Variety (October 1921)

M n> LEGITIMATE Friday, October 14. 1921 BROADWAY REVIEWS nrkMRA ini QON .Rtunr. m^ romlr ni'mt>pr, "Bar- D\JWIDKJ JV/l-iOV-ri^ l^^j, ^^f Seville,' so llrUled the house i:xtravaBiniy.i«. «liaiopuc ami lyrJfH ; that Uxy wanted more of tt^ Ihaii by Harold AtUiidRe; Keore by Slf<- mund RomberK", dances HtaKod by Allan K. Foator; sct'nes by Watson liHrralt; staged by J. C. Hoffman, under direction of J. J. Shubcrt. Cast: Al Jolson, Franklyn A. Ba- tlo Vera Bayles Cole, Frank Holmes. Itussell Mack. Mildred Keatn, For- rest Huff, Gladya Caldwell. >rcd Hall, vritzi von Busing. Grace Kec- Hhon, Janet Adair. Harry Turpln. Krnest Young. Jack Kearns Irene and Bernice Hart. Janette Dietrich. Frank Bernard, Dora Duby, Berteo Beaumont. Vivien Oakland, bam Critcherson. Al Jolson brought "Bombo" to the new Jolson theatre Oct. 6. Actually the Shuberts produced It. Al says lie has a piece of it and explained it was not his Idea to charge 111 for the premiere, but that J. J. Shu- bert wanted to pay for the show and th« house on the first nights takings. It was to have been a "Winter Garden extravaganza. When the Garden was switched Into vaudeville the Shuberts* newest dra- matic temple was dedicated with Jolson, the theatre's name at the name time taking that of the star instead of retaining the first plan- :ned title of the Imperial. The Jolson Is a long block east- ward of Columbus circle, being an outrider from th« theatre zone yet easily enough reached, via subway, Htreet car or taxi (Seventh avenue and C9th street). II was the site of a stable and riding academy, a fact facetiously brought to attention bv the lanes of boxes, which abut either side all the way back and re- call the possible former location of horse stalls. In size it rates with the largest of legitimate Jiouses. seating around 1,800. The plan Is akin the seating Idea In big picture houses only two floors. The far- reaching balcony appears to hold as many seats as the lower floor. Lib- (Tal space between rows makes for (omfort, but the crowded condition of the boxes on the first night ;troused some irritation. Decora- lively the house has the appearance of richness. There Is a show of pol- ished marble, once In the Knicker- bocker hotel, which when disman- tled provided a whole marble mine for the embossing of the building .Shubert theatres. Jolson Is the show at the Jolson. That was expected and the first nighters reveled with him and at him. "Bombo" as a sho'w was not no to expectations. The same au- thors who tooled "Slnbad" for the scintillaiing Al labored again to repeat. In doing so they slipped Into the "Sinbad" groove and didn't pet out of it. At /vtlantic City, Avhere the show opened first, the at- mosphere was so alike that "Bombo" (the name of the burnt cork serv- ant to Christopher Columbus) wa» r»-ferred to on the stage as "Inbad" (Jolson's programmed role In "Sin- Tlere are too many scenes aboard ship. Mor^t of the scenes are paint- ed therefore. More important, how- ever, is the failure to give Jolson comedy support. There are no come- ilians but Jolson, and it is hard to Ix'lieve that it was his suRKestion. though It ifi a tenet the star e^.n <arry any fhovr ho wants to. The I window of tribute that passed over there was. Tliai brought the famed Jolson line "you ain't heard nothing yet.' lAHiis Silv<rs Is eald to have contributed "Showers." "Bombo" got Its real start with the third programmed number. "The Horso Trot," led by Gladys Cald- well, and more aptly described as the pony trot. It looked like Allan Foster's best bit of directing, and is a corking good novelty. There were three tets of four girls, each forming a team, "driven" by a "coachman." The sets arc white, brown and black, the girls being plumed and resembling Shetlands going through their prances. The number drew extra encores and turned out the blue ribbon dance of the evening. An Indian number early In the second act was the biggest flash. The song was "Wetona," led by William Moore and Vera Bayles Cole. The chorus In lavish display pictured a veri- table forest of colored ostrich plumes. In a palace scene in the first act the costume display was brilliant and Interesting. Some of the show girls as butterflies sported union suit tights, with no trace of trunks. There is a line by Forrest Huff to "Bombo," "On to the palace," with Jolson winning a great flrst night laugh with the reply, "Don't, talk about tlie Palace while the Shuberts arc in vaudeville." The Indian scene Is the culmination of Columbus' discovery of San Salvti- dor. The explorer In despair of the disappearance of Bombo Is re- lieved to see the "boy" stroll in with the Indian chief himself. Bombo offers to trade a pair of scissors for Brooklyn and gives the Indian the privilege of cutting out Flatbush. Frank Bernard came to the fore with his dancing. He Is a master of the split, the work at times being