Variety (March 1922)

18 LEGITIMATE Friday, March 3, 192ii BROADWAY REVeS BAVU Kur.iff I'lplpt;.' Hhvu OlK-i jVlichlui Anaiu •••«•• !•••••«• >•••••• M.iuil llburnf lUi.iy 111 :•».<, t C'.trix'i.i .Muiit'T' > ....William M iv-w.'ti ... Jli In J'rctuian For all of its llorul nioloilrnnia, "Davu," the three-act play whirh piKnattzoa tho oijoiilnp of the new Karl Carroll Tin at re Feb. IT), eoii- tains several "tjelhnj? i)oiijts' thnt should help it iTjat«-rially at the box otfice. Earl Carroll wrot.; niul produced it, and did mueh better work in the latter relation than in authoring? the piece. "Bavu * takes its nam»^ from the i>rineip:il character, a half breed Turkish- Ilus.'^ian and a heavy of the old school. He's one of the leader.s of the Uu.s.sian revolution and a lirc- eatlnp Bolshevik who is out to cross anybody and everybody that his own ends might bo served. This role Is played by Henry Herbert, who makea it as convincing as po.s- siblc, con.sidering the swashbuckling lines and situations he is called upon to participate in. A contrasting character is that of Michka, a Ku sian aristocrat who has Joined In the revolution because of unnelfish motives, and who ful- lllls all the requirements a.s a thor- oughly good hero, one of the ultra faultless chaps familiar in the rejfu- hition picture scenarios. William H. Powell p!ays him and through keeping the character subdued gives him a naturalness that is likeable. Th« other four characters are a Russian Princess (Annia). a slave girl enamoured of Bavu (Olga). and an old man and woman, typical Busaian peasants, Helen Freeman makes a pretty princess and Oar- lotta Monterey is the slave girl, with little to do and doing it very capably. The Russian peasant woman Pip- let te, played by Maude Eburne, fur- nished the comedy relief and gave a distinguished performance. Chas. Wray Wallace had the part of the male peasant, Kuroff. making him pordid, jitupid and illiterate, in ac- cordance with the traditions of the type. An excellent characterization. Tho whole play is enacted by candle light, with all of the action occurring in one set. an xittic in what appeared to be an abandoned numsion. Thi.s was marked v.ith the most convincing atmosphere imag- inable and just the spooky .sort of place in which tho melodrama that features the piece might be logically expected to take place. Tho play was under way but a brief space of time when the fir.st thrill occurred, in a hit of gun play between Michka and Bavu. More thrills in the second hero peampering over the attic, a .sliding marked by an altar, swinging on a pivot which permitted the one ehara<'ter unkhown to THE FRENCH DOLL P.Trotu¥H MazuHor. .AJtif>i»nc <rAmbrlcourt I-*urnltun- Mnver James llunt«r U< ii<< Miiv:ulicT...»-.«... Il.'.roii Ma<:uiicr .>(»'';.Tni»' Ui-«>rKi<' MuzulitT Jui'liSlfl) T. W^lllnut'-'n WirU Kmily .Moirow liullij) .stuliKhton Jaiiit.i .Mitii . .KuKtMie Borden . .Edouartl I)ururii) ... .r.aura lJU^Hi«.'r ,... ,Iri*n«> Honloiii Will DfiniuK Thurston Ha!! . ...K<ina Hibbanl .. .D.ni HurrouKl>« .Wiiilani Williams act, wiih tlie the rafters of secret door another door arran.'irement, entrance of while another e-xitcd tho person entering. and for a feature thrill the supposed sealing up in a living tomb of the hero, the heavy (Bavu) ordering his henchman to Jill un the entrance to the place with stones and mortar. The last act discloses it wa.'^n't the hero who was sealed up iu the room by masonry, however, the sluvo girl having gotten Into the room by accident, tho hero mean- while having been in a clothes bas- ket wliilo the .'