... MYSELF IT TIE PICTURES Concerning Revivals By James Agate NEWS comes of the revival of The Sign of the Cross (Plaza). This film is, of course, an absurdity, but an absurdity on the grand scale. I have been sufficiently interested in the revival to look up what was said of Wilson Barrett's play in 1896. William Archer took the line that this orgy-- which he was sufficiently rattled to spell as ...

... reviewing BOOKS ELIZABETH BOWES No. 7 JAMES AGATE'S Ego's are, from the point of view of the reviewer, at once enticing and intimidating. They are hyper-personal; and, at the same time, they create an effect of august distance. Their spontaneity-- for not a line seems forced-- is of the kind that evokes warm reaction rather than tepid judgment. Thev are a continuous comment-- here and there ...

... : Reviewed by Alan Seymour EVEN the most loyal admirers of Charles Dickens have to admit that there were moments when he seemed to be writing more for his own amusement than for his reader's, but such a criticism cannot be levelled at his great-granddaughter. Thursday Afternoons (Michael Joseph, 10s. fid.) is Monica Dickens's new I novel and it is written exclusively for you and me. I don't ...

... : ■Reviewed by Trevor zTfllen NORMALLY I rebut connoisseurs of food and wine who show up my abysmal ignorance of anything subtler than Chateauneuf de Pape --never mind the year-- and persuade me that I am a savage to prefer simple fare to high blood pressure. But M. André L. Simon may be excused, for is he not a king among diners, and did he not inspire the Wine and Food Society and its ...

... Reviewed by PHILIP PAGE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD (Stoll). The title of this revue is a fair sample of the type of entertainment it affords. There is neither subtlety nor wit, but these are hardly suited to the broad acres of the Stoll Theatre. What Mr. Jack Hylton, who presents the show, has been shrewd enough to realise is that there is a huge public for broad jokes, slap-dash and very noisy ...

... Reviewed by PHILIP PAGE A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM (Hay market).-- Of the present series of classical revivals at the Haymarket, the latest, A Midsummer Night's Dream, has evoked by far the most dis cussion. Not all the criticism, professional and otherwise, has been favourable by a very long chalk. The main reason for the pother, I fancy, is the obvious desire of those concerned in the ...

... Reviewed by PHILIP PAGE UINE FEATHERS (Prince of Wales's).-- Before becoming the chief attraction in the above revue, Mr. Jack Buchanan had a most successful shot at straight comedy, appearing in a revival of Frederick Lonsdale's sophisticated The Last of Mrs. Cheyney. I should be very sorry to see the last of Mr. Buchanan. But anything less sophisti cated than Fine Feathers I have rarely seen ...

... IT has been announced that book publishers are to receive an extra 15 per cent. on their paper ration, which brings their allocation up to 65 per cent. of their pre-war con sumption. That does not mean that the famine in the book-shops and in the libraries will be relieved, since the pub lishers have been requested by the Government to use the extra allocation for export. How far this dole ...

... Reviewed by PHILIP PAGE CEE HOW THEY RUN (Comedy)'.-- There were' no mice and there was no farmer's wife. But they certainly did run, those five parsons, and so should the piece. For this is a slap-dash sort of farce, in which the majority of the British public seem to delight. It has to be well done, and in this case the entertainment, of its type, could hardly be better. The author knows his ...

... THERE is a clear parallel, which the author is the last to ignore, between the period treated in Mr. Arthur Bryant's new book and our own days. YEARS OF VICTORY (Collins. 12s.) covers the epoch from 1802 to 1812, and the gradual destruction of the great force built up by Napoleon. His dominion over Europe was broken, first by the slow but progressive encirclement lrom the sea, and then by a ...

... WHEN one of the young soldiers in the First Air borne Division got back to England after the Arnhem action, his friends very natur ally besieged him with questions, and he found himself telling the story again and again. i-le de cided to write it down instead while his memories were im mediate and vivid, and this record has now been published with the permission of his com manding officer, and ...

... : Reviewed by Trevor Allen WHAT exactly was the relation ship between Elizabeth and the hands some, virile Robert Dud ley, Earl of Leicester? Did she love him, and he her? Since he evidently saw himself as husband and Consort, did she in turn intend to marry him, or just keep him dangling for thirty years because her virgin soul craved romantic excitement? What part did the mysterious death of ...