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End of Summer: Guild Theatre,
February 17, 1936
New York Times, February 18, 1936
S. N. Behrman and The Theatre
Guild Collaborating On ‘End of Summer.’
By BROOKS ATKINSON
Although Mr. Behrman is the most modest of our
makers of comedy, he is also the keenest. In “End of
Summer,” which the Theatre Guild mounted in its own
playhouse last evening, he has spun another one of
those tolerant, witty, gently probing essays in
modern thinking. In style and thought, in its
reflection of Mr. Behrman’s personal character, it
is wholly captivating. As usual, the Guild has risen
to the occasion with a fluent and sunny performance
and a cast that seems as inevitable as the adroit
style of the play. Ina Claire and Osgood Perkins
emerge in big type in the program; they deserve that
finger-pointing. But it is difficult to find any
member of the cast who is not entitled to
considerable merit and virtue in the newspapers this
morning. Mr. Behrman and Philip Moeller have
collaborated so long that they know exactly how to
make a drawing-room comedy ripple and tinkle across
the stage.
If this column reports that Mr. Behrman is
discussing the ethics of the poor man marrying the
rich girl, do not be misled. He is never hackneyed.
For Will Dexter’s affection for Paula Frothingham
carries him straight into the problems of loyalty
that are filling thoughtful people with misgivings
everywhere today. Will is an impoverished
philosophical radical who realizes that living rich
will make it impossible for him to talk poor with
any authority. Paula is a rich girl who wants to do
anything she can to help Will fulfill whatever
destiny he may fashion for himself.
In a blunt way that is the central theme of “End of
Summer.” But it is almost criminal to be blunt about
any of the discursions that slip off Mr. Behrman’s
pen. He has a superb talent for bringing a whole
roomful of people naturally together and enmeshing
their characters and thoughts in a iridescent web of
talk -- a breezy mother whose only gift is for
flirtation, somber elders, quixotic youngsters, a
cold-minded psychoanalyst. They all have dexterously
worded points of view; and since Mr. Behrman always
keeps his temper he lets every one have the floor
fairly. In fact, he is so full of intellectual
punctilio that you scarcely know which side he is
taking. Perhaps he is not taking any political side
personally. He is an artist; he dedicates his
loyalties to character. At the close of the comedy
you realize that his only fundamental interest is in
human decency and honest principle. When the final
crisis descends upon his drawing room his characters
submit to their finest instincts.
Where Mr. Behrman leaves off and his actors begin
most of us will never know. They behave as though
they were born for each other. As the mother who
observes “Isn’t it a pity I have no mind?” as though
that were only casual knowledge, Ina Claire is all
animation and crackle and when there is need of it
she is also politely moving. As the psychoanalytical
charlatan Osgood Perkins honors an unpleasant part
with some of his most expert and unflinching acting.
As the girl whose unholy wealth almost costs her a
husband, Doris Dudley is not only pretty but she has
also become an stress who know how to explore the
interior of a part. And Shepperd Strudwick acts the
part of the tormented youth with the pride and
sincerity he always represents on the stage. Nor
does that exhaust the splendors of the cast, for
here are Mildred Natwick, Minor Watson and Van
Heflin at their best, and Tom Powers and Herbert
Yost holding their own in subordinate roles.
If Mr. Behrman had a more raucous voice every one
would appreciate the validity of his successive
chronicles of his contemporaries. But it is
impossible to sit before “End of Summer” without
admiring his integrity and relishing the spontaneity
of his humor. His comedy is a treasure-house of
modern good-will. Many thanks for a civilized
evening.
End of Summer: Guild Theatre,
February 17, 1936 |
