(3 of 3)
The Plutocrat was originally a novel in which Booth Tarkington rather effectually rebutted Sinclair Lewis's Babbitt by describing the world travels of an Omaha porkpacker who, for all his bluster and gaucherie, was admirable rather than asinine. His virtues were particularly apparent by contrast with those of an epicine playwright whom he encountered on the way. In dramatizing the story, Arthur Goodrich has entirely neglected this central theme, has treated all the characters broadly and achieved a completely banal degree of farce. The performance by Charles Douville Coburn, Ivah Wills Coburn and their supporting cast is, at best, foolish.