Evening star., 1938-04-04

stop that death rattling Speaking
broadly and generally, which is an
approved way of speaking in this
world, it is her idea that what vaude-
vile needs is to use its head more
and the seat of its pants less to get
its laughs.
One has only to see Miss Barrett's
performance to know that she defin-
itely has something upon which to
base her idea. She goes on the
premise, which is not exactly over
crowded, that people are intelligent
enough to appreciate something more
subtle than barrel stave across the
posterior OF comedian with a red
ana dubious nose. Or than swing
music, maybe. What is more, she
proves it.
Like all persons with active minds,
she interviews easily. What we have
SAID up to this point makes her sound
TOO much like crusader for a dying
art She is nothing of the kind. There
never was person in show business.
SO far as We know, who is more quickly
reminded of the one about the monkey
(don't ask for her autograph, just ask
her to tell you that one), by something
that has only the most remote relation
TO the one about the monkey Incl
dentally, don't get the idea that the
one about the monkey has anything of
the Pullman smoker flavor about it.
Even the Literary Digest could print it
II there was Literary Digest any
more.
Miss Barrett wants very much to
get her concert type of vaudeville
going, but she is a hard working
person and won't have time for it at
present. She recently had chance to
try her talent on motion picture
snort, becoming sort of feminine
Bob Benchley. 1t is a sketch concern,
ing woman buying a hat which was
made somewhat experimentally and
turned out SO we'll that there will be
six of them. Mr.. Benchley. Incl
dentally, will write the scripts, which
sounds like one of the brightest COM
binations of people the movies have
thought up in months.
That done, she is going to England
to play her highly successful imperso-
nations, sketches. etc, before Britain's
brittle and sophisticated diner-outers.
AfterWard she is coming back to try
out play in the straw-hat theater
belt OF New England. She always has
been ambitious to be a dramatic ac-
tress, studies constantly, attends the
theater regularly. She is practically
dopey about Katharine Cornell, Helen
Hayes and actresses like that, even
though their performances always
leave her discouraged about her own
ambitions to find Bernhardt in her
soul.
MISS BARRETT is a very vital
person. During talk with her
you are in her dressing room one
minute, sitting on a stairway the
next. When you return from the
stairway to her dressing room she
sits on cot for the first half of a
sentence, then moves over to a chair
before slamming down the period.
Washington, in case you would like
to know how she feels about it, is one
of her favorite cities. 1t ought to be,
Of course, for it is practically her
nome town. She went to school here
to Gunston Hall, then to Holton Arms
While she was doing that he father
was practicing law Whatever street
they were the Barrets of while
here 1--WE forgot to ask, and it can't
be Wimpole), every one on it can be
proud of the girl who left to be such
an Intelligent and witty lady! And
such nice asset to show business,
even though she incomprehensibly is
not in the stars dressing room. She
does not care about that, but some
how we do.