Society, Like the Theater, Has Flavor of Unreality By Jay Carmody Mjss Betty Hynes of Mrs. Patterson's paper retired from the drama again the other day. In writing new lyrics to her swan song—which is! always sad because Betty is such a gay critical colleague—she said a piquant thing. She was giving up the fantasy of the theater, she sighed to go back to the realities of Society. That is the Society spelled with capital S, which has nothing to do with plain society sometimes called society-at-large. t-— -—__ The latter is the one in which we thought one encountered the reali ties, but if Miss Hynes says other wise. the only gallant thing to do is assume that she is right and we are wrong. It just goes to show how errant a man's thinking can be for it was our impression that the most seri ous remissness of the theater today was its interest in Society instead of society. This is not a private opinion, but one held widely. Al most as widely as the world is wide, at least, among persons or certain habits of mind. These people, who may 1*? silly even if we don't think so, do not go to the theater because it has turned its back on everything but the very Society Betty is talk ing about. The one to which she goes, perhaps hoping like James Joyce, "to encounter for the mil lionth time the reality of experi ence and (maybe) forge in the eternal smithy of my soul the un created conscience of the race.” * * * * We have nothing against Society with the capital “S,” but we don’t thing it is any better than the theater in giving one a chance to snuggle with reality. Once this winter, or last winter as it seems to be now, we went to a party that really should have fairly reeked with realities. It could have symbolized, in a small way, most of the issues of the time. It was an official party. The so ciety columnists were there, and a j couple of the long-haired column- j ists who prowl the punch bowl cir- : cuit locally looking for significant' things to write about. It was a good opportunity for a mere drama col umnist, a fellow from the never- j never-land of the theater, to see what the machinery of society was grinding out to make this a better world to live in. Actually, it was quite disappoint- i !ng. Instead of giving a man a feeling that something even a little bit useful to the species was being j accomplished, it left him with a dis-1 mayed ser*e that he was an actor in | a Noel Coward or a Frederick Lons- ' dale drawing room comedy. The guests of honor were the members of a mission from a little country which had lately been an enemy. The country was so little that this one had hardly bothered to declare war on ii, and most of the Americans present really were not sure we ever had. The mem bers of the mission seemed to be quite conscious of this ignorance or indifference, but they were serious. They were here to get American good will—to be followed by a loan— and they went around dutifully speaking hopeful words in their prim classroom English. The Amer icans. and some witty English ones, would listen politely and somewhat uncomfortably. Then, as soon as1 conditions would permit, they would excuse themselves and go away. They all had the look of a man who Is being panhandled on the street AMUSEMENTS fcONALD Prisoner /zenm I GAYETY^wtw-, CONT; jfDoeo attraction ”*l8.SI6RID FOX in sjo ! IN PARIS STREAMLINER AT 80 MPH CRASHES ANOTHER 45 KILLED, 100 INJURED WMAL—Hourly Newscast THERE IS ALWAYS FUN FROM THE THRILL RIDES AND ALL THE OTHER • FINE ATTRACTIONS AT EVERY DAY FROM ONE UNTIL MIDNIGHT DANCING 9 TO 12 EXCEPT SUNDAY Jack Corry HIT BAND OF 12 WITH VOCALS BY KAY LINTON AKO KEITH’S:::, OMN I8i<5—SUN, 12 I ] The Trip LL **m5g**L / M Dorothy McGURE' George BRENT Etbil BARRYMORE ' IUXT— ABBOTT B COSTELLO "Tin Liltk Oi.m" _ SAT. MORNING • MAY JS — rr l buy your yickets now »»«toon\ oh sale at box office C \ALL SEATS JS. INC TAX PERFORMANCE only and who does not know' whether to give the fellow' something or rec ommend to him the proper Com munity Chest agency. Everybody was embarrassed and wished some one would say something at which they all could laugh. That was where the Noel Cow-ard leading lady came along and took things over. It was quite a good act. and in a play no doubt would have received a good notice. * * * * ‘'Does anybody here know any thing about poor iname of coun try)?” her opening speech W'ent. When it turned out that none of the Americans or English really did know anything about poor iname of country), she went on: “I read up on it a little before I came, but it was only in an old 1910 encyclopedia. Poor little (name of country) certainly wasn't much in 1910. Hardly a page, and mostly in large type, too. And virtually no footnotes." She had her audience laughing by then. "I m sure a lot of dramatic things have happened to the place since, but then it didn’t even have the queen that every one was talking about 15 years ago. Or, come to think of it, it never did have that particular queen. She was of an other country. One about the same size. And close by, as I remember.” The act was going great by this time, and so was the party. Its gay mood was so infectious that even the members of the mission were laughing, although thev ob viously were not sure just why. At 7 o'clock they all clicked'their heels and said their prim good-bys and went away. The invitations had read 5:30 to 7 o'clock. The guests of honor thought that meant they had to leave. It all seemed quite unreal, even to one so accustomed to the un reality of the theater. But it was society and Miss Hynes says that is w'here reality is. A drama critic, perhaps, no longer is able to recognize it. 'Amber’ Halts, May Resume Without Peggy By Harold Heffeman - HOLLYWOOD. Peggy Cummins, 20-year-old Irish ; actress, imported to play the star role in “Forever Amber,” film version of the novel by Kathleen Winsor, was reported to be ill at her home today following the climax of one of the most costly producing debacles | in Hollywood history. 