Variety (September 1925)

Wednesday. September ft, ld25 LEGITIMATE VARIETY NEW PLAYS PRODUCED OUTSIDE OF NEW YORK CAPTAlN JINKS I'hJliuU'lphia. Aiik. 26. The chief merit of tiii.s adaptation ot Clyde Kitch's old jj:ay is that i Is not noticeably weak in any one doparlnient. Thtre is not tlie old familiar fault, a weak and spirit- lesH "book." The i>l<-asaiU little ro- mance of Mile. Trent nl (actually of ll>). !i"d Cap ain JinUs provide: the most intellig;eiit and least maudlin musical comeily narrative since "Sally." The result Is not. however, too much of this same "book." Mr. Fitch has ni t prevented Mes.srs. Schwab and Mandel from inserting; more than the usual number ol tfys and nif.les. Moments that border on real drama are quickly foliowe 1 by purely farcical scenes which pro- duce actual guffaws. Cuts already made have done away with some rather tedious sketches, and s me unnecessary characters will prob- ably be dropped. What is most necessary right now is a speeding up in lines and a crl^ov, surer han- dling of the gag lirie and comedy songs. The music is perhaps the show's first consideration. l^ewis K. Gensler and Stephen Jones have collaborated on a score that should put Kern, Berlin, Friml and Gersh- win on their toes. "Captain Jink.s' ' score is probably as well rounded an effort as Philadelphia has he.anl In five years. The song hit dis- tinctly should go to "Fond fif Vou," a comotly number. It is sung by Nina Olivette, Max Hoffman, Jr., and Arthur West. However, it remains for the chorus, garbed daring'y in sleazy and atJbreviated red silk, form fit- ting costumes with a gt.od display of lingerie and limb to stop th'» Show entirely. Theirs is a combina- tion of the old shimmy, the Charles- ton and the Hula-Hula, and they do their stuff with perfection. "Sea •Ijegs,** a number, had the girls giv- ing an effect of leaning 'way over the footlights without visible meand of support. The two tirincipals, Louis Brown and J. Harold Murray, have a good duet, and Joe Brown, chief come- dian, has two corking numbers. Miss Brown has a dandy dance number, 'Klkl," In the first act. Marion Sunshine, too, has a couple of prizes. Arthur West depicts Samson, shorn by Delilah, no longer virile and having changed his name to "Cyril." One department in which the show slips a Mttlo is the staging. The first act set gives no chance for flo8sine.ss, but the second act, an Interior, w.as disappointingly plain and unprepossessing. The costum- ing, on the other hand, is especially good, and there are more than the usual number of changes. Fred- erick Jones designed the settings and Kivlat the costumes. If the Martin Beck is looking for a winner, indications are It has found one In this. Walters. CANARY DUTCH A drama by WillarJ M«ok. Proilucort by Pftvld nelasro. Presented at Main .Stroot Thsatrp. Anbury Park, N. J.. Monday, AuKUHt 24. Hokum reared its ugly head and walked the stage as a long lost father and daughter clinched as the curtain fell on a bad third act, a poor second act, and a fine first act. Wlllard Mack thought he was David Warfleld, and in a badly preserved German dialect, played an "Old Con- vict No. 23" innocent, of course, hav- ing boon made the goat by a ^ang ot counterfeiters, for whom he en- (?raved the plates. The first act brought him out of prison after a 80-year stretch and the second put him in the "Try-again Home." a philanthropic hoarding house for ex- convicts. Here the villain blackmails him Into renewing work on the plate, but to save his daughter from the .shame Of knowing her father i.s a jall-bird, Mr. Mack shoots the villain But the deteoti%'e has been listening at the key-hole and so all ends well. The last two acts are interminably dragged out and slow, as well as obvious. The beat and only thing In the play is the character work by Wiil.Trd Mack. An excellent sup- porting rasf, including John Miltorn. Kalph SIppcrly, Catherine Owen, his nothing to do, but does it well. The play gets Its name from the fact that the old Dutchman convict has a canary for a pet. Said canary has nothing to do with the play. Wcinaarten. "Las ssea" White Minstrels Dayton, O.. Sept. 1. Lasse.s" White has the best mins- trel .show he has ever pi odiircd. The show ()poned at the Fairlmnks. Springfield, and moved along with a Bwiffnosa of several weeks' running. ^ White himself, Billy Do.ss. .ind Slim" Vermont work in bla<l;face. White scoring with several exclusive songs, and Billy Doss reaping the ai>pUuae with blB special moaolog. Among the outstanding vocalists are Tommy Boone, Maxwell Gordon and Frank