Variety (September 1923)

« LEGltlMATk T^:i!i:'^"'f^'^"-^'^- '•'" Thursday, September 13,1023 ^ "CASANOVA", "SPRING CLEANING" AND "CHICKEN FEED" LOOK SURE FIRE "Hoodoo Farm" Sounds Good Enough for Broadway —♦Take a Chance" Shrewdly Put Together— Lonsdale's Second Play Pronounced in Chicago Superior to First—No Villain in Golden's Piece CASANOVA Baltimorp, Sept. 12. A piay In three aou and * prolog, written by Lorenzo De AnTtl>. transMwl br BKIlfey How»rd. Presented by A. H. Wood* by arrmnfement wlih ailberC Mll- ll«r, at&rrtns Ijowel! STiermajl And staffed »y Mr. Miner. Produced at Ford'a, Bal- Mmore, Sept. 11. Gilbert Miller and A. H. Woods In puttlnr "Casanova" In the Empire for the winter months have made a wise move, for upon Its premiere in Baltlmors last nlfbt It was a bit; •uccesa, both lone and continuous. Ur. MUIcr has produced a show with •zquisite taste, showering coBtume* lavishly on the many females in the cast. Moreover, he haa produced a work which ia a credit to the houae of Prohman and the Eimplrc theater. Founded on tbe life of the BO- torlous libertine, Casanova, it Is sophisticated entertainment and ia not a fable for infanta. Neither la it smutty or revoltlnxly done; aim- ply a dramatization of the one big love In the life of this Italian; of Itn course and Us consequences. Mr. Sherman in the role of Casa- nova dies as the curtain falls, but It isn't an unhappy ending for he dies caressing the footprints of his child whom he recognizes though h« had never seen her before, but who stood before him In the final scene. The plot concerns the meeting of Casanova with Henrlette In an Inn. Here she is in company with an old man—but she ia younK and Casa- nova falls In love with her. He and the old man talk it over. He tella the old man he is really too old to be a oomiianlon to such a channtng Virl and the old man agrees. At the beginning of the second act they are nearing the end of their three months of happiness and are itlU In love, but Casanova has no money and cannot tell Henriette so. Khe wants to remain, but after he remaina silent, leares. Immediately after an amba^ssador from the French government settles upon him a yearly income because he has helped in a financing scbeme lor the government. Casanova then dlapatchea four postiUlona to cover the roads to France and to stop a r.arriag» bearing Henriette. Then he sits down for dinner. The first postillion arrives, bringing Hen- rlette (but another Henriette), a beautiful governess, and he makes love to her as they eat the dinner. Will she stay all night? Yes. A few minutes later the other postillion comes in with a Hen- riette, a beautiful dancer from Milan. Hid he remember her? He did. Who was the other lady? Hl.s cousin from the country. The trio ait down for dinner. The third postillion comes in with the Cour- tesan, also named Henriette. Tou eent for me? And Casanova, the Retatleman and gallant, said that he had, and the courtesan told the party that she demanded her pay- ment in advance. The party proceeds until the fourth postillion comes In with no one. The carriage he was pursuing reached the border line of France * minute ahead and he could not pursue. So the real Henriette is lost. The thjrd act finds Casanova an old man. He is still pining for Henriette. He has been III and upon his recovery a beautiful young girl, in reality his daughter, comes to visit him. He discovers her identity and as she walks out the door he falls to the floor, kissing the marks which her feet left upon the carpet. A few minutes later, when two kitchen maids with whom he had an appointment enter to keep their rendezvous they find him on the floor, dead. The play is preceded by a taste- fully done Venetian ballet under the Foklne direction. In this are many gorgeous costumes- and good music by Deems Taylor. The ballet is In- dicative of the mood of the play and throughout the action strains of it occur. Sherman does excellent acting as Cananova. It Is a fat role, heavily eentlmontnl and full of the lines (Tear (o n romantic .Ti-tors hffirt-. H«* run'? the gamut from !;iuKl>t<'r to misery iind from Ilglpt-ho-irtol h;i|)- pint'ss to the aBonle.s of dying, and hp is capably supportfMl by Kath- < rino Cornell. Both rci'fivo.l ov.i- tlons lusting several miiintpfi at the «>nd of the second and Inst acts nt the picmiorc. It was hunest .ip- lilau«c, coming n» mupli from :lic talcoDy a.s'ii dul from the orchi'^iin. The la.Ht as a whole i.s good. Tn Mr. .Sherman and Miss (Jornell i{n ilii^ lienors of the play. The costumes