The Billboard 1924-03-22: Vol 36 Iss 12 (1924-03-22)

OA = MARCH 22, 1924 The Billboard 27 against a background of incompetent of course, actors, a if carried would include an outfit of ragged and motheaten costumes. to think of jt, TI have seen that, too, but it has not helped the However, ng of this sort obtains in the Equity Players’ production of **Macbeth"’ mistaken notion, and one to its logical conclusion scenery Come production. Every part in the play, from Macbeth to Fleance, is well played. Every word is underdable, each character is faithfully and somebrilliantly played. The scenery and cosne are both excellent. 1 might add that the cutting of the play has also been well done. It is one version of “Macheth"’ where gh is left to give continuity to the story ind motivation to the plot, Mr. Hlackett started his performance of the tit role mildly Up until the latter scenes of the second act he was subdued and gave or he impression that be was saving h mself for the later scene. AS a matter of fact, in a curtain speech Mr. Hackett Informed the audience that he had been frightfully nervous d this wou'd easily account for his slowness » working into the part About the middle of t second act Mr. Hackett got going and from that time on there was bot a moment when be was not thoroly good. Mr Hackett's interpretation of ‘‘Macbeth"’ Is in ft) main the orthodox one. There is not the difference of opin'ion as to how this part iid played that there !s about Hamlet. As i eit t character is very clear! ut and tr thought of the player must be upon ) lilding tlhe part that it in turn mak ¢ r to the dience what is already made I n the lines and situations. Mr. Hackett ltor to play down, somewhat, the in e of lady Macbeth on his act’ons. From t! very first he was the plotting « ftain, the counsel of his wife but fanned the Same f the already smoldering tinder There is ’ g¢ to be «ald for this, of course. There s thing to be id for the neeptior y s ft thane tt! more or less unu g tool f his wife's 1 hinations Cer ta t a r terpretation makes Macbeth r gur and if Mr. Hackett chooses to throw away an acting advantage to hew closer to the line of his role one can but conception of the admire him for it. The truth is this Macbeth is a most interesting o It is interesting from the standpoint of the acting; it is interesting from the standpo!nt of interpretation. Mr. Hackett has a magnificent voelce, a commanding presence, plenty of authority and admirable diction. His reading of the banquet scene was magnificent. His last scene, the combat with Macduff, was extraordinarily well done I saw Mr. Hackett play Macbeth in 1916 and 1 would say that be is now under the skin of the part to a greater extent than he was then. He has evidently given a deal of study to the role and it shows {mn his performance. This may rightfully be called first-rate playing. The lady Macbeth of Clare Eames was & Surprise to me 1 have not been one of the ardent admirers of Miss Eames’ genius In fact, 1 was tempted to doubt that she had any. I take it all back, cheerfully and willingly. now. ty ell odds Miss Eames is the first lady Macheth this city has ever seen, and I! am inclined to believe that the doyens of the drama in our city will have to go back a long way to find her equal The vaulting ambition, the inflexibility of purpose, the swiftness with Which action follows thought, the hardiness of the weman, are all thrilling!y brought out by Miss Fames, She plays the sleep-walking scene in a way all ber own, a way wh eb compels belief in its trace of is a ‘here is no tradition It reality. €locution {n ft, no trace of Plain rationalization of what a troubled mind Would do in somnambulism The gestures are faltering, the voce is broken, the whole attl tude of the woman is that of a broken soul. It is a performance calculated to «stir one and is the climax to an interpretation of one of the greatest parts in all Shakespeare that Will rema'n in the memory of all who see it for many a day. As I said before, all the roles fn this productlon are splenddly played. 1 have used so Much space in dealing with the major characters that I have too little left to do full Justice to the remainder of the cast A word or two Must be said for Moffat Johnston, who was a Plendid Macduff; Douglass R. Dumbrille’s BanQuo, which was virile and lifelike; Louts WolSem, who was an excellent porter, and Lawrenee Cecil, who as Maleolm played most conVinetngly The rest of the company were all distinguished by an evident desire to make the Most of their roles and to do their bit, no matter how «mall, toward the giving of a wellrounded performance, Each of them sueceeded in doing this and the result was a perfection of ensemble seldom encountered on the BroadWa stage, Woodman Thompson hae designed a practical I slightly set of scenos for “Macbeth. The banquet scene Ix particularly good, with its two levels and Might of ateps The cave of the Witches and the scene for the sleep walking pisode are also most effective. The staging ‘Ss quite all it should be. The net result of ei! THE MAN WHO LOOKS LIKE LINCOLN Geo. A. Billings, Who Plays the Role of Abraham Lincoln, Needs No Makeup To Strengthen a Startling Resemblance — His Boyhood Similar to Great Emancipator’s By ELITA MILLER LENZ When George A. Billings strode into The Billboard office, after a considerable ‘‘pulling of