The San Francisco Dramatic Review (1908)

ay 2, 1914 THE SAN FRANCISCO DRAMATIC REVIEW 9 Columbia Theatre , At the Columbia Theatre this itk we have Robert Hilliard in ■ le Argyle Case, by Harriet Ford lid Harvey J. O'Higgins, with side- .^hts in the way of corroborative . 'tail by Wm. J.'Burns. The Ar- i le Case is another detective melo- ,ama, but this time worthy of the ime, and to miss it is to miss one , the best dramatic offerings of the ar. The plot is well planned and i nsistently worked out, each suc- . ssive step toward the solution of e mystery cleverly adding to the •ystification of the breathless audi- .ice until the big scene,- when the rain on tense nerves eases up just the cracking point—remarkable anipulation of the element of sus- nse. The associated authors have advertently forgotten to supply , motive for the murder of old Mr. rgyle, which is thereby left hang- g in mid-air at the close of the ay; but I will confess to so great ;i interest in the trailing of the urderer that I failed to note the l ersight until the morning after, lich is proof enough that the de- ::t is not fatal. Even if the story sre not such a rattling good yarn, ere would still be the acting to ; commend it, and that is without flaw from start to finish. Mr. Milliard has not shown to such ad- ■.ntage for some years. The role I Never-sleep Kayton is as con- i nial to us as to the actor him- If, for we always make a hero I the man who dominates and con- ols the situation, and granting r. Hilliard's absolute technical lastery, his ease and resource, his •ental fluency, here all that is for iice secondary to the genuine hu- anity of the character. Edwin sdding does a very natural and tractive piece of work as Joe anning, Kayton's understudy. He : exceptionally responsive in dia- gue and the excellence of his •ckground is noticeable. Perhaps 'le of the finest things in the play the Dr. Kreisler of Gustav von ;yfertitz, an actor of personal dis- iction and tremendous reserve rce. He leads the revolutionary Irces, as Kayton is the embodi- lent of law and order, and the jiiet intensity with which he states s case carries the play for the mo- ent up to greatness. His death, o, is not of melodrama, but of real agedy; the tragedy of the man ho succumbs at last to his uncon- inial environment, with whom Captation and adjustment are im- 'ssible. Daniel Colt, who looks a- Taft, and Augustus Leishmann, ho suggests Wm. J. Burns to the 'c, carries some of the lighter re- jl in the play; they are happily n personated by W. T. Clark and "l)ert Newcombe. Another wefl- ted comedy bit is the babbling Irs. Wyatt, by Agnes Everett. Ed- in Holland's Hurley is worthy ot ote for a nice balance, a sense of roijortion, which makes the law- cr plausible. Atmosphere is sup- lied in large chunks by three dif- ■rent groups, Harry H. Hart's An- y and Dorothy Tureak's Kitty, Tvants in the house of mystery; ic Semion Ga^e and William kidd of Charles Morrell and Wm. I'aymond, of the counterfeiters, and le force of dictagraph and detec- tive men under Kayton. all accent- ing the impersonal enforcement of the law. Bruce Argyle and Nancy Thornton, his i,fiancee, are in the hands of Harvey Clark and Eliza- beth Eyre. After Mr. von Seyft'er- titz, Mr. Hilliard's best support is perhaps supplied by Olive Oliver and Stella Archer, the two leading women. As I watched Miss Oliver and felt the power of her emotional grip, I wondered if Madame X was in her repertory; she brought out the gradual decay of the outlaw, the shreds of another life that clung re- lentlessly and embittered the fruits of illegitimate labor and the all- ness of woman's love. Her Mrs. Martin is by far the finest thing I have seen Miss Oliver do. As for Miss Archer, she has sweetness and charm and style, and all the attri- butes of the successful ingenue— until one remembers the nerve- racked woman in the opening scene, struggling for self control almost with success, and then one knows that Miss Archer can act. At the end of a long and efficient cast comes the Dictograph, most recent sleuth in the game against crime. The dictograph is the timely touch that brings a good detective story up to date, gives it the modern note and links it up with our own time. It adds the finishing touch to a most interesting performance. Cort Theatre Peg O' My Heart, now practically in its third year, has but just arrived in San Francisco, opening at the Cort Theatre on Sunday ni^ht. Were we inclined to sensitive feelings, we might wonder at the delay, suggesting as it may that our town is three years removed from Los Angeles and New York, or that our managers are lack- ing in enterprise or our audiences in discriminating support. Fresh disap- pointment came with the news that in- stead of Laurette Taylor, we were to have one of the four or five road com- panies now touring the country. But all causes for dissatisfaction take un- to themselves wings and fly away with the coming of the play; we are rich in appreciation of the l^elated Peg, whoever she may be. This is in no way betlittling the talents of the little lady appearing in the title role; I)ut Peg is in reality an actor-proof role, and Peg is the play; and given a cer- tain temperamental fitness and truth to type, anyone could act her accepta- bly. The art lies in the way she is written, unless perhaps not the result of art at all, but inspiration or acci- dent, or a little of both. For Peg is human, of a humanness that is born and not made. She is the free bub- bling joy of life; .she is simple race wisdom and the truth that lies at the heart of the world. What is human in us wells up irresistibly to meet the human spirit, just as it rose in re- sjionse to the all-pervading humanity of the Stratford Players' Shakespeare. That the play in which Peg is set is conventional and factitious is negli- gible; the character itself is true, and Mr. Manners has atoned for much that he has done that is artificial and conventional by creating it. Knowing his work, one is apt to meditate on what part his talented wife may havi had in the making of Peg. One thing the play has that makes it go is easy brilliant dialogue, and that, I take it, is Manners' own, for his gift lies more that way than in working out original or convincing plots. Though