COMEDY THE CRIMSON PLAYGOER CINEMA

Playwrights are eternally tickle in their geographic affections. A few years ago India was in high favor as the romantic setting par excellence, more recently it has been Spain, and now we find Leon Gordon, who you will remember wrote "White Cargo" and Sir Patrick Hastings conspiring to popularize the dreadful woes of life in Africa. Sir Patrick has dubbed his "comedy" "The River. The river in question happens to be the Mungana, and is, of course, located somewhere in the bejungled interior of that very dark continent, on one is quite sure where. Hence we have a mystery for John Carew, the leading man, to solve.

Carew, impersonated by Lawrence Cecil, his servant William, and a newly arrived chap named Walford set out from the Coast to find the Mungana, accompanied by a Portuguese slave-driver and his flunkies. They arrive at their destination without further ado and find to their delight the diamond fields that had been rumored to exist in the locality. However, complications of a serious nature, arising from the perfidy of the Portuguese, develop when they wish to start back for the coast. In addition the Eternal Triangle is unpleasantly revealed in the thick of the woods, just to make the action bigger and better.

Least this summary sound indifferent, let it be made clear that "The River" is a most exciting play, and holds one's attention from beginning to end, However, the author stressed the good old melodramatic vehicles of disillusioned love and hasty murder, without availing himself of the full dramatic value docruing from an African atmosphere. It is because of this that, while it may possibly attract large audience to the Copley for several weeks to come, it cannot hope to rival "White Cargo" in effective and thought provoking morbidness.

Mr. Cecil's performance as Carew is somewhat imperfect; due no doubt to over-acting at precarious moments. Mr. Clive as William, although not an important role, is as usual above reproach, Alan Mowbray as Anthony Walford, is splendid, and Terrence Neill as the epigrammatic Colonial Governor is quite amusing. Miss Standing as the third and most important member of the triangle is quite good. Mr. Carnovsky as the arch-villain can have no higher compliment paid his art than to say that this member of the audience, for one, cameont of the theatre, reviling and blaspheming his Machiavellian character to the provoked horrow of a staid Bostonian night