Evening star., 1938-03-30

minute he looks 50 the next about 26.
When he is interested in your ques-
ton his forehead gathers as many
wrinkles (of thought) as harp has
strings. When he isn't he is bland
looking little man who seems to be
much too wise to deceive either him.
self or you. Or to be deceived by
anything for that matter.
Mr.. Carroll is now making $500
weekly in royalties from his successful
play. Until it was success he made
approximately SIT per week as
teacher in the grade schools of Scot
land. The enormous largesse of this
country still is unbelievable to him.
He still thinks in terms of his school
teacher salary. 1t is real; the royalty
from the play is not. The latter came
too suddenly. Because he has a wife
and three children to support, Mr..
Carroll thinks ne will go back to teach
ing school. He does not try to write
commercially successful plays anyhow.
He is one playwright who can say he
wouldn't know about commercially
successful plays and make you believe
it. So you believe him, also, when he
talks about going back to Scotland and
teaching school. Maxwell Anderson
maybe could not make you think he
would 60 back to being city editor
in Terre Haute, Ind, but it is easy to
assume that Mr.. Carroll is really naive
about success in the American theater
when he talks about his old job.
Even though you did not believe it
he does You cannot see where
Eddie Bowling, his producer, would be
foolish enough to let him go back to
his old job when he happens to be one
of the periods most eloquent drama
lists. But Mr.. Carroll is seeing it from
his perspective. not from yours. He
has the humility of great artist He
has no idea, in spite of one of the
years most successful plays, that he
is a great artist. He is just a school
teacher who will go on writing plays
which, if they bring in $500 a week
royalties, will surprise him more than
any one else in the world.
MIR. Carroll, in all sincerity, tells an
anecdote which demonstrates his view
point perfectly. It concerns Julie
Hayden, the marvellous Brigid Of his
play. and himself
I'VE were walking up the street Gin
New York; the other night" he says.
"A hag approached us and asked for
money to provide her with bed for
the night. I reached in my pocket
and gave her nickel. Julie, however,
gave her So. Believe it or not, I
chased the hag for blocks thinking to
get back the money. She got away
though"
The St7-a-Week school teacher can
not understand such American prof.
llgacy. Not any more than he can
understand the $500 week royalties
from his play. His lack of understand
ing on that point is what makes one
believe he will go on being a great
playwright; perhaps never understand
ing that when you have made good in
this country you have made good.
Money does not seem to be his criterion
of success. He makes that fact sound
like something tremendously impor-
tant.
THAT Italian being spoken so lin
pidly in the Raleigh's Pail Mall
room yesterday at noon came from the
vocal chords of Tony Muto Interna-
tional Alliance of Theatrical Stage
Employees, on the one hand and Mario |
Di Polo, Raleigh orchestra maestro,
on the other. Before the conversation
dropped into Italian, Mr. Muto talked
with part of the press about the
basic theater and movie union. Talked
about his new job and its many inter-
esting ramifcations. Then, because
their names both end in "o," he and
Mr. Di Polo spent a few minutes on
Italian singers, composers and musi-
clans in general. Interluded were a |
few excerpts about the art of acting, |
the advantages of world travel and |
the genius of Chaliapin. Mr. Muto,
who came to the I. A. T. S. E. from
the Hays (WilD Office, is not only a |
movie critic, but chap who knows
his music Even to the point of why
Latin temperaments never really like
Wagner. Mr.. Di Polo knew also
Girl of the Golden West" which pre-
cedes I'm Old Chicago" into the
Palace. was screened yesterday by
Loew's. Today Warner Bros. will do
the same thing for "Bluebeards Eighth
Wife" and tonight I'm Old Chicago"
will be shown to an audience of 1000
persons at the National Press Club.