wires’’ on our part to get him there, we felt awed, He seemed like the very reinearnation of the wonderful emancipator of the slave, and we approached the interview a bit timidly. But whea we shook hands with him and felt the warmth of his big, work-hardened A. Billings hand and saw the kindly humor in his eyes and heard the ¥ } voice we felt supremely at ease; felt that we were about George Ivety richness of his to chat with a friend whom we had always known, As he towered above us, six feet two, we asked him how he liked New York. “Great! said he, without a single expressed regret for the wide open spaces of the West from whence he came *‘Have never been east of the Mississip; River before, so 1 find New York very interesting Its sights compensate me in a measure for the reading I must forego on account of eye strain. (George Billings has always been an omnivorous reader.) When we voiced our appreciation of his portrayal of Lincoln he replied modestly that we had undoubtedly felt the power of Lincoln's life. His reply made us study him more closely. His resemblance to Lincoln is very true, He has the same angular frame, the same haped, slightly protruding underlip, the same brow, the same breadth of face and the very sume mole on the same cheek, a trifle smaller erhaps. Perhaps if we the film, “‘Abraham And the same en the film we \braham had not in him Lincoln"’', we should add: awk wardness."’ But having can not think of him or ef Lincoln as awkward. Recalling the seen nes with Anne Rutledge, particularly that ‘ she passes from this sphere in big i\be’s arms, and the real tears shed by Bill ngs, we cease to question, as formerly, whether graceful Anne Rutledge loved the Lincoln. One is convinced that Lin n’s tenderness to the world in general en ped him and those with whom he came in act in an of beauty. It has been that B felt doubly the poignant grief that moved Lincoln because at the time e film was being taken his wife was going nd and he was fighting a battle against ertr “Do not get the impression that I am con vineed that I resemble the inner Lincoln,’’ pleaded Mr. Billings. “I revere him too greatly to entertain such a thought. The resemblance is merely physical. Sut there is a similarity between Lincoln's childhood and mine, only I think my poverty was even ereater, Despite all the privations and suf fering, I would gladly go back and relive it. “Please tell us about your childhood,” we urged. “I was born on a farm at Preston, Minn., about forty-five years ago. I never wore un derclotbes until I was a man. In the fall we youngsters were sewn up in a shirt and stayed in it until spring (with a michievous glance at “Si."* Snyder, publicity director for the Rockett Brothers, who had piloted Mr. Billings to The Billboard office at our behest). “I think he is exaggerating,’’ said Mr. Sny der, ‘No, it is a fact,’’ averred Mr. Billings, “Why, the men’s boots were frozen on for the season. Their wearers arose in the morn BUSINESS RECORDS NEW INCORPORATIONS Delaware Trio Productions, Wi! (Corporation Trust Co.) Aldine Amusement Co, Wilmington, theatrical properties, music halls, $5,000. (Corporation Trust Co. of America.) mington, films, $30,000. New Jersey Englewood Stadium Corporation, Englewood, theater proprietors, amusement enterprises, etc, $100,000, New York Operating Corp, Manhattan, realty and theatrical, $50,000; J. H. Walters, P. M. Stern, L. E. Thompson. (Attorney, M. Goodman, 1564 Broadway.) Theater Owners’ Distributing Corp., hattan, films and photoplays, 1,000 common stock, no par value; P. H. Spiegel (Attorney, T. F. Troadway.) Arteraft Pictures, Manhattan, motion tures, $100,000: E. J. Vanzandt, J. J FE. M. Vonthaden. (Attorney, H. L. Broadway ) Hurd Productions, tures, five 200 Class A Grand Rapids Manshares Rosner, I. MacMabon, 1400 pieHickey, Kiock, 149 Manhattan, motion picperferred stock $100 each, common no par value, 200 Class shares three contributions is a thoroly satisfying production of this immortal tragedy. A genu'n:ly good Shakespcarean production and splendid acting, GORDON WHYTE, MORE NEW PLAY REVIEWS ON PAGE 42 3 common no par value; W. J. Neumann, G. D. Skinner, H. L. Wheeler, Jr. (Attorneys, Masten & Nichols, 49 Wall st.) Producers Management Corp., Manhattan, motion pictures, $20,000; V. Wilson, R. HH. Taylor. O'Connor, 120 Broadway.) Leo Friedman, Manhattan, song writers’ agency, $20,000; L. Friedman, I. Rosenhaus. (Attorney, P. Hart, 1674 Broadway.) Interlocutory Films, Yonkers, $15,000; W. TRennett, H. C. Miner, (Attorney, M. L. Lesser, 566 Madison ave.) Darnold Amusement Company, Manhattan, $5,000; B. and M, J. Wallack, J. Goldberg. (Attorneys, Breitbart & Breitbart, 305 Broadway.) Arcadia Theater Company, operate theaters, $125,000, Yale University Press Film Service, Manhattan, motion pictures, 100 shares common stock no par value; G. P. Day, E. Parks, A. H. Brook. (Attorneys, Larkin, Rathbone & Perry.) Reel Colors, Inc., Manhattan, to deal in motion picture films, $200,000; Geo. A. Canalizo. North Carolina Carolina Consolidated Theater Company, Inc., Raleigh, to build, own and lease and operate theaters and amusement houses, 1,000 shares preferred stock, par value $100 each and 2,000 shares common stock no par value; W. T. M. Van Plancke, F. D. Kudenal and B. M. Mitchell. E. Gatton, M. B. (Attorney, D. B. Manasquan, to amusement enterprises, etc., Texas The Fair of Beaumont, Beaumont, chandise, $100,000: Rave Greenberg, Greenberg and Mrs. Jennie Greenberg. Wyoming Shummamish Valley Fair Association, Rothel, 500; FL W. Peterson, G. E. Ricketts, R. C. Rogers, Geo. Borley, H. J. Mohn, B. Ormbeck, A. Bartelson, N. B. Kallahan and Jessie Brown. merBenjamin _ went ing at the call of the alarm clock and shook their feet to get up circulation.’’ “And then?’ “Well, as I said, we lived on the farm. We worked very hard by day and at night father, who was highly educated and a dreamer, read to us. Our bed-time stories were the works of Shakespeare, read with keen dramatie appreciation. Perhaps those Shakeaspearean readings inculcated in me ¢ ‘ove for dramaties. At any rate, 1 did not like farming. Guess I was lazy. I wanted to read and study, and one fine day I decided that the farmer's life was the life of an ox, a state of being with which I could never be satisfied, so I ran away. I was then fifteen."’ “Did you go on the stage ?’’ we asked eagerly *“‘No, I have never been on the stage. But I went with a medicine show for one summer. Got a lot of fun out of it, but no money. Played the guitar and did a “Later I joined my brother, er, in Denver, Col., and took up carpentry. In three months I had learred what it usually takes three years to learn about and building, but it did much, as my brother's business the panie of 1891. Feeling vacation I monolog. who was a build carpentry not avail me was ruined by the need of a journeyed south, via freight train. Hunger terminated the journey in a land of cattle ranches, where I found a job and a square meal, Spent the summer there punching cattle. It was fine and dandy while the sun shone, but when the weather turned cold I sought a nice warm silver mine in which to work, at Georgetown, Col.’’ (And he never saw a bit o” silver!) Mr. Snyder here reminded Mr. Billings that he had served in the great World War and in the Spanish-American. “*Yes,"’ drawled Mr. Billings, “] roamed afar, not then having the ancher of a wife. I had jungle fever, or typhoid as you call it, in the Spanish-American War and am the only living private among three million privates who into the World War and came out without a military title.’’ “He was with Dorrington’s Scouts for two years, fighting actively most of the time,” supplemented Mr Snyder, adding: ‘Mr. Billings has bad many adtentures, but he is too modest to relate them." When asked bow be happened to be discovered for the role of AbDrabam Lincoln Mr. Billings replied: “For years my physical resemblance to Lincoln caused many to arge me to present myself to the mutivn picture producers, but ! did not entertain the suggestivn 1 felt to impersonate Lincoln except tp @ very wortls fashion was sacrilege. Several offers came my way, but they did not seem to do justice to Lincoln. Finally an old actor then eighty years of age, who had been a@ program boy at Ford’s Theater the night Lincoln was assassinated, begged me to call on the Rockett boys. He told me something about their ideals regarding the Lincoln film and was convinced thas that I would fill the bill as Lincoln. He was so determined that he himself went to the Rockett studio and arranged for an interview. To make a long story short, the Rockett boys suggested a test picture. This, bowever, was deferred for a while because of my wife's illness, but it happened eventually. And it was a failure. The resemblance was good but the action. was too fast. A second test was made, which, thanks to Keirrle, the camera man, who is ap expert on lighting, and Philip E. Rosen, a former camera man, who was directing the picture. was a success.” After a general discussion of the wonderful arrangement of high lights, etc., in the Lincoln film, Mr. Snyder remarked that, altho sew eral actors were considered for the part, none of them could play the role without a considerable amount of makeup which would have detracted from the realism of the film; that Mr. Billings was the only one who could play the young Lincoln without makeup. “The only makeup he required during the making of the film, aside from the application of coloring suitable for studio lights, was a beard,” said Mr. Snyder. ‘He used to come to the studio each morning at seveo o'clock, where the make-up expert spent severai bours building up a beard with smal) tufts of bair."* During the making of the test picture Mr. Billings is said to have walked furward delivering Lincoln's Gettyshurg speech from memory. During the making of the film, and preceding it, Ray Rockett spent as mucb time as possible with Mr. Billings, talking nothing but: Lincoln. Visits were wade to Lincoln's birthplace and later hbaunte, @bere the pictures were actually taken later. Mr. Billings Was thus given a splendid perspective on Lincoln’s life, was already apn open book to him, for. as be says, “Lincoln has been my religion since early boyhood."’ When asked if the rumors to the effect that which he had signed a contract with a New York dramat producer were true, Mr. Billings re plied that such announcements were premature, as he is under contract with the Rockett Brothers, who have prepared for him an international tour of personal appearances. While in New York he appeared at the public schools, much to the delight of the children, who were always reluctant to let him go. » He (Continued om page 258) cet eRe