Variety (August 1923)

Thursday, Augxist SO, 182% LEGITIMATE ■*t«*ajiT*.»i5,'-53 :a'.-J3r.''-: » ■omewher* within th« rang* of two wide facts—It warn originally writ- ten for Nat Goodwin in "Cameo ■Xlrby," and rewritten for Lionel •parrymore In "Magnolia." The atmosphere of "Magnolia" is 4he Sunny Bouth of the romantic HlsslsBippl shores In the ,40s. Tar- •klngton, of course, gets under the narrative to make it a satire—In apots almost a lampoon. What "A Iconiiectlcut Yankee" did to hor.ildry lind "Don Quixote" did to chivalry, "Magnolia" does to Southern foud- Ingi dueling, aristocracy and other distorted Ideals of ante-bellum slavery days, taking a special pound of flesli from the hide of one of the old South's favorite twins—"honor" the other, left unscathed, la "hos- pitality." In the story of a mild youth, a Wordsworth addict and butterfly chaser, who refuses to flghl a back- woods Arkansas rufflan who loves the same girl, Tarklngton estab- lishes the basis of his plot and starts his theme, which preaches that a man or a nation has as much "honor"' as he can defend, and the tnan is brave who knows he is safe. Ridiculed, disowned,-^ the boy stumbles out Into the world and meots, in the second act, a pictur- esque gaming house charl.itan and a gun-totlng river sharper. He imbibes the philosophy of courage and loaded pistols, kills the bully, enlists with the dispossessed game- ster, and in seven years becomes the killing, notorious terror of-the Mis- Blfisippi—then he comes home. He gives those who tortured him all he gut and some for interest, and then there Is a lot of talk, talk, talk, and finally he marches upstage with the arm of the pretty child who once loved him because he is peaceful, '<^on back again through the pages of Wordsworth. Not even a kiss. Kot one honest word about marriage or that kind of love. And the girl •0 kissable, too. The last of the last act certainly was the bravest act of the play, for it treated the gross receipts as cavalierly as the king of the river ever treated the ppor chumps he fleeced and shot. In parts "Magnolia" is whipplng- ly, stingingly brilliant; in others it iB soothingly and purringly amusing and engaging. Though running the range from melodrama to burlesque, it has the,gifted touches of Tarking- tdn all over, and yet it is not Just the fodder that the faithful Tar- klngtonlana expect. If Tarklngton must ever answer to the charge of "highbrow," he can put in the script bf "Magnolia" as a defense. The treatment is largely Tarklngton, but the story might be Bret Harte or Mark Twain. Carrillo, especially in the first two (acts, was delightful, effective and. In a subdued manner, terrlflc The last act shaded him off so that one forgot to admire the player In the dwindling, strung-out role, after h'o had reached his two climaxes—the strength of weakness and the supremacy of strength. In the pic- ture of it, there will be a quick close- up and fade-out to elide much of the waste matter, when there Is no love suspense and no story sus- pense to support academic exposi- tion of ideas already fully clarified. Miss Allen, long the Theatre Guild's own baby, came through In her first appearance for the strictly commercial theatre as a fljuning. compelling success. She looks like -Maulge Kennedy and acts like Helen Mencken. John Harrington as Slackle, the river bully, gave a good actor's performance. Elizabeth Pat- terson, aa a shabby-genteel mother 'of the period, did the most subtle land memorably legitimate playing of the night However, the entire cast worked with high and noble ef- ficiency, and Ira Hard's direction is- admirable. Alfred Aarons, Inc., presents, and It is understood that A. L. Krlanger, Carrillo and the author have "a piece." They will not regret It pro- fessionally or financially. "Magno- lia" is a success, though unfortu- nately limited against becoming a rage. It should do well for several months, even though in the Lib- erty, a theatre for many years Iden- tified with musical shows. Lait. ZENO Omcor Burke Ch.irle» J. Simr Jamra O'llrJen Jamca T. Ford ■William l>onegan Thomft.! (lUnn CMiel