Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-04-06

ter-New York's not Washington
seasons top charmer-urbane,
That it is also thin makes zero
difference to those subject to the
spell of Margaret Sullivan.
Miss Sullivan plays a con-
temporary Cinderella, a chauf-
feur's daughter who marries the
employers oldest son. in the
Samuel j. Taylor romantic COM
edy. She plays it with a caScad-
ing loneliness that only a fool
would, or could, resist.
Miss SULLIVAN is abetted in the
act by glittering set of asso-
ciateS, Joseph Gotten, Cathleen
Nesbitt, John Cromwell, Luella
Gear, Russell Collins, Scott Nc
Kay, etc. 1t is a Cartier sort of
cast which cost the Playwrights'
Company, the producer, a for
tune but is worth every penny of
it.
"Sabrina Fair" should last, and
very prof1tably for all concerned.
so long as Paramount Pictures
can be induced to keep the film
version, starring Audrey Hep
burn and William Holden. off the
market. The Playwrights. with
the assent of Miss SULLIVAN and
Mr.. Gotten, are planning not
only an indefinite Broadway
engagement but also to take the
production on tour. 1t is a plan
that anticipates Paramount'S
cooperation.
y -
Miss SULLIVAN, who is nearer
IS, and even nearer So, plays a
radiant 24-year-old in "Sabrina
Fair" and does it as no Agar
old could hope to do. A few
chauffeurS with daughters like
this Sabrina Fairchild could
eliminate the last fading class
lines in any society in no time
at all.
1t is handsome of Playwright
Taylor to give her the advan-
tageS he does. childhood with
the rich Larrabees over whose
garage she has lived always.
craving for learning and a Paris
education to satisfy the craving.
The play really begins with
her descent upon the Larrabees'
sunny, eXtravagantly attractive
garden after she has acquired
the higher learning abroad. The
breathleSS Sabrina makes it
instantly clear that she has not
been a mere bookworm overseas.
Paris, the one outside the class
room, has given her social as
we'll as intellectual grace. Above
all, it has created within her
an appetite for life which is to
prove irresistible to the healthy,
energetic, but somewhat reserved
Larrabees with whom she spent
her childhood.
The question is what will her
effect upon the family be,
especially Linus Larrabee Cot
ten). the older son. It is not a
question that any one in the
audience cannot answer but just
how it is to work out is some
thing that Author Taylor deals
with warmly, wittily and art
fully. .
Director H c. Potter. and the
handsome and polished cast have
put a high gloss on this Taylor
fairy tale for grown-ups. AS the
centerpiece of the jest, Miss
SULLIVAN is the priceless orna-
ment she had no chance to be
as the somber Mayfair matron
in last seasons THE Deep Blue
Sea-" It may take Linus LARA
bee, jr., three acts to captiulate
to her breathleSs vibrance. but
the audience surrenders instantly
and without a fight.
OF course. Mr.. Taylor has
loaded his play for this effect.
Everybody on the premises is
agreeable. the LarrabeeS, their
guests and their servants. There
is less of class consciousness,
indeed. in the resident family
than in Sabrina's chauffeur
father, played with his usual ex-
pertneSS by Actor Collins.
Everybody. too, is person of
substance, cleverly made in the
writing and acting, always anus
ing and just eccentric enough to
provide the play with a series
of tangy conflicts. The essence
OF these is intimated in Father
Larrabee'S querulouS reaction
when he discovers that his chauf-
feur has made a million dollars
through investments without
ever having given his employer
market tip.
X x
"Sabrina Fair" is the current
Broadway exhibit that testifies
most eloquently to potence of
performance in converting an
ordinary sort of play into an
extraordinary hit. Following Miss
Sullavan's incandeScent exam
pie, everybody makes something
special of his assignment.
Cotten's Junior Larrabee ty-
coon is a model every heir to
great wealth could copy, and as