Variety (November 1925)

Wednesday. November 8«, 19U LEGITIMATE VARIETY PLAYS OUT OF TOWN THE DARK Boa^t^ Nov. 34. * Sl«le Ferguton aad Frohman »p- •arently hav« high hop«« for "The Dark " a morbid »ort of a drama written by MarUn Brown. It was ffiven Its llrst performance on any ita« at the Park theatre last night. The play has been In rehearsal dur- ing the engagement of "The Grand Duchess" and Miss Ferguson is using Basil Kathbone, Ilka Chase, TTrederlck Worlock, E. Ferdinand Hast, Eleanor Griffith and Douglaa Garden in support. The production turned out to be a sort o£ a personal triumph for Miss Ferguson and Basil Ratlibone, tK)th rising to dramatic heights that overshiidowed the heavy and rather unpleasant theme. It Is certain the j)lay will never be a popular one, although it can probably carry on, drawing from the minor clement that likes this sort of an erotic thing. The story concerns a wife who has a Freudian fear of the dark and Its dreams. She is inclined to harm- less flirtations. Her husband is suddenly blinded and horribly dis- figured about the eyes by an ex- plosion of one of his Inventions. Whe.T their little girl sees her father's eyes unbandaged, the child becomes hysterical and the wife de- termines never to look at bis eyes. He always wears a bandage over bis face and Rathbone plays the Inst two acts actually blindfolded. In his blindness he becomes cynical, and Anally mentally d i;ed. ITltlmately, when she .•pulses his attempt to return to marital rela- tions, ho bares the bloody sockets that were once eyes and Instead of horror, she becomes sympathetic, folds him in her arms and kisses him pa.sslonately until the curtain. The complex In the plot comes In the fact that the husband wants her dislike of him to love for another man rather than revulsion at his appearance, and she hn;s to create imaginary lovers from her male friends to appease him. Libbey. HELLO, LOLA Newark, Nov. 17. Musical romedr In thire acts Hnil five •Denes, based upon I?ooth Tarkinjfton'.' rtovel and play, •'Scyenteen." Book and lyrics by Dorothy Donnelly. Music by Will- lain B. Krrrell. Dances by Seymour Fe'.lx Directed by J. J. Hhubert. rrfsente.l by the Shuberta at th« Uroad, Newark, N. J Nov. 18. Jaoa Kaxter •... .Marjorle White Mr. Baxltr Franklyn Hanna JJ"„ Baxter Nanetto KInck Willie Bxxter Ukliui.] Keene May Parcher ILinnah Williams Johnnie Wat3on Ccon.'o Siune P'"'"^''!'' Wi;:iam I.e Mulir 1-oU i-rait Madeleine Pratt Joe Bullitt. Kasha Cook. Jr. Mr. Parchi-r Bi-n Fr.anklyn ^.^ i^f^oP^r Bert Gardner Ml»i Boke Margaret .^^iilllvan ''*"'• Dorothy WiiJiamB out. Georre Btone doe« some rood dancing, and Bert Gardner is amus- ing but monotonous as a go-getter. In the chorus ar« II girls and eight men, all lively dancers. The dancing, however, while plentiful, is In no way sensational. One striking number has the chorus and several principals In a line doing a tap dance In unison. The Tiller stuff that follows will stand much prac- tice. One octet Is comprised of small girls wearing kid clothes, chiefly with bare legs. Among them are two specialty dancers, unpro- gramed. The other eight girls are medium. The men include three specialty dancers, all clever. The music is catchy, particularly "Hello Lola!" "Baby-Talk Lady" and "In the Dnrk," but contain no obvious hits. The singing seems to have been neglected for tlje sake of dancing. One big number really sung would work miracles for the (^OW. The costumes are commonplace and the settings no better than ade- quate. It Is evident that the show Is being revamped, as one entire scene has gone, songs have been shifted and several numbers dropped. On Monday the show ran until midnight. Caught later in the week it ended at 11:25. Austin. The English version of Tarklng- ton's "Seventeen," titled "Growing Pains," achieved but a brief run at the Ambassador. T^ondon, Itist month despite a splendid cast. JUST BEYOND Stamford, Nov. 21. CharlM K. Gordon presents "Ju»t Be- yond."