Innpivlor Parker Waller Wllnon Bniny Uaman Martha McOranr William King Wllllnm Hholley Jamca Cartler Hugh O'Connc'll Marie Helen QUI Mrs. Hampton Mina C. Uleason Orace Hampton Margaret Shackelford Harry William* Frederick nickel f'harlea liaker Paul Uyron Mr. Hampton Albert Sackctt Profeaaor Uodge I.clKh I.ov»l Or. Moore William B. Mack Officer Dlllcu J. A. Curtla The answer to the probabilities for popularity of "Zeno" Is to be found In the explosive cxcl.amatlon of a man In the fifth row aisle after the first act and echoed by a score of other sundry gentry—"Wow!" "3S«no," by Joseph F. Rinnand, produced at the 48th St. by the Hampton Play Corporation, belongs to the stage carpenter school of my.stery pl.-iywrightlng. It has every trick device known to the who killed cock robin school, and a few more. On (he ba.iis of reminiscence .ilonc It should bid strong for popuiiLeity. It outbats "The Bat," out-mon- JJ*^''''' "The Monster," leaves the Cat and Canary" thing on the dim horizon, and makes ."The ThirleentU Chair" look like predigested nursery , stuff. The wonder of, it all Is that at this late date any one should at- tempt another thing of thia type, reaembllng so closely its predeces- sors. Chicago fell for the show last sea- son. The chain gang at the 48th St., with some reservations, ate the hoke alive. The reservations were chiefly on the floor, where audlhle snickers greeted some of the play's far-reaching Improbabilities. On the upper shelves they received it for gospel. The story Is Just another mystery play plot plus. The plus stands for murder, seance, robbery, master- mind crook, a police Inspector, and a few incidentals In the way of thievery, knavery, chicanery, vil- lainy and mayhem. Zeno is the master->mind to whose undoing the chief Inspector and his comedy buffoons are devoted. The Job in hand concerns the theft of the Hampton fortune and Jewels during a spiritual seance, in which all of the familiar phenomena— ghostly hands, spirit forms and faces, etc.—are materialized. The cast is uniformly capable, but peculiarly lacking in any individual distinction. Walter Wilson's In- spector was In familiar mould, and Hugh O'Connell ran well as the wise-cracklug comedy detective. William B. Mack contributed the acting hit with a remarkably tense and melodramatic characterization of Dr. Moore, the medium. The production looks economical though adequate. , If you like the mystery kind "Zeno" is Just the sort. Its success will depend solely upon whether or not the public still wants the mys- tery. Burton. RED LIGHT ANNIE Ttaroe-act drama of the underworld In 11 scenta (10 In the ftrat act), presented by A. H. Wood* and starting Mary Ryan. Play by Norman Houston and Sam For- rest, the latter staging It. Revolving stage carries eight separate sets deoigned by W. Oden Waller. At the Morosco. Aug. 21. Fanny Campbell Miss Ryan Tom Campbell Frank M. Thomas Mr. Clark Edward Walton Nick Martin tklward lilills l»rothy Martin Warda Howard Mr. Wilson W. H. Pendergaat A Man Fred McLean Another Man Martin Jennings A Judge Harry HammlH >'x9 > Al Britton Chester Harry Vincent Flo Monlta Gray Maria Ann Martin Al y, John Waller •Jjrry. Z BlUy allien Mr. Pulton BVancis Dunn Robert Dugan Paul NlchoVson Here is a crook play with a sub- motif of drugs that has a kick so high-powered as to raise the ques- tion: How strong must a dramatic kick be to kick an ingenious melo- drama to death? The Issue is raised by several passages of pretty terrifying bru- Ullty which work theatrical ten- sions to a distinctly uncomfortable pinnacle, and one episode of such extreme violence aa to Inspire a shudder rather the reverao of stimu- lating. The way the people take this situation will tell the story of the box-offlce. The thing Is unquestionably a mo- ment of terrlfle Impact. For some tastes It will shock rather than thrill, but, whatever effect It has. It is supremely well done. The whole play is a conspicuous achieve- ment In skilful staging and convinc- ing acting, backed by a strongly built melodramatic play, swift In exposition and of insinuating plausibility. The