are all ivorks of • iirt. drsii,'nrd by Rnrb!e:'e. AlthouKli i:cl s'l in iry iw iriil as ZJcgifiO uses in his revues, they surpass a great many which have gracsd hk stage, and, as the action of tha play 18 laid In the early eighteenth cen- tury, It gives ample scope for tbe elaborate costuming. The ballet is performed before a fantastic curtain of the canals of Venice, while tbe play is given before two maaaive sets, one the interior of an Inn and the other the apartment of Casa- nova. The piece has little literary merit and Isn't an especially good play, but possesses a big bovolBce value. Its appeal will be more espe- cially to women, from the present outlook, and can be counted upon to do big things at tbe E^mpire. Bitk. CHICKEN FEED Wllkes-Barre. Pa., Sept. I. John Golden opened his new com- edy, "Chicken Feed," by Guy Bolton, at the Irving to a capacity audience that showed Its appreciation by con- tinued curtain calls. The comedy is on the lines of "The First Tear," with a prominent role patterned after "Llghtnin' Bill," with the dialog full of delicious wit: the situations are natural and appealing and the action moves rapidly w><h several serious bits. The story Is of several wives who revolt at the Idea of continually be- ing compelled to ask for small change for their needs, "chicken feed" in tbe vernacular, and combine with the heroine In asking for a fixed sum at regular Intervals to run their eitablishroente. The men revolt and tbe women call a strike, walking out of their homes, leaving the husbands to shift for themselves. T^e love affair of the young cou- ple that is tha central love theme Is suspended awaiting the outcome of the walkout, and the laughs come from the unusual predicament of all' the parties. The women are at sea by reason of their financial stringency and the men at a loss to care for their newly acquired duties. There is a human note about it all that made It especially appeal- ing. There la no villain uor aia any of the ten commandments fractured during the course of the play. A beautiful production, and the flrst performance went over In per- fect style under the direction of Winchell Smith. Roberta Arnold was a brilliant fig- ure as the girl who started the trouble with her idea of placing women on an Independent basis, with Stewart Fox as her foil in the love- making. Frank McCormack made the old man of wonderful ideas and a paucity of results, but winning out at the end, a character that will stand comparison with "Llghtnin' Bill." Arthur Aylesworth and L«ila Bennett carried the bulk of the com- edy with laughing results. Marie Day, Sam Reed, Mart Fuller-Golden, Bert W^est and Katherlne Wilson complete the cast. taken by Violet Heming, are his ac- claimed iray. And this, strangel} enough, ha does suooasafuUy. With the shadowy wraltha of women he haa loTsd and cast aaide, eontinually endansering his fi«sh eonquests, he atiU can creata naw fabrications of )ov«, and ensnare hia vIetlmB. "Sprinc Cleaning" shows the pro- fessional liar in the act of estrang- ing Margaret frofa her devoted but somewhat blind husband Richard, characterized In superb art by Ar- th«r Byron. . „ . It's all the second work of Fred- erick lAnsdale, the English author, who attended the premiere. The piece dedicated A. H. Woods' new Adelphl theatre Sunday night. It can't be believed that the Adelphl is the former Columbia, ao thor- oughly has It been renovated. A new legit theatre for the loop, won- drous In the supreme comfort it offers. It was the cast the Selwyns col- lected for 'Spring Cleaning" that brought the advance interest' for this premiere along wltn the fact It was the dedication ot a new the- atre. What a cast! Violet Heming, Arthur Byron, A. E. Mathews, Bstelle Wlnwood, Kenneth Douglas, Blythe Daly, Gordon Ashe, Pauline Whltson, Robert Noble and others. Close figuring classes It as a fat 16,000 cast for the get away expen- sive ot the attraction. "Spring Cleaning" shonUl draw here on the strength of the worth of its cast. In New York the cast and play will guarantee a "smash hit," at least that's the Judgment of the writer. And In Chicago "Spring Cleaning' will do better than any other Eng- lish literary work, but It won't do tbe business needed to overcome the expense thj Selwyns have gone to In order to make Ix>nsdale'8 second manuscript complete iQ production and cast. Z,oop. HOODOO FARM San Francisco, Sept. t. A comedy In t^ree sets, by Walter A. Blvare. Memben e( Uw Tows OoonoU of Slocani- vHle— Abnar BueUa Hunr J. Lialand OlMi,dUli BtondlU Ridiard Wilbur Bbaoacier Satontone 4*ia«* Newman Silaa Becreat; , Ftitl Bers Backy Btocadlll, witli "moTia" ambWona. Ivy Mwtons Mrs. BaraJi Oaifca. nother of Con- atanoe Clara Beyers I.