The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-01-11
FooTLEOHTNIN0 AND sPoT

LIGHTNING
 When !. Brooks Atkinson, now covering Russia, was Q dramatic erie tIo he defined a critic thus: "An exc Nerionced theaterEoer, who differs from the other members of the audience in the privilege he has of printing his opinion in . public place" Christopher MorleyS: esome critics remind me of a gong mt a grade crossing changing loudly and vainly as the train roars by" s. Charming Pollock's poke: "A critic is e legless man who teaches running" Arthur 0uiterman wrote: ''The stones that critics hurl with harsh intent--a man may use to build his monument" Percy Hammonds crack at a critic he dis- liked: Hes the sort of fellow who always gets his quotes pasted on a trash can" Ambrose Bierce said 2 critic Is a person who boasts that he Is hard to please when no one is really trying to please him.
 George Jean Nathan, covering John Barrymore in My Dear Chil- dren": T always said that I would like Barrymore's acting until the COWS come home. We'll, sir, last nighttime COWS came home"
 LOnd0n's Hannen Swaffer, as we have recorded before, reviewed a Noel Coward comedy and concluded his banning with: Noel, you are a better actor than you are wri- ter" That night Noel met Swaf- fer in a cafe.
 "Hannen," said Noel, "so are youl"
 John Mason Browns quote: Brock Pemberton produced Harvey as if he were sure it was going to be failure" On Ilka ChaSes "In Bed We Cry" Paul Martin declared: "1'he play drew mixed notices-bad and very bad" Irving Hoffman's obituary on new play: Guy Kib- bee is an actor who believes that the show must go on. But must 1t so on and on and on?"
 In Cleveland John w. Raper had read the Philly notices on '"The Girl on the Train" which was next stopping in Cleveland. They were red hot roasts In order to be fair to the new show, MT. Raper assigned 8 younger man than him. self, 6 product of a small Indiana town, not fed up on musical com edy or shows His parting in- structions to the new critic were: "Now be perfectly fair. If you think at IS good say so, If not, say so."
 The young critic started his re- port this way: "'The Girl on the Train opened last night. Too bad 1t wasn't wrecked en route!"
 This columns pet, or one of them, anyway, was Heywood Brouns sum nation of leading man Montague Love, q giant of an actor. Said Broun: MT. Love threw his chest out inches and followed it across the stage"
 E happened after an opening matinee at the old Palace. where the lay-offs and enviouS invariably went "to see the actors get nerv- ous" A song g-and-dance mans first appearance Cat the Big-Timi- est vaude house of them all) was @ Hop His wife, waiting in the dressing room, knew 1t from his look of misery Didn't you get any applausep" she asked.
 Yes, I did" he said. "It Sound- cd like a caterpillar crawling over a Persian carpet while wearing rub Der boots"
 Bob Benchley: we realized here was a tremendous thing being un- folded before us and we wondered when 1t would be II o'clock"
 Sidney Smith uttered this, which certainly could be applied to drama criticism: Among the minor duties of life, do not know of one more important or more neglected than that of not giving praise where praise is due" Kin Hubbard said of musical: T don't like tn kind O music we keep hopin' will turn into tune"
 The late Alexander Granach's gem should be displayed wherever actor gather, at the Lambs, Friars, Sardi'S, Frankie and Johnnie's and surely in all groom rooms of the aterS: Life in the theater is not only colorful, it is long. You live far longer than ordinary mortals How short and monotonous an or- dinary human life in comparison tan e Af has the luck not to die early of measles, smallpox, scarlet fever, diphtheria, typhoid, pneumonia or plain hunger-he comes to be 70 Out of his birth, he gets nothing --the pleasure is all his fathers, Baptism, falling in love, getting en- gagged, getting married-birtndays silver wedding, golden wedding the grave! Nothing in the funeral for him either. But an actor-first of all he has opening nightsl Those are high holidaysl The discovery of a new playwright, of a new play, or even finding something new in old Goethe or old Shakespeare and then, the many years that an actor can live in his parts"
 Said JOhn Anderson of play wFights, producers, ct al: "If Elmer Rice had insisted (on the morning following the success of Street SCeneD that the reviewers were sots and incompetents. his conclusions might have had significance But Pins Hopes On GM Report
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