Variety (August 1925)

Wednesday, Au|^f 96, 19S6 LEGITIMATE VARIETY 17 OUT OF TOWN I miASE OMIT FLOWERS Oakland, Cat., Aug:. 21. Tlease Omit Fowers" la a piirase luuoclated with the deceased. As ■uch It 1» a perfect title for the new play by Gordon Morris. Ita premiere was at the Fulton Sunday night, with Jack Norworth In the title role. The plot of "Please Omit Flow- ers" died ot old age when this re- viewer was a child. Even the plas- tic surgery ot a master medico couldn't revive It, let alone the stu- dent efforts of Morris, who has In this his maiden effort at playwright- It Is the story of a young psychic who wants to cormnit suicide In or- der that he may be written as the bero who was the flrst to cross the Styx and return in spirit, thus prov- ing the contention of bis cult that the dead retui:n. His family hears of it and puts up a Job on him. Through the •genoy of a doctor friend of the family they give him a drug, and then, on his awakening, lead him to believe he is dead. To make the Jest more pointed they rig u|» a fake bell and hold an Inquisition with trick effects. The whole scheme of the play Is flimsy and as familiar to burlesque comics of today slb were the "after- pieces" In an older day. It la a low comedy wow for about II minutes; as a two-hour enter- tainment it rates about nil. To the ccedit of Norworth and the Fulton Plavers it should be said that they did their durndest to read m syinptom of plausibility Into the inanuscrfDt, but while they garnered • laugli now and then, there was so tittl* to wotic on that the general •ffect ^dm pretty poor. Added to the aosenoe of plot and jlheme, Morris has failed to invest the play with anything remotely resembling technique or originality. His first act Is taken up with a host ot ridiculous exits and entrances, the players being on the run most of '.he time and getting nowhere. His comedy is consistently tele- graphed and his dramatic obstacles •ire obvious. Please Omit Flowers Is right. Boanea. chosen and charmingly faithful to their leading lady. Never did the trite Mammy character achieve such distinction with so little to do and say as that of Nadine Winstan. The settings by John Baxter and C. B. DuMoulin are colorfully exe- cuted, a bit too vividly stressed. The flrst act set. especially, could be toned down a bit. "The Pall of Eve" Is not much out of the ordinary. In fact, it drops Its pace of the flrst act flagrantly be- hind during the second and third. However, it is effective enough and it has Miss Gordon who will give It every chance of a substantial run after its New York christening at the Booth on the last day of this month. Pratt. Dorys LeVene** Triumph (Planiste and winner ot the Stadium An- dltlona, a Bignal hoDbr. UoloUt Mondaf night at the concert rt^^en t>T the New Tork Philbannonic Orchestra under direc- tion at WUlem Van Hoogatratoa.) 18 years old—and conqueror of thousands. Muak; v>at her weapon. THE FALL OF EVE Stamford, Conn., Aug. 21.. John Kmerflon preeente thie corned/ la three acta by John Bmeraon and Anita L,ooa, with Ruth Cordon. Percy ,^ton«o Fendereon llammy Nadine Winatan l«rry Webb Reginald Maaon IBnId Orals' DIantha Pattleon Herbert Crat» rimide King lAmy Parker .....Cora Wttherspoon Kve Hatton Ruth Gordon ;red Hutton Arthur Albcrtmn Sarah Dorii Kemper tJnderstudiea, E^velyn Wight. John Bramhall In "The Fall of Eve" John Emer- son and Anita IjOos have a much better piece than their "The Whole Town's Talking" of two seasons ago. The new play is very EYenchy in tone, story and treatment, '"here is a divan in place of a bed in the play but this is occupied by thKt most delightful actress, Ruth Gor- don, In the best part she has yet graced. Miss Gorden Is Eve Hutton, pret- ty, cute and the seriously tragic Wife of Ted Hutton, a rising young lawyer. In '^ed's work It is neces- sary for him to see a great deal of a lady of the living pictures. Upon this purely business acqualntance- Bhip Eve puts the worst construc- tion. She refuses to attend the opening of a new play in which this woman Is appearing when^ it Is nec- essary for her husband to be there. He goes without her, Ijavinf her With their friends, Larry Webb, an artist, and Herbert Craig, in the former's house. These gentlemen proceed to get her gloriously piffled to keep her mind off her troubles tini Jusi Dftfore she passes put of the great wide door, held In the brotherly but frightened arms of Webb, she mistakes him for her hus- band and goes to sleep believing he has come back to her. Webb is seen to wheel the divan with the sleeping wife on it into hit studio and place his old nesro