«ka Alapnnd. a (annar..Aneyn t,. MeNulty Uriah Whlp|>>«liuiJi, owner of "Hoodoo Farm" Nata Andaraon Brerett Batlew, .a aottor of Oonatanba, Ra/aal Bron^lo OonaUnee COarke. tha slri Rutb Klac Sam MartlBc, • Tord war veteraji. Oeorca Johnson Tom Itccan, the 9tmn(*r.. .Richaid Allan Matthew Haynaa Rocera, a flnaixrler, Lelfb WUlard a kerse, a atck on* at any rate, has beso made th« i>lvot on which the plot of a play has tamed. And the idea Is as clever as it is new. It is worth a lot of laughs which after all is bringing a rural or any other sort of comedy to its desired end. "On this basis 'The Hoodoo Farm' must be adjudged a success insofar a certain type ot avdience ia con-' oemed. It is not Broadway nuite- rial, however. Rivers' previous comedy, 'Watch My Smoke,' was. True, it has not seen Broadway, but. it is the stuff 9t which metropolitan successes are made and will yet 'ar- rive.' "Rivera has laid his comedy down along broad lines and drawn his characters with the same brush. As l-he marries young inventor, portrayed by the Casino players, the j^ xhe book apparently was taken in SPRING CLEANING Chicago, Sept. 12. Wallers L,ewla Bronchtoa Marxaret Sanaa Violet Hemlns Kroeat StoaJa A. K. Mathews Fay Colien Blylhe DaJy L*dy Jana Waltoo Pauline Wbltaon Arrhla Wella Keiin«th Donslaa Bobble Willlama llobert Nobla Blllla Somtoers <K)rdoo Aah« i^nnie Ollllaa Maxina McOoaaM Rkrh- -a Senas..'. Arthar Byron Hon.- EsteUa Wiowood There are aome profound truths underlying the mirth and satire of "Spring Cleaning." For instance— one is tempted to advance a theory, after listening to this play, that the chronic liar is more bclieveable than the so-called "good man," whose ef- forts and actions are honestly con- ceived and executed. The character of Ernest, played by A. K. Mathews, Is an Illustra- tion. ■Ernest" Is an offlclal "serp- ent." Rich, lazy, unscrupulous, playins with morality like a cat with a bird, he lives by lies and iiuK id, lia.s to lie to live. His exlst- enco has become a network of pre- varications. He hasn't an honest thciiMlit in hl.s head—ho even lle.i to himsplf and believes liis own lies Lli'.s to him are pleasant little boats upon whiih Ills bored iiUas m.ay be set adrift. They nre such n part of liini Ih.at ho seems i .nre siiici^re an.I to Ik' i-rfflitpd than his more scru]i iiloii.i .is.soel.atps. Of course It is In regard to worn'n tliit "Krnest" lies the most. Mar- rii rl women, especially of the type (■'' M.irtr.ii'e; .*<i>i:c!>, j "nnil.a! y ThU is a tough Job! ' After you've l>een "sitting In" on tbe other fellow's play and finding fault and quibbling over this situ- ation and that climax and telling him how he should have done It— then suddenly to have to do the same thing to a play of your own, well, you begin to get fidgety and self-conscious. If the play happens to be good, or you think it is and say ao, you have a sneaking feeling that no one will believe you. If you pan It (and where Is the man who'll do that to his own precious brain child?) you're not giving yoursalf a fair deal. Because, nat- urally, no one can see anything to "roast" io his own play. As the writer baps to be Variety's correspondent In this particular citr and SH Variety's editor, perhaps, has a sense of humor he told him to send a review of the play. That's where Variety's corre- spondent was tempted; tempted to write one of those "here at last Is the great American play" reviews. We though it all over and decided we'd feel too mtKh remorse—es- pecially if someone happened to dis- cover tha deception. So as a sort of a compromise we put aH the re- views written by the critics on the San Francisco newspapers in a box and then, blindfolded, drew one out at random. It happened to be that written by Currant D. Swint, dramatic editor of tbe San Francisco "Call," and here's wiiat he said: "It would make a horse laugh. "Anyway, that la what The^oo- doo Farm' did at Its premiere pres- entation at the Casino yesterday afternoon. "Which doesn't mean that Walter Rivera' new play was given the 'horse laugh.' It's merely a state- ment of what actually did happen at a particular point In ttie play. where a snappy bit of side talk was accorded the heartiest and muBt spontaneous of the many outbursts of laughter brought out by the br. ad comedy of the piece. ■''The Hoodoo Farm' cannot hoa^t much of anything that la new In dram.a construction. In fact, it fol- lows .along familiar paths trod deep by tho many 'rural' comoilles wlJ.