Evening star., 1933-04-30
THERE are times when it is
/ difficult for the public to

"HERE are times when it is
difficult for the public to
keep its temper. Holly
= wood, which, as Edwin Hill
stated the other night over the
air, is colossal place where
genius rubs elbows with imbecil-
fly, sometimes accomplishes such
things that it is not at all easy
for those who are beyond direct
ken of these things to sit still and
be silent as we'll as patient spec
tatorS.
During the past season we have
witnessed such splendid achieve
mentS as "Cavalcade," Farewell
to Arms" Estate Fair" and "Ani-
NAL Kingdom" and have been led
to believe that Hollywood's genius
is supplanting its sheer imbecility.
We have also seen Gloria Swanson
in the years worst film; Wheeler
and Woolsey in the years naStiest
comedy cSo This is Africa"), and
been driven to wholesale madness
by the flock of animal pictures,
which began to give Nightmares
to parents as well as children.
Nevertheless. good reason and
Intelligence seemed to be on the
up-and-up, and even stern and
relentless Scribes from New York
began to give the cinema an
enormously flattering hand.
The latest announcement, how
ever, to wither the patience OF the
public is the news that Ben
Hecht, author of "The Front
Page" and "a Jew in Love-" the
latter a novel, is to adapt Noel
Coward's light and sometimes un-
important comedy, Design for
Living" to the screen. While you
may not admire this latest work
by one of the worlds most bril-
liant young men, you must at
least admit that to put it in the
hands of the past Winters col
laborator on "The Great Magoo,"
is akin to allowing Mae West to
sing at Washington's formal
morning musicales held during
the season at the Mayf1ower.
We have infinite respect for
Mr.. Hecht as creator of 'The
Front Page" We have a great
deal of disrespect for him as COL
laborator on "The Big Magoo,"
which, according to even his most
charitable friends, was the years
lowest theatric dish. Hand in
hand with the clever. Charles
Macarthur, Mr.. Hecht, however,
often contrives to give the the
alter what it wants-action-and
when he is at his best you can
count on exciting moments of tur-
moil.
Nevertheless, one would never
call Mr.. Hecht a parlor writer,
nor a writer in the wickedly sa-
tirical school to which Mr..
Coward belongs.
What, now, will Hollywood do
to Design for Living? In the
first place it seems to be extremely
poor screen, material, since much
of it's ripe language will unques-
tionably be done away with, and,
secondly, there is no one in the
world who can take the place of
the three stars now playing in it
to stuffed houses in New York.
The plays weakest part comes
during the third act-and so, if
the film has a poor ending, what
will the public say of the rest of
it, endingS almost always reflect
ing what the public will or will
not think of the entire perform
ance.
We believe, in other words, that,
even with Director Lubitsch taking
it over the jumps, this Coward
play will be cinema disaster. It
is likely to be worse than that if
Mr.. Hecht gets his teeth into it.
Since Mr.. Coward refuses to get
mixed up with the talkies, it is
all the more probable that he be-
lieveS that Design for Living
was meant for the stage and not
for the films. 1t is certain, at any
rate, that he wrote it as a pleas
ant lark and nothing more, in
which to present his good friends,
Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt,
and himself. Without the help
of these three we can imagine its
falling into a bottomless abyss.
Mr.. LubitSch has, however, been
lately in conference with Mr.
Coward, so maybe something will
come out of it. Could it be pos
sible, for instance, that Coward
suggested Hecht as the proper man
to adapt his play? Can he have
said, Look, here, I should like a
rough writer to whip it into
shape?" We doubt it.
y 4
AS the National Players stood
- shyly on the stage of their
theater the other night woman
almost directly behind us ex-
claimed, my, aren't they hand
some lott" And that led us to
realize that they are. Although,
; -..... l