The Washington times., 1934-04-20
ance in Washington was as tht
star of "Her Cardboard Lover
Good Plays Lag

SGdI VI AOOA N"ASSS~AN SN'
Good Plays Lag
Does the one-dollar-top stock
audience like high-class plays?
Or do they prefer the frothy
farces or the plays with plenty
of hokum?
The question is prompted by
the way in which "The Green
Bay Tree" is received at the Be
lasco. Moraunt Sharp has writ
ten a fine character study and
one that will interest every stu
dent of psychology. Yet it is
only doing $3.50 business while
less meritorious dramas pull bet
ter.
It is not exactly new question.
One of the finest plays Steve Coch-
ran produced at the National The.
ater, Death Takes a Holiday"
gave him one of his poorest weeks
from a box office standpoint. AS
a matter of fact the picture made
from the play has just concluded
a Notwithstanding week at the
Earle, although it rates with the
Glass A Hollywood product.
Katie Acts Again
Katharine Hepburn's latest pic
ture, "Spitfire," was completed in
Hollywood before she appeared as
a footlight star in 1.-THE Lake" So
it is not possible to look at it and
wonder whether her Broadway
failure has affected her acting.
Miss Hepburn strikes me as an
actress who got much the worst OF
a footlight adventure in which the
most blame, if any, should be
handed to the playwright. I doubt
if the other matured and estab.
lished Katharine-Miss Cornell II
you prefer-could have transposed
"The Lake" into a hit.
To make a comparison MISS
Cornell did try to put over a
shoddy play last season, Allen
Corn" and with all Of her
artistry and devoted following
achieved only 10 weeks on Broad
way. Yet few would care to pre-
dict that Katharine CornelPs
reputation had suffered because
she happened to pick and play in
an unsuccessful opus.
Miss Hepburn really had one
Broadway hit-though she was
less than star-in "The War
rior's Husband" It was her work
in that play which led Mrs. Ker-
nit Roosevelt Can utter stranger)
to write to her friend. Director
George Cukor and suggest that
Miss Hepburn be given screen
test. So the younger Mrs. RooSe-
velt really gets the credit for dis.
covering Hepburn. katharine told
me so herself.
Any star as good as Katharine
Hepburn was in IN ornin g
Glory and Little Women" will
not be defeated by one unsucces-
full play. She is a real personal
ity, definitely on the climb. After
I see "Spitfire" at RKO Keith's
this afternoon I'll have more to
say.
Uric, April 30
Lenore Uric comes to the Be-
lasco Theater, Monday night,
April 80, in pagan Lady," a play
which had its debut here two
seasons ago.
Warner Bros. Win
Warner Bros. went to court to
protect their right to the title,
"Gold DiggerS," and came out Of
the litigation with a favorable ver-
dict. Majestic Pictures was Or
dered to stop using the title "Gold
Diggers of Paris" for one of their
features. The same Warner Bros.
plucked from Broadway yesterday
chubby Bobby Connolly who was
the late Mr.. Ziegfeld'S favorite
dance director and who has staged
many a musical comedy includ-
ing the current edition of the Fol-
lies. This makes it appear that w.
B. are going in heavily for musi-
Gals on the screen, type of pic
ture in which they have a distinct
edge.
MATHnNAHIluw