The Theatre

YELLOW JACK,” by Sidney Howard, in collaboration with Paul De-Kruif. Setting by Jo Mielziner; staged and produced by Guthrie McClintic. At the Martin Beck Theatre.

About five years ago there appeared in the bookstores of this city a book called “Microbe Hunters.” It was written by Paul de Kruif and inspired, strangely enough, by Sinclair Lewis. It seems that Mr. Lewis when he wrote his novel “Arrowsmith,” which you remember dealt with the life story of a bacteriologist, came to Mr. de Kruif for his factual and scientific information. Mr. de Kruif, in telling Mr. Lewis about the great bacteriologists of the ages, found that he had so much material that he decided to write a book about these men who spent their lives studying the little bugs that have such an important bearing on our existence. The result was “Microbe Hunters.” It was a thrilling, stirring book that caught on and became one of the best sellers of that year. One of the chapters was devoted to Walter Reed who discovered the causes and cure for yellow fever.

Taking this chapter as a basis, Sidney Howard, working in collaboration with Paul de Kruif, has written a play called “Yellow Jack,” which had its premier at the Martin Beck Theatre the other night. It was greeted enthusiastically by a first night audience and deserved the unreserveo reception it received. It is one of the most moving and convincing dramas that has hit Broadway this season.

In detail the play tells the whole story of how Walter Reed and his brave followers in the U. S. Medical Corps traced the cause of yellow fever, called yellow jack, actually played with the dreaded disease and finally conquered it. If you remember your history lessons, you should know than when the United States was making Cuba a safer place for American industrialists, one of the major obstacles to be overcome was the scourge of yellow fever. Major Reed, Major Gorgas and Captains Lazear, Carroll and Agramonte aided by a group of volunteers ser out to hurdle this barrier. How they succeeded in placing the blame on the mosquito and how they injected themselves with the disease just to prove their theory forms an epoch-making chapter in the history of humanity.

With such rich material a playwright was in grave danger of slopping over, or of over-dramatizing the situations. Unless the director was possessed of great skill there was a chance that the acting might become too flamboyant What was needed was a competent cast to act with restraint. It can honestly be said that all the pitfalls have been successfully avoided.