• a new Australian (ir»ma. In three acta by Reginald Goode. Staged by A. K. Anson. Production deslirned by Clark Rob- inson. _ _ T>r. Jan Koertbroek Oeor«e E. Remain Kins Billy Jo'"* C. Oaryle Malom Madeline Hartford Norman Powers Leslie Barrle Hon. Cecil Brougbton Horace Sinclair Mrs. Towers 7.tm» TlUbury Nancy Alison Brndxnsw Major Ocrald Towers Cyril Jetghtley Marlorle Towen... Wanda I-yon Jack Oroelly Brew If a revival of "Seventeen" is ac- ceptable at the present time 'Hello Lola!" will be a success, but upon its merlt.s as a musical comedy it has no chance. Not that it is with- out merit. It Is sufficiently enter- taining, but arouses only aniuse- inent and not enthusiasm. In the highly competitive field of musical ■hflw "Hello LoU" will be simply outclassed. The book follows the original story Closely enough, and this should be an inducement to many, but there are more who would feel that this Theme, being chiefly a satire on calf love, would not appeal in a nuislcal comedy, lacking, as it does, any real '^^ait'c attraction. The original ending has been kept, although as a •op to sentiment, an extra scene Mas been utlded. In which Marjorie White tells the audience she knows toey would like to see Lola and Willie have that last dance together. •pu" '"■''iPs'thcm out again. The oast, curiously, includes one ««ter team and half of two others. vr these little Marjorie White, play- ing aloTiP for the first time, romps away with all possible honors as Jane, the cnf-^nt terrible of the I?ax- .k1 . "*'• ^"bhlin.": over with life, ene glve.-i a smashing interpretation, "38 a striking sense for fun, and ,r"i^*,1 ^'^'' ^*W abandon. Her rendition of the familiar Bpeerh in wnich she suhstltutes "word" for oamn • Ir « show In itself. One I- rJ ^^'' should add from the novel 18 the srrne where Jane "sticks her Biommlck out of Joint." Sbi> makes one long to see her do It. \Vh.^tPVPr hanpens to "Hello "fiite Is made. ■As Lola, the "baby-talk lady," wadrlelne Fairbanks flts perfectly, t'he dances well, hut it is «a!d that «/*'.*'^"* ""'"^ accident has prevent- en hor from irettlng hack to top »orni. The Wllllnms Sisters rentier , "* '^"'^•'Pr, .nnd Hinnns b.TS ii p.Tit in wb h Rh.T i, Bom^whnt rolf.r'esi AS Willie Rnxter Rlrhnrd Keene "now, admirable sympathv an<l re- sffint in a role that might easily ne burlesnued. He has a pie 'oinE: ^oice. but fiills to get everything out of his .«;ones. _ f.^'"','"'" ^-^ Malre makes little of '.<'he«ls. the colored handv man. al- inounh the part could ea.sllv be a r-it one. He has evidently been rut ■^me. nn hU programed songs are Lol.T • Miss Two performances here In Stam- ford marked the second workout of this play by Reginald Goode. for- merly called "Drought." It has added the new title, "Just Beyond," and Wanda Lyon, neither addition clothing much of what Is already a rather bare and cumbersome car- cass. In what may be better shape after a week in Baltimore the play goes Into the National, New York, Monday, Nov. 30. The story of "Just Beyond" gets excited over the fact that there Isn't much rain In Australia. Sheep die, flowers can't be watered, baths can't be taken. Only heat and dust and laughing birds to mock from the trees. Gerald Towers returns to this from the war with a tender case of shell-shock and a beautiful Amsil- can wife. His brother, Norman, falls In love wth his wife, and with this problem and the drought Geralds shell-shock sends him half hanging over the wall between physical madness and the other madness called sanity. Marjorie has no reciprocal feeling tor Norman, but Gerald whips them off together with a vicious snake- whip. He then disappears to wan- der In the bush and later returns to strangle his wife, but U prevented. A fall from a horse, Norman's de- cision to leave the ranch, which re- stores him to his old self again, and a whooping rain bring about an affirmative end. . Except for the