Variety (January 1920)

26 LEGITIMATE 1 • (Continued from page 19) In love with a man and that her mar- riage to this man is a possibility. This arouses Bill's old love, but then he con- siders him self placed in a position, through her mention of ."a man, where a declaration of bis feelings would be bad taate. Finally Ann retires to her room, discouraged, and BUI to his. - Shortly after, however, young Morti- mer and a friend, out with a couple of show girls, seeks the shelter of the bouse when a blowout cripples their automobile. They believe Bill to be at' the ciub and Ann at her own home. The two show girls become involved in a Jam while In the house and BUI appears. He la starting to upbraid the pair when Ann appears. The scandal is thusly started at good speed. Young Mortimer refuses to believe Bill's explanation, but does consent to get the others away from the nouse and return later . In the meantime Ann tells Bill she Is "ruined"—that is, ruined in reputation. He in his endeavors to-eonsole her be- comes affectionate, although he feels as though he Is guilty in so doing. At this point the funniest situations of the play arise. Ann is inwardly happy, outward- ly on the point of suicide. When young Mortimer returns he still refuSes to be- lieve Bill's explanation, and demands that he marry- his aunt. This Bill de- clares he cannot do because she is en- gaged to another. Olive, who has Bought Ann at the Bruce home in the interval, is shocked by the turn events have . taken and tries, to patch matters up. Bu't young Mortimer refuses to,., be con- viuctjd. ■*■ * inally Ann conveys the Information; that if "a man" Is all that is preventing- Bill from declaring himself he can dis- pense with bis qualms in this respect, aa he Is the man. - Pinal ourtaln. The show seems to be one that will get over. Containing as it ,does the vivacity that risque situations allow, It Is as clean aa a whistle in every line. It is well acted, staged quite good enough in the conventional manner, and any producer would not be to blame for pinning his faith to it as an American farce. If the' theatre-going -publio doesn't support it—drag in again, the bed. Libbey. . LITTLE SIMPLICITY. _. Chicago, Jam 14. Jezirah .'. Dagmar Oakland Zlllah .. .Phyllis Oakland The Sheik of Kudah. .Arthur B. Sprague Joseph Mu r rrtty t.Sli e , e »« Clavelin -Lee Robert! ' Lulu Clavelin. Marjorie Gateson Pierre Lefebre., -Paul £ or< £?i Jack Sylvester i.... .Harry Fender Philip Dorrlngton....... •Henry-Vincent Alan Van Cleeve..Edmund Fltspatr ck Prof. Erasmus Duckworth...Phil Rytoy Irene Mabel Fortier VeronlqueV.".". • .Irene Rowan Morgan Van Cleeve.. .Robert Lee Allen Messenger Boy....... Andrew McDonald Lamplighter • ■ •• ^Wr Swlree Maude McCall.. Fred* ,L-e<mard A Young Officer Frank Moran The cast of this Shubert piece has been radically changed since it left New York. Marjorie Gateson Is featured and Phil Ryley carles the principal comedy part Frieda Leonard, who made her legitimate debut as a shlmmler In the Gaieties, doubles as a flower, girl and a Salvation Army entertainer. «.,„„„_ Miss Gateson is a woman of distinc- tion, though Just how she comes to be billed as a semi-star with a light musi- cal show is puzzling, for she^essays one aingle number and does that bo flatly that it did not draw a hand. Her dancing is leonine and effective.' Her plot con- tributions are dramatic .rather than of musical comedy order in method, and her charms and graces seem,«}0£« » D : plicable to naughty French farce than plain American hoakum. Ryley Is low but immense. He la, as buBy as a flea and spares nothing and no onfe for laughs. Miss Leonard has a choice spot in the last act for a synco- pated number, but the song Is a mediocre effort at such music and Is pitched too low for her clear, sound voice; she dances with heft and punch, though. "Little Simplicity" has been playinsr to an average of $8,000 weekly during it" local three-weeks' run. That la; small money, but even that is wonderful for such a show, and can be accounted for only because of the popularity of the house (La Halle) and the overflow from other theatres. It 1b a poor assembly ot choao comedy, elusive tunes, .common- P lace P costuming and dollar-top Paging. MAMA'TAFFAIRS. Washington, Jan. 14. Likened to a success from every stand- point, "Mamma's Affairs/' the Harvard prize play written by Rachel Barton But- ler, produced by Oliver Morosco, and hav- ing Its first showing at the Shubert Gar- rlck Monday night, was Proclaimed by all the local critics as one of the best comedies presented here in many sea- 80 Frank Moore, of the Post, stated that Old and tried writers would do well to take instruction from this newest author, and that he didn't wonder that producers were rushing