ser. yant on guard over her for the night. The next morninp, when Eve awakes she remembers what she believed to be the arms of Ted about her, learns he has not been back and Jumps to the worst conclusion as to the char- acter of her really innocent host. When Ted docs return 10 days later nftor a business trip to Chi- cago, the grand old clearance scene occurs, of course, and clears up both atmosphere and paternity. It is not, however, given the chance to elimi- nate the minor technical fault of ne- glecting to comment upon the mis- take Eve made about the arms when *be was silly on champagne. Mias Gordon is much more than could be desired as Eve. .She is gor- geous and an absurd flellBht. She accompiishps that great thing of "»aking it soem dull when she is not on the itnge. In other words, though the material on the whole Is good. Miss c;or«lon is always better. She gets "tiKhf so well It will probably 8<>t a style for at least the fall if not ttif wlntor. "Tbo siipportlnfi: cnst, moro Import- rjitly Cora Withorsiwon, Heginald •■viason and Claude King. Is weU Dorys LeVene, daughter of Her- bert Levine of LicBIang's ticket of- fice and by that reason well known to Broadwayites, came shyly before her piano Monday night. Only a few minutes before the Philharmonic had finished playing Schelling's "Victory Ball," and the applause for that had just died down. An at- tendant opened the door at the rear of the concert platform and Miss Lie'Vene tripped down the steps to take her place at the piano, for she was to play Franx Liszt's "Hun- garian Fanta.sia" with that magnifi- cent orchestra—one of the world's finest. And Willem "Van Hoogstra- ten, a conductor who ranks with the best, was to stand beside her and direct the orchestra—but on her new shoulders was to rest the real bur- den. Many a girl would have displayed nervousness. She didn't. That en- trance applause which she received was acknowledged for what It was— a perfunctory courtesy, and not having heard her play, how could the great mass of audltoxs have ren- dered anything else than perfunc- tory applause? Having entered, she sat upon the bench and clenched her hands, holding them tightly for a few seconds. Then she adjusted her dress and waited. First the orches- trtf began With a few bars of Intro- ductory music, and then came her turn. With calmness she struck the keys, a deep bass note flrst and then the others. Then came Intricate phrasing and finger work which dis- played not only the technical per- fection of the girl, but something of the years of work she must have put In to have attained such mastery. ■Van Hoogstraten watched her very cArefully, fearful, perhana. that this newcomer mlRht make a slip which would throw his orchestra off. His fears, however, were groundless, for Miss LeVene wfint through her chores with the authority of one who had done the '■'•mp thing many times before. Doubtless she had played that piece hundreds of times—but in —actice f""! not with a huge sym- phony outfit. That difflculty, how- ever, seemed to make her realize that she must on this her debut evening attain perfection itself. For there was her father sitting down front with a group of friends, while In the table section of the field were others who certainly had come to hear her. The great mass of auditors in the Stadium (and there were' thousands) were there for the concert proper, however. That is why their thun- derous applause took on a ring of deep sincerity which all the clacqu- !"? In the world jrould not Lave at- lained. Not that there was claCqtrthg —there wasn't. For after she had done her flrst number she retired when her numerous bows were over. But the applau.<<e did not retire with her. Insistently it continued from all portions of the audience. So after several more bows she took her many bouquets, and get the ap- plause still continued. Miss LeVene wavered, probably not sure it was on the level. She had seen many men in the field stand up to do her honor and had heard many "braves"—she may have seen her father who was on his feet first. Maybe there wore tear.s of Joy in his eyes for his gifted (laii>jhtor—the writer wasn't close enough to see. If any man ever Irnl cause for tears of joy It was Herb Levine on Monday night. But the applause grog;. When Van Hoogstraten pulled her aside and convinced her that bows would never satisfy such an enthusiastic crowd, she .sat down once more, thought a moment and then played a swift little bit of rhythm by Ablnez. Then another thunder of applause which rolled on for about two niinutes In unabated strcnKth. Finally, however, the audience