Variety (April 1925)

W'' -■Ti<^,»^i.:?«S7r; Wednesdaf, April tS, IMS LEGITIMATE VARIETY 25 mwerlnK of **»• ciirUtn n«ar the joae to denote a lapse of time. On ^second night the etago was iWrkened inetead. Then Valry wa« Sown working tar Into the night MB a play—the story of their life, for Qorace had died and the lovers had ^The second act curtain when Valry carries the woman Into his room Is the punch. On the openlnB night she threatened to scream and he repl'ed that would do no good ilnce the neighbors were used to It. or something like that. Anyhow the line was out after the opening. Might put In the old gag, "How loud can you yelir* Kllsabeth Rlsden had the part of the glorlrted wife, tired of her mar- riage, but true to her vows. Hamsey Wallace. In the lead as Valry, had the rep of knowing all about women, though he claimed the opposite. Helen Carew as th« gold digger had the'-comedy lines, of which there was a limited supply. One utter- ance that there is many a slip be- tween an appointment and an apart- ment was a nifty. For picture people who still desire gexy scripts there might be a chance for n program release out of ^Thrills." For Broadway the play's patronage will probably come prin- cipally from cut rates, if it survives. Jbee. moat too sacharrlne at times, but that goefl well with the women. For this reason It may go along to mod- erate business and eke out a mild run. As picture material the title lets it out in that respect. There isn't sufficient action to make it particu- larly attractive, although the dialog hints of yachting parties, etc.. that could be sandwiched in and the theme thus elaborated by a facile scenarist. AOel, O NIGHTINGALE So(>hle Trendw«ll production of hpr own "•prinff comedy" In three acts ar.d ono ■peni", op<^In(r April IS at th<> Oth Street tbeatr*. Sew Torli. Play ««ag:ed by Jchn Xlrkpctrick. "Blchard Warrlnston Lyonel Watta Mme. Vera Istomlna Oonatence El'ot Dot Norton Suzanne Wllla Appolonia !.<><> Martha-Uryan Allen X* Marqula De Severac.... Ernest Lawford A Walter ..Ifarcel L«mina I.awrenrc Oormont Fred Irvlnj I,r>wi» Flora St. John Harda Daub; Aloma of the South Seas Drama In three acts by John B. Hymer and I.C noy Clemens, produced at the iJyrh;, April 20. by Carl Heed; staged by A. H. van Buren; native dances directed by Mile. Valeska; theme mang by Rotwrt Hnod Bow- ers and Francis DeWitt; George Gaul fea- tured. Mrs. Rldgley Marlon Barney Reginald Ridgley nenls Uurney Taula Penelope Hubbard Ilina Priscilla Knowles Aloma Vlvlenne Osborne Sumner Ridgley Arthur Barry Andy Taylor Ben Johnson ■•Red" Malloy.i Arthur Vlntoi. "Shorty" Walter tJIass Nultane George Gaul Boano William Garcan HongI Al. Roberts Bob Holden Frank Thomas .Sylv'a Templcton Anne Morrison Van Templeton Richard Gordon I'Uana Andrea McKlnnon Moana .- I.ola De Rome Unola „ Dorotha Henlse Nahoma Korola Alleneva climaxing the second act Is accom- plished In moving picture fashion, the best effect of the kind this sea- son and far l>etter than the storm bit in "Cape Smoke." The off-stage playing of a Hawaiian string quin- tette ranged through the show, and the band performed In the pit be- tween the first and second acts. The first act held a native dance in which three girls were coached in the manner of the native wiggle or cooch which got something. The Rlrls were bare to the top of the thiKh but all were covered from the waist up. That went to Aloma, who is thoroughly attractive as she Is. The lobby display is alluring enough to draw business; witness the current case of "Artists and Models." There Is picture value in "Al< ma," and the sponsors are therefore In a position to profit even though a run is not accomplished. "Aloma" should get a heavy play from cut rates but will hardly last into summer. The play's best chance is on the road, which was true of "The Bird of Paradise." Jbee. With a first act to match the en- suinrr two and a bit more dep'h to the thesis, there would be no ques- tioning the success of this post- Easter entry. As it is, it sh:ip(\s up very interestingly and made for a bright evening after the first stanza was over with. "O Nightingale" (a poor box office title, by the bye, and not aptly sug- gestive of the theme) was done be- fore, according to report, under the Tyler banner with Helen Hayes in the Loney Lee role. Miss Tread- well (the wife of W. O. McGeehan, the New Tork "Tribune" sports writer) has since taken It over as her own proposition and is said to be realizing a life-long ambition to appear as an actress, as well as author, on Broadway. Miss Tread- well Is reported being the Constance Eliot of the cast One Is Inherently suspicious