Crook. Carl Denton, formerly of the Co- burn show, is femulo impersonator this year with White, The convcntion.il first part dis- plays "Tlie Lawn Party," setting of roses, -vith the men in the semi-iir- cle in rod and iil.ick suits. In the olio a skit, "On the Links." allowed for the introduction of clog dancing. "The Jazzy Syncopators" introduced a variety of jazz num- bers. A novelty out of the line of entertainment usually offered by the minstrel men was "The Blackville Cctunty Ftir.'' in two scenes. At the opening all of the men were in excellent voii-e, harmonized well, and the gags were new and clever. Service for Husbands Chicago. Aug. 25. Raymond Hitchcock has hard lucic with his playwright.s. Last season he came to town with "The Sap, v.'hich expired after a few brief weeks, now he has "Service for Hus- bands," with the World's worst first act and o'.herwise too weak to stand big city competition for long. That lirsf act is brittle enough with arti- licial dialogue to crack. It is the studio of Jimmy Deering (Hitch- cock), an impecunious writer of un- .salable short stories. There is a poet who has written some lines to tlie merry month of May and he comes into Jimmy for a word t" rhyme with "mummers." This pro- vides about the only humor in the act. In reality the poet detests the Greenwich Village stuff and says he was forced to write to please his mother. The only other thing es- tablished in this act Is that the girl loves Jimmy and that he loves her but he doesn't know it himself, liy padding out the two scenes of the second act the first act could be chucked and "Service for Husbands" Improved 100 percent. In fact the whole thing might be rewritten. It has definite farce possibilities. Twelve characters are employed and probably two of them could be written oiit. Sadie, the seaweed girl, is especially unnecessary and smacks of a one-act play by society matrons. The second act Is funny at moments. It has none of the long speeches that made the first stanza. In addition the acting seemed a great improvement. In the openng act the players were on a par with the dialogue. Helen Flint was the only one who didn't get her lines Jumbled, while Hitch- cock muffed several. The idea of the play Is a high- class male chaperon service for wives whose huslmnds are absent or indisposed. Hitchcock depicts the super-lounge Il^zard who main- tains a staff of assistants and does everything according to the best tenets of modern busines efllciency The district attorney's office suspects him of blackmail and there is a southern colonel, such as the movies have made famous, who wants to shoot him up for being "a damned Yankee" and compromising his daughter. ' By easy analysis "Service for Husbands" would be ideal for the movies, where its f.aults as a spoken piece could be glossed over. Loop. SMILING DANGER Los Angeles, Aug. 27. "Smiling Danger' is one of those things poorly constructed with no obvious reason or intent. Intent and purpose were as much Greek to the audience on its third performance here as the figures on a chess set to a 2-year-oid. The construction was so Incoherent and involved the actors could not fathom their way through the foggy haze of useless, lengthy'-and unnecessary di.alog. The play was tried out In San Francl»co and when brought here for the purpo.se of straightening it out three characters were added. Though this reporter did not see the San Francisco performance, it seemed apparent that the m.iriiier in which it was .irc.nonted here was probably more involved thnn It had been before. The addition of the now pef)ple meant nolhlng. but to prolong tlie suspense endured by the audience awaiting the fin,al curtain. Frank Kcenan made every effi>rt possiiile to giv. a convincing jicr- formance, but his part, as \v<ll as the others, was so complicated and garbled that the endeavor w,as futile. It appeared as though the author had composed his (pus for the sim- ple iiurpose of giving the star l(jng and offoctlve speeches. For outside of those spoochos, which Mr Koeiian h.'id, the balance of the turn was very poor. The show was poorly staged and set, with the i)layer.i floundering around for their linos ,and becoming so excited In delivery one would think they wpre racing to re<»ch a given point. Bertha Mann, who had the big and emotional feminine role, did not sei>m to comprehend the meaning of the character she was iwrtraying, and gave a most unconvincing per- formance. The balance of the <ast did as well ;is ilicy coulil, but had no opportunity to give an account of themselves. The story, though hazy, might b > best explained by saying the wife of an attoiney iiad disgraicil him to the extent that he had a nervous breakdown. She ran off with an- other man. This man killed a friend of tlie attorney who was try- ing to bring her l)ack to him. The man is held for trial, vi. 