Evening star., 1940-02-05

the Lubitsch and other famous
"touches'D, which makes 1t a con-
tinuously merry affair.
The fascinating fumbler chosen
as Thurber's protagonist could not
be improved upon as character to
illumine the dramatist's thesis
that man Is gallant, pitiable dope
whose pursuit Of happiness is q
heroic thing no matter how sadly
it fails.
The scene in which he has set his
intense young professor is sturdily
dramatic. He is introduced as a gen.
tie, intelligent chap whose pleasant
news of a salary raise is dissipated
by two startling developments in
the form of the return of a robust
moronic rival for his wife's love and
an admiring editorial in the under
graduate paper wrich paints him as
liberal to the point of redness.
Patiently those things would be
confusing, especially to an already
highly confused intellectual, and
Mr.. Thurber works them for all they
are worth. They are worth most
in a scene in the second act which
must be the funniest drunk scene
ever written. Bright dialogue cas-
cades all over the place as the young
professor, hoozily bewildered, starts
to think himself out of the mess.
His major concern. as the male ami
NAL, is what to do about the in
trusion into his love life Of that
predatory prowler, the football
player, but he also has the problem
of saving the teaching job he loves.
He finally disposes of the first by de-
Gliding to tear the hulking rival limb
from limb, just as the sea-lion or
any other male animal would. In
this alien, alcoholic mood of savag-
cry, which Nugent makes a thing Of
sustained hilarity, the professor
automatically disposes Of the Red
accusation by deciding to treat the
college trustees just as II they were
football player menacing his home.
It is in this portion that the play
bears its closets resemblance to a
Thurber cartoon, q finely satirical
thinning Of man as kind Of noble
idiot. The postures Of the charac-
ters, their gestures and manner
isms achieve an almost faithful re-
production Of one Of the authors
famous pencil sketches.
The characters surrounding Thur
ber's male animal are an interesting
collection, each Of them sharply
drawn and admirably played. They
include the wife Ruth Matteson),
driven to distraction by her hus-
bands confused analysis of their
the thick-skulled trustee
(Matt Briggs, who thinks a winning
football team a lot more important
than education at q college; the
wise old dean Of the English de-
partment Qvan Simpson,, who
masks = lot Of wisdom and candor
under 4 mouselike exterior; the past
and present versions of q pair OF
shortnecked, thick-skinned foot
ballers; a pert, pretty coed (Gene
Tierney), who fancies that she has
that understanding Of life which
the others lack, and the fiery young
editor (Robert Scott, who caused
the mess.
For all its praiseworthy qualities,
''The Male Animal" is not
without its flaws. The third act
resolution of the young mans diff
ficulties has its tedious moments and
there are intervals when the story
runs thin in the opening sequences.
They are defects, however, which
are greatly overbalanced by the
Of the dramas comic
mood, its satire, its tenderness and
its quick, bright dialogue.
In truth it could be forgiven many
more faults for that one line of
dialogue in which the professor, lis
tening to the hulking rivals chat
ter Of how he reads only digests Of
periodical literature, snaps, do you
like bouillon cubes?"