Variety (September 1921)

■y.'. --WW *■ "^?SP55" TT FOREIGN REVIEWS ' CHAUVE80URIS I<<)D(ion, Sopr. 7. Ttif <'<»iii|uuiy of the Theatre de la rh;i;iv«'.SouriK (tht' Hat Theatre. Mo«- oo\* » iiri* Mkriv to follow their uxw- <Tss III I'ari'' oy pariCin^ 'im tV^^Ji^ff^T Cinux house for the prruxl of their i>(.iy ill Ix)ImIoii. IcuoraiK'e of the Kiissiaii lani;iia;;o doen not matter to ti>.> aiKiieiicr. All that is re(|uired i:. a lovr :iii(l apprecritioii for the be:iiitifiil. iho artistic. au«l the gro- te^(;in'. Kv«'rv i'l'iii of the long |»ro. t;i.-i'ii is a iiKistrrpierr in iiiiiiiature. Nikifa It.'iliolT, "Founder and Direc- tor- of the Theatre «le la i'hauvc- Soiiris add Sta^e Autocrat"* is the lincst thinK amon^ many ^ne thinKH, .for if is lie who. cotiiing before the ■■(al)s'' to announce eacli item, ruth- lessly murders the Anf;Io-Saxon lang- ii;i;:«s while a delij{hted audience Ri:i-;jlrs joyously at the slaughter. How ever-, lie promises that before the »<e:l^-<^M i< over he will "speak the Winds more betl<'r than your veri jieat poel, Sha-hes_peare." Balieff IS an inunense attraction with a huge fac( in which are net two Hurpriseil \\i(]i' open eyes and a gi'neral air of iiiijt) cm*" but we are apt to wonder l.w.v much of his ignoranee of the Kn;;iish lan;;uage i.s assumed and how nni.li is riever showmaDHhip. Buf. whichever it is. there is no doubt that London ha.s taken him to her heart. Amon^ the best thingK in tb^ yery v.Tic«l jtrogram is "The Parade of Wooden Soldiers." This is delight- ful ;ind full of humor—just a file of wooieu soldiers right out of a box. 'commanded by a toy officer with a toy sword, ami headed by a wooden dru:iimer. Their drill is a perfect ox- am[>le,of nie<-hanical movement and tl:e c'evrnrss of the act well meriteil llie insistent en<'ore for the whole thin;;. "The Sudden Death «f a Morse, or the (ireatness of the Uus. sian Soul" is a tense drama playe<l ill about three minutes. A young wife r!oj»es with her lover, is pursued by her irate elderly husband, the horse is whipped up to greater speed but at last falls dead: then the husband catches them. He would reward the occhman but that worthy refuses the iiioney (KaliefT had previously told cs that the eoachntan knew the exact value of the Kussia rouble these days), saying that he is only too p!ei!s<Ml at having helped in the cause of virtue. "The Black Hussars' is a magnifieient vocal number with Val- viteh as the soloist; this also had to be repeate<l in its entirety. "Katinka" is a dance number with a story told in song, grotesque to a degree it also had to be re|>eated. "A Night at Yard" shows night life in a famous Moscow restaurant in 184<). lustru- mental musi<* is interspersed with Kood. well-balanced glee singing. Con- sidering the date, however, it was ijillier Knrr)risin;j to see one of the Indies eoiue down to the footli^ht and give a little dance which was as near the "shimmy" as rould be. "La (irande Opera Ita'iana" is an excel, lent burlcHqiie «»f Italian opera by living marionettes. The performance closes with the "Chorus of the Zaiteflf Brothers" in which the was- ire's of Afoscow make merry in :i low tavern. The singing in this number was remarkably fine. Many other items are devoted to song arid dance and the high level of artistic per- fe<tion is maintained in whatever the company do. The staging is simple bur is also often extremely beautiful. •fWi. thing al<nie jarreTT.'* T»iiee or twice a member of the company trosrTil in front of the curtain made up as Charlie Chaplin —the imitation was bad and LondtMi has h.id tpiiie enough of the film conictlian in every day F)«pcrs for days past. "Cliauve- Sonris" i.s one of those nr,ve| shows which are almost indeserihahle, they want to he seen to bf> .)elieve<| anil atM"C(iated. and only |,y seeing this c:in jinv reHJ iilea of ifs vaTue as wakes and thinks he's a knight er. rant and a little cross-talk of the usual kind on such ocnisions Icada to an embrace which awakens him and he finds himself on his door-step with i a frowsy headed denizen of the dark one an entertainment he obta'ne«I. Gore. RING UP lyondon. Sept. .*?. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery but it is not alwavs the best i.tdicy. IIikI K. Lewis Waller and his eorifreres been less sincere in their flattery and ki'cner in their sear«li for novelty and orijfinality "Km;: Ip' uj.ii'd linve hiid a far greater rliance of siiecess. Trom the very opfiiin? number the influence of "The Co < Jptiiiiists ' is apparent and as item ;ifier item in this enterlain. inenr. fMlsely ;innr)unce<| as a revue, appeared tliis influen. e became ever more pereeptible. In the opening chr»rus the roiiipimy sing of what good advertisements ijiaf are for tliem- selves. a <o!iipIiii,.iit t«) the Co-Optim- ist boast that they ar*- the greatest things on earth. This is followed by a skit. ' riaygocrs.' which is some- what devoid of humor and would he •icarcely worth noticing if it were not for the admirable study of a pejipery oUI general by Spencer Trevor, anil some clever "drunken swell" work bv Kric Il'ore. "The Sleeping Beauty" might be much better but even as It is it is one of the best things in the show. In this Kric Bi«Me carries on with his drunken swell study ami dreams that lu hos found a beautiful en- ibantcd princess in his bed. She Board of Waste*' is an excellent, if uDorigioal number— w^'h had these lyrical gibes at governmental depart- ments in revues for jeara and years and years. In this Kric Ulore. as- sisted by the chorus but not greatly assisted. scores heavily. Cicely (V>urtneidge puts "On the Boad to L. S. D." itver well but her imitations of various people walking to work are somewhat overdone and certainly not worthy of this clever artist. Phyllis Dare contributes an excellent dance number assiste<l by the male members of the company. "I want to Take Yon About With Me.' Marie Blanche and Ivy St. Helier do well in music Hits and l*ieces but have to use ^one of I^addie ClilTs negro melodies (from the "Co.Opt.") and Marie Blanche hands out a bou- quet to Phyllis Monkman by copying her methods of sprawling about on the piano top while staging a number —otherwise this is an exceptionally good first-class vaudeville item. "Revolution" is a tense little French drama of the usual wickeil nobleman, the pure peasant girl, and the venge- ful mistress type, which falls to pieces when the hero misses his cue and we discover it is only a dress rehearsal. The hero is discovered in and ar. gues from the front of the house as Dave Burnaby does in the **Co-Op- Ist.s" when he loses his now famous shilling. The Co-opt. "gag." however, has the advantage of being funny. "Nut Brown Hair*' is a burlesque on the one-time popular vaudeville scene, "with effects." It finishes with a grand "spectacular** effect which although a thousand times more elabo. rate than Tjiddie ClifTs stunt does not reach the humor of "Camden Town" by the breadth of Greater Ix)n- don. "Id Just Uke to Mentiop'* is a ccapital number well rendered bv Phyllis Dore and Jack Hulbert—the gentleman having an opportunity to show his talent as a whistler. The Trick Brothers, one of the best things of the evening, introduces Jack Hulbert and <'ioely Courtneidge as tr "double turn'* of the immacu- late "Johnny" order in song. dan<'e and patter. At the end of this item Hulbert does n clever slaircus» dance. "Dare We Meet Again" is well ren- dered by • Phyllis Dare. and~ Marie Blanche scores in a ballad sung by the bedside of a sleeping child. "The Infernal Triangles" show us the problem play A.—how it is played at the St. James theatr<*—a weak bur- IcMpie this—and B. the real thing in suburbia. The suburban half is exc«'l1ent comedy brillinntly handled by Kric Blore ami Marie Blanche. The finale to the whole performani'e seems somewhat undecided and prin- cipally consists of the rompany fol- lowing each other about the stage after the fashion of children play- ing at "trailing" after each member has sung the chorus of his or her fa- vorite number. The production is very much more elaborate than thst of the "Co-Optimists" who worry neith- er about dresses or sieneiry. ]n "King Tp'* some of the ««res.ses are very elaborate and beautiful while there are some excellent sets and much attention has been paid to properties and furniture. The com- r:JT:y. s^-.'J—;:^.> -thr 4 ^ . / , ! .*»i rr: . .-t.y^:-!, -r.»>' tempt to infuse the spirit of intimacy and loving comradeship into their work by calling each other by their <'liristian names but It rings any- thing bift true, and the bonhomie of the late tenants of the Koyaltv. who are now packing the i'alace. is abso. lutely missing. The smiles ar«' the stereoty|»ed ones of the stage, the asides give the impression of being in "the book." of having been care- fully i>roduced. "Bing I'p ' is by Eric Blore. Aus tin Melford. and Inglis Ahlen and :i malhematical survey of the pro- gram gives ihe proportion of author- ship as follows: -Kric Blore. 8 num. hers: Austin Melford, 3; InrliH Allen. 