quieted down, and intermission was announced. Then friends crowded her father to offer congratulations while thousands of others who didn't know the family but who had given ot iholr appjauae and audible appro-' A M E T A "THE BIRTH OF A BUTTERFLY" Always an artistic presentation, brighter and better than ever. Gorgeous fire effects and graceful scarf manipulations, the stage framed with tremendous reflecting mirrors producing beautiful effects, startling, novel and attractive. Playing the Keith-AlbM Circuit exclusively in America. Permanent address cars of N.V.A., New York. batlon arose from their seats for a stroll and a clgaret. A fat, short, little man. with a full moon bald pate on the top of his head was among those who ap- plauded her freely. His applause recalled forelbly the section of "Cy- rano de Bergerac" In which a knight praised Cyrano for his fighting of 100 enemies. This knight In the play had come quietly up to Cyrano and offered his praise, saying that he was qualified to judee a true man. And then Cyrano turned to ask who his questioner might be. "That wa« D'Artagnan." aald a comrade. And so Dorys LeVene might like to know the Identity of that little fat man with the bald spot who ap- plauded her so sincerely. His name was Leopold Godowsky. In the Hall of Immortals he will take rank beside Ignace Paderewski as the greatest '^•""ist of the 20th century. Si»k. Brady was the leader. Her per- formance was brilliant, sure and ex- actly in the s)>irit of the adaptation, which dropped all pretence of trying to carry Parisianlsms throughout three acts. There were times when Miss Brady was the lightest of comediennes (not as suave as Ina Claire nor as deft as her own step- mother, CJrace George), but bubbling and as effervescent as such a plot demanded. Then her two song num- bers were lustily handled with her mezzo voice—the flrst time. Inci- dentally, MIsa Brady has sung on the stage since her debut In "The Mikado" quite a few years back. Kdwin Nicander as tlie roue hus- band did his role in a vaudeville manner and was effective for many laughs. Kenneth MacKenna was good as th^son, and John Cromwell, who Jumped into the cast at the last minute as a favor to Mr. Brady, handled the Uhenal part well. His playing was consistent and authori- tative. Of the others Florence Mar- tin as a luscious looking lady with loose morals was most attractive. Paul Porcasi as a head waiter also scored. The spice In the piece Is fairly good at times. For Instance, there's an older sister who prates of her virginity, and who finally declares that she'll lose it with an under- taker. Then Miss Brady has a speech in which she exclaims: "What is this —a seduction or a Cook's tour'?" Giving Miss Brady's personal draw its due and the spice some credit for trade, it looks as if "Oh, Mama!" will do creditable business at the Playhouse for a sufflcient period to rate ttas a mild success. Bi»k. willingness to perceive evil, all b»« cause she's front the city and a waitress. The monotonous hum of the liarveatinf? ni'^tor i.>i reminiscent of the "rain" situation in the Maugliam play. "They Knew What They Wanted" figures In Mac's straightforward expression of lust. Ho calmly refuso.s her life-savings of $1,200 to become party to a treachery but is an eager abettor under another arrangement. It's not a smash show. Miss Mac- Kellar, with the asHi.stance of an able and well-balanced cast, will do much to prolong it. Joe Leliiang will flgure importantly and the femmes ditto on the trade. From among all those contributions "The Mud Turtle" should oke out a mod- erate run. AbcU OH, MAMA! A PalaU Royal farce adapted from the French of L,oula Verneuil by Wilton Lack- aye and Harry WagstatT Qribble. Pmduced by William A. Brady, with Alice Brady ■tarred. Directed by John Crowell. Opened at tba Playhouae Aug. 1!>. Albert La Qarde Edwin NIcander Loulae Eldythe Shayne Qeorgea I>a Qarde Kenneth MacKenna Jacqueling LAGarde Alice Brady Adolph William L«ltb Jullen Rhenal John Cromwell Chariot Jean Burton F^nny Martin Mildred Florence Maltrs dc Hotel Paul I'Drcaal Omnibus B- U. Bender It has been some time since Alice Brady has appeared in the legit here, her last vehicle being "Zander the Great," a perfect fit from top to bot- tom. Since then she has been tour- ing in "Zander" and playing vaude- ville. With "Oh, Mama!" it looks like she'll stay around New York for a moderate engagement and then have something with which to tour out the rest of the year. Which is a way of saying that "Oh, Mama!" is no great shakes as a play, but that It Is «so well cast, played and written that it