Best Plays in Manhattan

These are the plays which, in the light of metropolitan criticism, seem most important.

SERIOUS

COQUETTE--Helen Hayes breaking her heart for the lover they won't let her marry (TIME, Nov. 21).

MARCO MILLIONS--Eugene O'Neill, hitting modern babbittry with a fantastic Marco Polo mallet (TIME, Jan. 16).

STRANGE INTERLUDE--The Theatre Guild unfolding the long and astonishing scroll upon which Eugene O'Neill has traced the bitterness of a disappointed woman (TIME, Feb. 13).

Other well-regarded serious plays: Civic REPERTORY PRODUCTIONS, TWELVE THOUSAND.

MELODRAMA

THE TRIAL OF MARY DUGAN--A chorus girl jumps out of the frying pan into the witness chair (TIME, Oct. 3).

DRACULA--Bram Stoker's choker, dealing with a werewolf in count's clothing (TIME, Oct. 17).

THE SILENT HOUSE--About a slinking Chink (TIME, Feb. 20).

Another able melodrama: INTERFERENCE.

FUNNY

BURLESQUE--Hearts and spangles tangled behind the footlights of the two-a-day (TIME, Sept. 12).

THE COMMAND TO LOVE--Any portfolio in a storm is the principle that leads an unprincipled diplomat into a lady's boudoir (TIME, Oct. 3).

PARIS BOUND--A charming and witty couple who just avoid divorce (TIME, Jan. 9)

THE BACHELOR FATHER--About bastards, but as refined as a lump of sugar (TIME, March 12).

Other funny plays: THE SHANNONS OF BROADWAY, THE QUEEN'S HUSBAND, THE ROYAL FAMILY, OUR BETTERS.

MUSICAL

Entirely frivolous: Funny Face, Good News, Rain or Shine, Manhattan Mary, Keep Shufflin'.

Lavish productions: Show Boat, A Connecticut Yankee, The Three Musketeers.