Evening star. [volume], December 25, 1956, Page C-4, Image 49

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
C-4
THE EVENING STAR, Washington, D. C.
TLKSDAY. nECFMBF.B 28, 1088
THE PASSING SHOW
Fine Ploy Tops Off
Our Yuletide Gifts
By JAY CARMODY
Good old Saint Herman Shumlin has made his contribution
also to our community Christmas.
This is his production of ’ Inherit the Wind," a two-year hit
on Broadway and in the Nation's byways, which opened a three
week stand at the National last night.
The play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, starring
Melvyn Douglas, is a bit tardy
perhaps in getting to Wash
ington. Nevertheless, its long
seasoning elsewhere has hurt it
not at all. The performances
stand up well and any seediness
in Ihe appearance of the set
makes it that much more Ideally
atmospheric.
After all. it represents Day
ton, Tenn., scene of the famous
Scopes monkey trial in 1925
where, report has it. the facili
ties of justice were no more
shining than the quality of it.
As it was 31 years ago when
It roared through a summer’s
hottest headlines, the Scopes
case is drama beyond the dar
ing of any rational playwright.
It had everything then, funda
mentalism vs. evolution, believer
vs. agnostic, reaction vs. prog
ress, and above all William
Jennings Bryan vs. Clarence
Darrow.
This was the case heard;
around the world and it echoes
loudly and theatrically in Mr
Shumlin’s production, and in the
performance of Mr. Douglas and
his associates. The sugi total of
the latter two is the size of a!
musical, by the way, intimat-;
lng that Journalistic plays are
wonderful for theater employ
ment.
If it is a violation of no
Tennessee law to say so. moving
“Inherit the Wind” around the
country is something like taking
Dayton, itself, and its great |
moment on tour. History never
was so exciting in any other
form.
** * *
It Is easy to understand the
popularity of “Inherit the
Wind." Its every fault of
dramaturgy becomes a virtue. Is
it shapeless? Except forthe 1
second act, yes. But so was Day- 1
ton intellectually and emotion
ally, when it briefly held the
world's attention.
Does the play lack tone? It:
docs, outrageously. But the
Scopes trial was a ranting:
match, Darrow's rasping, reedy
voice the only one daring oc-|
casionally to drop to a civilized
pitch.
Playwrights Lawrence and Lee
have done a brilliant job of re
porting, snatching from the
weird record of the trial facts
that speak louder for themselves
than dramatists would dare
speak for them. Few plays equal
theirs in confirming the suspi
cion that first-rate journalism
and theater are blood kin. In
cluding the preposterously un
likely circumstance that one of
the major gladiators. Mr. Bryan,
should be fatally stricken at the
trial’s climax.
»* * *
The spectator's delight in
watching "Inherit the Wind" is
in being reminded there were
lions back in 1925. Os these, the
two most ferocious were the
Messrs. Darrow and Bryan, play
ed by Mr. Douglas and James
Westerfleld. And but a mane’s
hair separated from these was a
columnist, uniquely Mencken
like.
The tangling of these before
a wrought-up small town audi
ence could be Armageddon. In
deed, was. Most contemporary
plays deal with so much less,
+ SJftT * y WASHIMToi PREMIERE
. THURSDAY, DEC. 27 8:45 P.M. 4
11uLIuuJLAm][J j benefit Hungarian rbief fund 3
mrnnnmnra ♦« * American No,i ° nol *** cross i
ujuuuguJM , * Distrift of Co | umbja chapfer »
TODAY |.| ® * 1 1,1 ii ■
•jshows j M CELEBRITIES! LIGHTS! GARBS! !
18:30 \\ ] ill 1 * TV BROADCAST ►
* * jyy&f'j/ wn * •» »«jo t.. p.m. »
* RADIO MOAIKAST |
THOMASn-w * *
'SEVEN WONDERS
f <?.WOtLD'(J&
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— 11171111 HCTUW> • W* l VWM THM 1 CMBMAMI P
tunviD HO. OH -L„
MX orric. ortN
Ouily—lo a m ta 9:15 p.m. oaf. ■*%,», i,n si ?» swTpTu
Sunday—Naan ta 9:11 p.m, * t]m mTilsih tm
MAH, OtDIRS FILLID PROMPTLY mfsS4s *!
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"INHERIT THE WIND." dram* in
three acts, produced by Herman
Shumlin. written by Jerome Law
rence and Hobert Z. Lee. directed by
Mr ShUmlln. with aettlnes by Peter
Larkin and costumes by Ruth Morley.
At the National Theater.
