The Theater: French Without Tears

When The Man Who Came to Dinner opened on Broadway in 1939, it was an immediate hit, ran for 739 performances. Last week L’Homme Qui Etait Venn Pour Diner closed in Paris after 16 days.

The poor reception was no worse than that given other American plays; Born Yesterday, Our Town and The Rose Tattoo have all been flops in Paris. Said Actor-Playwright Jean Pierre Aumont: “New York can take foreign plays because the New Yorker is more aware of what is happening abroad. The Frenchman has the impression that Paris is the center of the world. He’s just not concerned with what’s happening elsewhere.”