appears a candidate for that group of plays which neither flop nor break records. Wilton Lackaye did the original adaptation, the flrst piece of writing he haa done in /ears, but Harry WaOsiaff Of>bb^ ^SA C&IIel UL to polish things up. Belweftn them they've put in many a hearty piece of humor, and with Miss Brady, Edwin Nlcander and several others to squeeze that humor out, the result Is thoroughly satisfactory. In plot it Is slight Albert LaGarde, about 90 and a devil wHh the women, marries a young wife. The wife, knowing a thing or two herself, continually keeps her bedroom door locked. That worries Albert, and all the more so b^ecause of her h.andsome admirer, Jullen Rhenal. The son of old T.n Garde, however, butts into things considerably and isn't as nice as h<^ might be to the new stepmama. So mama takes things in her own hands and for revenge arranges a rendez- vous with Rhenal at a notorious hotel In Versailes. And Into this rendezvous comes her stepson. After reproaching them both, Georges finds he loves his step- mother. And she loves him. ThiM touch of the Oedipus theme is all in fun and well handled. Both go back as unsullied as when they left. But there they And the old man has been gallavantlng around with the jnl.i- tress of Rhenal, and that gives the young wife a chance to distribute a vocabulary. The wlndup is a con- fession of love from the young folks and the bles.'drig of the f.athor on a wedding botwoon hid wife .liid son. In so far as the action soes. Miss GAY PAREE RevtM, presented by Mi^ssni ^lhubert and Rufus I..e Maire. Hitetchps by Harold At- lerldge, lyrira by (Clifford Urey, music by Alfred Goodman. Maurte Kubens. J. Fred Coots. Dances stageil by IS^irl Undsar. ballet by Alexia Kusloff. At the Shubert theatre. IMncipale: Richard Ilold, Margaret WU- aon, Wlonie Laglitiier, Hilly B. Van. Allca. Boulden. Chic Hn\«>, Eddie Conrad. Jack Haley, Newton Alexander, George l#e Maire, Wilfrid Seagram. Klorence Fair. Salt and I'epper, Dorothy Uai-, Dorothy Barber, Prosper and Maret, Claudia I>eU. Vtote Grimih, U>rraine Weimar. THE MUD TURTLE A. B. and R. R. Uiskln prenent "The Mud Turtle." In three acU, by Klliott theater. Helen MacKellar starred. Staged under di- rection of Wlllard Mack: setting by Nich- olaa Tellentl, Opened Aug. 20 at the Uljou. Marie Bllen Warner Matey ^ Claude Cooper Tustlae David Landau Mrs. Tustln* Viola Fortes^ue Kate ....Helen MacKellar Lem TusUne... Buford Armllage Mac Victor Butherlaiid Greasy Julian Noe Spike Albert Bannister "The Mud Turfle" Introduces a new author and a new management to Broadway. It is not an inauspi- cious debut, although Helen Mac- Kellar is chiefly responsible for the impression. The Riskins are adver tlsing people, also reported connect ed with the MacFadden publications in a business capacity. Mr. Lester, playwright of this three-act opus, is unknown as regards bis antece- dents. "The Mud Turtle" is the flrst "heavy" offering of the new season. It is reminiscent of "Rain" and "They Knew What They Wanted." For a time both parallels cross, which should cinch the piece only for certain let-Jowns that counted against the general impression. The plot must l>e recounted for Intellig^t discussion and analysis. Kaie Is an ex-hashsllnger from Minneapolis. Lem Tustine, son of a Minnesota wheat-grower, acquired Kate as his wife in a week's whirl- wind courtship while In town on a business errand. The return home flnds Tustine, Sr., a French-Can- adian of tyrannical qualities, sorely vexed at son and Kate (Miss Mac- Kellar) whom he hurts spiritually and physically with his flithy in- sinuations and actual slapping across the mouth. The old man, a stern despot vyho has bulldozed his family " for years, flnds himself muchly opposed by his unwelcome daughter-in-law. A combination, further, of the fact that Lem's price of $1.36 per bushel was two cents per bushel under the anticipated price and also that he had other plans of alliance for his son, add further to Kate's miserable exist- ence in the Tustine household. Primitive at heart, her desire for vengeance against the old man Is excusable. She vows to make him pay for her misery and she suffers the drudger/ of {h? ranch life walt- ii^ fer ftft 6pi)0rtunltu» >uiaA «. ranch foreman, is parthilly instru- mental. Hie covets Kate and she agrees to a bargain whereby she Will accede to his demands if he will wreck the harvesting machine. Khfc flnds such base bargain against het wholesome self and dispatches her young 8l8tor-in-law to tell him th»» arrangement is off, but he, eager at the opportunity, has meantime broken an important cog. Combined with this is the hand of fate In a realistic raitistorm which spoils the entire crop and crushes the old man's spirit. Hor purpose accomplished, with the assistance of the heretofore spineless hush.and who finally "comes through," the action let.