appearance of a live kangaroo, "Just Beyond" falls to accomplish what It sets out to do—tell of the cruel, killing, relent- less atmosphere of an Australian drought. Instead, It spend;, most of its time hovering around the edges of a mental aberration and a stnll- mental, obvious triangle. The characters are usual ones, and in a few Instances baldly from the hothouses of hoki|m. Two fall- ing In this category are the blind mother, whose favorite nong Is "Home, Rweet Home," just before the curtain of the first act, and the slow-thinking Knglishman wedged in for humor. Cyril Keiphtlcy does the best of an uninspired ca«t and proves him- self most conip<nent In the scones where he Is under the Influence of his sholl-shnrk. Miss Lyon wears becoming droK.ses. The kangaroo did a charming bit, hop. In- < n the set to eat an applo and then hop- ping off. Prntt. THE KICK OFF Pittsburgh, Nov. 18. When Oranllnnd Rl"e and Frank Craven undertfiok to bring the col- orful gridiron to the stage, they t.ackled a rather difntult but not en- tirely hop*>leRS ta.s'i<. The combined cilT(»rt of this \A\\r of writers, who hardly need any Introduction. Is "The Kick OfT,"' a fast moving com- edy of the rah-rah boy type, which made Its public bow last Monday night (Nov. 16) at the Nljcon. As It stands, the show hasn't quite ar- rived yet. and it will need plenty of revision before It can si^ore a finan- cial touchdown. But the material Idea is brilliant In ttia day and era in which football is so popular and so much discussed. With some Ironing out and with fewer fumblea. "The Kick Off" should have very little trouble in crossing the goal line to success. And this is the very treatment It Is undergoing at the present time. Grantland Kice and Mr. Craven wero t>oth here the entire week. And each change added Improvement. By the time "The Kick Oft" reaches Broadway, due there in five weeks, it win have reached Ita majority, no doubt. The premiere was an auspicious one. Manager Harry Brown of the Nixon wanted to make the affair a real football night, so he invited the varsity teams of the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Tech and Sclienley High School to attend the opening porfornianco. The teams sat in the boxes, sang songs and gave their favorite yells. 'The at- mosphere was great. Also In the boxes sat a galaxy of notables, in- cluding Grantland Rice, Ring Lard- ner, Frank Craven, William Mc- Geehan (New York "Tribune"), and local sport writers. And yes, moK- aphones were passed out to the audience, a practice followed at all other performances. The curtain rises on the cottage of "Rip" Jones, in Cornwall, on an afternoon In June. "Rip" Is the coach of the Cornwall team, an out- fit that has met with more reverses than success in the past two sea- sons. The gang is discussing foot- ball and the coming season. The outlook is dulL In the croWd Is Langdon Brown (Patterson McNutt) who came to Cornwall with quite a reputation but who has announced he will not come out for the team. He becomes the most unpopular member of the set. almost to the point of being entirely scorned. It Is then that "Rip" (Jay Wilson) ap- pears on the d£>oratep and announces that unless the team meets with better success the coming season his contract will not be renewed. The loyalists appeal to Brown to come out, but he turns a deaf ear. Brown, incidentally, is in love with Jennie Jones, "Rip's" dashing daugh- ter. Her pleas also falL There appears on the scene "Smart Alec" Bowen, star player of the rival Upton team. He refers to Brown aa "yellow" and therein Is changed the latter's entire outlook on life. There are plenty of college yells and cheers, draggy and borcsome for the greater part. It Is here that most of the revision Is needed. The second act Is the Mills Bros. Circus the following August. It Is one of the high spots of the show, real circus atmosphere, three funny Negro attendants and a dashing (lainseL the "queen of the air." Brown has taken a job with the circus to fit himself for the coming sciison. More football talk and a team of hands in practice. In the third act are six scenes, the opening being the grill room of the Cornwall Inn, the night before the big game with Upton. Scene H i the last practice. The audience gets a glimi>se of it. The next scene Is a hotel where the team is dressing fur the fray. Then the big scene, out- side the Upton stadium. The game Is in progress. Upton Is ahead 6 to 0. Brown, who had been Injured in practice on the eve of the battle, did not start. A few minutes re- main before the final whistle. He goes in amid the plaudits of the crowd. Brown makes a touchdown. The score Is tied at 6 to S. And then, a moment of hush. The doors of the stadium have opened and the audience sees the two teams in action. The teams are lining up for the kick after touchdown. On it hinges the outcome of the game, victory or defeat. The point Is made. Cornwall wins. Brown rushes off the field and Into the waiting arms of his sweetie. And thus it endeth. To say that It was abrupt would be putting It mildly, but the authors are working on a new finish. There Is no particular brlllance about the cast with the exception of John T. Uwyer, who was very good; Bert West. In the comedy role; Ruth Lee, Dan Moyles and Mildred Mitchell. M. A. Mack Is company manager. Bimon$. It Is probable that he was too youth- ful to play the role of the flnancler in his later years, aUhough nothing; has been said as to why the pro- ducer jumped into the part himself. "The Naked Man" is serious In spite of a title that has farce con- notations. It Is something of a treatise on the d<-adly sin of selfish- ness. In the heyday of the nllogort- cal play, "Experienfc," "Kvcrj'- woman," etc.. VimorU Armstrong would have borne a label, ".selfish ambition" and Brownie Arden would have been "eternal love." "The Naked Man" proves that when a man sacrltk-e.s love for jower ho is apt to find himself wret bed In soul about the time hardening of the arteries begins to set In. A great production and flawless acting held the opening night audi- ence In strict attention. It Is not hard to Imagine Uiat second r.^to acting would make this piece ridic- ulous. Mr. Klllott and his associ- a ed instill life into this one and there was much snirrtng and sobbing during some of the scones. Gilda I.,eary, a blonde feminine lead, made a bull's-eye so far as Chicago is concerned. Mr. ICllIott is his same old unt'tuous self, doing equally well as the young m .n of 24 and the matui-e capitalist of some 20 years later. Four children char- acters are cleverly handled by tlu Misses Frances Victory and Arline Blackburn and Charles F.aton and Graham Lucas. Two of those .luven- llea are understood to be under the age mark and may h.ive some diffi- culty with the local authorities. "The Naked Man" employs the flash-back. A selfmade millionaire, who had ridden rough-shod to finan- cial eminence, is visited by the spirit of the boy he used to be. Then the flash-back to boyhood, lator to young manhood. It is interestingly done but spot- ted In the Garrick of doubtful com* "haerclal value. "The Naked Man" will not click for the loop. Hal. ONE OF THE FAMILY Chicago, Nov. 24. Ooaasdy In three acts by Kenneth Webb with Urant Mitchell. Presented by John Tuerk at the Princess, Nov. 1*2. Statred by John Cromwell. (•eorirs Adams Raymond Van Sickle MsKsie .-Beulah Bondl I'enelope Adania I.ella Froat I.ucy Adams Kdlth Van Cleva .Miss Prisollla Adams. .L,oulse CloaMcr Hale Ire;ie Adams Mary t'hllllM Frank Owtrns..... Flcraln« Word Henry Adams Urant Mitchell .Toyce Smith K:>y Johnaon MarUn Uuike Edward Donnelly As the title sugge.«ts this Is an- other exposition on the domestic theme, and more pariculnr'.y med- dling relations. Mr. Webb has laid his scene In Boston among the pure Nordics. There we find the Adufnx family steeped in the traditions oi their distinguished ancestry. Sine*- his birth Henry Adams ((irani MltiheM) has been su|>ervlse<l aix regulated by his Aunt Priscill. (Louise Closser Hale), and lionr.