... Howard Coster. F.R.S.A. Since his appointment as Under-Secretary of State for Air, in May 1938, Captain Balfour has set a standard which other Ministers will find difficult to follow. He has piloted the Hurricane, the Spitfire, and other modern single-seater fighters, yet his Brevet dates back to 1915. He was awarded the Military Cross and Bar whilst serving with the Royal Flying Corps, ...

... The Royal Academy, 1939 Four Portraits of Famous Men Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, by Oswald Birley The Lord Chancellor by Gerald Kelly, R.A. Lord McGoivan, by Harold Knight, R.A. Hilaire Belloc, by James Gunn The summer exhibi tion of the Royal Academy of Arts was seen by the critics and the press and the chosen few last week, and is now open to the public. The change of the presidency (from Sir ...

... Comings and Goings Journeys' Ends and Lovers' and Others' Meetings Arrival at Waterloo These two film stars arrived in England last week to start work on the film version of French Without Tears, just finishing its record stage run (and why the magnates couldn t use the excellent original stage cast for the film, we can't say J Ray Milland, English Holly wood star and ex-officer in the ...

... The Passing Hour Comments and Asides By Edward Mordant THE Budget is not a matter for decent conversation. Its mention should be made a capital offence, but, alas, like all the other horrors that infest life, nobody can get away from it. I, therefore, like everybody else, in spite of all promises to myself, by alluding to the beastly thing. But that is only as a stepping-stone to the ...

... Blackburi] Blackburi y Blackburi) ...

... By Charles Ward Bystander Air Correspondent IN spite of war and rumours of war, travel and trade by air increase every day. There is still a fair chance that sanity will prevail and the aeroplane be used for its obvious purpose, to promote under standing and goodwill between nations. Our national air transport companies, Imperial and British Airways, are about to develop a Corporation. That ...

... By Alan G. Hess A WEEK or so back I wrote about the boom which our motor industry has been enjoying during the past month or so. The registration figures for February have just been issued by the Ministry of Transport, and they bear out my remarks in no uncertain manner. The total number of new vehicles regis tered was 33,907, compared with 30,332 in February, 1938, the figures for the several ...

... BENTHEY MOTORS (1931) LTD, 16 CONDUIT ST, LONDON. W,|. reu-Mow MAY FAIR 441 2- _ ...

... Social Register Tlid Season Opens with the Opera and the Academy A NIGHT AT THE OPERA Sir Edmund and Lady Findlay Sir Edmund and Lady Findlay also went to hear Smetana's The Bartered Bride sung in German, its first Coven t Garden performance since 1907. Sir Edmund Findlay is M.P. for Banff- shire, and proprietor of the Scotsman A WESTMINSTER ABBEY WEDDING Lady Algernon Gordon-Lennox and her ...

... The Bystander visits The World's Fair at New York On a damp day the last in April President Roosevelt drove out to the 1216-acre site on Long Island, ten miles from Manhattan, and declared the New York World's Fair open. Though the Fair's inception was three and a half years ago its site being then marshy, waste land and though Grover W halen's men made a feverish last-week push, the opening ...

... Films of the Day Hollywood Does Us Proud By George Campbell IT is easy to laugh at Sam Goldwyn, but the man who planned a film by Maeterlinck, until he discovered the hero was a bee, at least never lacked courage. Would you put your money into a film of Wuthering Heights? I wouldn't. I should like to be able to prophesy that his daring will be rewarded, that Wuthering Heights will earn him a ...

... New York Letter By Lorine Pruette Our Healthy Theatre IT has been a good year in the theatre, as indicated by the drama critics' com plete inability to decide on the best new American play of the season. They unanimously chose Paul Vincent Carroll's The White Steed as the best foreign play of the year. But for home stuff the New York Drama Critics' Circle was hopelessly split between Lillian ...