-h have preceded It In tho matttr of the horse, however. Except In <lie mattrr nf the hor.'-.-'. that Is. I! Is ■lie Mr.st tinif In my |.:r.oiv"pflg(< f'r;t latter are pretty hard to swallow, It is rather difllcult to co-ordinate the rural type -of 'Way Down East' and the motorcycle and automobile of today in the same picture. The author has farther modernized his play by waving the flag over a pair of buddies meeting again In Slogan- vlUe, somewhere in the U. S. A., after their harrowing experiences somewhere In France. "A description of most any play of the type_ would fit 'The Hoodoo Farm.' Here we have the widow and her pretty daughter about to be cheated; apparently, out of their only means of support by the hard- hearted money grabber. Only it isn't a mortgage this time, but an agreement made by the husband before his death to trade his general store for a worthless farm. The villain Is aided and abetted by the village beau, who wants to marry the girl. Enter the atranger, who falls in love with the girl; discovers, via the sick horse, that there is phosphate (not oil) on the 'hoodoo' farm; dls(51oae8 himself as the son of a rich man who had determined to make his own way in the world; discomfits the pair of villalas and takes the girl into his arms. Cur- tain. "The drama Is built about the foregoing characters. The comedy comes from the village council, who have voted unto themselves the running of the affairs of the village, even to regulating the private Uvea of the villagers. And, of course, the sick borse and Its owner. "Richard Allen and Ruth King have the leading roles of the stranger and the widow's daughter. They are not 'fat' parts, however. Rivers having pretty well distrib- uted the action among the various characters. Both Allen and Miss King take excellent care of their roles. The heaviest work in the piece falls to the "heavy," Uriah Whippledunk, original owner of the hoodoo farm. Nate Anderson is to be particularly commended on his handling of this part. Ivy Mortons as Becky Stogsdill, the girl with movie ambitions, is also entitled to more than passing notice, as are Clara Byers as the widow, Harry J. Leiand as the chairman of the town council, Ancyn T. McNulty, the owner of the sick horse, and the horse (unnamed) himself. "Others in the long cast are Rich- ard Wilbur, James Newman, Phil Berg, Rafael Brunetto, George Jolyi- son and Leigh Willard. Hivert. TAKE A CHANCE Boston, Sept. 12. Two act. low prodiKtloa cost mualcal comedy produced by Harold Orjob, atase^ by Walter Brooks, acora by Orlob. book and lyrics by Orlob and H. I. Phillips. Thomas Bodkin, seoeral najiacar. I'atricia Warewell L«etA CQr41«T Marjurle Frayne Sibylla Bowhan Urs. Warewell AMaon Bklpworth Baby Ruth , Nellie Braen WUIIa Pall Joe Mack The Bazaar Custoaaar....Vlrsuila Anderson Lfick AVareweil Walter Douglaa Clix Touns 8am Crltcherson Joe Bafflpy........,,......Hansford Wilson Joe Ba«ley, Br ......Charles i. SUne Quartette Robert 'Tsmpla Quartrite , Edward Brenaan Quartette C, D. DaSalvo Quartatta ,, Paal Fehr the box ofllce to find it was doing I only house orchestra accompani. ments would go out grumbll.ig. The book Is rather limp, concern* ing a youug inventor financed by « college pal whose father h.is plenty* sugar. Young inventor solemnly pledges bis support to his pal to help him win girl be met on train. Qirl turns out to be young Inventor's sweetie. She is peeved at his iack of Jealousy at new suitor, conaenta -x to a trial honeymoon suggested hf ^ "engenics nut" and augmented bt £ her avaricious aunt, ^ On the trial honeymoon, she Is af'- ^ fectlonate to the rich man's son'.i only In presence of young invents^ 4 Invention ultimately a success ani! '4 synopsis form to H. L Phillips, the columnist writing under "The Globe Trotter," to be made into something, it is not worthy oi Phillips' luiine as ,v it stands, although the fault is apr ^ parently lack of work on Phillip# ' part. Personal pride by PhilH^ will probably bring a snappier toUoft n to the dlalctg after he has looked tiH 1 show square in the eye a couple at •'■ times with the gang when It hits ji New York. , 4 Joe Mack has a role not particu>--» larly funny as it now plays, but a good show doctor could make It fat . with extemporaneous hoke. Hans- ford Wilson, in a novel role as the-^ love-dumb suitor, is dominating tbe ^ show's laughs with a touch of ver- ^ satility and will probably build as ^ he progresses. Leeta Co'der in the ;« lead has a real personality, a rare 1 voice and an individualistic type of beauty. To the chorus of eight girfs, which will probably be flanked by show girls for the New York display, goes most of the hope for the future of the show. They are obviously young, all with trim figures, and (til are being given a chance to show their .