^i-aling proces.s was going on. Another bit of gun play by the hero, but It misses lirst through the bullets having been re- moved from the f t, and again be- rause the heavy (Bavu) wears a coat of mail. As ho can't kill the villain with a gun, the lu ro decides to finish im with a sword, and a duel between the hero and Bavu is In order, with the villain getting himself settled, after an exciting encounter with the salTros. Before I'.avu dies ho wriggles his way over to the living tomb of the s'ave girl, and grasps her hand, \h:cli lias been sticking through an aperture in the ma.sonry. The tolling of it may make it appear a bit over- drawn, but good acting made it dramatically effective. There's a story running through the piece which concerns the desire of Bavu to get away from Russia with the sr'il'^ Jio lia.i collected fiom the revolution, the hero's thwarting of Bavu's purpos*^. and a love affair between thc^ hero and the princess, but the plot is secondary to the thrills. In effect "J>avu" is a sort of pic- furized melodrama, interesting for tile most iKirt, but with many slow s.iots that call for much ri'vision and rutting. » Tijero were a coui)le of first night hitehv^:: (tho f^how op'-ned cold) at the Carroll, wbieli marred the action noticeiVdy. One Was tho blowing out of a candle by iho hoi'oine. and the moonlight \\!ii.'h was nt,\?;imhn? through the 'window going out s!n-.ultan<''in'-ly. Another w.'is the .'-'ecr<'t door, whieli the altar disgui^id, sticninir. The Wv^t Kight rlin'^d to »;nioKnr hnme of the more (hama, Inif a fir audicnie wns in- onc^ or twice at • xag^er.Jti d melo- st ni'-rbt biiuf!i 1 = hardly a -^liteilon to judge a piece of this typo by. "Bavu " appears tn }iave an even chance, )>roviding tlio elimination I'locos «.an ^^hip it into shape quickly. JJcU. Irene Bordoni, who in a few years has risen from an imported vaude- ville experiniCnt as a singer of Krenchy «ongs in .support of a pian- ist to a'lixf'd and legitimate position as a star and darling of the foremost theatre, is still reaclUng. Now it is as a dramatic artist in tho classic Lyceum that E. Ray C.oetz (her hus- band) presents her. This is a far cry from 'Hitchy Koo,' a long dis- stance rail from "Sleeping Partners" and. more than a whisper from "As You Were." In "Tho French Doll" Mi.ss Bordoni sings two .songs quite incidentally, otherwise she assumes what might be typified as a Laurette Taylor role—comedy with all the emotions playing through it. If "The French Doll" is not a ringing success it will by no means be a verdict that Miss Bordoni lias been overambltious. While her tal- ents in dramatics are not yet fully developed, her charms, by the same token, are at their highest. The tragedy of serious acting comes usu- ally in that a woman becomes a great stage mistress or sweetheart or wife when she has lost the physi- cal and spirit attractiveness that should go with these romantic es- tates. The other side of it is that too many namby-pamby ingenues are entrusted with difTlcult shadings and emotions they cannot compre- hend wholly because they have at its fullest that charm of feature and figure which gorge the eye while the mental reactions are starvation rations. But Miss Bordoni blooms in "The French Doll" at just that happy synchronizing of real manifestations of histrionic power with feminine allure .still fresh and radiant. The play is from the French of Paul Armont and Marcel Gerbidon, adapted by A. E. Thomas and staged by W. H. Cilmore. Mr. Thomas in- jected into it considerable American wit thnt could have been in the orig- inal. But he failed to edit out or elide a great deal that a far- sighted translator into I'nited States might well have regarded as within his function, for in Amorioanlaing a play ho should not only have col- ioquialized it, but have shared and shifted it to known American likes. Mr. Thomas was guilty of allow- ing the French authors to run the American stage border with a script to which may be api>lied Uiat deadly indictment — "lalky." In France they love it, and from a pretty v.oraan tluy beg for it—they crave to hear her rave. But hero they lilvo it snaiipy. Tho third act wandurcd and dis usscd and phil- osophized and moralized until it al- most talked a promising hit into a dubious eventuality. And which was probably the French authors' fault, but which a good democrat miglit justifiably ha e switched a trille to make it lose tho greenhorn flavor, the "sympathy" was scram- bled until one scarcely knew whom to love—except Bordoni; everybody loved her, no matter what the au- thors did witli ht-r or to her. Tiie story, probably projected as a farce in France, for it is basicalli" farcical. Is of a scheming baron with a be.nitiful daughter, baiting a trip with her to hook a rich fish. Ho virtually