'i the at- torney working his way around to get a chance to defend him nd have him acquitted on a plea of the "Un- written law" through a .'rained d ■- fense. Then when his effort to put this over is frustrated and the wife returns be finally admits the ason he wanted to defend the cul. rit was to get a chance to kill him for the wrong he hiid done him. That is how the story unravels, after a two and a hilf hour lerfonnance with- out showing anything new. "Smiling Danger" should be aban- doned quickly without re^jret. Ung. NEW PLAYS PRODUCED WITHIN WEEK ON BlAY THE KISS IN A TAXI A, H. Wuo's iiritH'nls a farco mmi'Jy aJaplvd by CiltfurJ Urcy frum the Krencli i>f M:iurl<e Honnpguln and I'lorie Vrber. LMeral translation of oriiKiial title, '"Tlie I'lve o'clock Man." SuiKctt by Hcrtram ManiHuii at the Uilis thealrt'. Victor. Arthur Bowycr .\riiiaiid Kraiik Slurlork Oinctie Cli'.ucl. Ue Culliert .\ni;p;p I.ee Patrick I.ucien John Wlllams l.p .^j^e Kdward Uli;by I.ron I.ambprt Arthur Ilyron l!erB<'oi Harry Hanlon t;i;bprt i CliarlPB Mather Valpntlnp J.inet Ucpche- Julle Patricia O'Connor Francois Marion Underwood CelPHlin Maraval Georg-e Uraham Here we have a French poodle whose bark is naughtier than its bite, with a suggestive title that hasn't the remotest connection with" the show, which Is a denatured droll story of the Continental type, adapt- ed with a view to cleaning it up for the picture rights or some such sec- ondary motive. Played in rollicking- spirits at hilarious tempo, .the laughs are tliick. As it turn's out, this is a wholesome if silly story; therefore it will fool those whom the porno- graphic title may lure In, and it may keep away through that same Item those who are In search of a comedy that will not bring the blush to the cheek of the average consumer. Not for a long time has Broadway seen this moid of French farce. It is sans bedroom, but with barroom; it is replete with vague hints of wickedness, purposely or haplessly made implausible by the staging and the casting. So it is a what Is It? Tills reporter bus read the reviews in the local dailies^ almost every--t>ne admiring the "acting" of Arthur Byron as the principal figure. To llie mind of the undersigned his character is not the principal one by much, and if what he does Is "act- ing," then the greatest actor in the world is Van Hoven's block of ice. Byron slides In somewhere In the first act, to the Montmarlre cafe of Ginette. who is supposed to be a love-child of somebody. He In turn is asked to be the five o'clock sugar daddy, a millionaire banker who Is keeping her and who Is using the name of his buokkepper to her and tlie bohemian regions to shield his identity. He looks the bookkeeper, all right; but the sad part is that he also looks him later in his own home. Surely he Is not masquerading before his wife! What he "registers" of the fright- ened butter-and-bond man la en- tirely contained in the authors' say- so. About as much as John Will- iams registers of the young play- wright who Uinette "loves." If it is I'fench love, then the Latin Quarter has been reduced to a Mexican dime. Williams pluys his part like a luna- tic and Byron plays his like an ice- cake. But Uinetter Not since Irene Bordoni came to take the place of Anna Held has there been such a I'reiich bon bon seen behind American footlights. The girl is indescribably chic, star- tlingly pretty, graced with a figure to drive a man to crime, curly bobbed hair that would reform Day- ton, Tcnn., a pair of eyes that knock you dead at 20 paces, and—ways! She has "ways," hits Claudettc Colbert. Her hands, her looks, her walk, her poses, her head tossing, her other gestures and motions— thpy are "Uiat certain something." She is obviou.'