1. * Jack Hulbert and Harold Simp.son. who lire not grade<l among the^ show's architects, also have one to their <redir. The production ita the work of Harry Crattau. The music by Ivy St. Helier is tuneful. At odtl nnmients the stage is dressed by a handful of chorus ladies built on a very shapely <|esign. Their sh.ipeliness seems to be the excuse for their presence. Most of the work is on the shoulders of Kric Blore who is the mainstay of the show. Seldom has such a collection of well-known and popular luunes been seen on any I»rogram with such sad results. Of • ourse. "Hing Cp" may be a bur- lesque of the "Co-Optimists," but as It. is the i)rodiicerM had better borrow the (Ompany from the Pal- ace and learn how it is done. Kven then we cannot conscientiously pre- duf any great success for "King TTp" and unless the show greatly alters •jing ilown ' will soon be heard. Gore. the CHRISTOPHER SLY Ix>ndon, Aug. ."W). This adaotation bv H. B. Cotterill of an Italian play bj OaofnccUol Forsani waa onffinally seen at the Prince*8, Manchester, on Aagntt 28, Its lA>ndon prodaction taking place the following week when a packed house at the Nero unanimously en- dorsed the antbusiastic verdict of Cottonopolis. The play grips through- out. Starting with a boisterous prac. tical joke it leads up through varying and well-deflned emotions to grim tragedy. All the ingredients of his- iu*uations, ta^ema, roystering Dravon, arrogant nobleniea, and fair but frail ladles. All these blended skilfully make a play which is far above the average, and one which gives the lie direct to the wiseheads who querulous- ly declare that historical romance is as dead as Queen Anne. A |)arty of strolling players are having a wild time in a tavern when they are joined by Dolly, the Barl's mistress, who has grown tire<I of her false posi- tion and the artificialities with which she is surrounded. The Earl follows with the intention of teaching her that disobedience to his orders is danger, ous but she cajoles him into remain- ing and joining in the general rowdy- ism. To the party comes Christopher Sly, a Grifoire-like wastrel, poet, ballad monger, dreimer, and drunk- ard. He is persuaded to recite, also to play the buffoon by assuming the part of a chained t>ear. He goes ex. ceedingly well with his audience and emboldened by his success makes a bet that he will quaff a flagon of strong wine in a few seconds. He wins his bet but falls over in a state of drunken insensibility. The E2arl has taken a fancy to his strange entertainment and orders him to be taken to the castle ami iHit to bed to sleep his potations off. Then he has a bright idea, the plot of a great practical joke. Quickly the stage is set, the sycophantic courtiers learn their parts, and when Sly wakes he finds himself fawn«^ on and is given to understand that he is a great lord. Bly at first thinks it is one of his wonderful dreams but the cour- tiers persuade him that it is reality. That he has been mad for many years, moreover he has u beautiful and loving w*ife who even then is praying for his recovery. Eventually the nnforunute man begins to believe and Dolly is brought forward as his wife. A pa- thetic love scene follows but when they are about to embrace the Knrl steps in—after all. Dolly is his prop- erty and the pace is getting too rapid. Sly is soon brutally disillusioned but Dolly shows her disgust at the trick —for she has at Inst experienced a love which has purity for its founda- tion. S'y is stripped of his fine rai. menf. his rags are hurled back to him, and he is thrust into a cellar where he can drink all he wants, while u purse of gold is scornfully given him as recompense and payment for the fun he has given the court. In a long soliloquy—a solilo<juy which is much too long and which drags at times—he reealls his happy dreams and his all too brief spell of happiness with the woman to whom he Iras given all that is best in his being. At last in desperation he opens an- artery with a pie<'e of broken glass. But before he bleeds to death she comes to him to beseech his for- giveness and it is with his head U|H)n her breast that he breathes his last. "Christopher Sly" is practically a one- part play and that part Lang's. His pel formauce is exceptionaPy fine and a never over-a<'ted character study. During the action of the |day lie touches on every string known to hu- man emotion and his handling of the solilo<piy in the last act. is a triumph of elorution. Florence Saunders .-''.f*.*)Xril-.{Ljfc.'<L.su2c<::>.s.^4<sj[Iie courtesan Dolly, rising to great heights of pJithos ill the final scene when the wanton ill her is strangle<| by the true woman. TIh' twenty.seven other parts in the cast were each and ev»'ry one playei by an exeeptionally strr)nK coin|Niny. every member of which worked hard for sueeess. "(*hristopher Sly" was re<'eived with great enthusiasm and shoiiM fill the theatre for many months to come. Gorc ARTISTS' FOR ITM » Lett$r$ to ik$ Forum ikovid not exceed 150 words. They mu$i ho tigned by ike writer and not duplicated fat- any other paper. Paris, Sept 2. Editor Variety: Rending Variety of Aug. 6. 