steals the money to take her to Palm Beach for the con- quest. There she meets a young and impecunious engineer and falls In love with him. The fish proposes, she accepts, then throws him down for tho youth, jcepts him, finds she cannot live happily poor, sighs, gives him the air, takes favors from the millionaire, and at the cad promises to visit him in California— object, apparently, matrimony. Bringing In the youth as a prop seen»»'d a great trick. But it was carried too far. Either the rich man should have been kept a fool or made a knave, or the boy should have conquered by lovo serving youth unto youth, or she should have found she didn't love tho boy at Mil. and taken the rich bird in goo4l faith. As it is she passes up mon«'y fvjr love, then love for money, and the author tries to Justify it rather than condone it; and Fhe lujlds out the promise to tho rich man, v.ho is a flne» up.standing good sport, without any love, when anv .«jne girl might well have adored him—and most girls would have pref' rre<l him to the vcil)o>-e whip- i ))er-snapper. Or, ii" : ho loved the I liid, sho should liavo married him land d( fi« d all the funstrokes and . chills and ftver i!i all lirazil. Mi .-» r.ordnni is too beautiful n pl.iiif. to be blown about brtween a young onion ;ind a fat cabbage. The audlen< e wants to see that kind of a ptiith IovmI. loveil hard and roek- l•'^^ly jiTT<il sighs to Pec what she would do if Fhe loved tho Fame w.»y. In ibis T)lay .«-ho talks of lov- intr tho juvenile, but that I.'n't even a dimf's worth of love out of what .•^tems a i^old mine of it. And she but the theatre be held to the the times. Ex- there is not an in the cast, and sighs at the end when a smile would show that, If she hasn't a typhoon of romance, she has at least a grain of horse sense. Her talk la charming. Her moods are fascinating. But tho on-agaln- off-agaiii vlclfc^Itudes, Instead of giving her a r^.aze of conflict and ^u^^ponse, afford mostly repetition and conversation, and never let her cut loose with one honest, sweeping passion for anything. There is far too much effort to "clean up" her character, tho last act thus making a liar out of tho first without suf- ficient psychological or circum- stantial ground for the turn-about of ideals. However, Miss Bordoni is a dream and a vision. She has a genius for light parlor comedy tliat is uncanny and irresistible, superinduced by her hypnotic facial and physical graces. Her piquant profile, her burning eyes, her eloquent little hands, her patrician feet, her debutante form, combine a picture that the eye can- not withstand, and against which academic criticism is helpless. She appears In numerous costumes and gowns, more or less adroitly ac- counted for, each more slrenic than before. She Is a French doll, and she is a star. But she should have tho direction and Inspired destiny- molding of a Belasco or a Sam Har- ris—someone who would either per- fect and guide her to great artistic heights, or someone who would di- rect her Into resounding surefire popular combinations, Jhe Is a million-dollar box office bet, and this reviewer ventures the proph- ecy that she will prove it in this vehicle, which she will drag into at least a respectable success, whereas it isn't worth the nice white paper it ruined In the writing of it—or the rc-writing of it. Tho company can play to receipts below many of its Broadway com- petitors and live, " cannot, so it will rigid minimum of cept for the star, extravagant salary the players are not numerous. The selection of the support is excellent. Thurston Hall, a rugged leading man of coast records and picture accomplishments, as the rich sucker-suitor, makes a human and red-blooded American he-guy out of a wholesale fish-peddler written* primarily to be laughed at. Perhaps it is because ho is .so like- able and so strong that the script fails to measure up, since lie draws the sympathy and the authors keep nagging at the girl to tear it away from him. There wasn't a female in that audience—flapper, rounder or puritan—who wouldn't have cheered If Irene had suddenly stopped all tiio editorial poi)pvcock and flung her arms around Tliursty Hall and cried out