Variety (May 1925)

'llliM°c»d>r. May so. M2S LEGITIMATE •V;- VARIETY NEW PUYS PRODUCED " . OUTSIDE OF NEW YORK SIREN'S DAUGHTER f Philadelphia, May IJ. •*Th« Siren's 'Daugrhter," a new g*y by Mrs. Wallace ^rwln, starring: uth Chatterton, opened last night ml the Adelphl, grreeted rather tep- idly by an obviously sympathetic-* Ally-lncllned audience. The piece is pt the society drama type, reverting to the Pineroesque school. The end, !>• it said, Is straight, simon-pure tragedy, with the heroine taking an overdose of sleeping potion, and dy- tng on a lounge in full view of the «tudlence. .The main-difference between this and the "Tanqucrays" and "Bbb- •mlths" Is that she dies quietly. This final scene might have been rather impressive if it had not been so un- expected and unkeyed. There was not a auggestion of tragedy in the first two acts and It was only to- ward the middle of the final one, vrfaen one of the men accidentally came upon the bottle of sleeping po- tion, that any one had the slightest hint of what was to come. Before that Mrs. Irwin's play had been period- ically smart and dulL It opened with a Wedding party, celebrating the fourth or fifth nup- tials of Nina's mother, chajracterWed by Nina as a "siren." It is soon evi- dent that the girl is a chip off the old block and before the act ends, three distinct admirers have been introduced. One Is an Impecunious young chap whom she turns down because he couldn't support her as she desires. The iiecond Is a man 30 years her senior, who offers his money for her youth and, beauty, and the third is a handsome (married) devil who will not be rebuffed by her affectation of modesty. Money matters go badly for Nina. By this time she has lost a precious opportunity to marry the elderly millionaire, so she throws herself at the married flirt and, one Is led to suppose, lives with him, at least (or a while. By the time he gets his divorce his love has cooled and she finds herself broke and socially an outcast. "The Siren's Daughter" may win •ome success on its frankness: The cynicism and outspokenness of Nina are carried as far as anything seen here this year. However, , this is all wrapped in a skein of fancy. Nina Is aa thoroughly unpleasant •a any woman character this re- viewer haa ever seen on the stage. Miu Chatterton gives a technically Interesting performance, not In- •plred, but substantial. Ralph IPorbes lends excellent support and Frederick Perry, as the elderly rich man, is outstanding. Robert Rendel la a good type for the married lover, while Aurlol Lee and Jennie Eus- tace had Uttla to do, but did that well. The play is well staged. Nina's death on the lounge, though unexpected and rather theatrical, waa quite effective. Rut to have the two men obliterate traces of flnger.« prints, remove the telUale bottles and slip or slink out surreptitiously to avoid compli6ation in the scandal, aeemed a final, undesirable attempt to remove from the characters all ■efise of decency anif sympathy. "The Siren's Daughter," except tor suggestions of rather outspoken dla logue, hardly stands a chance. Watert. THE FALL OF EVE Washington, M'ay 16. foha Bmcraon prpaenta his own p|«)r. Written In c*ll&boratlon with Anita Loos. Jut Belaaco' this week. Lanr WeUb Rerlhsld Mason Perc3r.,, Alonso Ketxleriton ICaffim/ .;.. M&tlle Wilkes Bald CralK Plantba Pattlaon HertMrt Cntls.... >.Claude King Amr Parker.. Com Wllherapoon B>T« Hutton Ruth Gordon Ted Hutton Arthur Albrrtson Sarah Evelyn Wight set about to fix things. They believe that if Eve spends a night in the same house with one of them and then sees that under such circum- stances nothing wrong must neces- sarily follow, she will believe that the time hubby worked the whole night through over his vamp star's Income tax was not what she be- lieved it to be. That night was the beginning of the trouble. The friends choose the night that all the Jealousy has led to the hus- band going alone to see his vamp star In a new play. They get Eve stewed, and plant her in a room locked and guarded against the chance of anyone enterlnjf. The next morning, when Eve awakens from her little party, she thinks the worst has happened and la convinced of it when In her dreams she thought the Washington monument had fallen pn her, coupled with a grafting mind reader, who tells her a child is ex- pected, cinches it for the dumb dora that she Is no longer the pure, de- voted wdman and wife, . Everything is cleverly entangled. The cast handle^ the proceedings splendidly, with exceptionally good performances given by Claude King, Reginald Mason, Diantha t'attlson