Variety (February 1926)

S »l I CI 28 VARIETY LEGITIMATE Wednesday, February 17, 1926 tlonc. tliT'>'>» not much need to waatp eiiace ti*-ri' upon more than the In- side stuff. l-'or ili4' box odlco "Lulu Hollv" l- a plain pii>e. Transients en n't resist It, and even the wIh'T bunch will ■T^•allt to s«to It, although to the lat- ter ll's au old atory, fi>r in brief Lulu i-fcUe la but an ordinary hooker. This is the pliy tliit must have Rl.iildened the heart <>i L<nore I'lric as it iiiav have tcmporarly broken Helen Mem k.riH htart. One can iiuaKinc wlicn Miss flrlc Kot a flash at this Shclilon script she for- got everi tliii.t; <lso and said y«'s to Helasoo. There's a ri^'e for any girl who can play It—lailu n<'lle. It would ni.ike an unknown. Miss Mtii.kiii was virtually en- gaged lor I! ' ,.rl duriiiK the period Miss riri. 1 away from the Ue- lasco folii. .:(.i" i.s no wonim of the .Bt.-iKc bcli.vinK she could play Lulu iielio who eouM have resi.«ted It. Not alone is It a 8<t-up for play- Inp. but it's Lulu Helle all of the time and ail over the sfaye for four nets. In hook-up lielasco looks to be pretty heavily loaded for a drama. About $y,000 for the company, with- out the .st.iije ciivv. In produciioii il looks .irouml flOO.oOO. The openint,' (street) set is said to have cost ILM.OOO. Miss ririo is recolvluK $1,- 500 weekly and Henry Hull $1,000. They are the tops, of eour.se, but BoniP oi the other wliilea must be feltins Kood money. Anionn the colored oontlnsent Evelyn I'reer Is iirobtilily the high- eat salaried, with Mattie Wilkes sec- ond. There are about S5 colored people and IS whites. Though the colored folks range down to extras for pay, with children in the show as well, you can't buy a company of 112 for 30 cents. At J3.50 top the nolaaco can do •round $23,000. I'o(ding show and house, the overhead must run to be- tween $16,000 and $17,000—not enough profit for the gamble if a hit and if both are pooled. A show like tills to a producer who can do it and does should net nt least $10,000 weekly. Helasro has had enough bad breaks; he's entitled to a good one here. In playing Miss I'lrlc and Mr. Hull rtm so f.ar ahead no one ever gets within flag distance of either. Mr. Hull gives a fine performance, not the least of which is his Negro dia- lect. That's the last woi-d in im- personation, and you have to hear him, knowing the cf)lored man he repreaent.s, to got it. Miss lllric moved right into the L\ilu Belle role. She's everything the author wanted her to be, .and It's in the fourth act where she shines, although It's the third act before Miss Ulric gels started. The second act is applesauce. The first act set- a street scene—might have been reproduced from an old Harrlgan and Hart show, while the second act, that of Lulu Belle clean- ing a come-on. Is impossible to the Initiated, with William St. James well playing the hefty dentist from Syracuse with a roll and a yen. Miss I'rcer of the colored players receive<l her only chance in the first act, where she is Lulu'a competitor among the hot si)orts of the district. A.s Kuby I.,<'e, Miss Freer has a fist and hair tight with Lulu Just after Lulu had htid some of her friends throw liuhy out of a .loint. Miss Preer took n datuly f;ill here and gave an excciu-nt account of herself. Miss Wilkes too was valuable* and similarly counted onl.v in the early section. H.ardly any of the other Colored folks do anything other than In the niaHs»>d scenes. Lots of wis" talk and cracks, if you know tliem they sound funny. Some the opening night never got a snickt^r excepting from the gallery. There must have been some colored auditors. Their laughter at. times burst out. It was a humorous ide.a of Mr. Sheldon's to set his ••hero" in White Plaln.s as a coloi-ed barber, murriej for seven years and ripe to be taken by a dusky d;ime downtown. That was Mr. Hull as fieorge K.mdall. Lulu mttde Oeorge on the piibllc highway and In about 4S seconds. Later she got a l'"rencli count within 20 seconds. Wo li' you don't think that Is going, wait until some of the beautiful oiie.s In while get a loud of Lulu! In this underwf)i-ld story there Is synii'athy f<ir no one. No one in It needs sympathy, not even Tanim.