Old Musical in Manhattan

Sally (music by Jerome Kern; lyrics by P. G. Wodehouse and Clifford Grey; book by Guy Bolton; produced by Hunt Stromberg Jr. and William Berney) constitutes almost as aromatic a memory of the Ziegfeld era as the Follies themselves. Anyone seeing it on Broadway last week must have guessed, if he did not know, that it had once been a great hit (1920-35). But though Sally still has an air, it shows its age.

The Jerome Kern score has not lost too much of its charm, and in such a tune as Look for the Silver Lining has not lost any. The dances, as arranged by Richard Barstow, at times have a gaiety that is both real and reminiscent. And there is something almost touching about the unabashed Cinderella plot--the little dishwasher who winds up as a hit in the Follies.

But the lyrics have lost a good deal of their sparkle, and the book every last shred of its wit. Nor could Bambi Linn (Carousel), however pleasing a dancer, challenge the lustrous memory of the late Marilyn Miller. And though in Willie Howard Sally has a star, it seldom lets him shine. In the role originally played by Leon Errol, Howard talks twaddle that is too refined. Only here & there can he muscle out of the show--with some triumphantly low-down touch, or by singing variations on Look for the Silver Lining.

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