Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1937-11-13

DC b Tragedy, TODplIlS tIle lllbtlllBent
yet it is not easy to work up any great
enthusiasm over the romantic fable
currently at the Earle.
Original in plot. even educational
in the sense that it brings to life one
of the greatest actors in the history OF
the drama, 1.-The Great Garrick" might
have been a fantasy of fulsome quality
Instead it is trifle affected, and
stands merely as a monument tc
Mervyn LeRoy's determination to pro-
duce pictures with fresh viewpoint
Out of that determination Mr.. Leroy
may some day evolve a method, a
technique which will be thoroughly
satisfying. At present he is able mere
ly to project the impact of originality
without giving it significance and
direction.
This story. for example, tells how
the mighty David Garrick. who was
one of the first of long line of actors
who believed themselves able to i'm
prove Shakespeare land who himself
actually did SO if his contemporaries
wrote the truth about him), received
an invitation from the Coincide Fran
caise to appear as leading man in their
distinguished company. Having made
some fairly facetiouS remarks about
the matter, Mr.. Garrick'S words travel
across the sea, where they are inter-
preted to mean that the English
gentleman would condescend to come
over and give his French brethren
a lesson in histrionics. Enraged. the
ladies and gentlemen of the Coincide
Franchise prepare to disguise them
selves in sundry roles, await Mr. Gar
rick at an inn where he must stop en-
route to Paris, and scare him out of
his wits. The sauce of the tale comes
in when Garrick and his manservant
are tipped off to the scheme, and
promptly turn the point of the joke
back upon its perpetrators.
Fair enough setting, with a gentle
romantic twist tossed in, yet the entire
business builds up to nothing more
than a hollow farce, infrequently
punctuated by legitimate comedy
Part of this failure may be attributed
to James Whales cumbrous direction,
the rest perhaps to the fact that here
you have great many actors who are
supposed to be impersonating hams
and the effect is downright hammy
Brian Aherne, in the title role, def
nitely was not supposed to fall in that
class, but he makes too many of his
scenes sound as if they should be
played in the smoke house. Really the
only performances in the place are
turned in by Edward Everett Horton
as Garrick's man, and Olivia dc
Haviland, who is required to be
sweetly innocuous. as the heroine, a
requirement she fulf1lls without hall
try. Mr.. Aherne rants and roars
about in what he imagines to be an
18th century manner, achieving there
by parody of the same, and now and
then eases up on the noise and ex-
hibits genuine flash of facility Still
it was supposed to be his picture, and
he has not brought it off. That is
the final word.
y Y
THE Earle stage show this week
needs no selling. Either you are
a Ted Lewis fan or you are not, and
there are no stages in between. For
our part We still hand Mr.. Lewis the
old palm, slightly frayed from use
as really great Snowman. Perhaps
his music is corny, according to the
lights of the younger generation, anc
maybe Mr.. Lewis is passe as an en-.
tertainer. If so, there is not much
justice in this damp and woeful world
The current Lewis unit includes ar
extremely fancy adagio act, which
works in such close quarters that We
expected to see the girl in it disap.
pear in q saxophone and come somer.
saulting out the other end; severa
acrobatic dancers who are all youne
and agile and cheerfully willing tt
annihilate themselves for your amuse-
ment; a chorus of six lady singers
who sing certain ensemble numbers,