The Cast:
Rachel Brown Susan Brown
Meeker Robert Donley
Bertram Cates Perry Flake
! Mr. Good fellow Edward Stldder
Mrs. Krebs . ... Ruth Seville
i Rev. Jeremiah Brown John Randolph
Billers Daniel P. Keyes
' Cooper Chet Learning
; Bollinger ... Ronald Weyand
Bannister William Hawley
; Dunlap Leon B. Stevens
Melinda Adele Newton
Mrs. Loomis Rita Newton
Howard . Bob Dennis
Hawker Dick O'Neill
Mrs. McClain Dorothy Reese
Mrs, Blair Martha Barron
Elijah Alfred Leberfeld
E. K Hornbeck William Woodson
Hurdy Ourdy Man Edward G. Polldor
Mrs. Brady Viola Prayne
Mayor Alan MacAteer
Matthew Harrison Brady
Janies Westerfleld
Timmy _ Stephen Franken
Tom Davenport Robert Herrman
Ted Finney Dick O'Neill
Henry Drummond Melvyn Douglae
Judge Arthur Peterson
Walter Aaronson ... Jack Brinkley
Reuters Man Dale Engle
Harry Y. Esterbrook Donald Weyland
although with respect to form
they do it better perhaps.
** * *
Mr. Shumlin in directing his
production has perfectly evalu
ated every detail of the play. Its
hero is Mr. Douglas’ man who
walked alone into Dayton’s
swarm of bigots and demanded ,
freedom of thought and speech]
for Scopes. A special hero, he is,
too, the one who doesn't look It.
As in life, he is portrayed here
as a stooped figure, ready voiced, i
hands in hip pockets pulling |i
hard against his lavender sus-!:
penders. But his mind is as'
agile and explosive rs his belief j
in freedom is strong. He is then
man who cannot lose no matter
’ how completely the verdict goes ;
. against him. i
His opponent, played by Mr ■
Westervelt, is the one to give
him the fight of his life. Under
, the alias of Matthew Harrison:
Brady, this is William Jennings
I Bryan to the life. Huge, erect,
'ibald, bland and silver-tongued,;
Ithis is Stentor thundering fun
damentalism's truths as if they!
I were the true withering fire.
Blessed with these two, played :
with such understandable relish/
“Inherit the Wind” needs no
others. It has them, neverthe
less, perhaps more waspishly
than need be in William Wood
son as the Mencken-like colum
nist; touchingly in Susan Brown
as Scopes’ fiancee and daughter
NATIONAL-NOW!
.Ymax-Ynr Year HU}
Matinee Tomorrow, 2:30!
Eve,., 8:30; Mat. Wed., Set., 3:30
MELVYN
DOUGLAS
INHERIT jIT/
THE WIND
JAMES WESTERFIELD
WILLIAM WOODSON
• AND COMPANY OF 65 •
"THE PLAY OF THE YEAR"
Broadway's Biggest
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WITH MOLIERE SHE'S MOST DEFT
Ann Chodoff accounts for a number of the brighter
moments of Arena Stage’s current comedy hit, Moliere’s
“Tartuffe.” It has another week to go before It gives way
to “The Prisoner.”
of Dayton’s brimstone spouting
minister; and in the bewildered
figure of the man on trial, played
by Perry Piske.
And, of course, it has them in
multitudes among the figures of
the town, a dramatic mob if a
play ever had one.
1 Peter Larking did the set for
.“Inherit the Wind.’’ It is a
! rather remarkable duplex, its
lower level the Dayton court
room, the upper one a time
sculled Southern town whose:
TICKETS HOW AVAILABLE
FOR Christmas I
l New Year SHOWS
3 SHOWS
Tem. Dec. 25 Tuts. Jm. 1
2p. a 11. H $1.75 $1.71
ia! {£}*•» ** *»
4 SHOWS Mom. Ok. 31
2 } m. 11H 11.71 11.75
5 p. «.*
11:10 a«• $1.71 12JO «J 0
njo to >
|Tox Office Optn Noo* tg 0:15 e.,|
atom sun now avmaou I
fOII ALL SNOWS I
3 SHOWS {*» -R.5M1.8
TODAY of»M *»-*»
m OfIUTUT MOT Mg HCTOK I*l EMU
ROMEOS and HAMMCRSTEIN’S
mmm
-TODD-AO
revolutionary octoom 1 * lr
IN EASTMAN COLON
W 0 ***** a TNI NMACU OF TOOO-N0
m Orton MM Fwfiy
(MM to 1m Ir *ay Other ThtWn la
•**ie(lge «r San«la| im la
IMiTmcm
UPTOWN
summer In the world's sun
remains an incredibly dramatic
event.
