Michael Arlen

Pleasant, Wise, Kindly

A U. S. reporter on the Aquitania rushed up a fortnight ago to Michael Arlen, Armenian-English author arrived in Manhattan to watch rehearsals of his The Green Flat and, ripping open his coat, peered curiously at the young man's vest. Mr. Arlen was annoyed. I explained to him that we had looked for checked vests and pink shirts and, instead, found a neatly tailored quiet suit of blue. We had thought, perhaps, to encounter a haughty stare, and found, instead, a pleasant and somewhat puzzled grin. "I can wear pink shirts if I must!" said Mr. Arlen.

Arlen is not dark, as one imagines from his pictures. His hair is somewhere between a chestnut and an auburn, his; skin is light and he wears a sandy moustache. In figure he is short, broad-shouldered, with hands that are large and sturdy, like those of a boxer. He has, in fact, boxed considerably as one of his pastimes. In appearance, I should say that he was not impressive; but I noticed that those feminine admirers who seemed disappointed at first glance succumbed to his conversation and dancing. Arlen, when not too tired by the vast entertainment which 15 showered around him, is pleasant, witty and kindly. He is cordial to all comers, and really likes them. A delegation of Armenians, headed by a priest, met him at the dock; he was embarrassed, pleased and touched. Very nearly run over in the street by a truck, he remarked: "It takes more than a New York motor to massacre an Armenian." The social reporter on the dock asked him if he liked American clothes. He promptly replied: "I have never been interviewed by a more charmingly dressed lady."

Of course, Mr. Arlen is much interested in the progress of his play. When I first met him on the dock, he handed over a small alligator suitcase. "There's May Fair," he said, "and the new fourth act of The Green Hat. Don't lose it on your life!" May Fair, his next book, is a continuation of These Charming People; but Arlen has not been contented merely to collect his magazine material. He went to the Riviera recently, shut himself up in a hotel room, and rewrote the sketches completely for the book. May Fair will be published this spring, and another story in the autumn.

The most entertaining of his meetings was that with Robert C. Benchley. whose parody of The Green Hat is so well known. They slapped each other on the back, and Arlen laughed and said: "Only you and T know just how bad a writer I am!" He is much pleased with the cast of his play, finds Miss Cornell a beautiful and real Iris and Miss Ann Harding's blond beauty eminently suited to Venice.

If this trip does not ruin his constitution, if he can find any time to suit, Michael Arlen purposes to return in the autumn, when he will look about him at America's May Fair and contemplate our whims. Meanwhile, he is having fun. J.F.