I suppose each profession has its folklore, its stories of events and characters from the past. But probably the greatest characters, and consequently the best stories, emanate from show business. Few of the tales become the currency of common parlance but your man in the street would certainly know a few Goldwynisms – verbal contracts aren’t worth the paper they are written on, include me out, we’ve all passed a lot of water since then and so on and so on. Sam Goldwyn ranks alongside Mrs Malaprop and the Reverend Spooner as fine-tuners and re-inventors of the English language.

Lewis Cowen and the Northgate Theatre Company have recognised and tapped into a rich vein of material with Goldwyn’s life and sayings and their one-man show, Include Me Out, is a fond, respectful and eye-opening tribute to one of Hollywood’s greatest producers.

Now, I wouldn’t have recognised Sam Goldwyn even if he had come up to me in the street, tapped me on the shoulder and said “I’m a Hollywood mogul”, so I am quite happy to accept that Lewis Cowen gave a good and faithful account of him. He certainly sounded good with a voice that resonated with Jewish American cadences.

Mr Cowen takes us step by step through the life of Szmuel Gelbfisz, later Samuel Goldfish and finally Samuel Goldwyn on his journey from Poland, via London and New York to Hollywood, of which he was one of the founder members and biggest movers of Tinsel Town. If you have the slightest interest in films or show business in general, this is all riveting stuff. Now, while there are those, including Goldwyn, that claim that Goldwynisms were all fiction, few are prepared to let truth stand in the way of a good story.

Sam Goldwyn was a character of Hollywood proportions the like of which we rarely, if ever, see these days. While we all have heard a few of his famous remarks, it is good to be able to get deeper into the character and discover what made him tick. Lewis Cowen does an excellent job and presents us with a likeable, astute if not slightly paranoiac man – but as Groucho Marx said, “Just because you’re paranoid it doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.”

This was a good, absorbing and fascinating performance which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was a pity it was not better attended. I would certainly recommend it as a jolly good, intelligent evening’s entertainment. ★★★★☆   Michael Hasted   12/03/15