-niy Young I white), in a piominent part that keeps him from crashing other shows, ThI.s i.^ likely ibc first play In years where the audience Is not called upon to extend a bit of kindly feeling for some one on the stage. Not only they are not called uiion, they Won't and can't. The barber is being eased out by a $10 pugilist through Lulu's cheat- ing, but the h.irli's not wise. H(''s Bo saj>—just stuck, .\nd when the bums get them stui'U they make th'in do sooiers.nills, black or white. Alter a l>lo\\-ofi' in .a black aiul tan an<l with I.iilii hinhiiiu onto the French count, the h.arbrr l."5 given .t seven year.s' stieteh I'nr knifing llic pug. iSoIli of Liilii's lovers wei'e re- moved front the pi'-iure in a Jiffy, ko •he could hiko witboui hindranci! *ltti I he frog. l-'ive ye ir,i :iftei- (flrial acO the karber eventually reaches Lulu in ber l''rcnrli f^sideni-e. the count con- tinuing to be lier (Inanclal director, although Lulu is estitblished as a P/irisian theatre attraction. It's a big bit here, for It's true, %Le pug eoiue.<! in fiifW-**^*^ ^' maniif-'er. the same Tammany. He's now the champ of the world (the only lnstanc<' of a suggestion to ■lack .lohnson in the play). The two visitors tell Lulu her barber fioin White Plains Is trailing her; he's even outside at that moment, hiding behind a tree. Lulu gives the couple air and frames to get the count out of tin house so the barber lan come In. The bar. er coine.s In. He tells Lulu he got two years' coinmiit.ition, hung around the docks for .six wceK.s until getting a Job on a cattle boat, and here he Is. And he loolud it. Lulu hail said she liud want.d to see someone for tive years, liut neve:- re.'ilizi-d it until the pug inentiorH-.l the barb. But Lulu ha^l overlooked what five yeais of iiss.,ri,,tion av.ay from the dumps h id done to her. Seeing a tramp, ."ihe sickened. I>ulu ofTered to stake her old lover to 40il francs "for a couple of baths, so you can „'o back on Ihe cattle 8hii>," which was about the best descrip- tion .she could htive uttered of the man liefoie her. Later and for the finish the bar- ber killed her, but that was okay, bccau.-ie this Is that kind of play. During the flip talk, however, be- tween them in the bedroom, and while IvUlu was telling (leorge to f.ide out, she pulled what should bo hxiked upon as the darb of the play for slang, saying: "You dirty rat, five years ago I gave you the best bum's rush in the history of Harlem, and you don't know it yet." Tammany Young pl.ayed himself and well, even to the tilt of hi.s hat. All of the whites were in brown or high yellow. Butch Cooper, the pug, fitted the physique of .lohn Harring- ton, while Perclval Vivian did a fine bit as mute hunchback, the ftiithful attendant to Lulu. Mr. Vivian may not get much attention through his stage role, but if anyone in pict.ure8 wants a Lon Chaney who can out- chaney Chaney, here he is. "Lulu Belle" could have been In white and Just as strong as a p'ay but not for the box office. Belasco set it In that color. It isn't so nice, but there it Is. Nothing especially offensive in this show in dialog or situation. Nothing startling, noth- ing massive in scenery or action or acting, nothing to arouse enthusiasm or to gloat over or rebel ag.ainst— Just a straightforward tale of a crooked Jane. Sime. PORT O' LONDON Di-.imn In throe aoti by Oioigo W, Oliver, Pruilui:e«l by W. Iltrbrrl AaiiiiiB ul J)aly'» «3<J Strfft Feb. 9, with AUx-m SUIpwnrth and HiiMll Rathtxinc fuatureil. Formerly <alli'J ••'I'ho Mailntrom" and oriK'nally jiro- duc^d by Mr, Adamn In af*M«)i*lati(>n with Henry Miller, who withdrew whllo the play ai un tour. Hanh't I'ook Alison .«kIpwort>i Krb I'ook Walter KiiiKsford Kitty i'utik itt'tty l.inloy Ofllfer Frank Morton -Mr 'llbliellH Alfred Helton Anthony I'ook llaxil Uathbone I'aplain Hmilhers James C. Carroll Mamie loan Lowell Mm. IllKKlns Allr.