... : Reviewed by Trevor ^Allen PROBABLY the most tense episode in our naval war was the hunting and killing of the Bismarck after the loss of the Hood. One may relive the radio excitement of that chase in Commander E. Keble Chatterton's The Royal Navy: January, 1941-- March, 1942 (Hutchinson, 21s.), a period which included also the Balona bombardment, Cape Matapan battle, and loss of ...

... Reviewed by PHILIP PAGE THERE SHALL BE NO NIGHT (Ald wych). --This powerful piece of work by Robert Sherwood, in which the Lunts have made a welcome return to London, is, I think, the most important theatrical event of the war so far. That is not to say that it is the war's best play, good though it is. But in the perfection of its acting and direction, in its sense and sensibility, and in ...

... -By Vernon Fane A New Novel by James M. Cain A Panorama of Personalities Life on an Armed Merchant Cruiser Photographic Commentaries A Collection of Short Stories, Pigs, and Others CALIFORNIA, which is to most of us a land of sunshine, deserts, grapefruit and film stars, is to Mr. James M. Cain, according to his new novel, a territory where peoples' fortunes stand or fall on the value of their ...

... By Horace Horsnell Humply Duinpty (Coliseum) Cinderella (His Majesty's) PANTOMIME, like Punch, has never been what it was. The trouble is that, unlike Shakespeare and the Musical Brasses, it is not an acquired taste. Seen in youth, it is usually a case of love at first sight. Once an absolute monarch, as ribald as rollicking, King Panto has become a kind of constitutional cypher, and, like ...

... -By Vernon Fane An Intimate Biography of Queen Victoria A Pleasing Indian Cameo and an Indian Political Novel Amateur Activities in the Country NOTWITHSTANDING a prefatory statement that previous studies of Queen Victoria's reign have been, generally speaking, too domes tic, Sir George Arthur has written one of the more intimate and entertaining accounts of this lady's private life that I have ...

... By Horace Horsnell White The Sun Shines (Globe) MR. TERENCE RATTIGAN (author of French Without Tears and Flare Path) is expert at antic haymaking. For him the sun seems always to shine; and his latest crop is a welcome addition to a theatre bill dominated by obstinate successes. It is a wartime frolic; light in substance, topical in key, and agreeably funny. The tale it tells, though a caution ...

... . By C. A. LEJEUNE. THE Warner Brothers, in making a film out of Irving Berlin's all-soldier show, THIS IS THE ARMY, have met tradition half-way with regard to plot and cast. Thev have added a sketchy story to what was originally a plain, revue. They have taken over some of the soldier stars and most of the numbers from the original stage show, and added one or two ex traneous Berlin tunes ...

... . By L. P. HARTLEY. THE Small Back Room is a picture of scien tists employed on research work in a Govern ment Department, and a study of a man whose temperament made the conditions under which he worked especially trying to him. Besides the physical disability of an aluminium foot, Sammy had a simplifying habit of mind with which the ambitions, intrigues and jealousies among his colleagues ...

... . Starred by The Sketch. =highest value. FLARE PATH (Apollo). R.A.F. ops. Adrianne Allen. BLITHE SPIRIT (Duchess). Noel Coward's play. Kay Ham mond, Cecil Parker, Irene Browne, Agnes Lauchlin. PINK STRING AND SEALING WAX 44 (Duke of York's). 1880 Brighton comedy. Iris Hoey, Dorothy Hyson, David Horne. THE DANCING YEARS (Adelphi). Ivor Novello in his romantic musical play, with ...

... MEN AND WOMEN OF THE WAR J. B. Priestley's Commentary on Wartime Women A Factual Account of the Royal Tank Corps by Charles Graves The Wanderings of the Poet Laureate Men of the Sea -By Vernon Fane ONE of the most important books of the past month. BRITISH WOMEN GO TO WAR (Collins. 12s. 6d.), is a close survey of the Government regu lations controlling the first call-up of women in British ...

... Reviewed by PHILIP PAGE WHILE THE SUN SHINES (Globe). The theatrical event of the season has unquestionably been Terence Rattigan's While the Sun Shines. This young R.A.F. officer is a dramatist of genius. So far he has chosen to express himself only in light comedy; but he does so in flawless fashion, with the additional asset that his comedies run for months and even years. While the Sun ...

... By Horace Horsnell Alice in Wonderland Scala BOTH Alice of Wonderland, and Peter of the Never-Never-Neverland rank as national nursery heroes, but have little else in common. For whereas Peter, who refuses to grow up, is an arrant sentimentalist and shuns facts, Alice is an avid realist, only too ready to adapt her size and senses to the awkward circumstances in which she finds herself placed. ...