1 Following the shelving of the pic i ture, after 40 days of shooting, pre sumably to find a new director to replace John Stahl, it w:as disclosed i by authoritative studio sources yes terday that, when the script is re j written and a new start made on the picture, Miss Cummins will be1 replaced by another actress in the ; title role. That 20th Century-Fox contem plates an entirely new deal on the project, was indicated by the fact that all wardrobe material, includ ing wigs for the principal piayers, has been called in, to be replaced by other sizes. Cornel Wilde. Vin cent Price, Glen Langan and Regi nald Gardiner are leading male members of the old cast. It is hint ed that all will be dropped. A jinx pursued “Forever Amber” ; from the outset of filming. A tough j shooting schedule and the frailness of. Peggy Cummins, the 5-foot, 92 pound heroine, were obstacles that eventually brought collapse to the undertaking. Several times Miss Cummins was reported out because of illness. She lost weight rapidly and after the second week of shooting it had be come a monumental job for the editing and camera departments to make her shots match. She lost more than 12 pounds in the space of three weeks and w'as placed on a strict build-up diet by doctors. It is estimated the studio will take a loss of $250,000 or more on the unfinished picture. Reports were curernt in the film capital today that shelving of “For ever Amber” was due directly to censorship repercussions over How- i aid Hughes’ “The Outlaw.” In some sources it was said.that the Motion Picture Producers' As sociation was cautiously attempting to clean its house on the inside and put the soft pedal on movies now in production that might cause further censorship stampedes. In this case AMUSEMENTS AMUSEMENTS ^ NOW SHOWING.. ^ DOORS OPEN TODAY 11:14 A M FIRST SHOW 10:45 A.M. LAST FEATURE TONIGHT UM ^ __ /lb COME OUT FROM BEHIND THAT BRUSH,BOYS...WE KNOW YA! STARTS TODAY All FRANCE BLUSHED AT HER DARING... MEN TREMBLED BEFORE HER RAPIER!, '^ALEXANDRE DUMAS ilof'mg JOHN LODER LENORE HUBERT ALSO ON SCREEN "LEON ERROL COMEDY" Doors Open \ ‘UNUSUAL OCCUPATIONS"' 10:30 a.m. \ * JASPER CARTOON" Warner Bros. F NEAR 10th METROPOLITAN Powell Happy as 'Father’ , By Sheilan Graham HOLLYWOOD. Elizabeth Taylor, who is 14, is playing a 16-year-old ingenue in “Life With Father.” And she has her first screen tor any other) romance. Her beau is Jimmy Lydon —he’s 24 and married. “Do you get to kiss him?” I ask Elizabeth. "No, but I sit on his lap,” says Lizzie. William Powell, "Father,” is in his dressing room. And I think he looks very odd with his bright red hair. “But my wife loves it,” he assures I me. Well, that’s the main thing, j Bill has been after “Life With Father” since 1940, when he tried to get Metro to buy the successful, and still running, play. But the price was too high and Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse wanted to be in on the making of the movie when they felt the time was right. Powell’s agent sold Warners on buying it, and then Bill had to sell Metro on lending him to Warners. The set is full of experts. In ad dition to Lindsay and Crouse there is Mrs. Clarence Day, widow of “Father's'' son, and her 14-year-old i daughter, Wendy. When I ask Di rector Mike Curtiz how he manages to make his picture with so many experts around, he replies, “on the first day I called them all together and told them—’I'm temperamental, but I know my job. Please trust me.’ ”, So far—and I’m touching wood for Mike—it has worked. * * * * Merle Oberon's evening gown is staying up all by Itself—in “Bella Donna.” I am standing on the top step of her dressing room and look ing down at Merle. She's a very beautiful woman in the strapless the industry as a whole could be expected to absorb whatever losses accrued on “Forever Amber.” I North American Newspaper Alliance. • [gown. *‘I play a London divorcee,” t says Merle, who recently divorced Londoner Sir Alexander Korda. She has a hectic affair with Charles Korvin. ‘‘We try to kill George Brent,” says Korvin, Who looks East ern and interesting in a colored silk caftan. Brent plays Merle’s second husband and he’s an archaeologist. And most of the action takes place in Egypt near and in the tombs of the Pharaohs. The press agent with us sums up the movie as "a story of violent passions.” It’s from the Robert Hichens famous novel. Brian Aherne is a doctor and he is going dotty in ‘‘What Nancy Wanted.” He is married to a klep tomaniac—none other than Laraine Day. At the moment—in their sit ting room in London—he is trying hard to believe that his wife is not a thief. It seems that Lady Wynd ham's diamond necklace is missing. After a bad moment of doubt, Brian1 apologizes to Laraine for having sus pected her. And that naughty La raine has the diamond necklace all the time! The movie of “What Nancy Wanted” is told in a series of flash backs. Brian narrates the story. But at the end, Laraine tells the audience not to believe a word of Brian's tale because “he’s insane”! Is that something new in endings, or is it? Ella Raines is “looping” on a re cording stage at Universal. No, she is not in an airplane. “Looping” is the technical term for dubbing in dialogue after the scenes have been shot. It's for Ella’s picture, “The Runaround.” She had some storm scenes to do with Rod Cameron and her voice was not heard above the! thunder. So now she is sitting on a stool, wearing black slacks, with a bottle of pop in her hand, and; screaming brief sentences that make AMUSEMENTS_ AMUSEMENTS I TWO FRENCH DIALOGUE C. >/i*m!J0n mightiest Rt0sKtiro%Rt musical £sth** William extravaganza! n ^"'ON.eu 0 c"N,w’s PuJtn* Z!TR,S» $rS ^ JecJuM0™'