■•billty to the limit. They were the talk of the lobby ail week and should be drilled In indlvldi:.al specialties and developed aa though they were the salvation of the show. Pour more like them would be the darb. Scenlcally the show iir safe enough and costumes will get by. The Gotham City Four don't fit. The balance of the cast all carry through well. Alison Skipworth's shift to musical comedy fixim tne legitimate Is a good move and what she can do with lines (when she has them) was apparent In "Tbe Torch-Bearers." The score has 14 numbers (Harms * Co.) all of high average hut show- ing little promise as yet of duplicat- Ing some of Orlob's previoun sue- Ji cesses. He la banking on "Don't ■ Forget" which Is the theme number, a "Pretty OlrV one-step. "Take a Chance" and "Teach Me How," both fox-trots. The title Is apparently due for a ^ chanc* on the ground it Is too ir- j dIcatlvA of a revue. Orlglnallv It was scheduled to be called "TiiB Trial Honeymoon" turned down as too farcey. and "Pretty Girl" Is now being considered. It Is Orlob's boast that he has paid more personally for his burned-fingers and tongh-breaka than the average producer. In "Take a (Chance" Orlob has not fol- lowed his title as It Is a deliberate attempt to take as little chances as possible, by producing a safe and conservative low-cost musical show that will never make him or break him. and which should, properly handled, show a comfortahle profit for the srason. XiSftrj/. Harold Orlob is reported as being a bit sentimental concerning this prodaction, due to the fact that It nearly cost him hla life. "Take a Chance" is the muaical offering that Orlob atarted out laat spring after his appendix broke during re- hearsals. The show batted oi-ounj in a half- baked condition for a couple f weeks on the one-nighters and the production costs ran so high thut by the time Orlob was able to sit up In bed and sign checks, he thought he owned the "Follies." He pulled It off arbitrarily but found himself in so deep that he threw in about $20,000 more, completely re-cast with the exception of Joe Mack, and started out again on the theory that the show might bust h's appendix but it couldn't bust his bankroll. It has the makings of a corking little low-production-cost road show, with an overhead than ca.i be pared down to $5,000. As it has shaken "liiwii and has been ninnliitr at the llollis Street It has a lot iif faults but Ina.-iinui-h ivs Orlol) admits them, it should improve to the point where it wii; make money but not history. Tho Vincent Lopez Orchestra, which mu.st be costli.>; closo to $1,500. Is not there ns a. pit crew. As a team of syncopator:', it is un- iloiil,teiliy worthy of its ii:unp, hut when u.-^ed solely to rcplaco tho hoii.se orchestra, It Is .•ortri.'^ily dump, if not all wet. ':')in lio;i<r. nimp h.'i': nn upfnievfioi^e,; ,l;",-.v ,n\t •-'{ ,Vp\v Voilf, hut tho:.;; il:-;m'n to WICHITA BLOSSOMS FORTH Kansas City, Sept. 12. Wichita, Kansas, will break Into the "big league" as a show town, this season, when "IJghtnIn" will play a week stand there. This will be the flrst full week's engagement for one play ever tried In the city. The town has been growing rapidly for the past few years on account of the oil boom and the management of the Crawford Is confident tha city can supply a paying week'i business. The house wil open Sept. 12 with Jane Cowl in "Romeo and Juliet"^ Tbe toWn will also have Its Or- pheum, with standard vaudevlll* and a stock company at the Prin- cess. At the later house the North Brothers Stock will be the attract tlon. I* I* ' ITHACA DB0P8 BTJBLESQUE Ithaca, N. Y., Sept. 12. The Lyceum, which la«t season had a policy of combination show' and burlesque attractions, this K*' son will eliminate the burlesque shows. The house opened for tW season on Wednesday (yesterday) with I'MiUen Feed," a. nrw sbo* Falls From Curtain Cincinnati. .Sept. 1 Noinia Krcdelle, a member at tW chorus with "The U-xneinK OW playliiR at tho Shubert liero, fw five S-i.l wlicn the f.i.sti iiiii;--! «'b"* hf-lil h. r to a living cmi.-iin cd*'' I-'t Ko. The nccldcnt < I'licJ " tui: view of the aU4li<-iu<- .'-'lie *** ■•<■: Mtricii' iy Inju.'td, ■