\ is well Inio his thirties before h» runs off and marries a churinin); orphan named Joyce Smith. In Mas.sachiisetts the Smiths, while numerous, have nover been aris- tociiilic, and the .\dains fiiniiy pro- ceeds to make It nilscrabie for tht wife. The inevitable worm turns \i, the Inst act. This is the best play Grant Mit- chell has had since "A I'rliice Thert Was." It Is a Ktiong lausiliiiiK com- edy with some riotous moiiient.s It cllclicd unmistakably with th« flist night aiitlienee and scoiiis de- .Mtipcd for a healthy cireor. It 1- the llr.st produc ion t^n hi.i own oi Johnny Tuork, who has often had a "piece" of a show but has nevei before been the sole owner. It needs a little more work but is all rii^ht as It stands. The cast is superlative. Mitche! has a rich part and brings to It hi- smooth, flawless reading and th« impression he always kIvos (n*- matter how inane some of his role^ hav»> been) of native Intelligence. Louise Closser Hale realizes to thi full the matriarch of the Adanu family. Leila Frost, as the younges' of the Adams girls, attracted at- tention as an Ingenue. There Is a family servant whosf one worry In life Is more work b> having an extra person for dinnei Imposed on her. Leulah Bondl cre- ates this role and is vividly thi maid of all "work who has beer with the family for years and Is for- ever grumbling. Never once doe> Miss Bondl mug the part or exag gerate. She makes the best slave; seen la years. Miss Kay Johnson is the feminint lead. Here again is perfect cast- ing. Her represbion in certain mo- ments ot ejuuiperatioa was mosi clever. "One of the Family" is an excep- tionally well-written comedy. Ken- neth Webb, the author, has blende<l the pathos of the continual bicker Ing and misunderstandings wltl: laughs, and whils It Is ths laufhr that predominates ths "point" it always clear. There Is a natural- ness to the characters and dialogue bulh working Inevitably towards « mounting crescendo of climaxes Kach of ths three acts has beer- provided with that desirable con- summation, a good curtain. Mr. John Tuerk has a valuablt script, plus a gre.at cast and ai< Impressive production. The new Impresario should cash In. UaL PUYS ON BROADWAY Androcles and the Lion Theatre Qulld production and revival ot Ueorice Bernard Hhaw's comedy In two acta and a pni.og, preceded by one-uct play, "The Man of Destiny." Seltlnga for tbs latter by Carolyn Hancock and settlnKS fot the rnrmer by Miguel Cnvnrruhlas. Both plays directed by I'hilip Moelier. Produce*! at the Klaw as the atcond production ol the Shaw repertory Hub>crlptlon season. ("Man of Destiny") Napoleoa Bona[>arte Tom Powers (liuaeppe Kdwanl U. Iloblneon The LJeutQnant Rdward Reoas The LAdy Clare Kamea ("Androcles and the Lion") The I.loo iComney Brant Androcles Henry Traveni M<')taera Alice Kelmore Cliff BeKSar It Ichard Nye Conturlon Galtvey He/ttert The Captain Tom Powers I.avinla Clare Karnes I/cntullus Roniney Brent Metci;ua Allan Ward .Splntho Philip I/elgh KerroviUB Orvllle Cahlwell Ox Driver S.imuel Uoeen Retlnrue William M. Orimih «<^'~utor Kredcrlfk ChlUon The Call Boy Alfred Little Th.) Editcr KUward Reem: Menajjerie Keeper riahvcy Herbert Caewr Kdward a. Itohinwin And tJtirlstlan martyrt, tlsdiator*. Uoman soldiers, blsves and Ctcsar's suite. THE NAKED MAN Chicago. Nov. 20. A play In three aits and four scnes b> Hutchcxon Boyd. Presented by William rillott and Jamea W. Klllott at the Oar- rlck. Nov. 15, Wllllaoi Klllott elarrcd and nida Leery featured. SUsed by William icniott "Hrownle" Arden Olid* Leary Stella Armrtrors Anne Morrison Rvans Mllino Tllden I^octor Piters John L.ltel Vincent Armstionn William Klllott Joan Armjtronf Isabel I.»l)rht-<n Re'.onKing to Vincent ArmatronK'e Past Hlmnelf .....Charles Kulon Ills Mother Valerie