of author-produced plays; It's too much like the poet who must spread hlB muses through privately printed editions. Suspicion was gaining a Strong foothold with the unfolding of the talky first act, but when that talented Martha-Bryan Allen en- tered the scene It took on a new aspect It's a chatty little play, a polite Way for saying "talky," and Is wholly motivated by the gifted tiiarms and talents of Miss Allen. The burden revolves about her. and without her the play would not be Worth while. Miss Allen is by far the most Interesting factor in con- nection with "O Nightingale." She proves herself unquestionably "ar- rived." • Appolonia Lee came from Sprlng- fleU, Kan., to New York to act Juliet and Shakespearean roles. She was fortified with the plaudits terned in the amateur local plays >nd felt herself adequately primed. ▲ li't'^nch Ruirquls befriends her and ■he elects him as her "man." acting 4n the advice of a girl acquaintance mat "a man" is necessary for femi- Blne^progresfl in this man's world. Tbs Innocent Loney concerns her- self naught with the question of possible reciprocity, although fortu- gately the kindly old roue Is harm- ins in that respect The marquis arranges an audi- tion with the great manager, Law- rence Gormont, and his particular luminary. Flora St John, who are deeply surprised at the Kansas girl's IdeaHstic utterances in connection With art and the drama. Gormont is a slangy "commercial" manager Wiio calls everybody "sweetheart" and the stately St John an ex- plscult shooter. It's quite a disap- pointment for Loney. Meantime, the struRgllng sculptor whose studio she has invaded becomes sufficiently wnitten to maintain the romantic interest for a "sweet" curtain. The casting Is perfect and does BJuch to sustain the action. Miss Allen's contribution is - articularly noteworthy. Ernest Lawford as the marquis was superb, playing with ease and unction. Fred Irving Lewis ■a the theatrical manager (a role that might have been patterned after a farce entrepeneur) and Harda Daube a.s the neo-.-irtlste did Well with rather "fat" parts. Miss EUofs contribution was adequate, and Lyonol Watts was a satiafac- ton- male lead. There are plenty of Ifs and buts In connection with rating this show, 'n hii,'h-.speed mld-senson It could Safely l)e predicted for a none too '"iiK stay. At this late date it's an- otlipr .(uestlon. The author-pro- 'liicrd .Tnprlp and the small and inex- ppti-^ivr ctRt are other salient f^iotor.s Its «i> ultra "sweet" show, *1- The atmosphere of the South Sea is'.anda is at.ached to one of the most successful dramas in a decade, meaning "Rain." Long before that was "The Bird of Paradise," Hawai- ian color but clrsely related to the islets beyond the tropics. "Aloma of the South Seas" is a composite, spotted In the South Seas, and treated with the tinkle of steel string guitars. Dramatically "AJoma" does not par with either of the first two named, yet it is colorful ent ugh to attract attention. John B. Hymer' teamed with Le Roy Clemens in writing "Aloma." Carl Reed is pro- gramed as the producer, though it is reported the Century Play Co. is the real backer, with the authors also "in." The new play has been out twice In the last month or two. It opened at the Montauk, Brroklyn, under the title "In the South Seas." The play was then recalled and recast throughout, only one player in the original line-up retained, and with "Aloma" prefixed it repeated at the Montauk last week, grossing around $7,400. That figure was considered encouraging business for an un- known. The romance in "Aloma" is two- sided. Aloma, the prettiest native girl on the island, figures both ways, but it is her heart affair with a youth of her own race that is pri- mary. For that reason much of the dialog is steeped in dialect, and such a love story spread through three acts Is rather repetitive. For the attractive lobby frames picturing native girls in postures of abandon it might be inferred there were high Jinks between the white men and the sable beauties of the play. But Bob Holden. the hero, does not "go native," though he has reason enougli, perhaps. On the verge of falling: for the charms of Aloma he decides on marriage, never expecting to leave the island. At that moYnent Sylvia, the sweet- heart of his boyhood, turns up and the outcoms is never In doubt Holden had been gassed In the war, held in a German prison and re- ported dead. His pal had withheld the truth from Sylvia and married her. Holden had gone to the Island and was pretty much of a sot— Scotch being the national drink there as here. It seems. But he straightens out In a hut on a plan- tation back in the