The Washington times., 1933-12-20

u1116T6uC6 0eLWeeu very line per-
formance and a truly great one.
What, No Flowers
A pretty first night custom
which confess I would like to see
revived is presenting flowers to
the feminine stars. It adds a fes-
tive air to the curtains and bows
that ! miss.
Also Blanche Bates acknowl-
edged her first entrance ovation
Monday night with a little wave
to her audience. Frances Starr
kept in character throughout a
similar tribute. Optional, I sup
pose, but my preference is for the
Bates plan.
Sitting in the front row it was
poSsibl to observe at close range
the artful direction of Producer
Jed Harris. He surely knows how
to cast actors and how to direct
them. My only dissent Is that
his second act set in "The Lake"
appears shallow and too crowded.
It destroys the illusion Of rich
ness and the atmosphere of
wealth to see a marriage recep-
ton within such limited confines.
Movies After Book
Quite a few seasons back an in
trepid Broadway producer put on
the boards. "ReVelry." a play
which attempted to dramatize
some of the whispered scandals
of the Harding administration. It
was not, I suspect, much of q
play and soon persisted, though
not before the producer was
threatened with dire consequen-
ceS from political sources dis
tressed over the possibility of a
nationwide tour.
After spending a Sunday after
noon browsing through Alice
Roosevelt Longworth's interesting
"reminiscences in Crowded Hours"
the thought struck me that moth
ing in the book could be more
vigorously damning than Princess
Alice's appraisal Of the last Ohio
President:
"He was just a sIob."
Nor more enlightening than
this passage:
81 recOllect the first time we
went to the White House after
the COOlidges were there, the
atmosphere was as different as
a New England front parlOr is
from a back room in q speak
easy"
Mrs. Longworth confesses earlier
that her distaste for the Harding
dynasty dated back to 1912 when
the Ohio delegates-at-large were
seated over the Roosevelt group
and she rejected an olive branch
with the remark:
"That one could not accept
favOrs from crooks"
Vainly did Nick Longworth and
Julius Fleischmann late'' implore
her to tell Harding she was
sorry. But that was what I
meant to say, so I did not see
him." adds Alice.
This is a vital and alive vol
ume but I think Hollywood, now
dickering for the rights, will find
a difficult time in extacting q
movie from its pages. For
Crowded Hours" is ramblin g
and, particularly in its closing
chapters, overloaded with pure
political incident.
One drops the books with a
compelling admiration for Alice
Roosevelt Longworth'S consuming
affection for her illustrious father
and a gratitude for the intimacieS
revealed for the first time. Also
one detects the undertoneS OF bit
terness applied to those who
thwarted the Roosevelt ambitions.
The stature of the dignified
Alice shrinkS a little when she
slipped down to the Union Station
to covertly observe the warmth OF
Woodrow Wilson's homecoming
reception after his jaunt to Eu-
rope and to count the number OF
people gathered around the White
House grounds to give him a
cheer. Indeed it is not easy either
to share her indignation because
the kindly MrA Taft deigned to
offer her ticket Of admission to
the White House. But these are
among the few petty passages in
absorbing pages.
I should have liked to have read
a chapter about AL Smith. For
was it not the Happy Warrior
who crossed lances with the young
Colonel, beloved brother OF Alice?
Also something about the legend
of the Benning race track and
Alice's Christmas present. But
perhaps these are reserved for the
inevitable sequel to Crowded
Hours"