and Cora Wltherspoon. Miss Obr- dosi plays Eve as though written brusque brevity as "Cherio" re- ceived foDowthK its Simday night prmnlere. The papers, however, were fairly polite, ''which was not true of the audience. "Cherio" la o^r old familiar friend, the loose woman In love with the upright'young man. In this in- stance she la the free-loving daugh- ter of a London anarchlSl and the youth is fresh from an American mill town. That supplies the con- trast and the conflict. "Rain," "White Cargo" and "The Green Hat" have the same sort of con- flict. The difference is that Der- mot Darby Is not a Somerset Maughan or a Michael Arlen. Darby's antecedents are unknown to Chicago. It is said he hails from Dublin, although it will scarcely be a matter of concern to anyone now. Marjorle Rambeau was good in a futile sort of a way and Ray B. Collins in the lead made the Amer- ican a creature of flesh and blood. Cecil Owen, who fctaged the piece, in association with, Priestly Mor- rison, played a scoffing Bohemian well, while Reynolds Denniston garnered some giggles with a phil- osophical Irishman. For no visiblo reason there is a valet named Tibbs, who is addicted ' to long speeches on human nature and shell shock. Also Marjarle Ram- beau has a lady's maid who is fear- fully chummy. Another mystery about "Cherio" Is the title which signifies nothing. There is plenty of plain talk and several wor^s which dp no^t ordlr narily pam in poUte conversation (not even In Chicago). , The plot Is aomethlns like this for her. Emerson has supplied two MarJorle'RajAbeaii, an artist's in'odel very attractive sets. Though it cannot be said "The Fall of Eyie" Is a great comedy, it may safely be predicted that when it bobs up with the new crop in the fall It,will be among those sticking for a respectable run. :., . ' MeaJetn.. CHERIO r Chicago, "May II. Comedy-drama In three acts. Written by Derraot Darby. Presented at the LaSalle, May 16, by Fortuoe Oallo starring Mar- jorle Rambeau. « Krnest St. John Blake Cecil Owen Tibbs ...John Orey Conor O'CAnor Reynolds Denniston MoU-a O'Conor Emmy Manhi David rhllllps ..Ray B. Collins Nadia Karaoa..k': Marjorie Rambeau Marie ..,.,.. ^Dorothy Raymond Not in a long dallies treated a while have the play with such with a big heart Is ever groping for,, an explanation to life,.She has Uyod with many men, but has neyer gi^ven herself wholly to any man. Into h^r life comes a big drill press' anrf Stamping machine expert from the United States.. He has a limited vo^abulacy and doesn't know a, thing about art, but he 1:^ so differ- ent that the Russian gal falls for him. He f£^lls for her., too,. He finds out ikhe Is not a virgin, calls her pl^ty, chokes her and dashes out into the night, presumably to pace the streets in an agony of tor- ment He returns in the morning, begs forgiveness and asks b^r to marry him. That is a terrible^ shock to the girl who does not believe in marriage, but Yankee eloquence overcomes her and she decides that, >9Xter all, the answer to her groping may be a marriage and babies. "Cherio" biLsh't a chance. NEW PLAYS PRODUCED ; WrraiNWEEKONBlAY This latest of the Emerson-Loos writings, which should mean star- dom for Ruth Oordon. Its principal player, resulted In quite a contro- versy among the local scribes on Its opening here as to Its merits and demerits. Saturday night, after 10 perform- ances and but for several loose mo- ments scattered through the pro- ceeding, this tale of a dumb dora who must learn her Ifcsson looks about right to land when opening In New York In September. The several moments referred to take on a serious import.^ One or two give the Impres.slon anyone such a dumb dora as pli^tured cotildnt profit from any les.son, but, then, again laughter is created— heavy laughter—and the authors have the summer to stralKht^n out these "moments." Then "The Fall of Eve" will click. Fed up by a scandal-loving nHph- bor, poor little Eve has all men set down as d^ed-Ip-the-wool villains, includlnpT her newly ucqiilrcd hus- band, who, as a lawyer, has quite a number of clients who ftre actresses. Aciressefl are. bad; particularly ens. believes Dve. because this o^p plays a vaipp. . The husband has two male pals, both bachelors. They' Doors' THREE DOORS AR>«K Von Tllxsr preaenta a oomedy- mystery-mcAodrama In thrve acts, fay Ed- ward Rosa and V. 0. Merlin, atased by Merlin, at Wallack'a theatre. Arthur Drake BSdwla Varttsy Slattery ....' J. R. O'Nell Plntree racla Rhiple Myrtle Wing Rath MacMuIlen Marie Delmalne....Mlss B. StoddArd Taylor Brewster ', .Harold Moulton Malsle Buck ..Betty McLean