26 SEPTEMBER 1931, Page 18

"Spectator" Competitions

RULES AND CONDITIONS Entries must be typed or very clearly written on one side of the paper only. The name and address, or pseudonym, of the competitor must be on each entry and not on a separate sheet. When a word limit is set words must be counted and the number given. No entries can be returned. Prizes may be divided at the discretion of the judge, or withheld if no entry reaches the required standard. The judge reserves the right to print or quote from any entry. The judge's decision is final, and no correspondence can be entered into on the subject of the award. Entries must be addressed to :—The Editor, the Spectator, 99 Gower Street,

London, W.C. 1, and be marked on the envelope Competition No. (—).

Competition No. 24 (Set by " CRISPIAN.") IN a crowded railway carriage, a conversation carried on between . any two of the passengers is closely and attentively followed by their fellow travellers, and it has happened on occasion that ingenious and inventive couples have whiled away the tedium of a journey by improvising a dialogue expressly intended for outside consumption.

A prize of £3 3s. is offered for the best suggestion for such a dialogue framed either (a) to intrigue .or (b) to terrify the remaining occupants of a third class compartment during a through run from Paddington to Reading. There is a limit of 350 words, inclusive of stage directions.

Entries must be received not later than Monday, September 28th, 1931. The result of this competition will appear in our issue of October 10th.

Competition No. 25 (Set by " Duni.t.") A PRIZE of £3 3s. is offered for a paragraph in the form of a publisher's " blurb " intended to advertise Bradshaw as a book for general reading.

Entries must be received not later than Monday, October 5th, 1931. The result of the competition will appear in our issue of October 17th.

The result of Competition No. 23 will appear in our next issue.

Report of Competition No. 22

AWARD AND REPORT BY "CRISPIAN."

IT was assumed that an American Film Company had com- mitted itself to the screening of four of Shakespeare's plays and a prize of £3 3s. was offered for the best list of the four titles under which the finished articles should go forth into the world.

There was a very large entry for this competition, and it became immediately apparent that two schools of thought existed, the one confining itself to the suggestion of titles, plainly stated and unadorned, the other, interpreting more widely the terms of reference, garnishing the simple designa- tions with an extravagance of what Captain J. R. Clelland described as sub-titles and poster comments. Captain Clelland himself, in an explanatory note attached to his entry, assumed that such things were uncalled for, and pointed out that it had been his endeavour to " keep 'em snappy."

I find myself in agreement with the gallant Captain. While I personally found the garnishings distinctly diverting and I particularly enjoyed Besta's Good-Bye Girl Friend, The Story of the Conflict between Hot Youth and Proud Age and the Triumph of Youth even in Death (" Romeo and Juliet "), I con- sidered that, in the stern task of adjudication; I must neces- sarily ignore these unasked for trappings. Titles were asked for, and only the titles were considered. A hard thing, but then it is a hard world and in it even the careful people who confined themselves to one comedy, one tragedy, one pas- sionate drama, and so on could not hope to be suitably re- warded for their extra trouble because it distinctly said that any plays might be chosen.

Of course there were some very favourite. ones. " Merchant of Venice," " Hamlet," " Julius Caesar," " Antony and Cleopatra," " Macbeth " and " As You Like It " all proved 'extremely popular. " As You Like It " is a hiking play. This was clearly brought out in a number of entries, Mary Challares

Hiking to Happiness among them. But there was worse than this. " Rock " rechristened it Ardent Hikers and It was not alone in this horrid pun.

Cynthia Herbert-Smith and George van Roane with Petticoat Lawyer and The Passionate Bluestocking dealt ade- quately with the more obvious aspect of the " Merchant of Venice," while " Macbeth " suggested The Kilted Killer to G. P. Kerr and Murder in the Heather to S. Barrington McClean. For Julius Caesar " there were two conspicuously good suggestions. C. W. Hodges provided When the World Looked On, which immediately conjures up the vision of one of those immense historical dramas which delight the picture-goer, and S. J. Astbury Murder at the Capitol, which is ingenious since it would lure alike those whose antiquarian palates are tickled by reconstructional photography and those to whom the prospect of foul play to slow music in the dim depths of a

cinema palace makes an undeniable appeal.

Such as divided their plays up into categories very wisely

saw a drama of passion sticking out of " Antony and Cleopatra," and we have Nile Nights (Miss Green), Siren of Doom (E. J. Callis), Pyramid Passion (G. W. Rossetti), and Immortal Longings (David Hobkinson). " Othello " immediately sug- gested the Colour Bar to faithful readers of the Spectator and Her Coloured Man was quite a good effort on the part of Miss Mary E. M. Rossetti, while " Hamlet " evoked very curious results. I can grant snappiness to A. Clewer Barber's Meet Danish Ilam, but I cannot really care for it, and I do not think that people would readily flock to view a picture shown under that title, which after all is the only test that matters. Jas. J. Nevin suggested The Gloomy Dane, which I think is rather ingenious, and V. Jacks The Royal Ghoul. Which leaves us with " Midsummer Night's Dream," the last of the most easily adaptable of the plays, and we have Puck with a Punch from James Hall, which seems quite a bright suggestion.

All very good and very ingenious, as you will readily admit, but the trouble was that the lists from which these various plums were culled tended to be rather uneven, and the prize is divided equally, and this with £3 3s. is no mean feat, between Mrs. M. Hargreaves, 2 Holly Road, Swinton, Manchester, and Miss H. M. Crawford, of 28 York Place, Harrogate, each of whom will receive what, in order to be on the safe side, I shall designate " the appropriate sum." The two winning lists seemed to me to make up in consistency what they lacked in brilliance, though Murder a la Mood could scarcely be bettered and Sharing a Wife strikes new ground in the happiest manner.

But one penultimate word of congratulation to C. J. Galpin for Mendelssohn's Entrancing Pastoral Oratorio, Nachstraume (Dream of Summer). Book by Shakespeare (" Midsummer Night's Dream "). With additiona Numbers by Lein Finkelbaum including the novel Theme Hit " Bless You, Baby, Pm all trans- lated Tonight ! " — teeming with accretions, it is true, but the translation of Nachtstraurn is too good to miss ; and to Bests for finding four different ways of spelling the surname of the Swan of Avon ; and then there is Alex H. Lashbrooke, who deserves most honourable mention for Forbidden Flesh (" Merchant of Venice ") and Her Tainted Fingers (" Macbeth ").

At all events here are the two winning entries :

Murder d /a Mood. All for Love.

Flesh in the Balance.

• . Pitfalls of Marriage (For Adults only).

MRS. M. HARGREAVES.

. . The Student Prince.

. . The Othello Murder Case.

. . Heirs Honeymoon. . . Sharing a Wife. Hamlet ..

Antony and Cleopatra Merchant of Venice Othello

And

Hamlet ..

Othello Romeo and Juliet Comedy of Errors

Miss H, M. CRAWFORD.