contortlonlstic and almost sensa- tional. Berteo Beaumont following him was almost wasted. Miss Beaumont In the supposed trap- pings of a Moorish Dervish could pack her CQ^tume in a pocketbook. Spotted anywhere else she would have surely cohio through. Ber- nard, with two girls aiding, again pleased. One of th2 trio is Jeanctte Dietrich, who a season ago was a chorister, and attracted so much at- tention In the line she Is now doing specialty dancing. Rlanna. who looked like an Indian maiden, frisked about all too shortly. Irene and Berftlce Heart entranced t arly and along the lines of the Duncans harmonized prettily enough. On their second try the youthful sisters were not so successful, the lyric not being heard. .Linet Adair was best with "I'm Glad I'm Spanish." Her characterization of Mrs. Murphy, alias Mona Tessa, a mystic, easily topped the feminine bits. Russell Mack and Mildred Keats had num- bers, while Cortez and Peggy, one of the Garden fixtures in the show, had two specialty dances, one saved for the finale. Vivien looked cork- ing as "Bombos" gal. a "high- brow," but had no numbers. When Jolson flrst appeared the sustained welcome brought tears to his eyes and he dabbed at them with his gloved fingers. It was his work, his songs, his personality that carried "Bombo" along. The florist of Wagner's "Lohengrin" Oct. 7. It is part of the performance, and Its use passed without notice. At this showi'.R Henry Hadley. aa a vlslt- ini; conductor, had charge of the or- chestra, his whole work being char- acterized by the competence and finish the public Is accustomed to expect from him. What Mr. Had- ley lacks Is not mastery of his trade, if one may call It that, with union labor Invading musical circles, but Inspiration. No wild gusto, no self-forgetfulness lifts him to heights; and this fault of his came doubly to the fore the other evening as he tried to manage an Inade- quately drilled chorus. Among the principals Anna Fitzlu showed marked improvement over previous seasons. Eleanora de CIs- neros, who started her career In this country down there with Hammer- stein, was majestic as Ortrud, while Romeo Boscaccl as Lohengrin sang Intelligently, though his voice is light for the role. Graham Marr overtopped the others vocally, but sang In English Instead of Italian. The scenery was Impressive. What seemed principally needed was ensemble drill; but this should out of a season which has been nib come. Lced. A BILL OF DIVORCE- MENT " . THE WREN K.7, ^"A'"'.'':;;;"*"™^*^,!"^,^?^.' ''»pn o,., Grav Monlith Mr. Charles Waldron ^>". ** rechart reconciled to her leaving him. So there Is a conflict of sympathies and nobody Is fully pleased with th« Ft» suit, the less BO since the vigoroui young girl, with more life to live than any of the others is the goat for the Incredible and complex go- ings on. Janet Beecher plays the mother. A romantic leading woman who a few years back thrilled American theatregoers, she has complacently fallen Into mother roles resting on Christian conscience rather than on romance and Are for impressiveness. She, like the girl in the play, seems to be sacrlflclng herself needlessly. The role Is not up to many she has played and is still capable of play- ing, and still she doesn't do it Jus- tice In the playing. Katharine Cor- nell, the ingenue, is easily the star of the company, displaying gusto and spirit and charm. Though the premiere audience was wildly enthusiastic. It seems dubious that this unconvincing, not directly appealing, disappointing and intri- cate combination of unimportant emotlona and foreign problems should drag a resounding success bllng but 2'bgerly at many more penetrating and more attractive theatrical tidbits. The piece Is In three acts, staged In one simple Interior set. I.tiit. Kit Pumphroy ►.Mr. John Astlev Hilary Falrflcld Mr. Allan Pollocic Dr. Allott Mr. Arnold Lucy The Rev. ChrUtopher Tumphrey Mr. Fred Graham The inside on this presentation is that Allan Pollock, who was a well-known character man In Amer- ica before the war, enlisted in the English army early In the affray with Germany. He was frightfully wounded and lay In a hospital for many months. He was released quite recently; and In London saw this play, which I3 a considerable success there. He procured the American rights, came across and arranged with Charles B. Dilling- ham to .star him In It In New York. It opened at the Cohan theatre Oct. 10. Pollock was never starred before on this side and had never been prominently featured. This review- er's most distinct recollection of him Is as the decrepit king In sup- port of Douglas Fairbanks In "Haw- thorne, U. S. A." In that he scored a personal triumph without, how- ever, much public recognition. Pollock returns a hero, and that will probably not help him much. The war, strangely enough, has lost Its kick. And, strangely enough, this play is about a man who