath her rouge, and again as
a blithe caricature of a fast Smith
College or Vassar girl of past genera
ton. She spoofs French chanteuse in
a cruel cartoon of Miss Irene Bordoni
and Miss Jean Aubert. and as a septic
Park avenue belle. visiting the dressing
room Of stage star and diSconcerting
her with brutal remarks. And whenever
the librettists give her a chance to be
offensive she takes it inoffensively, in q
manner of speaking. She deity cracks,
as Mr. Hecht might say. many of the
Callipygean jokes now so favorite with
the drama fanciers. Bobby Clark of the
long established firm of Clark and Nc
Cullough, assists Miss Lille as an eff
ficient stooge for her. as Mr.. McCu,-
Tough is for him. There are the usual
girls, songs and dancing. Messrs. Hecht
and Fowler should go to this show and
also to Take a Chance" wherein Miss
Ethel Norman as she sings "Eadie Was
a Lady may give them lessons in how
to be naughty though nice.