Long ago, someone said that Beatrice Lillie was the funniest woman on the English-speaking stage. This rather sweeping pronouncement has never been challenged and, indeed, could here be extended to "the funniest woman in the world" but for this writer's early memory of a great uncle who, after a few drinks, was given to recalling in glorious terms a little entertainer in Kenya who was once very funny with her Swahili monologues. In case this worthy woman is still alive, and out of respect to my uncle, I'll only go so far as to say that there is no man or woman on the English-speaking stage (movies and radio included, of course) as consistently funny as Beatrice Lillie.

Along with Jack Haley, Miss Lillie is now appearing in Boston in a musical revue called "Inside U.S.A.," which takes it name, and nothing else, from the latest of John Gunther's Insides to come out. The sketches are contributed by several of the best revue writers in the business--Arnold Horwitt, Arnold Auerbach, and Moss Hart--and the lyrics and music are by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz.

After having only seen him on the screen, it is pleasant to learn that Jack Haley is no slouch as a comedian, himself. The skits he appears in do not seem as clever as Miss Lillie's, and one of them--"All Over the Map"--is downright painful. But it is difficult not to like Mr. Haley since he has made such an art of portraying the average man without making him out to be also a jerk. Aside from his inescapable, affability, Mr. Haley can be heard in even the farthest reaches of the theater, whether he's speaking or singing, and in revues such as this one it adds to the fun when the lyrics can be understood.

Having seen "Inside U.S.A." before it reached Broadway last year, I was interested to find what had improved with a second showing and what waned. Miss Lillie, of course, improved. She has supplemented almost all of her routines with additional business, such as the swinging pearls in the Pittsburgh choral song (to watch her twirl them is worth the price of admission alone), and the Teutonic accents in the satire on the Hollywood-Chopin romances.

On the other hand, Mr. Haley seems to be doing about the same things and in the same way. That about sums up the difference in the talents of Miss Lillie and Mr. Haley. Mr. Haley does very well for himself in his sketches, as I have said, but Miss Lillie can't help but grow funnier with familiarity. She is obviously more than a comedienne; she is a wit.

The first time, the 'tabloid' ballet called "Tiger Lily" stuck out in my mind as being particularly good, but the other night it seemed more like the usual type of jazz-ballet which is part of every Broadway show these days. It is certainly one of the most interesting, and dramatic in its narrative content, but Valerie Bettis, its star dancer, does much better work in the less-spectacular "Haunted Heart" dance.

The tunes are still as fresh and bouncy as they were, all but one having been unhonored with the sudden but certain death of a radio song hit.