situation that will make or break the play comes about some- what after this manner: Fannie Campbell la thrown on her own re- sources when her young husband from a small upstate town Is sent to Jail for a crime of which he is innocent. Dazed, she appeals to Nick Martin, husband of her step- sister, never guessing that Nick la the keeper of a red-light establish- ment and a cocaine fiend. Nick de- liberately makes the girl a drug addict and forces her to hia vicious deslre«. She breaks away from his In- fluence after a year in the "house" and by the time her husband has served his time has re-established herself. They are prospering in their new life. Fannie is on the eve of motherhood, when Nick, hav- ing Just killed a man in a desperate, drug-Inspired hold-up, takes refuge with them from ■ pursuit, neither Fannie nor her husband suspecting the crime. Fannle's husband, is called away, and during his absence Nick, half Insane with "snow," re- newa hia attempt to establish the relation of the brothel. Managed with the utmost discre- tion the situation would be sufll- clently violent and abundantly ar- resting, but. played out with gen- erous and literal detail as It Is, the thing leaves a dtetinclly unwhole- .some Impression, an Impres.slon that clings and persists, certainly tor the length of time it takes a con.scicntious reporter to get from the theatre to his typewriter. "Snow l>lrds," sinister underworld plottinga, "red IlRht" locale and all the rest would seem to make a suMl- ctently lurid compound without ad- venturing further. Its a pity, loo, for the play has a world oC excellent material. The study of Dugan, a human young cop. as written .ind a.a played by the bland Paul Nichol- son, is a capital creation of char actcr and natural comedy. Plays have been "made" by details much leas ehgaglng. Mechanically, the production Is a whale. The 10 scenes of tbs first act are put over with dizzy speed; the atory grows and has you In Its grip before realizing IL It Is all grip and punch, jvlth that economy that is the soul of melodrama. For instance, one. four-minute scene Includes the dramatic street hold-up of the young bank messen- ger; another of equal brevity (In- volving the wife's pica for mercy to the Judge) discloses the essen- tials of hia conviction and imprison- ment; a third, no longer, takea the wife to the brothel and leavea her dru/ged, and one Is hurried to her gaudy bedroom where her degrada- tion is completed and the founda- tion laid for the terrlflc flnal act. And withal one never gets the feel- ing that a story la being hurried. It is a complete recital of essentials and convincing in its presentation. There wag even time for the painstaking building up of minor charactars, such aa the decent sort of reluctant visitor to the "house" who was the instrument of Fannle's escape, although the incident itself did verge dangerously upon the maudlin. ____ The play really begins at the opening of the second act, but It Is so cleverly arranged that you never suspect the first act Is largely ante- cedent matter until the whole play is over. While it Is goii]g it holds Interest. The second and third acts make a remarkable example of sustained su.spense. For about an hour and three-quarters the auditor's sensi- bilities are absolutely churned with tense expectation and shocks minor and major and the hold never for a moment relaxes right up to the In- stant when Fannle's pistol shot satisfies poetic Justice. That the surrender to the play's grip la aome- tlmes unwilling, perhaps, la teatl- mony to its effectiveness, but one Is bound to doubt that the morbid ap- peal and the shocked fascination of the big scene can be translated Into box-otflce success. Miss Ryan plays a distressed heroine for all there la In It, manag. Ing the melodrama with a good deal of discretion and playing the lighter bits with great delicacy. Frank M. Thomas la a manly, blundering young husband, aa he ahould be. Edward Ellis, playing, the drugged criminal, gives a awless perform- ■ance, balanced to a nicety, while Nicholson's Dugan deserves a niche alongside John