... . By C. A. LEJEUNE. THE New Gallery, I suppose, will again be the Mecca of parents with children to entertain these Christmas holi days. The new Disney Christmas annual is out, and it's called DUMBO, and proves to be the simple, gaudy, straightforward sort of thing that children expect from Disney, without any disturbing innovations. Dumbo is a baby elephant, an innocent, blue-eyed baby born ...

... The Theatre liy Herbert Farjeon Cottage to Let (Wyndham's) As soon as I set eyes on Trently (Peter Rosser), I came to the anxious conclusion that he was up to no good. It was not only that his complexion was pasty-- a bad sign in a spy play-- but that, having given notice to leave John Barington, the eccentric scientist (Leslie Banks), a few months before, he had now come back, on the eve of ...

... . By L. P. HARTLEY. THE CHILDREN is a sequel to Nina Fedor ova's deservedly popular story The Family. Hemmed in by the Japanese, Lida and her mother are still living in Tientsin, on very short com mons. In the intervals of thinking about Jimmy in America, Lida is studying to become a singer she gives one or two concerts, and there is no doubt of her talent. A handsome and eligible Spaniard ...

... . By C. A. LEJEUNE. IN amongst the feature films, the newsreels and the Ministry of Information shorts, a number of sizable documentaries are turning up these days to lend variety to our programmes. Probably the most important, the most skilled and the best photographed come from the Government's own Crown Film Unit, which has, naturally enough, priority in subjects. Crown does not employ the ...

... . By C. A. LEJEUNE. IT is so pleasant to watch those ex cellent artists. Gaby Morlay, Michel Simon, Eric von Stroheim and the rest at work again, that few people will grumble if the new French film at Studio One, DERRIÈRE LA FAÇADE, is not arranged quite as impeccably as their talents merit. Derriere la Facade was in pro duction when the war broke out. It was actually showing in Paris when ...

... THE current fashion for Trollope continues and is ably reinforced and represented by an American biography, THE TROLLOPES (Secker and Warburg. 30s.). This volume is the combined work of a scholarly mother and son, Mrs. Lucy Poate Stebbins and Richard Poate Stebbins, who together have written this chronicle of a writing family, drawing on the results of immense research. The book is presented ...

... . By L. P. HARTLEY. THE Art of Living is not an art that can be practised nowadays, but one finds a melancholy anti quarian or academic interest in hearing it discussed by someone who knows as much about it as does M. André Maurois, himself a member of a nation which knew more about it than any other of the modern world. Poor France One finds oneself dropping into the past tense, not only ...

... . By C. A. LEJEUNE. THE best double bill in London just now is un questionably at the Academy, in Oxford Street, where they are showing MARIE- LOUISE and STRANGE INCI DENT in the same programme. I am not sure whether this is really very tactful programme planning, as I imagine that many gentle-hearted people who will be enchanted by Marie-Louise, may find Strange Incident both harsh and ...

... MEMORIES AND MERCHANDISE --By Vernon Fane Compton Mackenzie's Islands; Vicki Baum's Department Store and Some Melodrama MRS. COMPTON MACKENZIE'S first volume of autobiography ended with the year 1918. The second volume, MORE THAN I SHOULD (Collins. 12s. 6d.), takes up the story at the Casa Solitaria, Capri (Too-- too-- oh, beloved Solitaria ), where Mr. Mackenzie was recupe rating from ...

... . By L. P. HARTLEY. AS Mr. Epstein sculpts, so does he write, without fear and, I was going to add, without favour; but this would not be entirely true. Disguise the fact as he may, every man is his own favourite, and Mr. Epstein, besides being his own biographer, is also his own apologist, or, it would be fairer to say, the apologist of his art. Ut himself he writes with admirable ...

... . Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes for 1941 has just been published. It is one of the most useful of all books of reference, as it is a handy volume, which occupies a small amount of space 011 the writing-desk, and yet it contains over 30,000 biographies arranged in alphabetical order. Many of these will not be found in other reference books, as Kelly's includes not ...

... Films of the Day The Stars Look Down George Campbell I NEVER read The Stars Look Down. Consequently I saw the film without prejudice and can, I hope, assess it without the moanings of people who expect to find every character and incident remembered in the book. It seems to me terrific not exactly a cheerful substitute for the Crazy Gang on dark winter nights, perhaps, but an absorbing, ...