Ethel Doane Gila I.Andre Jonathan Bold. Roy Bucklee 5<t«ph<>n Wrltewell. Joe I/anl^an Tke Conoare Johnny CantwoU Tim Casey John Rowan Made Ulllan Wllck Ijura Lee .....'Winifred Rallabury Kthelbert Haya J. n. ONell Charles Dare Edwin Vnmoy Sulama Betty Mcl/ean Raymond John O. Hewitt Shlv«ra.... ; Joe L,anlran Sheriff ^oha Rowan Al Von Tllzer frankly told this re- porter between the acts that he pro- duced this play because he thought New York theatregoers want novel- ties—especially at this time of the year. Mr. Von Tllzer, an^ able song- maker, nice chap and a good busi- ness man (at his own business) has fallen for a fallacy, an illusion en- tertained by some, that things are essentially Interesting because they are different. A man with one leg is different, too—but bs Is a crip- ple, not an entertainment; a woman wearing a purple gown with orange streamers would be conspicuously different; but the only ones who would give her a second look as a "novelty" would be idle curiosity seekers, and not discriminating peo- ple with money to spend for a laugh, a thrill or a moving emotion—new or old. "Three Doors" has laughs and thrills and emotlono. In truth. It is one of the most clevei^ly written plays of the year. But it is, alas, a deliberate "novelty." Instead of making It, that function Is kiirng it. Through It is seen an obvious strain at being exactly what Mr. Von Tllzer think.-? playgoers want a show to be different. It la so different that it doesn't miss much of beinf? nutty. This pocs tor the writing, the ^oting and the directing. Across the street ttfutm Wallack's can be*' seen a satire On mystery melodrama, "The OorlUa." consl.slent At least wUh itself; and It is rated a hit As risible and chilling as that show Is, It has a rival in "Three for b'otta howls attd kicks. But that Is as far as the rivalry goes. "The Gorilla" sends one out weak with laughter and wet with perspiration; "Three Doors" sends one out with shrugging shoulders. The main essential blowhole In "Three Doors" is that it wanders through several distinct types of playwrltlng ajid playacting. They are hostile to one another and can- not blend. It is as though three one-acters were being shown, and any call-boy can tell you what pull one-acters have. It opens as a backstage farce, with many fly observations, most of Uiem over the i-ound heads of the Cut-rater audience in Monday night. It drifts to an "audience act," with a dozen or more characters running up and down aisles, talking directly to the seat-holders, gagging, mono- loging, cross-firing. . It then becomes a mystcrv-meTo- drama for an act and a half, in parts not bad, but all spinning crazlly on a base of what has gone before. "Three Doors" could be scrapped at once, and would make three good sketches for the Pan time—a ddor to an act. The subterfuges whereby the trio but not trinity of treatments are strung together are lost In the tran- sitions. When it all turns out to be a drunken dream nobody believes It —or cares. It Is impossible to chronologically relate a "plot." But the story—or stories—of the piece, in consecutive order of scenes, would go about as follows: A leading woman's dressing room in the midst of a Broadway opening, ^he low-comedy author suffering, her shclk entering and turning out to be the foreman of the people's play-Jury, but no immediate devel- opment al6ng that line. She gives him a glass of champagne. Next a bare stage scene, wander- ing conversation all arounfl. talk- backs from, the audience, some of the Interrupters come on stage, tht- leadlng woman breaks her engagf- ment with the author becauje she wants to "live her own life"; a new character. a burlesque movie promotor a l.t the "Show-Off," cnter.s, monopolizes the works and get chummy with the pay-folks out front, drifting afar from all that ha stranKplred, a sort of comedy relief in a comedy. Second net, meeting of the play- Jury. Collection of nuts and dialect comics, nit-wUs and gaggcrs, with a little shrewd satire interlarded but drowned in the maxe of disconnect- ed comedy coming from all sides; enter again the movie per.son, again taking downstage center, again Iclcking to pieces what sweepings of the story or theme had survived. Next to the hoine-of-mystery, about which there has been one brief mention out of a cloudy sky earlier, and has been forgotten by now. This Is preceded by another audi- ence scene, via a scrim In "one" showing the exterior of the hous«. Then we fly Into the room with the three doors, a well-done scene from every stage standpoint on sight, and then regaled with a series of broad