The Theater: New Revue in Manhattan, Jan. 31, 1949

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All for Love (music & lyrics by Allan Roberts & Lester Lee; sketch editor, Max Shulman; produced by Sammy Lambert & Anthony B. Farrell) adds another to this season's rash of revues. It is one of the rashest—expensive, elaborate, and about as intimate as army maneuvers. This is not a wise setup for Grace & Paul Hartman (Angel in the Wings). At their best as nightclub zanies, the Hartmans are dwarfed by so large a landscape—and rather flattened out by their lines.

The skits and spiels, which are the backbone of a prosperous revue, break the back of this one. The least trying sketches garner what laughs they get not through witty comments but through waggish props. And Co-Star Bert Wheeler (Rio Rita), chatting before the curtain, is seldom much fun. His patter droops.

The rest of the show is pretty to look at. The costumes, sets and dances are glossy and gay. But all this is hardly more than a nice silk lining for an empty box.