The Press: Producer Insulted

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When St. John Ervine, famed London playwright and drama-critic, came last September to Manhattan to write reviews for the New York World, the World asked certain show-guns to express their opinion of the appointment. Most replied in paeans to the critic, hoping thereby to make him flatter their productions. Not so Producer Philip Goodman. He wrote to the World in part as follows:

"I have followed St. John Ervine for a long time and know his writing well. He will make a show of himself as a dramatic critic here. Not only will he disgrace himself but he will disgrace the World . . . and his succeeding Alexander Woollcott will be a joke. He is, at times, rather amiable when writing about musical shows, but, on the whole he is a jackass giving imbecilic reviews of most of the plays he attends. . . ."

To this blast, St. John Ervine made no reply until Philip Goodman produced Rainbow (TIME, Dec. 3). Then, after his customary pause of one entire day in which to make up his mind about the production, St. John Ervine wrote in part as follows:

"I suspect that Philip Goodman who ... is ... expert at the consumption of food . . . must have interfered with the direction of Rainbow ... I shall not be astonished if I learn that the long wait after the second scene was due to his efforts to be helpful ... I suggest that Mr. Stallings and Mr. Hammerstein persuade Mr. Goodman to go to Italy for a month and fill himself with food so that he may fall into a torpor. . . . They must get Mr. Goodman eating or their play will collapse'. ... A sharp pruning knife. however, especially if Mr. Goodman can be sent to Italy to eat some food, will work wonders. . . . But the gastronomic Mr. Goodman must be induced to restrict his attention to his tummy. . . ."

The Ervine insults ran through two editions when Philip Goodman, having read it, called up the World and had it deleted from the review of Rainbow.