5 AUGUST 1949, Page 14

Dale and Jouvet

This—plus a Joseph Surface with no trace of soapiness in his voice—took the heart out of the production. Yet, miraculously, the whole affair was very nearly redeemed by Sir Peter Teazle. I cannot conceive of a better performance, aerial or actual, than Mr. James Dale's. No actor really relishes comparison with another, but Mr. Dale must forgive me; he irresistibly conjured up before me the sight of M. Louis Jouvet playing Arnolfe in L'Ecole des Femmes, all pendulous lip and interrogative eye. He and Sir Oliver (Mr. Norman Shelley) were brilliantly right, and the joint mainstay of a production always skilfully contrived and composed ; but with a flaw in its heart.