^Iy French, yet she t.ilks almost without a foreign touch of dialect. Perhaps a Parlsienne who has lived much in England or America, or an American girl who lias lived much in France. She i.s the gruatest bet for stage and screen that this asbestos re- viewer has beheld In siji.sons. And around her fascinations and her way.H -she isn't much of an ac- tress tcclinically. but doesn't have to be. and probahiy never will bo-re- volves -The Kiss In a Taxi," and stand.H or f.alls. A iK'w beauty Is no small matter in New York. Nothing iiure Jiiatters more. That alone has been known to make tlie stock market fluctuate and theatre construction to accel- erate. Othrrwl.se this show Is pretty vapid stuff out.slde the pnro at which if proreeds to knoik off laughs in- nocuous laughs, but loud ones. The more grotesque the men are—and all of them are atrociously olT character —flie deeper the bellowings. To be sure, when such notables as Byron and Janet Beecher lot them- selves be used as butts, boobs, tack- ling-dummies, there must be fun. Miss Beecher is al)out the saddest figure in this piece that has been presented of late—a woman of natu- ral dignity and beauty, not to say some stage prestige and a bit of talent,-wafting in and out as the subject of the ridiculous subterfuges of a lot of clowning half-wits. It is the dumbest part ever handed to a professional. She plays it as befits, her only artistic contribution being that she makes it beautiful and dumb. In looks Miss Beecher has not appeared to such advantage in some time. She is slender, youthful and almost "cute." In the story the five o'clock chump, lying his way in and out, passes the fair Ginette off as his illegitimate daughter, telling how her mother, a countess, yielded him a kiss In a taxi, and after that— This gets the girl Into his home through the bone-headed sagacity of the preposterous playwright. There comes a chance for real farce acting, for It is a rich situation. But while it gets the physical laughs. It entire- ly misses the psychologlt'al comedy, because the elements of "danger" are entirely fumbled. No one believes Byron has had an Intrigue with her. no one believes anybody would be- lieve he had, so It comes down to the nifties, the undertaker-like book- keeper, and Byron's milksop fllrta- tloa with his new secretary, played as lukewarmly by the sometimes more and Miss Lee Patrick. Sufficient survives of the whole messed-up effort to make it a roar- ing comedy, though It is difflcult to classify what kind or of what worth. In the hands of keen farceurs, staged by a shrewd farce-director, this could easily have been made an out-and-out clean comedy or an In- and-out salacious tidbit. Only the presence of Claudette Qolbert gives the whole enterprise any theatrical Importance now. ^ This pseudo-expert's guess would be that "The Kiss In a Taxi" will pucker Its lips hereabouts for a dozen weeks or so, by which time Woods will have a starring vehicle ready for Claudette. Lait. ENCHANTED APRIL Roaallp SlPwart presents a dr.iin.-\tlj;atlon of the novel of the same title by "Kllxa- beth," dramatized by Kane Campliell. stagpil by John llayden; at tbe Moroaco the.-itre. iMtty Wilklna Elizabeth Itladon Iloae Arbuthnot Merle Maddirn ^l*'"'' Dorl» ('art prpt r>ady Caroline llPlen (lahaKan Thomas lirlggB Ilunh Huntley Mr». Klaher Allaon Hkipworth Domen ico jnhn Ma void b ranceaca Adellna Koaltino MeIlor»h. WJIkfna Herlwrt Yo»t Ferdinand Arundel Gilbert Douclaa The producer of "The Show-Off" lifted the curtain on the most pre- tentious and most promising spoken offering of the budding seaiion with a delightful dramatization of a best seller. "The Knchanted April" Is an almost naive comedy for "these days," but it sold in many editions under the anonymous authorship of "Elizabeth," also credited with "My Garden," another Bwfeet-scented success. ("Elizabeth" Is Countess Uussell, an Englishwoman of title and social preferment, said to be very much in life like Mrs. Fiflher In this play, essayed by Alison Skipworth.) This is destined to be strictly a carri.-ige-trade hit. It is too dar- ingly undaring to be an upstairs draw. Tliere is strarcely (>nough noiirishnunt for the cornod-bocf- and .-ippetile of the commonors in If.s carte du Jour of caviare, i>ate do fol gras .and a domi tasse. It is deli(ate. dalnly fare, In truth, and as epiouro.-in In its preparation anri sorvlng as In Us ingrcdlonis. Writ ton by a lady. It was Ilavorod for the st.ige by a gontlornan— K.-iin' Campbell, to this roporier lilthorto unfamiliar. By the same tokens It Is acted by not alone ladies and goniionien, but artlstil. Iloavon help our drama if this tld-V»lt Is ever porformeil liy others. f)r If It Is dlrofled liy any one les^ divining and lli':h' -nrigori d than John Uaydeu. whose only hIb Is a predilection fur sans-fuotlight overho.