Jewish World Review April 29, 2005/ 20 Nisan, 5765

Greg Crosby

Greg Crosby
JWR's Pundits
World Editorial
Cartoon Showcase

Mallard Fillmore

Michael Barone
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Don Feder
Suzanne Fields
Paul Greenberg
Bob Greene
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Marianne Jennings
Michael Kelly
Mort Kondracke
Ch. Krauthammer
Lawrence Kudlow
Dr. Laura
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Michelle Malkin
Chris Matthews
Michael Medved
MUGGER
Kathleen Parker
Wes Pruden
Sam Schulman
Amity Shlaes
Tony Snow
Thomas Sowell
Cal Thomas
Jonathan S. Tobin
Ben Wattenberg
George Will
Bruce Williams
Walter Williams
Mort Zuckerman

Consumer Reports

Missing Types

http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | I couldn't quite put my finger on what was lacking in "You Can't Take It With You," the new production of the classic Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman show we saw recently at the Geffen. But something was very definitely missing. Then, watching television a few days later, it dawned on me. Turner Classic Movies station just happened to run the movie a few days after we saw the live performance. As I watched the film, it became obvious what it was about the play that bothered me. With a couple of exceptions, the actors in the stage show were wrong. They couldn't pull it off because they were the wrong types for the parts they were playing. Not that it was their fault, really. The types needed for that play just don't exist anymore.

It is far too easy to attribute the problems with the show to the fact that the story is "dated" and out of touch with today's audiences, as some reviewers have said. Nonsense. The show itself holds up fine as the wacky, screwball period piece it is. Watching the 1938 film was as delightful as always, and I've seen the picture many times. The direction was crisp and well paced, and the cast was perfect in every part. The actors were great to watch because they were the right "types" and they believed what they were saying.

I never saw the original Broadway production, (since I was born about 15 years before "You Can't Take It with You" was first presented on stage) but it is difficult to imagine a better cast than the movie version. I mean, how do you top Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, Edward Arnold, Ann Miller, Mischa Auer, and Spring Byington? And all directed by Frank Capra, to boot.

Miscasting can sometimes be mistaken for poor acting, which initially was what I thought was wrong with the actors. I now believe that it wasn't so much that the actors were bad, as they were completely wrong for the roles. But, as I said, perhaps the type of actors needed for the parts in this show just don't exist anymore.

For example, take the part of Mr. Kirby, the stuffed shirt father of the leading man. In the stage production the part is played by Conrad John Schuck (formally known as just plain old John Schuck). The character, as written, is a successful Wall Street business tycoon. Sophisticated. Cultured. Rich. Proper. Very Intelligent. In the movie he is played by Edward Arnold, who is the very personification of all those qualities. Conrad John Schuck, on the other hand, has none of those qualities. Sorry. Schuck simply does not project sophistication or culture to me. As far as coming off as a highly intelligent Wall Street tycoon …not even close.

This in not meant in any way as a put down to Schuck. He is a fine actor — in the right part. The question is, who would have been better? Who do we have acting today with the presence, sophistication, and bearing of an Edward Arnold? What might be called in today's parlance, "gravitas." Who can bring off that wealthy, intelligent Wall Street type that the part calls for? That type used to be quite common, used all the time in movies and plays — not so much anymore.

Edward Arnold played the part oh so well then, but it might just as easily have been Charles Coburn, Louis Calhern, or Lewis Stone. Actors who can communicate breeding, sophistication, and class are the missing type in the theater of today. Gone are the William Powells, the Ronald Colemans, the Cary Grants, the Myrna Loys, and the Greer Garsons. They were the elegant types. The smart types. The refined types. They just don't write parts for these characters anymore so there are no working actors who fit that type.

"You Can't Take It With You" is an American classic. Yes, it is of another time and certainly of another style. It is depression era humor; one-liners and screwball characters. Lots of laughs tinged with a healthy dose of optimism, a dash of common sense and a bit of morality. A show designed by and for a particular era, but not a show intrinsically archaic. Good writing is good writing, and all things considered, a well crafted show should hold up if proper care is taken to keep the thing honest to itself.

If the lines no longer ring true, if the characters are not quite as believable as they could be, then I suggest the fault may lie in the casting. Ay, there's the rub! Even if a play is not obsolete, how does one cast for characters which ARE obsolete? Where do you find actors in the 21st Century capable of portraying character types of 70 years ago? Seems like it should be doable, but it's not — the acting profession does not make those sorts of demands anymore. All that is necessary today is to be yourself. Character be damned.

No, the Hart/Kaufman show is by no means "out of touch." The play has not changed, the actors have.

Enjoy this writer's work? Why not sign-up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. A freelance writer in Southern California, you may contact him by clicking here.

Greg Crosby Archives


© 2005 Greg Crosby