Barrymore's news- paper reporter In "The Other Olrl," of ancient memory, for its fidelity and unction. Formerly tried out under the title of "The Slave Maker," it reappears aa an A. H. Woods property. Rush. HOME FIRES Comedy In three acU by Owen Oarls. Staged by Hugb Pord. At the Mth Street theatre. New Tork, Aug. UK by tbe Shu- berta Betty LQllan Ron Abner Bugen* Fowera Aunt Martha Marlon BsJlou Tommy Morgan Farlay Mary Prances Underwood Henry Bedfool Cliaries lUduiuui Plora Bthal Intropldl Julia JuUatt* Crosby Jack Harvey Aitbor Albertaoa Walter Harvey Hoiranl Oould Dana Roberta DodsM MItchaU Bill Uazwall John Bingham I'Ucy Marlon Benda Qulnn Lester ScharS Dr. Norton , Jay Strong In turning out this comedy Owen Davis made certain if the stage ver- sion didn't have sufilclent appeal to keep It going through the season there would be a market for the script in the fields where they turn out the silent drama. "Home Fires" was written to order for the screen, yet It holds enough in the way of character comedy to give It a chance on Broadway. It Isn't going to be a whale of a suc- cess, but it is going to develop into one of those little laughing hits that will plug along for about eight to ten weeks to good business, and then be kept going with the aid of cut rates for about as long as they care to hold it on the Main Stem, with business around $C,500. That, at least, is the indication derived from viewing the piece on Tuesday night of this week. There will have to be some work done on the play before the week is out, and the major portion be In the second act. The first st.irts off with a snap, maintained to the curt.iln. Then the second act. In three scenes, lets things down somewhat, the third bringing it up to mark again. It seems that someone must have Insisted on splitting the second act into three sections. Two would have been plenty, for the second scene seems to have been dragged In, .ind It Is the veriest form of meller. Seemingly it can be eliminated and the curtain lowered on the opening set to denote a lapse of a few hours, with the dialog carrying the inci- dents supposed to have taken place at the roadhouse. That roadhouse scene was altout as cheaply done as it was possible to put It on. The story is founded on a phase of L/ong Island life heretofore not handled particularly on the .sta«e iiutside po.-islbly of ".Six Cylinder r,ove." The Ilattotts have always »;one after the fast smart .sot of the i.sland. Owen Davis h.as chosen the $10,000 a year man's family to write his play around. He has written a fairly interesting comedy, one that will appeal greatly to the very typo whose suburban Ufa It professes \o Henry Bedford Is the $10.000-a- year man, the best bond salesman of a Wall street house. A year prior he has failed in business, and his wife has been the guiding hand at the helm, trying to make both ends meet and pay off thedebts that hung over her husband because of his un- successful business venture. At home are two daughters, one ZO and the other about 17; also a deaf old aunt. As a picture of home life Mr. Davis has achieved a rather com- plete portrait. The youngest daughter la In love with a neighbor'a son; the elder, with the son of her father's em- ployer. Dad himself has slipped for the vamp stuff that the very blond- Ine wife of the next-door neighbor has put over the plate. With it all the wife haa rather a heavy burden to shoulder. It is In the second act everything happens that gives her a aeriea of Jolts. She permits her husband to ease hia way out of accompanying her to the home of mutual friends on the pretext he haa a h^.tdache. The two daughters and dad stay at home. But the younger girl slips off to the movies with the neighboring cake-cater; the elder girl takes a ride m an auto with the son of her dad's boss, and dad dashes off with the blonde vamp from next door. Daughter and dad both meet up at a rather shady roadhouse, and the girl breaks her arm In a Jump from a balcony after she sees father. The blonde siren's husband is also on the Job, for he has pulled the old one of •I'm called to Philadelphia, dear," and