Evening star., 1955-02-15

waited almost decade for.'
"a glance from its present
star. It had an idea "a
preposterous one - with which
other actresses toyed. but the
angry reproving glances of the
public and critics soonVput an
end to that.
Then, dying the death of a
mongrel, Dear Charles" came
to the attention of Miss Bank
head and found itself trans
formed into a popular hit. Lis
tening to its booming laughter
from, say the lobby of the Ma
tional, one would say it must be
a very funny comedy. 1t is
nothing of the kind. Dear
Charles is its old congenitally
dull self.
The funny one, the killer on
the National premises, is Miss
Bankhead.
AS the heroine of the piece-a
woman who has three illegiti-
mate children by three fathers
in passing-Miss Bankhead has
the time of her life. This is the
situation that she, as an actress.
might have been looking for
ever since she left home here to
performed for the public. It gives
a girl a chance to put the silly
conventions in their place, and
Miss Bankhead is the girl who
can collaborate to the hilt with
a situation like that.
1t is something to watch and
In the process of watching, to
rid the soul of all its sickness in
neglecting to sow ones personal
quota of wild oats. There are
humans. of course. who take the
position that one wild oat is
too many and they. naturally
will have no interest in the
bumper crop which Miss Bank
head produces with such wanton
JOY.
This is much more than a
comedy SO labored and tattered
as Dear Charles" deserves but
to gainsay Miss Bankhead's
recklessly charitable interest in
the poor is hardly an act of
justice. x*
The character Miss Bankhead
plays is a novelist lecturer type
against whom the Authors
League might enter a protest if |
it did not believe in freedom of
speech. She is a tower of |
amoral strength, capable of cop |
ing with everything except lov-
ers and the inevitable children. |
1t is not that she cannot handle |
these. but simply that she can't |
prevent them.
No woman ever flung herself !
with more enthusiasm into |
casual motherhood than Miss
Bankhead. Flung" is, if any
thing, too weak word. 1t re-
lates to a performance that in
cludes f1ounces, swirls, back
bends, and the only ballet move
ment missing is the entire chat. !
probably because it has not yet |
occurred to Miss Bankhead. The |
mobility of the performance sug- |
gests that perhaps the only quiet /
intervals in the life of such a !
woman were her three periods
of confinement.
But the real workout is that !
reserved for Miss Bankhead's |
voice. This is a justly famous |
vocal organ capable of produc- |
ing and humanizing sounds that |
are humanity impossible. But |
the number and variety of these
is not one too many for woman
who finds herself with this much
explaining to do to herself. her
offspring, the collection of fa-
theirs, and a few others.
Such a woman must be pre-
pared to roar, snort, cajole ten
derly, bounce a tear along a
vocal chord. spear an inviting
target at 20 PAGES. and otherwise
conceal the lame efforts of the
authors to make Dear Charles"
amusing. The only woman alive
who could do it happens to be
doing it. For that, audiences
and authors can count them
selves equally blessed.
y X
It is not the fault of the
others who act in Dear Charles"
that this is a one-woman show
despite their presence. They
are employed. profitably to them