11)21, that the "Britiah Fednation Bars are Ml LA PRISONNIERE Paris, Sept. 10. A four-act kinema scenario by Daniel Kiche. adopted from the book of .1. II. Bosny. courageously mounted during .\ugust at the (hleon. *rhough difficult to adequately turn a novel into a stage play the author has done us well as could be expected. A painter. .Tean. travelling in Italy with his friend, Cormieres, falls in love with Desolina, wife of Giovanni, the brigand. The venturesome Jean persuades (he woman to flee with him. in sp'te of the excellent advice of his companion who philosophically contends it is fooli^ih to seek trouble by fishing in other ])eople's waters. But Jean, having saved a smuggler from arrest, i<i assisted by that otherwise honest individual, and all would run smoothly if a jealous girl had not warned the husband. The eloping couple are discovered and there is a wrestling match; to save the young man the brigands wife promises to remain with the jealous Giovanni, and she is therefore a pri.-'oner, as we understand from the title. ritimately her husband is killed and she is free to rejoin her young lover, though fearing the vendetta of her family until a revengea]l>le hus- band is drowned, thus leaving them in peace. ThcreiiDon Jean, having secured bis •ben enemies," we leei tact in joa tSce to ourselves and to our brother and sister perfonnen !• state our case. We were bom in Berlin, Oermauj, our father being Ruaalan. We have never had German papers of any de- scription, nor have we ever beev citizens of Germany, or the Germai. Rmpire, and we are prepared and willing immediately upon our return, to America tp lay before Variety all and every proof of these statements, also that we have never applied in any other country than the United States 'of America for citisensbip. We^made our first application for papers in the U. 8. (Baltimore, Mary- land) in October, 1004, and our wit- ness at the time is at present a very prominent hiwyer in New York. Owing to our traveltng the American provinces and in Ehirope, we could not follow up our second and final application for papers at the speci- fied period, and in Baltimore, so we made a further application In Stp- tember. 1914s and since this time we have been citizens of the Unite<l States of America. We consider the action of the Brit- ish V. A. P. very drastic because not only are we American citir.ens. but we have never been German. A better proof of this is the fact th.it in pre-war days no Russian subject could become a German citizen. We have cousins in Germany who were born there, and who have never left Berlin ftheir fother being Rus- •anK and nt the outbreak of war were con^it^ereil and treated ss alien enemies, and who were comnelled ^^^ register .is such, and this twice i^ailv (1 bnve the r>roof In mv possesvinnl. We are due to land in \e<v Yoi-k Oct. 7. The mnnnrers and ourcflves «'<'re threitenefl bv the people in ch.irge at the V. A. F. that shon'd w«^ open ?n Kncland thev would give in- strnctions to all unions nnd to all RoMiers' and rnliors' institution's to bov*»ott any hall in which we shoui% perform. This treatment has been mete<1 out to two Americans who liove never h*»en Germnn«» sml who married two Kngli«b girls (Sisters Swanson). and we sin^erelv hope that no olh^r Amer'^'an performers will ever have to suffer In the same manner, becan^r m ,\merien we have a veiv fair way of treating peop'-^ ^' nM n«>t''^'>v. Hlqolrtio Brox. New York. Sept. f). Editor Variety: If n slang phrase becomes popular off the stage, and is suddenly taken r.ff the streets and put on the stage, and routiueil in s monolog, shouldn't the actor who had brains encngh to commercialize this phrase, 'o,; jriven the priority claim en same. an«* be nrotectcd ogainst pilferers? \Vhy didn't the rest of them think of it before they heard it use<l on »l.'