Old in Manhattan

Sidney Howard; produced by John Golden), when it won the Pulitzer Prize in the mid-'20s, had a fresh slant and a fine cast (Richard Bennett, Pauline Lord and Glenn Anders). Revived without luster in 1939, it seemed sadly dated. Dumped down on Broadway last week, it seemed all but dead.

Laid in California, the play tells of an aging Italian winegrower who woos a young waitress by mail, wins her by submitting his youthful foreman's photograph in place of his own. Though resentful of being tricked, she goes through with the marriage, only to sin with the foreman. The husband finds out, but reason prevails over melodrama because all three know what they really want--the Italian a wife, the girl a good home, the foreman his freedom.

Reversing a more usual stage procedure, They Knew What They Wanted is a soppy play with a sensible ending. And to reach the right destination, it takes a very slow course through extremely flat country. There is endless talk, much of it in rather baffling broken English. Paul Muni's performance as the husband is studiously misconceived. Carol Stone is almost as much out of line, though more likable, as the girl. In every respect, old-hat playwriting has received a straw-hat production.

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