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

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...

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