> John C'harlle Fix Paul I'urter Mnn Daniel Wolf May ...Suzanne Hennett Tedly C'asbourno Fr.ink Ilorton linisv t>orothv Fletcher Mill WIKshlre GeorKe Thorpe I'^irnt Jiiv.inese Sailor Kud.* Sliriff Set'oiid Ja\ane«»- S:»lU)r Abdul <'hOHen when recent memory recalls a star who stood before the lights and thankeil the audience for herself and "my company," With Rnthbone. Alison Sklpworth is co-featured, and this sterling grande dame of the stage Is cockney KnEli,sh for her role of a domineering wife whose husband (played finely by Walter Kingsford) Is a real gin stew. .Miss Skipworth gets plenty of laughs, and in a scene with Alice John, the fourth member of the acting quartet which heads the play, the pair carry on a delightful gossip match—Just two gals spreading the beans and doing the act with all the skill of their profession. Miss John Is prop- ably the best actress around here for the stolid housewife parts, and per- fectly cast In this Instance. On the debit side of the ledger may be counted Betty Linley, whose handling of a Cockney accent Is so bad that about one of every 20 words survives to pass the foot- lights In understandable form. Joan Lowell doesn't do anything with the native girl part, while James Car- roll bellows away with the tough captain's role. Not a badly directed show nor are the settings poor—adequate being the right word In both instances But the play Itself d esn't carry much of an appeal and it has mo- ments when ennui sets in the sticks around for a considerable lime. Not while the quartet of Rathbone, Skip- worth, Kingsford or John arc on the stage, but while some of the minor folks are trying to handle a dialect which Is absurdly theatrical and ridiculous in the hands of anyone unfamiliar with its intricacies. "Port O' London" Is a cut-rater, and although Adams had .a gang of society and seml-socloty folks out for the opening this isn't the kind of show they will patronize. Aside from the Rathbone and Sklpworth salaries, the cast is not expensive and the three sets are simple to handle. On this basis the show looks like one to operate on moderate money, but there is a doubt If really moderate business will send this one Into the list of successes. 8iak. PLAYS OUT OF TOWN A rather dowdy and Insufficient little play of no particular import- ance illumined by four corking and prtiisc'.vorlhy performances. That sums up "I'ort O' London." which W. Heriiert Adams, a the.-itrlcal at- torney whoso cllent«'le is the rrrm<' ilr la crcmc of show business, brought into Daly'.^ as the opposi- tion opening to "Lulu Belle" in Mr, Belasco's playhouse in •14th street. Once callel "The Matlstrom," this tday tiled out through some of the .New Kngland territory and drew good notices, but very littb' money. It then played Cort's Windsm- in t)ie Itronx and laid off for some i-ewril- ing. Thompson Buel\anan is crcditoK wilh this work, and Is also credited with bringing Joan Ia^wcII into the cast to play tlie Javanese half-breed girl about whom the action hinges. The plot tells of Anthony Pook. a bunch-backed dretimer whose living was m.'ide by drawing pictures in Piccadilly. Into the homo of' bis brother and wife comes a steamer captain, and his d.aughter, bcu-n of n, Javanese woman. The captain mistreats the girl and that arouses tlie jiity of the crippled Anthony, who immediately marries the girl, whose mind Is that of a child, due to a fall ;it Ihe age of 14, Kroin that point on the stoiy is appjirent—that when she sets an- other crack on the hea<l, she will remember plenty iind seek to begin a normal life with a strainht-backed man. Anthony, howevei-, does not offer her .a consummation of their marriage because ho knows thai once this chlld-wom.in. of a hot blooile.i race, is aroused to the urges of sex In llie common section of London, the business of Ininging hei Itito a tc.moiiable degree of mental iinbr Mill be cold. So, of coiir.'-'e, the btrnv-nff is that she pets crack No, ;• on the old bean, falls for a lou;.'h sailor and gives Anthony the go-by. P..-isil Riithbone Is the .