Evening star., 1952-02-07

which TO see Jane, the INSPIRED
has been enlarged and remodele
S. N. Behrman.
Matinee audiences, unlike an
childishly eager to be pleased. So.
frankly, was this rowing critic
with regard to Jane" It always
has been a favofite-this tale of
a middle-aged trump who took
London society by storm-and he
also lived for years with the no
ton that it would make delight
full comedy.
Well, it did not work out that
way. The matinee audience
seemed charmed by Vaughan and
Behrman, and by Edna Best, Basil
Rathbone and the. other players.
However, not even his old en-
thuSiasm for James piquant per-
sonality evoked any echo for the
retouching job produced by the
Theater Guild at the Coronet on
West Forty-ninth street.
Jane" turns out to be pretty
much thin and wavering little
comedy which not even the most
nobly intentioned acting can in
fuse with the sharp wit on which
the Vaughan original impaled so
many society types he dislikes.
True, many of James Shrewd and
Shudderingly honest comments on
London'S ariStocratS and their
manners are amusing. Neverthe-
less, even these suffer from an
apparent recent excess of Shaw
and Wilde. These two leave even
a playwright of Behrman's clever
ness little to sound like save a.
talented parrot.
Had the latter written a struc-
turally better play and one that
might have been more invitingly
directed by Cyril Ritchard, this
judgment might sound like sheer
churlishness. Behrman's new
setting for Jane" is nothing like
SO congenial as the original, how
ever. Some unhappy consequences
will have to go with that.
X ~ II
The heroine of Jane" is the
same lovable, provincial mouse
with the tongue of a tigress-I
Vaughan created. To sustain a
full length play, however, it has
been necessary to give her more
things to be up to. Hence, in ad-
dition to leveling London's top
playfellows with her mercilesS
honesty, she has taken on the ad-
ditional tasks here of reScuing
two pairs of lovers and redeeming
q middle-aged roue from the
health hazards of philandering.
There is something funny about
O concern for the physical we'll
being of roues on the part of a
widow of equal age but Behrman
made little more of it than OF the
more direct, cliche-ridden Cupid
role Jane plays. Il
Like the heroine's, Behrman'S
greatest gift is for dialogue. The
combination appears too inviting
for any hope of action in Jane"
Director Ritchard. another Won
derful hand at talk, works out al
lightning series Of movements toI
bring the characters on an of
stage, and to get them from one
chair to the next, but all this
amounts to no more than a rest
lessness on his part. 1t was not
long before this spectator was
caught up in the same emotion.
y y X
It is a sort of fashion this year
that the acting shall be better
than the playwriting and Jane"
Is an almost fragrant specimen OF
the style. /
Miss Best, as a dowdy widow OF
Liverpool whose bloodlines and
money entitle her to acceptance
In London, is a captivating Jane
despite the odds. She amuses
handsome young architect into
marrying her, settles down in the
home of her sophisticated sister
in-law, and proceeds to become
everyone's favorite playmate ex-
cept the sister-in-law's.
They are held spellbound, Basil
Rathbone as a distinguished dl-
yorced author who once was head
of the house; Howard st. John as
O. rough-cut publishing tycoon,
Philip Friend who had the in
spiration to marry Jane, and Will
liam Whitman as young poet at
loose ends until he can marry
James pretty niece.
Miss Best puts a pretty sheen
On so many of the endless con-
versations that take place in the
ehaste London drawing room. Men
who like to talk about themselves
more than any other sex. are
James brightest companions. She
makes out very well with st.
John for all his surface resent
ment, on the theme of how ridicu-
lous and come right down to it.
how physically prodigate. for mid
dle-aged men to be courting young
actresses.