The San Francisco Dramatic Review (1908)

i! THE SAN FRANaSCO DRAMATIC REVIEW April 25, 191. Robert Hilliard in the Finger Print Scene from the famous detective play, The Argyle Case, at the Columbia Theatre next iceek Robert Hilliard, of The Ar= gyle Case, a Vaudeville Pioneer It is not a matter of ordinary knowledge that Robert Hilliard, new starring in The Argyle Case, and coming to the Columbia next week, was the pioneer legitimate actor in vaudeville. Just how he came to blaze the way is told b> Robert Grau, the veteran booking agent. "In my quest for attractions in the early '90's," says Grau, "I sought out Hilliard, who had scored heavily in a curtain raiser. The Lit- tlest Girl, which he had dramatized from one of Richard Harding Davis' stories. When I called upon him at his home one Sunday morning he frowned upon the suggestion and was almost angry with me, so I de- cided not to press the matter. But just as I was about to leave it oc- curred to me that I had not men- tioned terms. It must be understood that these were not 'fat' years finan- cially in the theatrical profession. Hence he looked at me curiously ■when I quite casually remarked, 'Bob, these people offer you $600 a week and ten weeks' guarantee.' Hilliard began to think. I knew what was in his mind. In after years, when I interviewed other celebrities with similar propositions, I benefitted greatly from a recollec- tion of my experience with this most sensitive actor. 'But what can I play—I can't do any stunts,' said Hilliard. 'Play The Littlest Girl and play up to it, too, just as you would at the Madison square,' was my re- ply. Hilliard accepted, and it is only fair to state that few believed a vaudeville audience would approve a serious sketch. But he was an in- stant success. The managers came after him with a rush and his open- ing salary was by far the smallest he ever had in vaudeville, nor did he have an idle week for ten years except from choice. The Littlest Girl had over 4500 performances, and was followed by As A Man Sows, 973 and The Man Who Won the Pool, in which he gave such a masterly and touching personation of an old club servant. After Hill- iard's hit it was easier to approach other famous players. Maurice Barrymore—the father of John and Ethel—became the next headlinei and after him Rose Coghlan and Clara Morris. The playgoer of today can hardly realize the effect created when these newcomers in vaude- ville were first announced." Nethersole by Judge Pendleton and a Special jury at the Supreme Court, New York City, on November 22, 1913, for breach of contract. The contract was for two seasons of twenty-five weeks each, at a sal- ary of $1,000 a week and 50 per cent of the profit in Maeterlinck's Mary Magdalene. The action was for non-payment of portions of sal- ary due and for a second season, which was repudiated by the de- fendants. Be Auc= Two Theatres tioned Two San Francisco theatres are going to the auction block next month. The Princess Theatre on Ellis Street, near Fillmore, and the Valencia Theatre in the Mission, have both been listed for sale to the highest bidder. Hackett Gets the Million NEW YORK, April 14.—James K. Hackett, the actor, will receive the $1,500,000 estate left by his niece, Minnie Hackett Trowbridge. An order to this eft'ect was signed today by the surrogate here. Rel- atives of Mrs. Trowbridge who had contemplated contesting the terms of the will withdrew their claims last week and the will was pro- bated. Olga Nethersole Wins Suit NEW YORK, April 14.—Judge Pendleton has decided in Olga Nethersole's favor against a motion of Messrs. Liebler and Shubert, de- fendants, in their appeal for a new trial against the verdict for $32,- 217.32 damages awarded Miss Marie Dressier Seeks $60,= 330 in Gaiety Row Marie Dressier has filed in the I'nited States District Court before Judge \'an Fleet a cross comjjlaint to the Gaiety Theatre damage suit. The comedienne alleges many breaches of contract, failures to meet salary due and notes, and de- mands $60,330 as profits computed from the contract signed by her and G. M. Anderson (Bronco Billy). Thomas O'Day, Matthew O'Brien, Sam Berger and William L. Gor- ham are made joint defendants. Miss Dressier is represented by At- torney R. L. McWillianis. The Ringling Show in Chicag CHICAGO, April i8.—Over score of years ago the Ringling:' then modest bidders for fame in th circus world, opened their first se; son in Chicago. Time in the ir terval has wrought many change; evolutionary and revolutionary, i all departments of human activi^- l)ut none, we daresay, has been mpi far-reaching and radical than th progressive stages of the sl^' business. What greater monun^i to their genius and enterprise o ^ these erstwhile harness-makers'^d Baraboo, Wis., desire than th superb aggregation of circus talen' which they have builded upon th foundation of the little wagon show »_„j^ wliich in years agone was wont t-iV lown the high I, ])erambulate up and dr a* 8tit M, ways of the West and South? W^^'^'",; use the term "talent" advisedly, foj| it seems to us the Ringlings hav about cornered all of that interest ing commodity in the United State and Europe. Continents have beei combed and ransacked for entertain ing novelties to regale the jnos fickle of all publics—the Americai, citizenry. The Ringlings have jus opened their regular season in Chi cago at the old Coliseum, and thost individuals who say circuses are th< same yesterday, today and forever should i)eep in on the present-daj enterprise, controlled by the Messrs, Ringling. There are some things^ which are unchanging and un changeable—such for instance, a; the raucous barker who peddles sof drinks and peanuts and the mephitii odors of jungle animals combi with masses of odoriferous hum; on pleasure bent. It is all in a wondrous collection of entertain4' ing features, combining all that was best in the old-time circus with tht brilliant innovations of these lattei years. OWEN B. MILLER. Tetrazzini Stills Panic CANTON, O., April 13.—When fire started in a moving-picture shov here this afternoon, Madame Lujp ^ Tetrazzini, who was in the audienclii ^ stopped the panic by singing. Tetra«- iSQi zini arose in her seat and urged tiui people to stop, but as they paid no at- tention to her, she forced her way to the stage and started to sing. She sang for about five minutes while the ushers extinguished the blaze, and then' returned to her seat. Her identity wasi not discovered until she was leaving the show. Clever Speech in Help Wanted CJne of the speeches wiiich lias made a hit in Help Wanted, the play writ- ten by Jack Lait, which has jjleascd botli New York and Chicago, strange as it may seem, is this one, delivered by an experienced stenographer to one who is just beginning her bus- iness career. "You'll meet a lot of men of the kind you never met before. Men wiio do things and are things— men w ho don't have to wait till Satur- day night for their incomes and their holidays. They'll hypnotize you with tiieir forcefulness till your head wil' spin at the thought that little you have been noticed by such giants. While they're looking in your eyes they're framing an alibi in their head. They fight and swindle each otiier, these business men, and a child like you k —well, just a child."