The Lake”, Jed Harris’s production which opened last Tuesday with the much-vaunted Katharine Hepburn in the title role, was a victim of over-exuberance, a com### disease of the show business. Mr. Harris’s press department had opened the faucet all the way and the gush that ###e forth almost overwhelmed the press. The practically ###ressed first-night audience that snootily sauntered into the ###tin Beck Theatre came expecting to see another Bernhardt ### something a little better than “L’Aiglon.” What greeted ### eyes was a fairly good play, ### produced, with excellent sets ###o Mielziner and a passably tal### actress supported by a fine ### The disappointment was audi### When you make people change ### minds about anything, they ###ge it heavily to your account.
“WOODEN SLIPPER”
QUEEN GARBO OF THE SWEDES
Greta Garbo, the lady who discovered that by refusing to be publicized one could get more publicity returned to her public via “Queen Christina”, a picture now playing twice daily at the Astor Theatre. For once the tremendous ballyhoo that preceded this story of the young queen of Sweden who reformed the bad manners of her countrymen, was not excessive. The picture is nearly as good as the adjectives used by the producers in describing it and that is very high praise indeed. The story, directing and acting is above par and the dialogue, some of which was written by Fowler and Hecht, is above reproach.
OTHER PICTURE NEWS
As a side attraction to the “Roman Scandals”, the new Eddie Cantor picture at the Rivoli, movie goers will also see the “Three Little Pigs” but done in Spanish. Walter Disney’s animated fairy tale has been done in a number of languages. I would imagine a Yiddish version of the “Three Little Pigs” would find a ready response from large city audiences and incidentally would be very funny.
“Design for Living”, after a reserved seat run at the Criterion, moved into the Paramount. The stage show features Joe Penner. At the Music Hall, “Flying Down to Rio” with Dolores Del Rio and Fred Astaire, a musical picture, continues for a second week and Roxy’s adaptation from “Coppelia” also repeats. Over at the Roxy, at which house the Music Hall Roxy does not work, the “Son of Kong” is playing. As you can guess this is a sequel to the R.K.O. “King Kong” of last year.
WINCHELL SUED
Although the daily papers failed to mention it Walter Winchell, one of our better peddlers of gossip was nicked for a not inconsiderable sum, the result of a libel suit brought against Winchell and his paper, the Daily Mirror. It seems that he made a remark in his column about the forming of a country club. The founders of the organization brought suit and to everybody’s surprise, the Supreme Court in New York County handed a verdict down for the plaintiff. It was the first time a gossip columnist came out on the wrong end of a libel suit. The verdict amounting to around $30,000 will be appealed.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
