The Theatre: New Play in Manhattan: Jan. 30, 1939

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The American Way (by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart). After getting almost as much ballyhoo as a World's Fair, Kaufman & Hart's monster "spectacle" opened last week with a cast of 250. Against the animated background of an Ohio town, it tells the life-story of Martin and Irma Gunther (Fredric March and Florence Eldridge) from their arrival as immigrants, through joys and sorrows, poverty and wealth, until Martin is killed by a Nazi Bund while trying to prevent his grandson from joining it.

The story of the Gunthers is wholly symbolic. Real hero of the play is the American outlook, its love of enterprise and liberty. This is an inspiring theme. But working crudely, emotionally, in headlines, Kaufman & Hart over-sentimentalize their theme. Canny showmen, they know that if, as Dr. Johnson said, patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, it is also one of the first salvations of a box office; that mother love and dying for one's country are not only the stuff of great art but also the surefire cliches of popular entertainment; that a cavalcade of the past-Bryan and T. R., the Wright Brothers and Lindbergh, hobble skirts and high-buttoned shoes—is a perfect ace-in-the-hole.

The American Way has nostalgic, exciting, touching moments. But in its sheer emotionalism, it parallels a cinema spectacle, vintage 1924.