has been away for years, laid up after a Rhell-«hock Injury that made him In.sane. and when ho comes back finds he has been divorced and his Innocuous. It has to do with the infidelity of an Alpine hunter's wif* with a new forester, but none of the grownups appear in the action. The whole tale Is told In the form of its reactions on the three children of the hunter an4 his wife with % vividness positively wrenching. The children are two boys, prob« ably 12 and 16, and a girl about 14. The younger boy has been his mother's favorite, a too much cod- dled youngster who spent his time In the kitchen as she prepared the meals. The older boy is more eman- cipated from the apron strings, an admirer of his father and proud of the task of caring for the elder's guns, while the girl Is coming Into adolescence, Idolizing the father and holding the mother as her model. She is Just beginning to have rough admirers among the crude youths of the countryside. The younger boy has fallen Into the water and rescued by the new forester as the beginning of the "affair" between the mother and the woodsman. This relation is grad- ually coming'to the attention of the three children. First their sleeping room Is moved from the ground flpor of the cottage to the room above, the mother begins to be im- patient at the persistent presence of the younrrer boy, and Anally the older brother discovers small hap- penings which vaguely Indicate to his foggy understanding that all Is not well. The children begin to compare notes and gradually the truth comes upon their terrified un- derstanding. The second act takes place In the sleeping room of the two boys, when Cleorge Fawrett .Marlon Abbuti f'^^''? •.. John Flood J^ranciii Sum Heed Mrs Frazee Pauline ^ArmltaRe ^•^dy Leslie Howard '»**'">■ Helen Hayes I the sister comes to talk things over with the older brother during the e^st IS also lacking In feminine en lertalnors. The (harden type shows were al- ways weighted with specially wom- en. In moving the Garden machine here the runway was thrown out. That cut down the number of show girls needed perhaps. 'Bombo" is without rc>al voices, either feminine f»r male, Jol.son always excluded. Franklyn Batle, one of the hand- somest of straights. Is opposite th» ^tar all the way. His flashing smile does count, but tho numbers given him arc not quite to his liking. Though the runway is missing, there Is a small platform In front of the foots and there Jolson does his most telling work. There was a fear that perhaps Jolson had modified the punch In the way he delivors numbers. He dispelled it before tho show's sec- • »nd portion was well under way. There are some songs which he does not "feel" and It Is only with those lie likes tliat the Jolson "stuff" <omes out. And with thoFp numbers Jolson is liroslstible. His singing of 'Whenever April Showers Come Along" was a splendid effort. He tried with It vocally, proving that lie has a real voice. The lyric of "April Showers" is excr pnonallv fine and in Jolson's care was the prettiest of numbers. That tho star liiced It too was Indicated bv his )epetltlon at the finale. Ho opened with "Going Down South." sa\inp ho loved a Dixie song, and It "was tiio best way to start things. But it w.ns with "Give Mo My Mammy" he worked hardest, throwing his whole force sincerely into the ren- <iition. Naturally he made it a hur- licane n))plauHO wlpner. H«' an- nounced 'It's You." but Kot off onto ^ome kidding and really smhik the 7i*'\v Mammy number. "Yuohoo." :» niimijer he .«!iild was one <>[ hif^ f^wu (\n nsHoelalion with Bud De ^<:l\:!), flnalled with his whistling wife is about to marry another. And she marries him, too, though she vacillates and wrings hands and speaks many ' speeches. But his daughter, who seems a frivolous thing to begin with, turns out to be a sympathetic, sacrificing martyr at the end, and renounces love and life and hopes and happiness to tend tho returned ghost of the past for whom she has no affection. The time Is 1932, a forecast of what may happen If a certain di- vorce law now being promulgated in England should pass—permitting divorce from Insane people. It may be a burning Issue In England, but it rolls off the knives of Americans as a timely topif, because her^ for many decades It has been quite legal and entirely simple to divorce folks the footlights at Intermission had Its piece of business—a horseshoe, 1 on grounds of hangnails, baggy with a card which read "From one I trousers, need of a shave or even stable to another." At least that's what Al said was on It. The stable bit sounds like a Jolson. Some may have forgotten the Winter Garden was formerly a horse sales place, and as the new house was a riding academy and stable, it was a nifty for the flrst nighters. Jolson said In one of his speeches that this Is to bo his last season In musical comedy. He expressed his desire to do concert work. He couldn't do it, however, without kidding; result, laughter. Thero arc reports of his desire to do straight comedy parts. But the concert Idea Is the big one. Jolson is as great an entertainer as he ever wa.s— greater, in fact. Tho new house was entrusted to the Shuberts' ace, and if It Is to be put over, Jolson will do It. Tho Sunday night concerts there look like a cinch with Jol.son in the line-np. "With him the Sundays should pay for tho production, as they more than did at tho Gardpn. Ihcr. SAN CARLO OPERA Lohengrin The San Carlo Opera Co.. under the diitttion of Fortune Gailo, has been doing excellent business, ofletj capacity, .