that she wus tired of all the hokum—she wanted a man. That's the way Hall played it, though ho never overstepped his part; it was he, in spile of the character, that "got over." Edouard Durand made a pastel in broad and sharp strokes of the fak- ing, gesticulating old Baron. Will Deming, In an ungrateful role, made mueh of Its comedy and did tlic rest as though it were amiinsl his better nature. Edna Hiiibard, very charming, had a fat little "fricnd-»of-the-heroino" taing, and did some corking work, hitting the bell with tho comedy triumph of the performance without descend- ing to laugh-torturing. Don Bur- roughs was all right as tho young engineer: it is a nincompoop part and only his good looks and straightforward manner kept it from becoming an outright bore. Lait, BACK TO METHUSELAH Part I. "The Beginning." 'V cicorpo Caul '''^'' I*'mita I.asccl!t*s \«'ifu oX .S<?n>ent Margaret Wych«»rly *-•"" Dennis KInK J'art H. 'Tho eJospo)." I'l.MiKlyn Uarnaba."* \lbort Pruning fonr.vl Unniaba.? Moffat Jf liM.-nn J .1 riormaid mjsr Wyohrrly 1 la.slam t .*>ianloy llowiM s.i\ \-y hjU'aiior \Vuo<lruff .I<.y.;--lJurRe \. i«. Kayo ^■"UltiH , Clau<lo Kliij:; rieorgo Bernard Shaw deserves a hearing whenever ho writes any- thing. Probably no other living au- tlior could have commanded one on such a triple-jointed freak as "Back to Methu.selah," a .sort of chop suey of all the ages written In five epi- sodes and requiring three night.s' play. The first two are at the Oarrick this week; the second two next week and the final one the third week— if it lives that long. The Theatre Cuild. It will be seen, bit off a considerable chunk—or bit into a whole course dinner—when it Fct its teeth into the altruistic business of seeing that G. It. s. should always have a theater if not an audience. Tho attendance this week at tho first series did not look exceedingly prosperous Tuesday night. And it can scarcely be ex- pected to build, since it is not likely that folks will crowd after the sec- • •nd and third slices who did not ta.;to the llr.««t. If ever a saturnalia of words de- scended upon the heads and splashed all over the shirt fronts of the faith- ful, tho Immortal Shaw showered his devotees this time to tho faro ye well. From beforo 8 o'clock until aftrr 11:45 there was a deluge of language. CJood language, to bo sure, but unbounded oceans of it until all sen.se of what was going on was drowned In the bruin and there was a singing Jn the ears such as they say men know when they go under for the third time. Just what It Is all about this never before modest reviewer must admit he Is totally unable to convey to his eager readers. Twenty years of un- broken professional theatregoing, plus a fair familiarity with the par- ticular works and manners of Shaw, were futile against the Inundating waves of words that sopped every- thing within his head Into a pulpy, soaking mess that refused to com- bust and effectively sputtered out every effort to spark. As nearly as he could gather t^is is a British political argument, meant to satirize Eloyd (Jeorge. Whether or not Mr. Shaw's attitude toward Lloyd CJeorge (represented as Joyce-Burge) is just or preju- diced, or even just what It is, was not made clear. If Mr. Shaw picks premieres like he does heavyweights, perhaps that is just as well. It was he who predicted that Dempsey wouldn't last a round with Carpen- tier. There Is a rather attractive Eve in the first reel, presented by the presentable Miss I^asoelles. But It is not a nude Eve or anything like it. She wears a cloth of gold head- dress that drapes her pretty effect- ively and shows that Zlegfeld knows more about paradise than the Thea- tre CfUild. or else paradise has been a much-overrated resort. Miss Wycherly talks to her at great length from concealment as tho serpent. Her voice is beautiful, as It must be to sustain such a difficult role. The gist of this episode seems to say that Shaw thinks life is all too short. M. Landru would probably agree with him were his neck still in one pie:e. He (Shaw) intimates we could live 500 years if we lived right. He doesn't mention anything, about what would be the use of liv- ing 500 years if we had to live