hills, with Aloma, his housekeeper, she going to her kin's hut each night Nultane, her dusky lover. Is ever watchful of the beauty, and he gains her at the fin- ish. He has guarded Aloma from white men, several of whom have been lost off of Nuitane's boat In the lagoon. Laconically he remarked: "Sharks no like dark meat; they like white meat," and he says It too many times. George Gaul plays the native Nultane dolled up in breach cloth and a knife. He spoke the wis- dom of the Islands which were not diseased until the white men came; that "white sailor men take the girls to the ships and give them glass beads; then native girls stand on t>each with white baby and wait for ships which never return." It is also voiced that few white men in the South Seas resist "going native," but they rarely remain for long and finally answering the call of their native lands. For Gaul's entrance and exits he carries hhi own music, playing a "sweet potato." He spouted much In dialect and talked often of the sharks. Bare from the waist up his characterization never let down. Vivienne Osborne made a real brown beauty of Aloma, holding her dialect throughout and depicting a little sable witch. Her love making scene with Frank Thomas,, who played Holden, Is one of the best bits in the play. Most of the other parts were well enough handled. Detail In the production has been carefully attended to. Both settings arm SKoellant, belnir designed by LlTlngtoa Piatt. ▲ tropical storm RUINT A folk comedy In four acta by Hatcher Hughes. Directed by James Light. Pro- duced at the Provlncetown Playhouse. New York. April 8. Settings by Cleon Throck- morton. Mrs. Horton Jane Burby Aud Hnrton John Huston Mrs. Akins Caroline Newcombe Mary Jane Horton Jeannle Begg Reginald Vanderpeet William Leonard K1I AkIns J. K. Applebee Amos Horton David Landau Abraham Hollfleld Robert W. Smiley Lum Crowiler Sam Jaffe Mrs. Venderpeet Anne Sutherland Pete Dannyhew Wilbur De Rouge to. Moreover, they deal strongly with the sex Impulse—as If it were a new thing, either In reality or dramatically. What is even mora surprising, their works are shown before au- diences of super-sophisticates, of long-haired Villagers and reviewers duty-bent. And if the piece hap- pens to be labelled groat, it is given Its appellation and reputation by people unfit to Judge, for the major- ity of city dwellers neither know nor understand the rural dwellers. A summer vacation is more often a calamity th.-xn an education. In "Wild Hinls" l.s a girl of 17, In- creiiibly innocent, and a boy escaped from a reform school. Thrown to- gether as the "hired out" servant.'; of tyrannical John Slag on a mea- pre mid-western farm, llicy arc quartered in an unhappy environ- ment. The boy is kind and loves the trirl. The girl. Innocent, but glvon to dreaming and a search for knowl- edge, falls In love with the boy be- cause he has treated her well. They lun away, over the prairie, and spend a night together and then are brought back. Five months later the little girl realizes with poignant simplicity that she is to bear a child. She tells the boy. John Slag finds It out and whips the boy to death. The girl Jumps in a well and drowns her- self. A Stranger walking through the play has said that somewhere wild birds meet "Wild Birds' is staged effectively, though with simplicity, and acted by one of the best casts ever in a N'ill'ge production. This group is much finer than some of the ctsts assembled by the I'rovincetownors. for Mildred Whitney, Mina (lleason. Mildred MacLeod, Dodson Mitchell and Ijiurence Tulloch do splendid and sincere work, backed by good support. The method of treating the story 1-4 ri)isnil!r, rather a lazy way of playwrighting, but In tills Instance l>robably necessary. But, all in all, "Wild Birds" Is not great, though It !s good, and its author, Dan Toteroh, has an almost certain sense of the- atric values. He has used them to good effect here. But even with Its good cast and other merits, "Wild Birds" does not shape as a commercial proposition. It may stick around the Village some time, but Is not destined to good grosses uptown. Should It ever move up (and that Is un- likely because of its tragedy), the t>est it could expect would be small grosses from cut-rate support. Biak. PLAYERS IN THE LEGITIMATE BLANCHE BATES "Mrs. Partridge Presents—" RRLMONT THRATRK. NRW TORK Manascmeat! OVTHBIK McCLINTIC Hatcher Hughes, whose "Hell- Bent fer Heaven" won last year's Pulitzer^ Prize as the best American drama of the year, has again delved Into the peculiarities of mountaineer life in his latest opus, "Rulnt." He uses up there acts, two of which are burdensomely