- stiige? Well. I suppose thev never tliought of If. That's just it. ihcy never thought. Tliey let the other fellow do the thinking, and it is f\ic\\ an easy matter to "Uike" those thoughts, but it burns a fellow np to think that they get away with it.. First one does it, then the next fellov does it, and so on. till the ex- ires>ion bcv-oraes so common, the l»riority claimant decides to release It ♦o the rest of the profession, the hon- •»-t boys, who did not help them- selves to it. I refer to the liLe "Benntiful but dumb." 1 have used it for years In my talk about the girls. Neal R. O'Hara. the humorist of the New York World and Boston Post, whom I'll stake my professional ca- reer is original and honest, wrote this line in a routine for me, and with his permission I now release this line to the profession. This will interest Mel Klee, et aL Since he lifted this line, there have been doaens of others and I can't be l^otbered tracing them all. Mr 0*Hara*s brain is not limited to one wsrr ^ osM of one line won't hurt either BIr. OUara or myself. I buy my ma- terial and it aeema a shame there are so many intentional pilferers of other men's bread and butter. Billy Oleason, New York, Sept. 3. Editor Variety: Have always deemed any contro- versial retorts to your criticisms foolish and unneeess.iry. but the criticism in your paper of I^inc an«l Freeman impells me to write. In reviewing Lane and Freeman, Variety said, '*The opening brings forth the familiar bit of the splitting of the act," etc. The act reviewed has been contin- uously playing for three years, ^nt\ it is not surprising the bit is familitr. Reviewed as a new act. it has been ftlayed for the past three yejirn by Tjme and Plant. T^ne and Smith, and is now being played by Lane and Freeman. Andy Rice. New York, Sept. 18. Editor Variety: In hit review of the State. New York, first half last week. Ja«k I^ait writes the first few minutes of our set are composed of Briscoe nnd Rangh's and the Barrs' material. We have used the lines and business of this part of the act for many seaoons and have worked on the same bill with Briscoe and Raugh several times. The Barrs we have never seen. Should these sets read or hear of Mr. Loit's statement and are suffi- ciently interested, we will willingly submit to them a complete descrip- tion of the material in question with proof as to the length of t m«> we have use<l it and think we «an satisfy them that Mr. I«ait is mistaken. Mail addressed to 412 I.ioew Annex Bldg. will reach us. Fiske and Fallon. New York, Sept. IC. Editor Variety: In Variety today I note in your r'f«"-onee to .'•'•. Munroe'v production of "The Fan," the implication that those members of the cast who are not associatoil w'th the Actors' Fi- delity Ix'ague have left th" Kijuity Association to join the cast of this production. Speaking for myself only, this is not quite exact. I have not been a member of Ronity since the s|)ring of 1010, at which time I withdrew from that organ'zation for the simple rea- son—a mere exercise of personal privilege—that I preferred not to be a member of nnv kind of <lub of association, social, religions, political, commercial or professional. This is wholly a matter of personal preYerence. without ani:nns or preju- dice of any sort. Harold IlraJon. Editor Variety: In Variety's review of P.. A. Holfe's act I notice a particul r reference made to the dancer appearing i;i it doing an "exact flawlrsM iinitaliou" of my specialty dance "unannoum'cd'' thanks to your critic'** consMeraie cynical humor, and would like very much to know the said l:»d.\'< name. and, if possible, could you in some way make public my npi>eal to the in- justice being done through your |>er- sonal columns? I have never seen the vonng lady appear in this revue, but feel sure that since she has been so consistent- ly flawless in my number she should at leost be considerate enough to give credit to one who has made a study since childhoo<l upon the grace, cho- regraphy and pantomimic art of this one particular numbeiu Pearl Rega}/. desire begins to realize he is mixed with an unworthy class; he gives the cold shoulder to his smuggler friend and would do likewise to Desolina, but she is so distressed at the idea of separation that his heart melts again and he decides to Uke her to Paris. Other episodes might be added, but here the atory ends. The acting is not quite up to the mark. It is quite a sensational show for the O d^D. Een drew. A coroner's jury In Kansas City this week decided that Hade "Ti- fer" Gaulding, who died last week following a six round bout, died from over exertion, and not from any injury received In the ring. The verdict cleared Joseph Woolf. who was Gaulding's opponent. K.> A. Bnright, county attorney, stated after the verdict had been returned that he would investigate further and it is possible thot prosecutions win be brought against those who promoted the affair and permitted the fighter to enter the ring ia poor physical condition. The officials of^the American TiC- gion Athletic Club, who conducted the bout have been notified to np- pear before the county attorney and five their stories.