Evening star., 1940-03-07

McClintic directed plays illustrates
the point. 'Mamba's Daughters"
of course. was melodrama. mo
Time for Comedy" was a drawing
room comedy and key Largo"
which comes to the National on
Monday, is tragedy in the Maxwell
Anderson manner. An eclectic per-
son, Mr.. McClintic.
The variety of actors who meet
with McClintic direction In the
course of an average season will
tell any curious person that the
man who works as their maestro is
still fundamentally an actor. He
has hands as eloquent as any mu-
sician's, eyes that can turn as hor-
rified as any in the business over
hammy feature, a voice Of sur
prising range, pitch and volume and
body as fluid as a dancers.
OF the McClintic mind, also an i'm
portant factor in successful direc-
ton the McClintic admirers insist II
Is one of the most adventurous as
well as the most gifted in show
business. That, indeed, Is why Mr.
McClintic prefers his present role
in the theater. As an actor he might
be limited to one role, perhaps two,
in a season. AS director he has
an opportunity to create several
dozen, which cover far more sat-
isfactory area of human nature and
the circumstance it is likely to meet.
He likes directing for that reason
perhaps more than any other, even
If 1t never brings him before an
audience as an actor gets before an
audience.
Speaking of the behind-the-
scenes personalities of "Key Largo"
there is Maxwell Anderson, another
important contributor to the vehicle
which will star Mr.. NUM-.
Mr.. Anderson, who used to be an
old newspaperman himself, as nearly
every one seems to have been, has
a number of qualities which news
papermen admire, not the least of
them an unwillingness to succumb to
behests to be interviewed. It is his
notion that writer's writings should
be pretty good explanation Of
himself, a sort of revelation of
thinking, character, etc., which
should not require amplification.
His plays have said that he has
a compassion for the middle class,
that he wants a standard of social
justice higher than that which he
believes to exist, that he hates war,
and that he does not like corrup-
ton in government.
He thinks he has said these things
as forcefully as possible in his plays.
At least he does not feel any neces-
sity for trying to say them more
forcefully in casual conversation. A
great many persons will agree.
Carole Lombard's lack of time for
comedy so handsomely expressed in
Vigil in the Night" is quite salts
factory obviously to the fans who
used to admire Miss Lombard as
comedienne. They have ex-
pressed their satisfaction to the ex-
tent that the DR.. Cronin novel adap-
tatlon Is being held second week at
Keith's. Recipe for avoidance
of death by vaudeville: Get as much
novelty into a vaudeville speciality
as Think -a-Drink Hoffman" has
put into his contribution to the
hilarity of THE Streets of Paris"
now at the National. >. Teddy, the
Rough Rider" the story of guess
who, latest of Warner Bros. bio
graphical shorts, has been added to
the Earle program for the week of
March Is. And, speaking of
the past, local Loew executives are
seeking to get in touch with any
descendants Of Maj. Robert Rogers,
hero of Northwest Passage"
Might be pass in it.