mystery-drama tricks, some real- istic, some burlcsqny. ,This goes through the gamut of gunplay, murders, shrieks, villainies, use of exaggerated fear for laugh- ter, until the blackout. Then we find the reforming fiance has fallen asleep and dreamt It all because he had that glass of wine, and it goes to a "happy ending," If thnt be happiness. ' Johnny Cantwell as the movie man Is immense, though his part reeks with the atmosphere t»f having b^n "added" and written by hlm- ssTf or in rehearsal. Borne pro- ducer should grab him. He has inrction, a great talking voice, a fired of inoffensive gall and a slick bag t)f nifty mannerisms of the sort whK?h get to an audience quickly arid stay with It. ■ Joe L<«nlgari*aS the authot" and then doubling as the taxi driver Is also a comic of good touches, though at all-times "low." He can handle a hick role effectively aldn^ the "'old scftool" lines. ■ But the top nMe- of the perform- ance Is reachtd by Ml«s ,E. Stoddard Taylor; a refilled ingenue with k crystal speaking voice.' Hie manners of a- lady, an easy r#allsm and a wealth of personal charm Of the soft which goes beyond merely feed- ing- the fleshly eye. She is sadly nitseast here, both in the role and tn6 tone of the vehifcle. She Should play Ibsen—or at least such coun- terfeits of the Ibsen^ as O'Nell. The rest of the oast befits the play, except that Ruth MacMullen Is acceptable as a companion to the heroine. Rose, who first wrote the play, U the same Edward E. Rose who com- pounded ''The Rosary," a weepy hit of a generation ago which caught a religious appeal. He ' also drama- tized "Cappy Rlf^s." Merlin is the young wizard for whom great thlngii are predicted by the railblrds of Broadway, a former songwriter, whose "The Brown Derby" le now In preparation.' He was called in to gag and hoke the book after Rose had turned It out— maybe even seriously'. . It is easy to see that It Is the work of two men, not collaborators. They streak in and out iristead of har- monizing Info one. There hare been far worse plays produced this season than "Three Doors" in its present shane- When It opened at the little Lenox It was pooh-poohed as amateurish, being then acted mainly by novices. In Us new form It has a great deal of amusing goods in spots, both as to the writing and the performing. It has probably more woi'th-while stuff in It than many hltf. But its con- structional chopsuey scheme is fu- tile and fatal. It seems a shame to have murdered so much bright material. This kindly disposed reviewer can- not conscientiously' give "Three Doors" a chance beyond a limited stay through the bounty of the Le- blang bargain hunters. I^ait. overlooking "Flesh" which mu.-t now content itself as the closest contender to "Lulu" for that title. "Lulu" had the advantage of com- manding some serious attention on the strength of the Wodekind repu- tation. The erudite critics aver "Krdgelst" in the original had its merits as an erotic and exotio play but it hardly seems possible that even the crudest translator or •adaptor could have garbled the orl.^nial into such hopeless plah- l)Osli iis was disclosed at the 49th Street. nirich Haupt, of the cast, staged it but it Ih not mentioned who adapted it. Houpt Is said to be "Interested" with Margot Kelly, who enacts the title role. Its reputed 'dirt" is Just so much hokum. The deep nasal snorting interpretation for the registering of desire under the arms, passion and the kindred sensations were a laugh at first.' After that, the attitude was one of pity rather than ridicule. A couple of lines—"This is horri- ble!" and "Is this a joke?" for ex- ample—declaimed In dramatic seri- ousness were wows. The audience reaction was vividly voiced by these twin expressions. What its all about matters little. Lulu is a hound for punishment. She Is twining and untwining her aj-ms from one man to another. Some are conveniently killed; others are just dropped from the picture. She admits she's a "little beast." Trained to mature man's ways from the age of 12 where the newspaper owner-editor picked her i^p as t^ cafe flower-girl, she has a flock of amorous degrees trailing her from then on.. The lovers are a weird lot, including a, Lesblenne, a schoolboy, and a chorus-man type of male, apiong others. Why this is slated to move into the Ambassador, next door, from *the 49th St. is prolUematicaL May- be the Shuberts have a pie?