to purchase her pen prod- ^The oleverness of the dialog is unusual, it sparkles with humor. The characters are vividly drawn Just like persons la real life. MoroBco has given the piece a par- ticularly brilliant cast and wonderfully well chosen set The cast in fact comes very near to being an all star one, for there Is Robert Edeson, who gives one of the best performances of his very Inter- esting career: Ida St. Leon, remembered from 7 Tolly of the Circus," is simply de- lightful as the Ingenue lead, while Effle Shannon draws an amusing humorous' Blcture of a neurasthenic while Miss :atherlne Kaelred Is unusually amusing. Amelia Bingham spreads sunshine and IS a real treat as the housekeeper. George LaGuere is- really funny as an Idotlq lover, while Little Binie Is splendid as the bell boy. - ,_. The play is slated for a long run In the metropolis. This first effort has really caused a local sensation. ANNA ASCENDS. Boston, Jan, 14. Howard Fk* (known a. ^tO^,, -Bunch" Derry. ''"SSJK/SSS" Allen Sparkes, J£*» M*_*" John Stead........ v^<Sg.flSgg Beauty Tanner t •J :uln £ *|agei Henry 7 Flsk....'..■ • • J&g Hafch Slad Coury 0u8t *a 6 K °FriSd RiZZO. ~TW„th7 R*tts Nellie Van Housen......-Alice Fleming; Miss Bird Virginia Ruppert Anna Ayyobb (known as Anne Adams) A" 0 * »nar For the first time on any »tege, at a single performance at the i j gttt Theatre on the afternoon of Dec SO, "Anna Ascends." a new play,.written by Harry Chapman Ford, and in which Alice Brady is starred, was acted.An audience that contained per0on ^LA eTO ; tees of MIsb Brady and more than an ordinary "number of professionals wit- nessed^ initial and only perforn»nce. While those responsible have not as yet been obliged to designate Just what sort of a play it is, they are spared this trouble, for \he benefit: of those who attended the opening, for it was Just 18 minutes after the curtain that the stamp of melodrama waa placed oni it bv one of those old-fashioned thrilling scenes; a clash between the villain and the hero. And as the show proceeds tnere.are more clashes, and the stamp of the old-time thriller is P« oj fto production for good and all, unless It be completey rewritten. .,.__. A - This simply^means that Anna As- cends" is another one of the ^sort of Plays which have evidently hecome the vogue since the success of "The Thir- teenth Chair" and plays of a similar calibre which have followed. But, In the newest production the lines are de- fended upon wholly to furnish the FbrillsT and in this case the- Personal magnetism and charm of Miss Braay. TheVe "re no tricks; there la, no.my.- terv Mr. Ford has found a new theme, and which is the trials of the young ffiria who come to. our shores from other countries. He finds room in his Play to Point oot that moat of us *£•.- tlveB" are too prone to condemn these glrlJ for their false steps, when In real, ftv they should be aided. He also finds ttfe opportunity to point out that, while millions of us love to rave about our Americanism, there are but a *ew of ub who can sing or even recite in its entirety the national anthem and that most foreigners know it far better than W There are four acts, two of which are really but flllc; The performance could be cut totYc. acts without much 0f M V .ss U Bra#! r^iegave her a wide op- portunlty. As the Syrian girt she fits in nicely and played It to the limit. As to the balance of the cast there is little to be said, with one exeeptlon. That exception ft Gustave RoUand. as proprietor of a small Syrian coffee house. He with his character depletion stood head and shoulders above everybody else. The remainder of the Play*", taken from "Forever After" and another snow in town, did not step put much. They were letter perfect hut in some Instances were miscast. Pe'haps this was so with John Warner as. the hero, H< Whlie the'working out of the idea nuts considerable strain on the audience at times, it does seem that, revamped and polished. "Anna Ascends" will prove a stirring vehicle for Miss Brady. Hooey. RUSSIAN PLAYERS IN DRAMA. Paris, Dec. 22. The authors' co-operative society (be- ing a group of half a dozen playwrights who have furnished necessary funds) which-now runs the Theatre des Arts, with Dorslans as nominal manager, hav- ing'found the first toss-up was not a lucky one, withdrew "Le Moyen Dan- gereux" before Its alloted Innings, and awaiting Curel's "L'Ame en Folio" looked for a substitute outside Its clan. , This make-shift, but announced as the second attempt of the union^ manage- ment was presented Dec. 2, and consists of three numbers: Prlmo, "1+ Comedle des Oblets Perdua* sketch by Mathias Morhardt demonstrating the dangers for a honest person to restore to the gollce a handbag found on the public Ighway. The trouble the finder is put to Is worthy of Courteline. Secundo. "Le Temps est un Bonge," by H. R. Lenormand, first given at Ge- neva and now playing by George PltObff and his Russian troupe Including his wife, Marie Kalff, Ladmilla Pitoetf, Nora Bylvere and Claude Solene. 