\nthony, s putrly charticter rolo and e'ltlrely liirrei'eiit from Hnytblng this excel- lent leading man has e\ er attempt- ed. Ills jierformance brought him many ciiitalns on th.e o|>i^nlng and he cotinlered after many demands, with a short speech In ■which he of- fered the company's thanks, A nice gesture ihirt, espcei.illy THE BEATEN TRACK Drsma tn four acta, by J, O. Franol!«, Produced and directed by Quatav Ulum. with •ettlngs by Nicholas Tellentl. Ol>cned at the Frolic. New York, Feb. 8. [>at7dd Kvana Y. Beddau..St. Clair Bayfield Mni, Reea .\ly& Reea Dr. Hughes Wallace Ersklne Shan Powell Eleanor Daniels Myfanwy Ree* Lucille Nikolas Owan I'oifell Gavin Muir VaUKhan Morgan John I,Jtel MaRgle Davis UoUe Gray "The SlnKem: Lydla MacQregor, aoprano; Gwyneth llughei". contralto; Gwllyn Anwyl, tanur, and Juatln WlUiama, baas. Tills play was held by the Theatre Guild for quite a while and the pro- gram at the Frolic contains .a fore- word of high praise by Courtenay Lemon, the Outld's play-reader. J, O. Francis, Its author, wrote a play called. "Ch.ange," produced at the Booth some years ago after win- ning some kind of a prize. Thus, at least, "The Beaten Track" has claim to an artistic value, whllo Blum's publicity department strengthens the belief that It is a "good play" with a paragraph which states "J. O. Francis . . . has by no means followed the beaten track in the wTltlng of the play." So much is assured. * It is a commendable play, and Bltnn has produced It beautifully, in so far as the .settings and direc- tions go. nlthou'^h its generally flow- pace Is made almost unendurable by Ihe listlessness of Cavin Mulr's act- ing—wlilch Is just like every piece of acting Mulr has c\er done. And inasmuch as he is the principal male figure, aside from a grave- digger, whoso i)hllosophy is counted upon a gr<'at deal, many scenes go smash when they should take a defi- nito effect upon the audience. 'i'lie theme deals with the fact that both tyiies of men—the home loving and the pioneers—are necess.ary for the holding of this earth for m.an. while these two types are laid out in the Vaughan (John LItel) and the Owen Powell (Mulr). I'owell is tlie grandson of an old Welsh woman, Shan Powell, who resenlH the gruve- dlgger continually sitting by her fence. With the coming of her grandson .and his romance with the daughter of a neighbor, tlie ol<l wom.on's years seem to drop from her shoulders until the spectre of death In the shape of the grave-dig- ger continually confronts her to dis- .■senible what hopes of a. long-lived happiness she might have framed. It Is an Interesting theme—but not .1 theatrical theme. Where Strind- berg's "Dream Play." with its un- failing pessimism and sadness, strikes one aspect of life, this strikes another, more logical perhaps, but none the less nothing but an jispect of life which has its place between the covers of an essay book rather than on the Bt.ago of a Broadway theatre where salaries must b.^ I)aid, where rentals aro inevitable .uid the whims of a public hard to satisfy. Blum has produced several plays of good value along Broadway, but nothing so entirely uncommercial as "The Beaten Track," which looks like a funny proposition to come from any firm except one heavily endowed for the production of pure- ly artistic dramas, whl<:h haven't the chance of making bread and butter money on Broadway. This play Is a predestined fall- You Don't Understand ^. .Sc .,-■. i>i.. 1 . New ihree-act American play and prolog, by Arthur GoodrUh, author of "ao 'i his li* l.ondon," t'ie«ented by He,iry Dufly at l-res,deni theatre, manageni<nt of VVI lla.ii .%Ki;urdy, BlarrlnK Du.oo Cool'cr and H.»w- ard Milltr, Director, Hugh KnOJt, assisted hy the author. „ .Mrs. Clam Durham Woo^t'T. .Marie Dunkle Crarn Woosier Theinsa WhKc i.wn Wooster Katherino Atkinson Gladys Wooster Mae Tlbbl.s Miss MeMen Helen Au.liffre.l Horace I'enniwell Tliomas L. Brower .N'l.k Durham Howard Miller Ullly Sage D.m Austin .lewett Cherry Campbell F'ar.xona Arthur I'lrr.son Bull.ird Kddy Waler llarUira I'ernlwell DuUlo Coop?.