* of It and hope to pay off the house crew from the cut-rates. But that won't last long. Miss Kelly looked nice in her Milgrlm and Callot-Bondel sartorial creations. That's the only satisfac- tion to be gleaned. Her work was uninspired as was the rest of the cast. When Mr. Haupt and Miss Kelly took the uncalled for bows. after each most welcome curtain, on^ detected an apologetic, guilty sihirk at the larceny of the bok* ofllce. Ahel. ' THE LOVES OF LULU Frank Weleklnd'a fuur-act play. "Krdse- lat (Earth-Splrlt), ffom the Oprm.-ui.'aU^ by Ullrich Haupt. Opened 'May 11 at 4»tk St, Theatre. Pri/ducer and adaptor not pro- gram-credited. CABT ': >■ Dr iMiiiitf Bbhoen, hi^wapapef ' ^''i'- owner and edttAr .Vllttrh HaOpt Alva, bis son. a writer for the slase John Dayldaon Dr. OoII. M. D J. Seymour Terry Schwarz. an artist.,...:. .B^ward Crandall Prince JBscernvj an Afrifan explorer .' Paul Doacat Bscherich, a reporter Leonard Ida Schigolch Srdney Paxton Itodptso, air'aerobat Stewart Balrd Hocenberg. a st«d«at i .Vy,rb* DawDon Perdtnand, coachman. .Ibomas Coflln Cooke Lulu Maraot KaUy Countesa Oeschwits Clara Macktn Henrlette, a servaat Kalhlene- NIday The Author, In (ulse of an Animal Trainer :... .Stawart Balrd Charlie, hjs aasUtant Stanley Ootcb Boiled down to 10 or 1<^ minutes and played even a bit more "seri- ously" by the cast for the purpose of accentuating ids utter state of im- poflsibillty, "The Loves of Lulu" might make a frankly hilarious re- vue skit. The skit in the last "Music Box Revue" dealing with the loves of Napoleon's first lady, might be used as a moclel. The suggestion for stressUig of the "seriousnosH" Is for the purpose of merely accentuating the trave.Mty. As performed In Its present state, the linpro«<slon Is Cfltijilly farcical hut there are hoinul to be a half dozen people among a few score li) an audience who muHt have their fare dished up rather broadly. "The Loves of Liilii" is so much piffle. Why It ever happened will rcm.'iln an eternal enlwrna. How- ever, there Is compensation by ha\'- Ing the dl.'^tlnctlon of hiving seen the "world's worst." Thata not THE BRIDE RETIRES Comedy In three acts by Felix aandera asd adapted by Henry Baron. Pradused May 10 by Baron at the National. New Yorlf. .Staged by Clifford Brooke With LUa Lce featured. Two acta. Interiors. Mme. Herbel Altca riseher Clauds Herbal Stanley RMges U. Cortlnet ...; ;... Oraat Stawart Raymonds ., r Ula I.ea flloala Ethal Inlrapldl BdouanJ........ Taylar Orarea Vlctoriiie ., Mra Jacques Mart|B Frankly, a dirty show.-this is dis- tinguished only in that it serves to introduce Llla Lee to the legitimate stage. Aside from that. It doesn't figure highly. Its only laughs arc de- rived from ambiguous but obscenely intended dialogue. The plot concerns Mme. flerbel's son, Claude, a rounder at n. En- ter M. Cortlnet would like to get his young daughter, Raymonde, mar- ried. He and Mme. Herbel arrange It. The marriage Is contracted, but Rayraonde's sweetheart makes her promise to repulse her husband on the nuptial night while Claude's lady love on the side makes him promise to keep away from the bride. The next day of course the bride and groom hate done this hUl have fallen In love with one another while the outside lovers appear on the scene to make trouble for a few minutes before closing time. The aggravated dirtiness Is that the bride'A role Is that of an en- tirely Innocent girl. Probably the most offensive of all Is the father's role, played by a rant Stewart. This role is written so that the father spends hours in the bridal chamber arranglng-for eoft lighting effects, saying that he wanU his daughter to be in lovely surroundings, etc. Stewart played the role a* inefen* slvely as possible, but nons the less It was a poor part. Miss Lee, although she acquitted herself with much credit, hardly acted with great power or authority, in pictures she is much more sure. It is unfortunate that Miss >Lee, who has usually played In the Meighan films (which are clean) should have.been cast in* such dirt for her legit debut. There is a chance that in some happier script she might have gotten away neatly. Mrs. Jacques Martin as the maid, Vlctorine, plucked most of the laughs, but Stanley Ridges, as the young groom came through finely, considering that heretofore he has been mostly in musical comedy. The other people arr well cast. The settings are two with both looking like resurrections, tastefully re- painted. The direction is heavy and -MloW. "The Dride Retires*" may draw modeiato money for a few weeks, I'Ut it can hardly rate as a hit show. Its chances to string alon;; .ire nioflerate, considering the small (.».■<( ,iiid ."Pason. .• An fur pictures, depends am Whom ll:e illm producer ii:;'-!-; be and ibm ccnflors. *4sJlfc'^- *i i « »•. i) : ( I i (f yi.'-'fct'