«o far during its month's tenanry of the Manhattan opera honso. N<w>pniur meri attending tho majority of j)erformances have pronounced them adeciuately mount- ed, w<ll snng and well conducted, and ier<lv«'d witli marked approval upxiairs and downstairs. The bal- cony ell" n'ele has been largely Italian. I'or ih^ flrst time on any sln^^> the o](\ Ini|Mi-i:il l*»iissi;in «'ml»leni was hoisted during the performance matrimonial unfaithfulness The woman in this case has been divorced a year. The former hus- band returns, apparently sane. Her conscience rends her. In New York there are probably 100,000 women whose former husbands are alive and sane, and their consciences don't even yawn. She admits she never loved him. So it woud seem that her conscience would revolt against her again becoming his mate, espe- cially after 16 grewsome years of conflnement In a maniac's cell. It is reminiscent of Kipling's "The Man Who Was." But the resuscitated lunatic weeps and falls on his knees and recalls a kitten they found when they were courting, .ind she says she will stay; an hour later tho other man calls and tells her she Is a fool, and she says she will go. She goes. The daughter, meanwhile, makes a mon- key of her fiance so that she may pay the ghastly price for her mother's happiness. Mr. Pollock, unfortunately, is not the splendid actor here that he was when less conspicuously cast and j>resented. He has a shrill, hyster- ical note on which, he climaxes every dramatic crescendo. His character- isation is negative, there being no suggestion of a man who has suf- fered as he has suffered (in the plot) except In his natural spare physifpie and in an endless rubbing of the hands. Since It is found neces.sary to bring forth that there aie strains of natural insanity in his heredity to give certain color of verisimilitude to the daughter'.s otherwi.se inex- plicable attitude, his supposed cure is not thoroughly plausible, and the audience would scarcely be in sym- pathy with tho wife's returning to liim. Nor are the beholders quiie One Isn't often accorded the ex- treme privilege of being present at the premiere of so complete a fail- ure as occurred at Ihe Gaiety Mon- day evening, when Booth Tarking- ton's three-act comedy was produced by Messrs. Tyler and Erlanger. . In writing "The Wren" Tarking- ton seemed to be trying to break as many of tho rules of dramatic construction as possible. He tries to develop the plot through the me- dium of long-winded dialog, de- signed for comedy, which It isn't. It took all of the first act to bring out the situation that a busines^s man had received no letters from his wife for 10 days and had come to a New England seacoast hotel where she was stopping, to find out the reason. It is also developed she has been flirting with a vapid young painter, a helpless sort of individual, easily led by tho nose, and a mere child In the hands of this woman of the world. That having been es- tablished one cared little or nothing whether, she gave up her husband for the artist or went back to the city with her husband. At the Very end of the third act i?he goes back to the city with her husband, and the young daughter of the hotel proprietor is described as leading the artist by the hand, lend- ing him tho necessary moral back- bone to enable him to carry on his life's work. The girl is played by Helen Hayes, featured in the billing, with tho idea of once more attempting the diffi- cult task of establishing her as a star. She enacts the role of a Mahio coast Ingenue with an accent that sounded more like a Scotch dialect. It Is scarcely fair to go Into further details, as the 'part Is so thankless a one and the play of such small moment. George Fawcett Is an old sea cap- tain, retired through a stroke of paralysis, and going through the piece seated In a wheelchair. He contributes his usual fine character- ization and makes much of a sketchy part. John Flood Is commanding as the husband of the frivolous, flighty wife, while Leslie Howard makes much of the spineless young painter who Is living at the summer hotel at half rate. His predicament at be- Ihg called upon to elope with an extravagant woman when he is without funds is made amusing through his simulation of nervous helplessness over the situation. Suftl.?ient to chronicle that "The Wren" was produced on Broadway and Is utterless hopeless. Jolo. ARNOLD DALY CO. THE CMII.DRP:N 3 TR.