'Time Is a Dream" must not be confounded with. "Life is a Dream" by Calderon, the Spanish author, and Is more on the lines of Ibsen. It forms a sort of competition for Lugne Poes Theatre Libre, now fea-« turing Ibsen for BiibBcribers. This is the plot: Romeo Gremeso, in a hallucina- tion, has seen a body floating la a neigh* boring large pool, and the face was that of her fiance Nlco, still much alive. But later on he commits suicide, driven to it probably by the gloomy inspiration of Romee. The action passes m Holland and the Dutch are portrayed as fatal- ists. The atmosphere of the piece in six scenes rattled off without an entr'- acte, conveys a creeping feeling down the hack. Those who like these eensa-, tiona can have my share. Lenormand has introduced a green barque oh the pool, which Is understood to sink, and it reminds us of the white horseB in Ibsen's "Rosmeroholm." Tertio. The §rogram terminates with Nosiere's 'Tour e Cadran' in S tableaux, and by this time the audience is also watching the dock. It Is supposed to be the dally exist- ence of a married lady In society, and she Is not painted In glowing colore. She visits her lover, receives him aa a guest at home, in company with her husband, is Jealous but becomes reconciled when she imagines it is only the husband who is unfaithful: she makes a rushed visit to a convent (to visit her daughter), and returns early to her lover's flat,' to discover he is a brute after all, for he la entertaining the actress she thought her husband was courting. This gentle play of Noxiere is supposed to be an object lesson on morality. The actress is certainly more moral than the wife, which is not saying much. Such Is the show presented at the Theatre des Arts, awaiting a supposed chef d'oeuvre. ZCendrstf. IL ETAIT Up?PETIT "HOME." Paris, Dec 27. Sacha Qultry inaugurated the Theatre ' des Mat hurl na with a comedy by Henri Duvernols, which Is an amusing sketch by a popular novelist. "It Was a Little Home 1 ' is an appropriate title that caused curiosity prior to the production. " A rleh middle-aged man has a wife and a mistress (that goes without say- ing in Paris). But he had the curious idea of Installing them in identically the same manner; whatever he gave to his legal spouse he provided for "the other one." Thus the furniture was the same, even to the flower pots. Excellent economy for stage manage- ment In these days of trouble, with scene shifters. The wife wished to ob- tain a duplicate of a piece of furniture, and by the innocent indiscretion of » tradesman she learned a certain woman had the exact copy. She called there and collapsed on finding a copy of her own home. After a quasl-falntlng fit she talks the matter over while taking a cup of tea. with the owner and dis- covers her huaband is so fond of home life he has two. S. Monsieur is heard in the anti-room and the women exit He enters and set- tles in his favorite chair for forty winks, first giving an order to the maid, Marie. His wife has also a maid called Marie who has come with her to carry away the piece of furniture, and this second girl is sent back Instead of the first Monsieur rubs his eyes and believes himself at bis legitimate home Then the mistress enters and leaves then the wife, until the poor devil is naif mad. It sounds like a good farce, but It is . written In excellent comedy style There is an explanation and the wife hustles away her husband, instead of the fur- niture she expected to purchase, while the mistress accepts consolation with a friend of the husband. Well played by the company already reported In cable message to Varivtt. Kcndrew, LA MAIS0N~CERNEE. Paris, Dec. 28. - The Theatre Sarah Bernhardt produced the new work "La Malson Cernee" (The Beselged House), piece In 4 acta, elgned by Pierre Frondaie. the author of "Mont- - mart re." etc. It Is a' sensational kind of work, and sounds rather like a movie scenario. Perhaps It may be so adopted later. Lieutenant Gordon (Tonnel) 1b an of- ficer serving in Palestine under Colonel Ward (Louis Gauthler). He and Lady Ward, the colonel's wife, are mutually In love, but they struggle against their passion, for Gordon respects his chief. He Is entrusted with a special mission and before leaving the camp Lady Ward (Mils. Michelle) Is anxious to wish him good-bye and he enters her home.' A patrol under the orders of Major Davis (Decoeur), who bats the young, hand- some lieutenant, recognises him as he is * being let into Mrs. Ward's house by a Turkish woman servmnt