New Plays

The Werewolf: Described by Alexander Woollcott as "the most sedulously pornographic comedy of recent years," this adaptation from the German of Rudolph Lothar created a stir in Manhattan last week. Mr. Woollcott went on to describe the play as one "with three acts, nine actors and six cases of adultery."

Into the household of a Spanish noblewoman comes a famous medium. The night before the action opens, three peasant girls have been mysteriously assaulted on the grounds of the estate.

These misdemeanors are laid to the malignant influence of the spirit of Don Juan, summoned by the inquisitive Duchess in her spiritualistic seances. Later, the specific malefactor is determined to be the astral body of a bashful young professor who is engaged in teaching the daughter of the household poetry.

Promptly the pious Duchess falls in love with the professor. Through a misarrangement of rendezvous, the second act curtain finds her in the darkened living room--and in the arms of her butler. Meanwhile the maid of the household and the daughter fall in love with the same Professor. Through a second misarrangement, the maid entertains the daughter's visiting fiance while the daughter wanders through the gardens learning other things but literature from her Professor.

It is obvious that such adventures must be discussed by the most suavely proficient of players in the lightest and most sophisticated of moods. Laura Hope Crews as the Duchess, Leslie Howard as the Professor, Marion Coakley as the daughter and Vincent Serrano as the butler lend just those touches that make the whole thing possible. Despite their silken methods, the purple patches of the play are as dull as they are daring, while the rest of it is light comedy in its most advanced and animated state.

Heywood Broun -- "Many were amused. Some were not. There was no riot."

Percy Hammond -- "One wonders what the motion picture scenarists will do when they endeavor to amplify the incidents of The Werewolf for the purpose of the cinema."

Burns Mantle--"The cast shone . . . 'like a brilliant on a dirty finger.'"

Alexander Woollcott--"It should be reported that George Jean Nathan of the American Mercury shook and roared with cosmopolitan merriment throughout the evening, and that Robert C. Benchley of Life faded away after the first act, leaving the play to be reviewed by his astral body."

E. W. Osborn--"The astral body theory . . . made it an eminently proper play. It took the edge from the guilty delight of such spectators as had thought to shout 'Wow!' and felt impelled instead to murmur 'Blah!'

The Easy Mark. It all depends upon one's attitude toward the Theatre. If one is a highly seasoned old theatregoer with an English mustard mind, The Easy Mark will seem a wasted effort. On the other hand, if one is a simple soul who still believes, theatrically, in Santa Claus, its friendly jokes and aseptic sentimentality will render the two hours of its performance agreeable.

The play argues amiably the thesis that kindly virtue is likely to succeed even without intelligence. The central character buys oil wells from the villains. The content of these wells materializes as salt water. There is another act in which the properties are tendered again unto the villains for $190,000. Suspense is presumably maintained by the fickle character of these gushers as they become good, bad, and indifferent according to the playwright's exigencies.

Walter Huston, who bounded from the precarious footholds of vaudeville to a secure personal success last season in Mr. Pitt, is the amateur Doheny. As an ineffective but irresistibly lovable character, he again established his exceptional abilities.

Percy Hammond --"A delirious curio."

Heywood Broun--"A comedy for beginners."

Bye, Barbara. A forlorn sample from the musical comedy factories slipped rather abruptly into town under this tepid title. Owing to fancied labor troubles in Boston, the production opened without benefit of preliminary tests. Witnesses declared that Boston was blessed by the loss. Writh the exception of Jack Hazzard and a tune or two, Bye, Bye, Barbara was pale entertainment.