- Red Noi-thern Shirley M.T-Donnell OfJleer Rlley John Nl kerson Nora Lillian Dean This very modern American pluy, thrilling with high-i rcssuro busi- nes.s romance, htis a.^ its main nioiil what might bo termed a "sex ego on the part of both the heroine anil .he hero. Each thinks that the fu :ure welfare of the universe rest.'-: '■olely on their respective sex; tha. the other does not, cannot under- stand, and that the world would go to the bow-wows were It not for the women or the men, aa the view- point may be. Rai.'^^ing children and taking cart of a home Is "dead easy," thinks the male; running a business Is merely a game, a little by-play and ex- ceedingly simply, avers the fem- inist advocate. How each gets a chance to dls- ;)rovo their own false notion Is the 'oasis of the plot that brings about myriad complications. The cntirt- pleco is chock full of clever lines and sparkling rejiartee, so that the first-nightei-H broi.e out in sponta- neous mirth many times. In fact, the modest author was called to the curtain for the "on^e over" and he was obliged to say u tew words right after the seconu act, whit-^ was the strongest. Tac greeting was a real ovation. Mr. Goodrich warned against prematur. praise—the third act was still to come. However, that most dilriculi of all acts wound up with a startling, pleasing denouement. Horace Penniwell, of Pcnnivvell & Co., New York brokers, Is the father of Barbara, a winsome miati with the feminist ego. He forsake, business ^-for—-tlireo months for a itoneyinooivjuith Mrs. Wooster, who. in turn, forsakes her three youn:, daughters for the same reason Thus fate places the big business In the hands of Barbara, and the thre^ children fall to Nick Durham, brother of Mr.s. Wooster and the "male egotist." The prolog coversi this. An all-night party, with cardt and liquor, usher.s in Young Dur- ham and his fast crowd. He is a valued employe of Uio brokerage house and incldent.ally "knows all about women and about bringing ui children." Soon the children come to Ikim, and after three months* "ex- perience" he gives up—and under- stands the place of woman. Barbara I'enniwell makes a farce of the business; di.scharges Dur- ham, puts women at the helm; labor trouble, wilh threatening dyn.amite, turn.s up, and soon the company i,- on the rocks. .She re.ilizes she h.as failed, and in a dream, admir.ably staged and effectively brought out, she sees Durham In charge, putting things aright In a forceful and he- manly style. As a parallel. In the final act. Durham has a vision showing Barbara bringing order in his chaotic home. Just when everyone expects Bar- bara to place Durham in charge of the plant, Penniwell and his ma- tronly bride poi> up, three months after they ha<l gone on their •'honeymoon," It developed that they had been in hiding in New York and that the old broker had maniiiul.ated many of the maneu- vers, one of which caught a busi- ness rival "short" on Penniwel' "•"to.'-. tb"s ( r" •' i»"^ tbis "arc''- vlllain." The unruly children ad- vise Durham to •'luit youi at n around Barbara." He does. There is a lot of he( tic finance and rapid-fire action in the play Like all first nights, weak spots !"how up that need polish, as, for Insttince, the author covered too much ground in the third act In showing how poorly Durham man- aged the household and the three young girls. With changes that are bring made, there is no reason why "You Don't t,''nderstand" should not dui>licate th^ success of "So This Ik Ixtndon" on Broadway. That the piece will click at the box-nff,ce of the west coast Is like- ly. Clean comedy abounds, at times rising to brilliance. And the Duffy Players proved capable in develop- ing the strong < haracterlzations and the real speed action. Trepp. SOME GIRL Chicago, Feb. IC. Farce »lth miulc by tlru.