there is no knowing what lie could do would he devote more time to the contriving. Little Miss Peggy O'Ncil. who comes to us as Peg (V My Heart, is indeed a happy find. .She has the ease of a veteran, with the si)ontaneity and freshness of one to whom the opportunities of the ])ro- fcssion are still full of interest; and she is humorous and mischievous and tender in the most natural and tm- schooled way in the world. ( )nc misses Miss Taylor, indeed, where the banal artificiality of cousin Ethel's elopement needs to he glossed over with plausibility; but, mark my words, Peggy O'Neil can and will learn. The rest of the cast, like the play, is negligible—neither bad nor very good, but all acceptable in the pleasure of the evening. With one exception — Jane Meredith. In the very difficult role of Ethel Chichester, Miss Meredith gives a brilliant, con- sistent and finished piece of acting. She is always bigger than the part, sending out a sense of reserve power and control. Also she is a very beautiful and very magnetic young woman, and focuses the interest whenever she is on the stage. We love Peg, but we are stimulated by Miss Meredith's Ethel. Might I suggest that if the company would cultivate an English accent it would add to the general verisimilitude ? Alcazar Theatre Marjorie Rambeau is proving her- self to be one of the best leading wom- en that has been seen here for a very long time. She has youth, enthusi- asm, intelligence, versatility, .sympa- thetic insight, and emotional control in so marked a degree that great ex- pectations are held for her future— even with the poor material she has had to make a record on. To be sure, she had Kindling, which sounded her emotional power to the depths and stamped her as unequaled in her con- ception and her portrayal of the her- oine of that sombre drama. But be- sides disclosing her art, it also brought out some little rough edges and cru- dities that can best be smoothed away by the tax that really fine plays make upon artistic strength. She should con- fine herself to plays that are worthy of her talent and The Woman He -Married is not one of them. It neither points a good moral nor tells a good story, and withal, it lacks sincerity. In the hands of less magnetic people than Willard Mack and Marjorie Ram- beau it would flail very flat indeed, but they illumine it with their vivid per- sonalities and, while giving it an in- terest that does not belont^ to it, man- age to gain friends for themselvo with it. Willard Mack plays Mars- ton, tile painter, with a fine spiritual intensity that carries conviction, dom- inating the scenes in his studio with artistic restraint, vvliiie Marjorie Ram- beau makes the self-sacrificing wife tiu-obbingiy alive and gains for Iier- self a numl)er of deserved curtain calls. Charles Com])ton has t!ie small l)art of tiic Japanese servant, Noguchi, in whicii to lose himself. Hurl Wes- ner is the hard-hearted fatiier, Louise i>rownell tiie sym])atlietic woman friend, Mrs. Wliitson-Bainbridec and last, but by no means least, Kernan Cri])ps gives a very vital study oi Jack Harding, the short-sighted hus- band. Gaiety Theatre 1 lats off to the Gaiety Company for tlie i)roduclion at the Gaiety Theatre this week. The Girl liehind the ( mnUer as presented at the popular ])layiiouse is tuiquestionalily one of the brst nuisical attractions seen in.San l-"rancisco in a lonq; time. The piece is excellently staged, splendidly acted and costumed in a manner delightful to the e\e. The cast, both ]irincii)als and chorus, is far al)0ve the average, and (lur old friend. .'\1 Shean, in the role of 1 lenr)- .Schnif'f, an old German who is afflicted witli sudden wealtli, and wlio is forced into .society by a wife uioi-(.' ;nnl)itious than attractive, lias one of the best roles of his ca- reer and his i)ortrayal is strongly re- mindful of his splendid performance in W'erhcr and Luescher's clever mu- sical comedy, The Rose Maids, wheri the center of attraction was the team of Al Siiean and lul Gallagiier. Tiiis l)iece was one of the hits of the year in New York at the (ilobe 'Hieatre, and the New York press were unan- imous in praise of Shean's work at that time. Shean, however, is not alone in popularity at the Gaiety this week. Ann Tasker, always sweet and winsome, and one of the cleverest of our young musical stars, is extremely captivating in the role of a youn^ saleslady in love with an Englishman with a title but little else. Miss Tas- ker's song. The Year Round Girl, was beautifuly rendered and she was forced to respond to frec|uent a])- plause with several encores. Nor must we overlook litle Daphne Pollard, un- doubtedly one of the greatest favor- ites in the West, who has the faculty of heing able to sing, as well as dance, and whose natural comedy is a de- light. Her dancing is particularly ex- cellent and her every appearance was the signal for almost an ovation. Myrtle Dingwall, as the young board- ing school miss, and Maude I'catty, as the wife of the old German, also came in for an over-generous amount of ap- plause and one of the hits of the even ing was Miss Dingwall's rendition of the catchy little song, The Isle ot Cuddle and .S(|ueeze. Orral 1 ium- ])hreys, in the role of an em])ty- iieaded luiglisiiman, was excellent, and Jack Pollard as the excitable Frenchman, also gave an exceptionally clever performance. I'oth Arthur Clough and Clarence Lydston con- tributed their share to what was an unusually artistic and enjoyable ])er- formance, and too nuicli praise can- not be given for the si)leu(lid staging, costuming and acting. Tiie songs are all wonderfully catchy and attrac- tive and The (jirl liehind the Counter will certainly make a .strong bid for a record as one of tlie most popular and attractive musical offerings ever seen on the Coast. A Boy and the Law .\ decided novelty in motion i)ic- tures will be shown at the Savoy for the week commencing Monday af- ternoon, when ;\ l>oy and the Law will be presented for the first time in San Francisco. The story, true in every particular, is told in a five- reel ])icture, dei)icting the life of William Eckstein from the time he was a youthful Russian law defier until he became mayor of Boy City. This is a new move in the picture game and should prove interesting. I