THE HAT

A magic hat really, no loss to the rich man ("Never mind. . . caro mio," says his fiancee, "We are already late") but the making of penniless veteran Benito Badoglio. His moniker is only one instance of catering to the cognoscenti as the hat performs feat after miraculous feat—intercepting a flowerpot falling on a wealthy tourist, recapturing a precious purple puffbird, dousing the fire in a runaway baby carriage. The ashes from the "fat cigar" of "a dashing cadet" preoccupied with the baby's young mother started it, a typical sardonic touch. And while the ending is funny, the irony is adult: rich and celebrated, Badoglio courts and wins the Countess Aspi d'Istra, who says "Never mind. . . caro mio. I should like to get there by sunrise," when the hat blows off on their honeymoon. The Hat is a clever performer but some of it will pass over the heads of children.