Vslalre His SUter ....Frances Victory Ills tJH-eetheart Arline niackhurn Ills Chum nrnham I^icas H!» Emp.oyrr Fdward Wonn ffls Kmployer'e Dannhter.. .Isabel \^<rht(,n The Man With the Trunk. .Donald Dlllaway Puck, a Doc Himself William Klllott. of Comstock, Elli- ott and Gest, returns to acting after on absence of eight years. "The Naked Man" preluded Its Chicago premiere by a week In Rochestor, N. T., and another week divided be- tween Toledo and Dayton. Henry ^ Hull was first engaged to play the , . . ,_ is there, the «f<iry is good, and th** : lead but left the show on the road I The cMt Hennett, puMliher of the The Theatre Guild has been mon- keying around with tshaw for quite a few seasuns, keeping his pocket- l*ook tilled up with nice royalty checks nnd improving public educa- tion to the point where one may now go to a Shavian performance and the moment the dialog throws a dirty dlii ,it the Knglish, some wom- an is sure to gurgie, ".Vow, Isn't that just like Shaw!" Hut the <;ul!d has probably never delivered Itself of a better Sli.iw production than their current "Androcles and the Lion." The bows go to I'blllp Moelier, the director; Miguel Covarrubbis, who h.iH done the most attractive bunch of fr»'ak sets In a long time, and Henry Travora, whose performance of Androolos is one of those rare ihinun which come ."eldom. The rest of the cast Is more than nieixly gootl - they shino In almost every role— but the surety of the direction and the smoothness of the opening night wpeiiUs volumes for Moelier. "Androcles" h.'is been done over hfTf- before, notably by H. C'lranvillc fJriikir. who brought a troupe ovci' from lOiiphind about 12 or 15 ye.ir.H ago, nnd under a hetivy sonlcfv prit- roii.iEre openfd at the old Wnllrifk's -Herald." was interested in thJ project, which had O. P. ileggU pl.'iylng Androcles, and ho turne<' John Kllnn, now a prominent execu- tive of Producers Distributing Corp hut then assistant dramatic edltui on the "Herald," to Darker as i< special press agent. The engage ment thrived to some extent. As a play It is one of the rlotou' things of the KogUsh language, an< for those people who find profundlt.> In Shaw's plays It may be even mor than riotous. In this instance An- drocles, called Andy for short, am his fat wife ars Christian martyrr fleeing from the wrath ot the Ro man soldiers. In a forest Androcles meete up with a lion, which he latei calls Tommy. Tommy, It seems, ha- a thorn In his paw, so Androcles re- moves It. Hence they become fas' frlf^nds. Then the scene shifts to Rom>- and a flock of Christians are haiile* on singing "Onward. Christian Sol dlers." Put anachronisms of thi' ^ort are very funny, and they be- come all the more so when the vari- ous Christians begin to deliver ex positions of their naw faith. There Ih ono pretty girl, and she falls ir love with a handsome Iloman cap t.'iin, so the romance Is planted. Thi girl has a giant bro'hcr, Kerrovhit his name, and this chap can't qultr per.xuade himself that the buslnes of turning the other cheek Is goo< stuff If a follow Is strong enough t<' swat back. Their petty arguments go on, ant' the whole thing comes to a cllma). when Caesar himself (not the on< who hung around Gaul) appears and la played as a super-sophlHtIcate«* son of a degenerate dvnasty. Cae- sar's "yes men" (and there were no picture companies then, either) ari lots of fun. for every time Caesai- pulls n. wise crack, and he was great at that sttiff, one of the yes mer (Hela Ulau) orders the lyre b( struck. In the play Travers does excel- lently, never saying a line wlthoui getting a lauirh, while he Is abl.'- hacked bv Ilomney Brent, Clan Kames. Edward Robinson (as Cae- s.Tr) and Philip T,pij»h as a wenV member of the p.Haliii-singing band Th« three sets ore fantastic Bn«i fboroiigMv in tune with the show It.self, wM> everything else Ik strictly iin to snuff. No? "o with the curtain-raiser "The M^'n of Destiny." Tom Power'