planted himself to see what would happen. What he believes has happened leads him to get ready for a divorce. Thia la all that Mary, the wife of the foolish bond.broker, has brought to her door during the halt-hour after she has returned from the neighborly call. Of course, in the last act all the complications are smoothed out. Here Mr. Davis has pulled the best piece of business In the little touch of cross-fire by the quartet of char- acters—the two husbands and their wives—at the time that they are try- ing to clean up the dirty linen. This and the touch in the first act, where the cake-eater cojla the deaf aunt all aorta of names with a smile and the old lady yeses him because she believes that everything is compli- mentary. Charles RIchman plays the bond broker and endows it with Just suffi- cient of that genial fourflush atmos- phere to make. It ring genuine. Frances Underwood as his wife con- tributes the best acting, although Dodson Mitchell as the busy hubby of the blonde vamp delivers a clever perfornl^nce. Lillian Ross as the flapper daug^iter and Morgan Farley, playing opposite her, lent a Juvenile Hit to their characterizations decid- edly natural and delightful. Juliette Crosby as the elder daughter seemed a little strained at times. Jack Har- vey as the rich man's son failed to get over in his earlier scenes, but Improved as the play progressed. Mr. RIchman and Miss Underwood were a little uncertain as to their lines on Tuesday night. Fred. BROOK 'Aa unusual play of love" Is captioned under ths play title. Authored by 'Thomas P. Hoblnson, staged by John McKee and sponsored by McKee & BIrvena Opened at the Oreeowlch Village tbeartre. New York. Aug. to. In. three acU. Mooney Blackburn Oeorge Thompson Dan Peltry Benjamin Kauser Brook Blackburn Mary Carroll Norman Tracy Theodore Westman. Jr. BrToe Hajnmond DonaJd Cameron Joa Cbchran George Uarbler AAah Cochran Bllis Baker KcKee St Stevens are a new prb- ducing firm. Jphn McKee was stage director for Henry W. Savage and others. Robert Stevens is a brother of Emily Stevens. Thia marks their initial Joint venture at the Green- wich Village theatre, the downtown run being limited to two weeks. It Is unlikely it will be extended there or elsewhere. Thomas P. Robinson, the author, Is remenfbcred for an elusively titled Harvard prize play of some time back. While "Brook" shows the hand of Professor Baker's "47 Work- shop" course in its technical con- struction, it lacks the qualifications for the prize end. Robinson strove hard to develop a "different" sort of play, but failed badly. The flop Is an out-and-out brodle. It had its moments and a situation that a "commercial" play- wright could have piped up into a whale of a script. Robinson's han- dling is otherwise. Striving too hard for the Idyllic, .as If knowing before- hand the piece would be jlresented before the peculiar type of audience that the Village playhouse araws, it fluctuates between seriousness and bosh. Brook is Crook Blackburn (tetnl- nine gender. If the name confuses), a natural, unmoral habitue of the Alleghany mountain forest tracts. Brought up in thi.i forsaken terri- tory among an ever-changing but conai.itently swe.iring and cursing polyglot crow of lumbr-rjacka, she ha.l strangely devi-Iopod an odd penchrint for flowery .and po'^tir KimilcH. Brook, in fart, cm liken a mundane qu<'illty with any tiatiir.il form of bi auly in a moment'.^ notice. and It must be conceded the per- .Honator's oonfeplion wan that im- pressive, that Ihis qii.ilifv .ilid Ijy unnotifPd for nn ad nil a tiilf he- fore the faol hit one bclwiM-ii I lie eyes that ths author was carrying the matter too far Being "an unusual lovs play" ths nioroua quality was ever to the fore. Brook dwelt so Impressively'on that feeling that one almost forgot that in reality she daily contended with a booze-fighting papa, a pestersome lumberjack swain and an unhealthy general atmosphere. Rather a strange quirk for Brook, in view of Ihoso circumstances on retrospec- tion. BryciB Hammond Is the man. Bryce belittles his Juvenile com- panion's (Norman Tracy) infatua- tion