... . IN OLD CHICAGO (Tivoli), the Twen tieth Century-Fox reproduction of a dramatic and disastrous period in the history of a great city, is as impressive a picture from the point of view of spectacle as one could wish to see. Opening with the lumbering journey of yet another dear old covered waggon across the Western prairie, and the death of Pat O'Leary as the result of a race between his ...

... By Alan Thomas IN 1936 the fifty-year ban placed on the publication of documents relating to one of the most remarkable women in the social and political world of the early nineteenth century was lifted, and instalments from the archives are begin ning to appear. The lady in question was the brilliant Russian Ambassadress, leader of London fashion, close friend of the Prince Regent and of ...

... The Theatre By Herbert Far j eon When We Are Married (St. Martin's) IN a recent article I remarked-- and if one cannot quote oneself, whom can one quote?-- that in the world of farce nothing succeeds like duplication. Mr. J. B. Priestley's new play illustrates the point, although in this particular case for duplication read triplication. The curtain rises on the sitting-room of a house in the ...

... Ghost for Sale (Whitehall, 8.30) HERE is an old old story about an old old house, which is haunted or supposed to be, the villain (more or less) of the piece using the ghost, or ghostly contrivances of his own devising, for his own ends. Mr. Ronald Jeans has turned it into a farce quite neatly and has added some original touches and plenty of lines of the type he found so useful in his revue ...

... These Foolish Things. (Palladium, 6.15 and 9) THERE is method in the madness of the Crazy Gang. In These Foolish Things, Mr. George Black's latest Palladium presentation, they are crazier than ever, and even more methodical. Part of their method is to serve up jokes and situations which have done duty in pantomime since the days of Grimaldi. Another part is to let at least half the ...

... Official Secret. (New. 8.30) Since this seems an appropriate time or isn't it to produce a play about plans of a new and deadly aeroplane being secured by an enemy spy, Official Secret popped up at the New Theatre on an evening which was a trifle too exciting for most of us. Some blue-prints had been stolen, and all the patriotic members of the cast looked rather blue about it. The most ...

... The Old Public Schools of England The latest volume of the British Heritage series will tell you a number of surprisingly interesting things about other men's schools and pro bably something you did not know about your own. John Rodgers, the author, has collected many delightful and amusing stories which throw a light on the quaint customs and traditions of our leading public schools and of ...

... Ni ne Sharp (Little, 9) There has been of late a bad patch in intimate revue, a couple of fairly dreadful specimens lasting only a week or so. It is a form of show which has to depend almost entirely on its wit. Mr. Herbert Far j eon, however, has wit in plenty, and this seldom fails him in his revue at the Little Theatre. Its target is largely the entertainment world, and if this means that ...

... At the Turn of the Tide. By Richard Perry. {Lindsay Drummond, Ltd., 125. 6 d.) Bird Sketches. By Philip Rick- man. {Eyre and Spottiswoode, 15 s.) Birds Through the Year. Written and illustrated by Fish Hawk. Introduction by Wentworth Day. {Duckworth, ior. 6 d.) These three books all have some thing of interest for the bird lover. Richard Perry writes exquisitely of his love for the marsh ...

... This book, by Lord Baden-Powell, the Chief Scout, gives a quaint pic ture of his life at Nyeri, in Kenya, where he stayed for a convalescence. It is a good Christmas book for boy scouts of enquiring minds, and adults as well will be amused by Mrs. Ricketts, the dove, and the Colonel, who is a weaver bird. There are sketches of cheetahs, a hyrax, chameleons, and crocodiles. Macmillan 4s. 6 d.) ...

... Elephants in Africa The elephant, Frank Melland assures us, is an animal with a lovable personality. He has written about him in this spirit, and describes care fully his habits, affections, and methods of instructing the young. Mr. Melland suggests that such an intelligent beast could be domesticated to advantage, being, for this reason, a better investment than, for example, a tractor. There ...

... Bed Pantomime Cut-about Fun at the Strand Theatre-- Yvonne Arnaud and Ronald Squire lead a Thin Play to Victory Death on the Table (Strand, 8.30) PANTOMIME is associated with knock about fun. Death on the Table at the Strand Theatre is often pantomimic in its methods, but I would venture to describe it as cut-about fun. For it exploits to the uttermost the farcical possibilities of a ...