right. I^ter Shaw brings Cain and Lloyd CJeorge together, and there is word fencing that is at many times bril- liant, but what it is driving at re- mains elusive. That goes equally for what Adam and Eve talk about, and it really would seem that could have been made pretty thrilling. Their counters of wit are pusillani- mous, and the thing is more trifling in its result than irreverent In its effect. Shaw if, of course, a dissenter. He dissents from every tiling. Ho protests with, usually, high and .sar- donic irony, though he puts that in your mind ratlier than in his own expressions, which are more blase than bitter. He did it to the queen's taste in "Androcles and tho Lion." In this inexhaustible torrent of talk he sinks his point—whatever it may be—at the bottom of his sea of smartness. As a popular entertainment "Back to Methu.-*elah" is about as hopeless .IS Jinything ever attempted for the theater. As *!an Inspiration docu- ment it failed completely to inspire tho undersigned. As a work of •purpose,' it declined to disclose what such purpose might be. Anyway here is one new attrac- tion that seems assured Of ^t least a three week.s* run, with probably a contract provision that it can't be gated without three weeks notice. Tims it upsets theatrical tradition, and thus, at least, it is a Sliaw success. JmH. TO THE LADIES >•••••••••! '•••••• Kisl'^ Hfoli*. ... I- 'iiiiard l{ccl»c John Kincaid Mr.". Kincatd t )Rst»>r Mullin Tuin Itak.-r... A Trurkniai).. AiK):h< r Truokinap... The 'JoaFfmaster Politician I'hotoKiaphir StvnoKraphor Har»if>r liuutblacl; , TIol.;i nay< s ■ « >ttto KruKtr i... • I.... Th« TJio Tho 'I'ho Tlio ....... 'jioTRt. Hov.pii . .Isal)*»I Irving Vevvy llflton rtobri t Fiskf I. .1. IIy]an<l AU)ort «"owlts .. .\\ il!i.'im Sf-yminir ...Wm. J'\ Cantlold A!fr«il Kalk ....Nnrnii Mitohfll John Krnnrdy I'auio <.iro»c-o Helen Hayes has not had very mueh luck tliis season in tlio allot- ment of loles that came her way. But all that is gone, and with the opening iu New York of "To the I^adies' at the Liberty February 20, there is no furtlier cause for worry on her part for a long time to come. Jn the new play—a comedy by C:eorgo S. Kaufman and Marc Con- nelly (who collaborated on "Dulcy") produced by A. L. Erlanger and Cleorge C. Tyler, and staged by Howard Lindsay—she has the part of a girl bride from Mobile, residing in Nutley, N. J., with her equally youthful husband, who Is a clerk in a large piano factory with aspira- tions to the post of chief clerk to the boss. As the bride explains it: "Leonard came down to Mobile to attend his aunt's funeral and I met him at a dance." The main plot Is altogether old— that of the wife being tlie actual brains of the domestic partnership, but giving all the credit to tho hus- band without his being aware of it. Its treatment, however, is so abso- lutely original—a screamingly laugh- ing comedy, bordering on fatce. (hat it bids fair to rank with ilie big hits of the current season. Tho second scene of act two is a wonder. The piano company is hold- ing Its 96th annual ban<iuet. This is tho young lnisb."ind's first invita- tion to attend, and ho and his rival for tlio appointment of chief clerk, he knows, will be called upon tf) say a few word.s. Tho entire speech- making Is a .scintillating series of flashes of witty satire on the routine of such fun^tion.s. All the remarks are so conjentional—-so cut and dried—that you Instantly recognize them as ones you have heard so many times before. Tho young hus- band's speech has been culled from a published book of speeches, and when his rival is called upon just ahead of him and pulls the Identical sptech from tho book, the young man collapses. His pretty little wifo jumps Into the breach and saves tho day by "explaining" her husband has been suddenly seized with an attack of laryngitis, had written his speech and had asked her to speak for him, on Ideas ho had laid out for her. At tho end of the act there was most insistent and genuine demand for the authors, and even this was kidded by having the curtain riso disclosing a pair of "dummie.s * standing upon the stage. Even in-tho last act, when there was occasion for tho appearance of a