Evening star., 1940-02-13


manifests equal skill In its lesser
ways. The most exacting con-
noiseur-of which there must be
thousands by now-must be pleased
with Eugenia wilson's portrait OF
Sister Bessie Rice, the lusty evangel-
ist, with Sara Perry as pitiable Ada
Lester, Edgar Hinton as the frus-
trated Low Bensey, Eugenia Wilson
as pretty Pearl and Sheila Brent as
poor, harelip Ellie May.
After a check on the dialogue
(all of which he should know by
heart by this tine), the veteran
Tobacco Road" spectator has time
for plenty Of interesting, impertinent
observations about the play. At
least one of those at last nights
performance made a survey of
whether the players actually eat
those turnips which figure so con-
spicuously in the first act. Mr..
Barton seemed to be stalling as il
he were thoroughly fed up on
turnips after 1,076 performances as
Jeeter. We caught Sister Bessie red
handed in the mere pretense of
eating the one she begged from
Jeeter, but the others apparently
were 100 per cent honest about It.
The fascination Of the Testers
turnips did not end with the gallop-
ing poll on who really ate and who
did not. 1t went right on to a seri-
GUS questioning of that statistic on
the play which says the 1900 per-
formances have resulted in a turnip
consumption Of 5000 pounds. Esti-
mating the contents of the bag in
which they are carried onto the
stage at six pounds, the announced
figure would seem to be some 10000
pounds too high; unless. of course,
times 1900 is not 27,60O, as we
figure It,
Obviously. 1t doesn't make any
difference, except that it shows what
fun one can have at Tobacco
Road" even If he has seen 1t often
enough to have committed it to
memory.
Every one knows, vaguely at least,
what men think of Hedy Lamar.
But how many men know what
Hedy Lamar thinks of them?
That is something else, but thanks
to the diligence of Metro Goodwin
Mayors press department and its
realization that there are two sides
to every question, this column Is
able to satisfy any curiosity that
may exist on that score.
In the first quality she expects in
a man, Miss Lamar is comforting
sort of person, almost like mother
one might say, in that she does not
expect a chap to be handsome. She
vastly prefers one who has a sense
of humor. A man with the gifts of
beauty and laughter can feel pretty
much set up about Miss Lamar at
this point. - s~-- 81
But if he is too young, he can
slump right down again. for Miss
Lamar thinks men are most at
tractive between the ages of IS
and SIS.
With reference to rules of con-
duct, Miss Lamar, who speaks with
a certitude that we would not dare
to analyze, says: II think husband
should have as many nights out as
he wants to-so long as he always
tells the truth about it. And I am
positive it is best always for hus-
bands and wives to have breakfast
together"
So there.
The irrepressible Mickey Rooney
has broken out again. This time 1t
takes the form of being nominated
for the Academy award, the first
time an adolescent ever has been
able to get even that close to the
highest distinction in cinema act
ing. Clark Gable. James Stewart,
Robert Donat and Laurence Olivier
constitute the opposition, so it is
possible that Mickey may net win.
Even so, however, he has shattered
the convention which heretofore
kept adolescents out of all con-
sideration for top acting honors.
Speaking of bests Of the year:
That Is the honor which is likely
to be won by 'The End of the Day."
now at the Little and a film which
other foreign pictures are unlikely
to beat And, for grace and
beauty, there should be some kind
of prize for the "Ice Follies," which
returns to Riverside Stadium next
Sunday :. An attendance pro-
portioned to that which saw the
show at Madison Square Garden
several weeks ago undoubtedly would
satisfy every one connected with
the enterprise as the best possible
award.