who Is a sort of a ipy. - The major Justly imagines there Is treachery about and has the house sur- rounded (hence the title) so the Uaatan- ant is unable to get away. He cannot fulfil his mission, so that it to Lady Ward's own brother who gets the Job. His involuntary desertion, his apparent deception towards the major, who had been like a father to him, causes Gordon to project suicide. He to prevented and arrested for desertion, whereupon to save the lady's honor he accuses him- self of having broken into the home and other unmanly actions. Colonel Ward, sick at heart, ordera him to be shot, but he is saved by Lady Ward, who tells the truth, confessing it was she who bad called him to her Bide. The young lieu-' tenant is proved innocent and the film (I mean the play) ends happily by the colonel being wounded in battle, ""'ting the lovers before he dies. It is well acted, but Mile. Michelle is extremely nervous. It is well mounted and will attract all the tradespeople of the district a long run being anticipated. Maurice Bernhardt, administrator of the theatre, can now have a short rest be* tore producing another work, perhaps .more worthy of this temple of the drama, where we were wont to see his talented mother. Xsaiarsw. MAL1K0K0, R01 NEGRL Paris, Deo. 12, * The Theatre du Chatelet continues its run of "Round the World in 80 Days," but under another title, aa above. This trip compiled by MouesySon and nicely mounted by Fontaines Will attract the youngsters during Christmas and prob- ably run for the rest of the reason. Not that there Is anything particularly bril- liant about-it, except the scenery, and the authors certainly will not suffer from brain fever as a result An American heiress gets work as a typist so as to be certain she to loved for herself alone and finally marries the fellow she prefers. The same old story we have seen at the Theatre des Varletea last summer. Another girl, poor and plain-looking, who has a mania for traveling, is taken for the heiress by a fortune hunter and naturally pursues her around the globe; passing under the ISlffel Tower to Alsace. Egypt and the pyramid a to Africa and the kingdom of King Malikoko, an anthropbphage, then back to south of France, where too tote he discovers his mistake. " Much is expected from the Egyptian ballet inspired from "Excelsior/ and a' Jazs dance among the colored gentlemen; the tableaux which brings down' the house is that depicting the entry of the French into Strasbourg. The principals have not much to do, but Mile. Capaxxa as the. plain-looking pseudo-heiress is amusing. The comedy-Is threadbare. The biggest laugh is when the negro king examines his white prisoners to make a meal off the plumpest. How- ever, the ensuing ballet to charming, a black-white-gold effect being notewor- thy. But really, I do not sea where the author comes In; yet somebody must sign the bill so as to draw the 10 per cent royalty from the Society of Au- thors. Unfortunately, when I sign a bill it means something to pay out. But nothing succeeds like success and Mouezy.-Eon has had a fairly good run of luck, though I cannot compliment him on his risque operetta, "La Liaison Dangereuse," at the Theatre ssssssssTi VIL - But I do compliment if. Fontaine's unknown workers who have produces the big Chatelet show for the young People. . atoseVww. CHASSE A L'UOMME. Paris, Dec 17. Maurice Dbnhay presented his latest work at the Theatre, des Varletea on Dec. 24. This 3-act comedy, suitably mounted by Max Maury, demonatrates the. difficulty of a middle class family to find a husband for two daughters, and as a side situation the impossibility of getting suitable domestic servants. The family to composed ot Mr. Friol- ley, a good sort of feUow, his wife who is continually servant-hunting, two daughters secretly man hunting, and a eon still In tbe army. The latter comes home on furlough, bringing a demobil- ized friend, Philip. He has been a hero and has all grades of medato The rival sisters at once start out to win. thu suitable husband. »•«#*.•«*• Friolley belps his wife to seek a par- lor maid, and engages one that has taken hie eye. He courts her and she is about to let the maBter kiss her when the guest of the home, the desired Philip, pays attention to the girL She considers this more honest, particularly when Philip declares he is throwing ub his profession of attorney and is going to earn a fortune as a chauffeur. The soubret Is also holder of a diploma from a law school but has found sh* can get on better in life as a domeatli servant The couple are evidently Intended for one another, and they leave the house arm-in-arm, under the very noses of the middle-class family. " It forms an amusing comedy of mod- ern habits and should have a long run.