-) down and becmnes somewhat wishy- washy. The old codger gets all tha^ is c<jniing to liini, Ijut liio girl re- lents and it look.t like the Canuck- father will turn over a new loaf. This will be chiefly a woman's show. They'll love It. Th'-re'H enough spice for general paprika. The conflicting primitive elements ;ire not InefTectlve. And, of course. Mi.ss MacKellar is superb. The hliow Is a triiiiii|ih for Ikt. ,Sh<! cir- ries it ably and solely from st.iit to lini.sh. Without her it woiiMn't li'Id up. And neither ih It onV of ttio.si' arfor-pro<rf t>I'>.vs that come along once In a long while. Tho parallel to ■'il.ilr]" in <h< old tuaas dogmullc prcachmuni unJ Laid out by the square foot and put together by the pound, this Is a revue compounded for the sole pur- pose of getting the money. It will be neither a flop nor a sensation, but will prosper to stag audiences for a substantial period, probably until the week before Christmas. "Gay Paree" Is the flnal gasp In nudity. No show could go any farther. This time the undrapery la spotlighted, stage-centered and played up cold turkey. Subtlety Is abandoned with an abandon that surpasses anything ever attempted on this side. The minimum loin- clothes are rhincstone studded. Bra-ssleres are discarded, tummies are bare. This isn't nudity; It Is nakedness. The day of flashes of such views has been passed. Now the i>eep- show has done aw.ay with every* thing. Including the keyhole. The boys get nice^ long looks. The sig- nificant details of the apparent anat- omies are pinked with make-up, so that the myopic need not blunder about, unseeing. All this is the epidermic counter- point to a series of skits as bald, as made-up, as fleshly and as banal as the physical pictures. One after the other, technically copying the nifty wheezes of the Chariot type, are strung a succession of stale-beer barroom dirty stories, acted out, each cracker delivered with a sledge hammer. If brevity Is the soul of wit, then these sketches have a souL By any other estimate they have only those attributes of the human which are not breathed In good so- ciety or even by gentlemen in mixed company. The actors look ashamed as they deliver them, and the audience gasps and hnngs its head as it hears them through. ' They run the course—and this In vulgar phraseology of the sidewalk^- of crude infidelity. Illegitimacy, sac- rilegiousness and worse. If they are a commentary, even satirical, on the social follies of the day, Lord help U.S. But they are only the commen- tnries of pornographic, distorted, gin-Joint mentalities, stripping themselves for the sucker-money of lewd, under-aged or superannuated peeping Toms and transsom eaves« droppers. Here is the roster of the sketches: "The Puritan Hotel"—A travelinf man meets a pretty girl in the lobby. registers with her "and wife"; she consents, the clerk hands him a big bill, snylng the "wife" had been there for weeks. "Plastic Hurgery" — Face-flxer's comedian assistant goes into ante- robm to remove a mole on girl pa- tient, who comes running out with a sheet on and apparently nothin|r else, crying thayhe moie^jvcLs behinl her ear, anu the assisTaru crymg that he "found one somewhere else." "Manicure Hcene"—All double mejinlngs and dirty gags, leadingr into song with suggestive catch- lines. "Jealoii.i Husband"—Lover catches husband kissing wife, Is jealous until he flnd.H she is vamping him to get money to go to Kurope with lover. "Beds"—K.ale.siiiJtn selling old maid bod, says: "Vou can't go wrong In a mahogany bed," she says, 'I'll t;tke a walnut one." "Ten Pound Hoy"—That old one, "And how Is your wife?" "1 don't know; slie ha.'in't heard .about it yet." "The Uookle" — Woman, living alone, isks poliee r>''otection, plant- ing bedroom upstairs and giving key there ana to ba.setneiit. <;aptalii warns rookie poliremin biiri^l.ars miy get into basenifnt and .shoot him. He apHwers, "If I'm In the basement I deserve to be »liot." "The YoKi"—If li'.H a bov, the father will die; if it's a girl, the molhcr will ilie. Its a boy. Thd l<<triMii lirop^ dead. ' Ijiver.iile Drive"- Youlh, .argulnif wllh (,'lrl wIki had to "jyet out and walk," Intel riifited liy fither, who, it develops, al.io nia'le her do ditto. to gag, ".So'.'j yiMir old ui.Tn." ".Vii-iriorv S'-liool" — i'rofessor jiinip.s 11(1 wf ITS Ills (lilt and U. V^ (Coiilinued on pu^je 6i)