bootblack, who should come upon the scene but "Garry," who has served the Klaw & Erlanger »»xe- cutives in that capacity for the past 25 or more years, dating back from" the days when the original syndicate was formed ahd had its ofllces in West 30th street. In a word the authors of "Dulcy'' have turned loose another entertain- ment, designed for laugUing pur- poses only, with a smattering of healthy heart Interest. Some of the technical references to the theatrical Industry were accepted as very funny to the smart flr.st night audi- ence, but much of this will probably have to be cut when the piece set- tles down to catering to the outside world. All thing.s considered, "To the Ladies" looked like a knock-out opening night. The ticket specula- tors seemed to concur in that opin- ion. Julo. THE RUBICON Oprniainft (iJandelle. «J»'orices tJ.'anilflle. .. Francois Maurel.... .Madame Swvin Monnleur .Sevin Yvonne Saiiiclair. .. Jacques Salnclair... Thp .Stane Manager. .Tranne Caunionl. ... Mailelrini' IiTval... I.ouiiii^ HaUiiier A (;u<»j«t I01i.««» , Haptiyte ^ Vioh't Hominir . ..Warburii)n <'.amble Keiint'th Ihil Edna May Oliver WaUer .MeKwf-n I>orothy Tieruey ...Edwin Straw-bridge t..<J«H)rK«» Vivian .. .Eltsabr>r<,i North .Huth Tausig Ann liyrn«s Walt'T McKwen Mary Cfoll Arthur I'.owycr ■r > • • • • Oh. shucks! Did you ever go to a stag, with tho expectation that you would .<eo something just a step beyond "the limit"? And then waste an evening only to find the promise hadn't l)een lived up to. That was the case with the i>re- miere of "The Rubicon," an old French comedy by Edouard Bour- det, adapted by Henry Baron and presented by him at the Hudson Feb. 2\, staged by Clifford Brooke and starring Violet Homing. The tip went out that this was to b« "the limit." Those who attended tho dress rehearsal the night before confirmed the rumor. After tha second act the men present assem- bled in the lobby and wanted to know when the fun would begin. They were informed the dialog had been toned down over night, but that "the spice" would V>e restored- after tho press criticisms had been written. With or without spicy dialog, th» plot is an impossible one for Amer- ica. There is but a single situation and the remainder of tho evening"* entertainment is talk, mostly tire- some, with an occasional fiash of French wit. A girl Is in love with her child- hood sweetheart. She marries » very nice man whom she doesn't love, but the conjugal relation ha» not been consummated, tho brid« keeping her husband at arm's length. Itight hero is where the American audience balks. They have no sympathy for tho husband because a native husband would exercise his rights by force or walk out. Enters tho girl's former sweet* heart, bent upon an affair with tli« wife, in typical French fashion. She tells him: "My husban.l, ho isn't my husband," and again. "Nothing happened." She is (piito willing to give her.self to him, but he says: "Tliero are certain re- sponsibilities that belong only to a husband," insisting sho first give herself to her legal spouse; then he will take her. "Jf you love me, be kind to him," and again. "Be brave." So Jho nice little wife tells her husband to get her a bottle of champagne, gets pleasantly "lit up" and permits her husband to carry her into the bedroom, as tho cur- tain descends for the end of tho second act. In the last act it Is the next morning and the lover returns to take her to his apartment. But after a night spent in the arms of her husband the bride decides that "everything is all right." is now in love with hubby and arAia hiin to take her away on another honey- moon, promi i .g him that this one sliall be .a real one. Th(! Fri nch original was j)rob* ably a daring piece of farcical j)l;iv- wrighling, but toned down to in< et the exi|L;encits of American pic- sentation. it is very lukewarm. Violet Homing was charminu a-i tho bride; Warburton Camble >:;iv»j .1 cre«lltablo perform :.nc(» as tho husband; Kenneth Hill pl.ivcd the lover intelligently, and IMna .M.iy Oliver (who replaced Minn.i dil*' Haynes at the last moment as iho girl's mother) scored neatlv. "The Rubicon" doesn't look UK- * winner for this country. J"f<'-