-a llaywaul; at the t entral, Ftb. 14, with Tommy Ma. telle starred; etaged by Uarry Mlnturn and (.race Hay ward. Mary .Vnn • Itelty Urowit Richard White Aldi.s Uanlctt Mrs. White Florence LuCuur Josejih (Jrabber Edwin F. Hun.h.nm Sir Ileslnald l.lghtfoot Russell Dries Winnie White Dorothy Kslab.oolc Wally Warner Herbert UulTy Tom Lescol Tommy Martelle Princess Vivian Kll7.;ibeth Uu ay Pansy Summer.... Huz'l You'^er Roue Winter Thelma Hay Violet Foster Lillian Uarnett IJlly Fos-ter Uetty G' rdon Daisy White Mlgnoune Keinova tly:ii\vnth White \nii Hay Or'hostra—Mary Adams, Mow Cole. Helen Murphy, Ida Wlcke, Helen Wloke. Police Oflker Jap LaCour ure. and why a ni.in as astute in puttlTig on sm.ill cast shows as Blum could have hltt<m on this one to the extent of giving It a re.al production is a mystery. Not even on the moderate rental of the Frolic has this one a chance, except to cut rate. Even then, not long. Bisk. This show's chances weie Jeop- ardized by the blind and unseeing optimlKm of someone who accepted half a dozen rank amateurs without class, distinction, ability or experi- ence and tried to whip them into a chorus for an intimate musical. As there must be a reason for every- thing, it may be* that those girls were willing to work for glory in- stead of cash. If so it's a foolish policy as the absurdity of this "chorus" may be the reason for the early closing of a show that has a great star and a dandy little script. i^ section of the opening night audience evinced a desire to pre- sent the show with "the bird." This was unfair to the principals who were, as a whole, very good. The qualKication must be made because of the fact that the regular stock dramatic people of tho Central the- atre were transformed without much preparation into musical comedy. When conversing they were satis- factory, but when It came to song and dance their weaknesses were many. Betty Brown played a maid, and was so unfortunate as to begin a song as If unsure of tho words and her voice. The tittering which fol- lowed swelled beyond the bounds of politeness, the gallery in particu- lar, true to Its traditions, seeming to enjoy the discomfiture. Misa Brown did not deserve this punish- ment as she Impressed, barring this fiuko, as a competent performer. And the show was off to a bad start. After the opening chorus a stage wait of several moments occurred before the curtain slid down. A few minutes later another try was made, and this time the piece kept in mo- tion until tho end, albeit there were many flaws and the chorus never ceased to be silly. With a good chorus .ind a try-out "Some Girl" would have probably opened auspiciously. It's entertain- ing. Tommy Martelle has not the fame of Julian Eltlnge, but he has the foundations to build on onc'^ ' r, gets the right berth and Intel' t exploitation. He has a world of class In female garb and has a knack for polite clowning that ranks him as a first rate comic. With proper production, "Some Girl" ought to do well in one of the smaller New York houses. Not that It contains anything that hasn't been seen and heard since "Charley's Aunt," but It's potential because it has the basis of a good evening's fun. Pauline Garon Weds I^well Sherman Here Pauline Garon and Lowell Sher- man, stage and screen notables, were married In the marriage Li- cense Bureau In the Municipal Building, New York, Feb. 15, by Deputy City Clerk Joseph J. Mc- Cormick. Miss Garon gave her age aa 22; Sherman, 34. Intentions of their matrimonial alliance had been much heralded in recent reports from Hollywood, where the romance started while both were engaged in picture work. Sherman lately has been playing vaudeville. He had worked In many films with Miss G.aron. Sherman was previously m.arrled to FIvelyn Booth. They were di- vorced in Providence in March, 1922. Right after Sherman and Miss Garon were wed they acted as wit- nesses to the marriage of Edwin L. Marin, assistant director of the film Sherman is now making. Marin's bride was Mae Agnes Feeley. "SUZANNE'S" NEW PEOPLE A number of cast changes will be made In John Cort's musical "Su- zanne" before the piece goes into Phihideljihia In two week.-. Marion Chambers, dancer, firas added at Werba'.<«, Brooklyn, and Vera Myers will supplant the pres- ent prima donna in Atlantic City next week. The 'VN'ood Sisters will also be added.