"Between the Devil" is a light-hearted musical comedy, urbane and sophisticated, but innocent of satire and wit. Humorous explosives are prepared with care, but as a rule they fizzle instead of firing. Howard Dietz's book is rather flat, both in incident and dialogue, but in ample compensation it does serve as a vehicle for some very pleasant songs, an actor and two actresses of considerable charm, handsome sets, and some amusing byplay.

The plot is thoroughly inane. It has to do with the joys and terrors of a debonair young man who enters unwittingly into bigamy and continues in it because he can't decide how to get out. The first of the two acts sees him oscillating between Paris and London, the one the home of his first wife, whom be thought drowned, the other the home of his second. There is a good deal of horseplay connected with an attempt to keep a man in the know from betraying the here's duplicity, and the show gains little by it. The efforts to make him appear mad are scarcely more subtle than the preliminary stealing of his pants. One comes dangerously close to boredom while waiting for the first curtain. The second act looks up considerably, however, and the wiles of the bared bigamist in dodging the gendarmes and the bobbies are cleverly contrived. The hero is able to evade the law, but unable to escape from the dilemma of having two lovely wives. Mr. Dietz finally works out an answer to his knotty problem, but modestly discards it, and puts the question up for the audience's solution.

Jack Buchanan breezes through the role of the doubly devoted husband. He sings his songs without raising his voice; he scarcely gets up to do his dances. His insouciance and absent-mindedness seem very real, and make of him a most likeable comic hero. Evelyn Laye, his English wife, retains her dignity and quiet charm even through the clowning required of her, and does some expert singing to boot. Adele Dixon, conspicious for the daring of her gowns, manages to capture a respectable French accent, French raciness, and French contempt for British beefsteak.

Hassard Short staged the production, and Albert Johnson designed the sets. The latter deserves special credit for his effective use of sweeping modernistic simplicity throughout. As for the work of Arthur Schwartz, the principal song, "I See Your Face before Me," will probably be frequently reheard, and such others as "I've Made Up My Mind," Fly by Night," and "By Myself" are at least tuneful enough for one evening. The show will undoubtedly have a warm reception here, for although it is not uniformly good, its assets are quite impressive.