-id lighting, which kids faces -as it did under liis guidance la "Meet the Wife." If Hayden over gets down to earlh witii his lighting, and throws tm a few foots, he will be^a darling; so far he is a brilliant but a nau^iity young m.an. Whoever cast "The Knchanted April" (probal)ly Miss Stewart) is a picker. Di.stingui.shcd names aiiorn the company, but it is iiuire distin- guished for its perfect assignment of roles than for its jirogram mag- nificence. Only one element in any of the players Is left to be desired: Miss Gah.agan. a sterling actress, appears a trifle mature for the part of the wliimslcal Lady Caroline. -She doesn't play mature, but she looks mature, which Is confessed by the undersigned at the risk of an utter lack of gallantry. Miss Oahagan ha* a fertile field in the theatre, but it is across the border from ingenue parts. The story of "The Enchanted April" Is tenderly preserved In the stage exposition: Four women, each with a different peeve against life, none acquainted with any of the others, meet via an advertisement and club together to rent a chateau during April on the Italian Mediterranean. One dis- agrees •with her husliand because he writes wicked novels; another is a widow who wants to live over her old memories; a third has a smug husband who lives by the rule and bores hCr; a fourth is a love-sick girl of title, hot in love but aching to be, diagusted by unromantic and specfous men. They determine to do for the month without society, especially without men. But they soon wilt. And they find what they needed was atmosphere, frame of mind, change. It thus works out for the happiness of everyone, the English girl meet- ing a romantic young painter who brings her to herself by using the firm hand and tone whereas she has always been coddled, begged and petted. Miss Skipworth, as the terroris- ing grand dame who can soften when true sentimental values arise, easily takes the crown of the per- formance. A high comedienne, she has respect for the broad as well as the gossamer comic -opportuni- ties. She is a hit half a minute after she appears In the prologue and grows constantly with every gesture, evey Intonation. High and legitimate humor Is the keynote throughout, with here and there a concession to the more ex- plosive risibilities in which the au- thor, the director and the actors all participate, and never to the dis- ruption of the delicate texture oC either plot or theme. • The dramatization is literature. Its construction is excellent save for a few minutes of obvious and al- most painful padding In the "happy ending" at the very end. The di- rection is superfine. The produc- tion Is Intelligent, pretty, correct, generous. "The Enchanted April" should en- Joy a happy and extended existence at more than moderate receipts. It la scarcely to be hoped that the bal- cony followers will take heartily to It, though the book sold to all classes or It could not have attained its volume. Surely, it would do the Harlemites and Brooklynltes a lot of good to bask in the sunshine of such delightful entertainment. But too frequently hoi pollol has loss regard for what is good than for what Is "kicky." Therefore the approximate tenure of this worthy presentation may not be safely forecast beyond the pre- diction that enough upper-stratum connoisseurs In a city as big as New York will attend to Insure it a de- cent run, with the possibility that Its gentle infection will pervade the less discerning and extend It into aa felicitous a flnancal click as it un- deniably is an artistic triumph. Lait. THE FALL OF EVE John Kmemon preaent* a throe-act pom. eiiy by hIniHeir and Anita I^x <Mra. Kiiipr.fi.n): HtuRed by Mr. HmerHon: at tb» liooth theatre. ''•"■'■>■ Alonzo Fpndoraon Mammy Nadlne WInaUn I.iirry Webb Keftlnald Mrnton lOiild fTalK Iilantha I'nttlnon llprlmrt V.ritXg Clninte KInir Amy I'arkpr Cora Wlltier.i|)OOn Kvf Mutton Ruth (3<irdon Tefl tlutton Arthur AU>ertann Sarah Uoria Kein|i«r John Emerson and Anita T^oos art! the aiithots of '.'The Whole Town's Talking," besides i;oing au- thf)rs and jiroducers of many photo- plays. Mr. lOmerson. of course, is also presidont of the Actr)rs' fOnnity, As director, producer and co-au- llior, Mr. Emerson mK'ht be de- Hcribid as "all over" this now com- edy. Yet the oarnuirUs of tlie pinuant Anita ai-o uiinii.stakablo Ihroti^rbout the dialoi;, whirh Is wise, witty, flippant and f'-mlnlne. It so(!ms to h.avo l)oen con.slrurled as a psoudo-st.arring vohirle for Uuth 'jordon, tlie flafipor - part player who scored In "iVlrs. I'art- tiilKo Presents." There she was "second business," and turned out a gem. H<rc the whole action and more th.-in Iialf tlio dialog rest on her shoiildors, and the not entirely filii Itoiis result Is due lr> that error famous In baseball <flne«me knov^n as trying to stretch a single into !i three-bagger. Miss f'.ordon is a wow—and even (Continued on page 50)