Floproducers

Two of the flattest flops of Broadway's flop-heavy season flopped into oblivion last week -- Boudoir after eleven showings, Popsy after four.

Boudoir (by Jacques Deval, produced by Jacques Chambrun) told of a Manhat tan adventuress of the '80s whose assorted bitchery was finally ended by the strangling hands of an Egyptian jewel thief. The play had blackout dullness inconceivable from the author of the glinting comedy Tovarich.

Popsy (by Fred Herendeen, produced by Theodore Hammerstein & Denis Du-For) depicted an aging mathematics pro fessor whose dream of retiring was temporarily balked by his daughters' marital troubles. Critic Brooks Atkinson (New York Times} :;"... one of the worst plays ever written. Man and boy, this column has not looked at its like since the days of Boudoir." Broadway audiences continually wonder how so many flops get produced. One reason: even the best producers make mistakes. Another was suggested fortnight ago in Variety, by Producer Oscar Serlin (of the hit comedy Life With Father). He took a lusty whack at a "racket" which has brought many a dollar from angels to sharp Broadway showmen. Said he:

"Broadway producers . . . take a backer's money, put on a show nobody wants to see and at a cost beyond all reason. When it flops they don't seem to mind. They just look around for another sucker and do another flop show. Do you realize that more than $1,000,000 has been thrown away so far this season on ... shoddy, flimsy, artificial trifles that even the producers themselves, in many cases, knew could never succeed? Who does it help to put on shows like that? Maybe the producer makes a quick profit. . . ."

Producer Serlin could have added that even when shows make money, outside investors often get paid little or nothing.

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