for the pulchrltudinous Brook, but It results In Bryce capitulating himself; or, more strictly, making the virgin Brook "give herself to im. These and other delicate pointA ware promiscuously threshed oirt through a span of three talky acts, the talklness probably being onir countenanced because of the entalU Ing spice. Bryce Is engaged to another girl, and, after a lengthy debate, reply and further rebuttal among all prin- cipals concerned, the obvious cur- tain clinch is reached with Bryce In the arms of his hinterland amour. The play lacks concrete founda- tion. It la only one altuatlon drssssd , up, elaborated, analyzed and dis- i sected throughout a period of two i hours. The close quarters in ths Village theatre because of poor ven- tilation did not help very much to alleviate the time ordeal. ' The playera are unusually capable i and decidedly more worthy of a bst- I ter vehicle. Mary Carroll In the titio i role was a highly appealing Brook, l charmingly displaying a vivid con- < ceptlon of hor character that really I made the creation breathe and llrs. ' Donald Cameron as Bryce Hammond ' was the manly male lead to a nicety, I but somewhat spoiled the illiulon toward conclusion in the tense mo- | ments. George Thompson aa the In- ebriate parent clicked, and Benjamin Kauaer contributed ths oppostnir force interpretation realisUoally, Theodore Westman, Jr., who waa hailed aa a "comer" by ths nndsr- fllgned In the New York Drama League's Little Theatre Tournament lost spring, when he was In one of the competing skits, fulftlled the pre- diction here. He's a corkinc juvenUs type and really can act Comsdr. however, should be his fort*. Bills Baker as Adah was weak. A.1^ SHOWS IH CHICAGO (Continued from page 16) house was gone before the seat sals opened Monday morning. For the Alice Brady engagement at the Powers Labor Day night ths management has been running a changeable advertisement for IS davs in advance, an unusual stunt hero. The speculative days for ths new season In the loop are over. Reality ' will now prevail since another week will find a goodly number of ths full quota of theatres open. Every- j body seems to bs Itching to go to the theatre; the pyrotechnics of the speculators situation is adding to the opening days chatter, so taken everything into consideration the £3-24 season In Chicago is aflar* with sort of excitement that seldom falls to make good boz-offlos Ys- i turns. Last week's estimates: "Up 8hs .Qoss" (Studebaker, lU week). Off to a flying start Will make a strong- bit to keep at top of musical competition. Figured close to {19.000. 'H'hs Dancing QirT (Colonist 12th week). ' More cast changes with view of strengthening for roa4 . tour. Kept around the $19,000 mark. "Dangerous Psopls'* (Cort, 8th week). Went between $0,000 and $10,000, Just enough to give It best week's business of engagement Will stick into September. "Up Ths Ladder" (Central, 22nd week), Octtlng much help at hotels by being offered for bor- olTIco price. Chocked around $0,000. "Whispsring Wires" (Princess, 3d week). Between $13,000 and $14,000 with every prospects of sticking many weeks. LITTLE THEATRES The growth of the Little Country Theatre idea was demonstrated at the Ofleans County Fair at Albion, N. T., during the past week. A few years ago a group of playera from Cornell University demonntcated ths idea at the stats fair at Syracuse. It was shown how i^iral groups could make country life attractive by having their own theatrea and producing plays. At an Improviaed theatre at the fair 11 plays were presented by groups from eight dif- ferent communities of the county. Their success made a big Impres- sion, with the result that the Idea gained considerable headway. Judg- ing was on the following basis: Interpretation of play, getting it across, 40 per cent.; voice, 20 per" cent.; stage presence, 20 per cent.; costuming, 10 per cent.; staging, set- tlni; of stage and properties, 10 per cent. The C.ipn Town (South Africa) Atniilfiii Operatic Society staced ■Mi.s.i llijok of Holland" at the o|>"ri lioiLie ill lliat city for tlie wiTli of July ii.