IcNw
Christmas
Holiday I \ w
ICE SKATING
at (JUNE ARENA
Public Skating JLV
2-4:30 P.M. V
WED., THURS.
and FRI. V\
ULINE
ARENA
DbURLESOUF
P/».' •
fl "Delinquent
II Scandals"
—ii i
Life
ON TNI MOTION PMURE SCNKNIj!
f VMilt
Apex • Anocostio • Arlington
Bithiido • Booker T * Cheverly
Jefferson • Kay wood • Langley
Newton • Silver • Viert Mill
WHERE
AND WHEN
Current Theater Attractions
and Time of Showing
Stage
Arena Theater “Tartuffe”;
8:30 p.m.
National—“lnherit the Wind”;
8:30 p.m.
Shubert Dark. “The Boy
Friend” starts January 7.
• Theater*
Ambassador “The Girl He
Left Behind”; 8:18, 6:20, 7:28
and 9:30 p.m.
Capitol "Anastasia”; 11:30,
a.m„ 1:30, 1:38, 7:40 and 9:45
p.m.
Colony —“Wee Geordie”; 6,
7:55 and 9:50 p.m.
Columbia “The Girl Can’t
Help It”; 11:15 a.m„ 1:20, 3:25,
5:30, 7:35 and 9:45 pm.
Dupont—“ The Silent World”;
1, 2:45, 4:30, 6:20, 8:10 and 10
p.m.
Keith’s—“ The Ten Command
ments”; 2:30 and 8 pm.
MacArthur “Josephine and
Men”; 6:05, 7:45 and 9:50 p.m.
Metropolitan “The Girl He
Left Behind”; 3:20, 5:25, 7:30
and 9:35 pm.
Ontario ‘‘Friendly Persua
sion”; 1:25, 4:10, 6:55 and 9:40
p.m.
Palace—“ Teahouse of the Au
gust Moon”; 12:45, 3, 5:20, 7:35
and 9:55 p.m.
Playhouse—" Fantasia”; 10:45
»m„ 12:55, 3:05, 6:15, 7:30 and
9:40 pm.
Plaia “Lady Chatterley’s
Lover”; 1, 2:50, 4:40, 6:30, 8:20
and 10:10 p.m.
Trans-Lux— “Zarak ”; 1. 2:45,
4:35, 6:25 and 8:20 p.m.
Uptown—“ Oklahoma! ”; 2 and
8 p.m.
Warner—" Cinerama Holiday”;
2, 5 and 8:30 p.m.
• coming jon. 2
THEfRIjOfIER
• by bridget Roland *
• “e piece of pure theater."
London Neioe Chron.
• seats new on sole
LAST 8 TIMES!
!! I “Very merry MOLIERE." News
Tartuffe
Last Pert. New Year’s Eve
‘ ■' *■ B»U»ntyne'e, 18th nr. F
, I Mall and ehone order,, DI. 7-1080
Htftfff* -
J Twenty-Sixth and D SI,. N.W.
I TAB HUNTER 1
(«‘BMtl,’dr«u,geinD
NATALIE WOOD
(• 'Rebel' eg> , mum!)
i~lhe Girl He I
[Left Behlndi
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jtwws V i bHIA Col, Rd. e CO 3-5393 e l p n f
IgA ttloLfeimofti.-i /
A scene from the movie that made
' Stone m I Ed
Face” Sullivaii^^
roar with laughter!
And Dorothy Kilgrtl/eu su/d, on her nation-wide broadcast: •T" - ; i
| "This picture is FUNNIER THAN 'MR. ROBERTS’!" \ C
; WOjM
Bcdutiiul Gnslu pirl born to mske nun h.tppy. says tlic 7a<;cal Sakim Capum
I isby is being made happy by Louis Blossom as lie telephones liis irate Colonel
to report that all is under control fn the Okinawan village lie has come to supervise,
MARLON BRANDO
as that rascal Sakini
GLENN FORD
as eager beaver Capt Fisby
MACHIKD KYO
as geisha girl Lotus Blossom m m
M-G-M presents m CINEMASCOPE and METROCOION
The Teahouse
of the August Moon
co SUfiing
EDDIE VBERT
PAUL FORD JUN NFGAMI NIJIKO KIVOKAWA MITSUKO SAvVAMURA
/£\ i,,.oruv john Patrick
»> DANIEL MANN »<,•«*„,, JA(jK *• u?u
W&2 Jbwi PALACE
r $»«• •* >3*h REpubltc 7 1000
ggppgj: QP w.vEVt> Ur>s ~
= it will Gary m -il r\ DnLk
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E yOUINA Dorothy McGuir, TDM V4 ' v'
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jdpHjHjHMy ‘
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* EDDIE FONTAINE
V \ ABBEY LINCOLN
iTrwgm'LjmirxMi ' r 1 johnny gl(nn
NINO TEMPO jL< m
EDDIf COCHRAN "
I - HERBERT BAK£R
Wlfm to Qtnr— r 1 N ° W »
Old Club Restaurant I tomo**o w T "'gju* 1 " I
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