\C5KDY. ThriM'-art tragedy by Carl .Schoenhorr. trnnHlnted by lienjamin F. CJlaztT. The Elder Hrotlier IMillllpH Tend The Younpor IJrothtr Sl<lnev ("iirlvlo Tho Slhlcr Nedda Ifai rigdn This has been a season rich in impleasant exi>erienet8 for play- goers, but Arnold Daly leads the j)rocesslon for horror.^ with his new offering, "The Children's Tragedy," which might bv described as a child's nightmare for grownups. It is calculated to rob any attentive adult of at Past one night's rest. Tho thiuK is a psycrhologlcal study of the most terrifying sort. In pre- senting it as part of a double bill at the Greenwich Village theatre, Oct. 10, even Mr. Daly apparently felt the need for some sort of apol- ogy, for the advance notice.s car- ried the warning that it dealt with a problem with such frankness as characterized tho Creek dramatists. It goe.^ further than that—it treats its subject with all the bru- tality of a Freudian and a biologist built on top of that—all done in the gloomy vein of tho modern Teuton. \Vitnes.*ing the play is ingenious spiritual torttire. The story lts«lf Is simple enough, and, told otherwise, might bo fairly night. They strive to escape their suspicions. The elder boy recalls that a few days before he struck his head against a forest tree, and per- haps these suspicions are baseless Imaginings from a shaken mind. The girl goes below to speak to her mother and reassure herself. Pres- ently she returns In bewildered ter- ror, apparently having found her mother and the forester together. The girl Is sunk In horror at the realization of the situation. Her re- action Is that all her mother's teach- ings have been false. She Is lost and bewildered In a moral void. "What difference doe.s anything make," she cries, "since everything is all lies?" The elder boy's Idol I.s shattered no less tragically, while the babied youngster feels only tho wretchedness of being left alone and unprotected without \ nderstandlng what It Is all about. But for all tho old happy childhood is shattered and they are confronted with ter- rifying adult problems in a moment, a sort of wide • awake nightmaro that won't vanish. The third act takes place In a clearing in the forest. In the dis- tance can be seen a point of light— the candle In the window set as a signal for the lover by the mother and wife—and the children discuss the light and what It means In tcnso whispers of fright, anger and un- comprehending. Presently It ap- pears that the girl has been to the village, and, coming back through the woods, has been despoiled by a rustic suitor. The older boy Is over- taken with animal fury and threat- ens to kill his sister, who only re- plies, "What's the difference; every- thing Is lies?" Just then the new forester Is heard passing close by, singing as he goes to his rendezvous with tho children's mother. The older boy snatches upjils rifle and Is about to kin the Invader of his home, but his nerve falls and he drops the gun. It Is the younger boy who picks up the weapon and flres the mortal shot. There may be psychological truth In the play, but it is no subject for stage presentation. It well may be that all new light upon mental and spiritual hygiene Is bound to come Into the open, and the stage Is one u.seful medium of education, but why this Incessant dwelling upon tl.J darkest phases of humanity? Plays like this only serve to alienate people from the theatre, set up re- slstence to such Ideas and by their brutality make the way of the wl.-re and earnest preacher more difficult. It is as though some one sought to give Instruction In physical hygiene and began the preachment with a treatise on obstetrics. Theatrically .speaking, the playlet (it takes only about an hour for the three acts) has been ill done. Nedda Harrlgan gives the pnrt of the datighter a gra))hic touch of child tragedy, while Phillips Tead makes the e!der' hoy a manly s^rl of youngster in spite of the un- wholesomeness of the story. Sidney Carlisle was nn imsatlsfactory child, registering only the disagreeable phases of the character without getting th? touch of childi.sh appeal so neccs.'^ary to nave il from mon- strous wret(>hedne.^s. The fact tliat the <>iiildren are played by full grown actors gives tho thing a confusing touch of gro- t«'S(|ueness. Tin: V.\N L)VKi:. .Toll) |».-|»r«« Aiilnir StiiiiisIadH. !>:. l'..rl. f h'irs! A.'^'M'.i lit . . . .Semnd A.'<Hi>lHiii >\illi:im K'^rr's \rrn>l<l iKily . ..W.ilt.f !•'. S<«)it , V.il'-ntlno .<;oiri<l»T»« . JenuiiiKS M.irriHon The othrr half of tho bill is a revival of "The \an Dyke." done originally as part r>f \n evening of short plays by Mr. J>aly at the Berkley I..yceum in I'JOti and later played for a time in vaudevili*'- (Continued on page I'J) 1