talking and a third act, even tamer than the pre- ceding two, to propound the same question that a pop song writer has told In two stanzas and a chorus In ■Why Did I Kiss That Girl?" Mary Jane Horton, lamb of the Horton family, had been seen stroll- ing through the woods with Reggie Vanderpeet, a youth of wealth, who is squandering part of a legacy to establish a mission in which to edu- cate the children of the horny- handed mountaineers. Without con- sulting either of the youngsters the family have decided that Mary Jane has been "rulnt" by the city chap, and the remainder of the play is given over to discussion as to whether he shall pay by becoming a target or shall dangle from a noose. They finally compromise on tar and feathers. Mary Jane knew he only kissed her but they had accused her of be- ing "rulnt" and she seemingly en- Joyed the adventure. She was fur- ther vexed when Reggie admitted he never had any Intention of mar- rying her and vixen-like held her tongue until he had the noose around his neck before coming through with the details of ths woodland sojourn and corroborat- ing Reggie's previous statement that there had been nothing more than a lip-smack between them. Most of the roles are particularly well cast and several are not Jane Burby and Caroline Newcombe are superb as prattlesome mountaineer women. William Leonard failed to convince as ths hero in the dilemma and despite his predicament was unable to elicit sympathy. Jeanne Begg handled the role of Mary Jane adequately, while John Huston, son of Walter Huston, gave a creditable interpretation of a gawlcy mountain boy. From all angles "Rulnt" may serve its purpose as a diaractsr sketch of mountaineer life but has little to recommend It to the com- mercial theatre. It cannot last much beyond ths subscription sea- son at ths Provlncetown, and after that It may b<r relegated to th^ little theatre groups. SIBYUA BOWHAN A8 WANDA WITH "Rote-Marie" Woods Theatre, Chicago Penonal Rep.. JTENIR JACOBS JOHN 6YAM "My Girl!" Vanderbitt Theatre, New York PHYUJS CLEVELAND "Tell Me Mor^' Gaiety Theatre, N. Y. HELEN BOLTON '*Af y Girl" Vsnderbllt Thsstrs, New York JAY BRENNAN STANLEf ROGERS wUh "RITZ REVUE" This Wli (Ayr. M), Alrto. Ptttebwsh AUAN DINEHART WITH "Applewuce" staged by AUAN DINEHART Produoml by RICHARD HBRNDON UAKRICK, DBTROrt BERT OLBERT COMEDIAN "CHINA ROSE" Knickerbocker Theatre, N. T. 0. SPENCER CHARTERS "What's the Shootin' Forr Friars' Club, New York ARTHUR DEAGON "RoM-M«ri«" Imperial Theatre, New York Dlreetiea JBHIB JACOM WDIIE HOWARD "Sky High*^ Winter Garden, N. Y. Personal Mgr. EUGENE HOWARD Edba. WILD BIRDS Trasedy In tbne act* br Dan "Toteroh. Produced April » at the Ch«rry l.«n» Play- house by th» Cherry L«n» Players, Inc. In nine ecenes, with Ave different eete. Di- rected by John Wray of the ■•Silence" caat Corle 8la«..., Mildred Whitney lira Slan Mllna C. Gteaeon Oeorre Marsbalt Thoina« Mel*nile Masle llUdrwl MaoLMd Sandy Roberts OeorKO Farren Bathey Florence Miller John Slav Dodeon L.. Mitchell Milt Pollard Laurence Tulloch Adam LarKin Dcnatd Duff Preacher-a Voice FVImond Forde Tramp Bdmund Ford* Out of the West rame Dan Toteron and this "Wild Birds' drama. It opened in the hidden places of Greenwich Village. The play is a pretty nice piece of work— of its kind. It comes from that school of dramntists who see the drab side with an Intense sincerity, but whose actual knowledge of drab people does not coincide with their sense of dramatic values. Most of these dramas deal heavily in sym- bolism. They have dialog from the mouths of nlt-wIts and numskulls which in Inaccurate and vague. They have dialects which art not adhsrsd ALLEN KEARNS "Mercenary Mary* Lengacre Theatre, N. Y. SUE MacMANAMY ••roUB n.CRHRR" A pen* Tbeatrs, New Taek Indefinite Hmysavo and JOAN FRANZA "Ritz Rerue" . TkU Wli (Apr. M>, Alvls. PiUskWsli HARRY FENDER . "Loaie the 14tK' Cosmopolitan Theatre, Nsw York INDKnNITKL.T JAMES GUASON . TSZATSOr Ch&nin's Theatre, N. Y. GAIL KANE *'Loffgerheads" Mollis Theatre, Boston WM. T.KENT « BILLY TAYLOR JUVENILE "CHINA ROSE** Knickerbocker Theatre, H. T. C. Rose-Marie" Imperial Theatre, New York HARRY PUCK : "iify Civr Vandsrbilt Theatre, New Yerk INDKFIN1TEI.T AIME TORRIANI "Topay and Ew^' Harvfa Theatre, N«w Toek JUDITH YOSSELU ZIBOFBT.D'R "IXtVlK THF. I4TH" Ceanopelitan Theatre, N. T. CHARLES WDJJAHS ECCENTRIC COMIC "Student Prince" J0L80N, NEW YORK MARIE SAXON "My Girl" Vandsrbilt Theatre, New York INDSriMITS LOUIS A. TEMPLEHAN A8 "JIM KENYON" with "Rose-Marie" WOODR THKATRK, CmOAOO CHARLOTTE TREADWAY I.OM ANOaUBI H. PIERRE WHITE WITH "Rote-Marie" Woods Theatrs, Chisago INOEFINITILV