Variety (April 1926)

LEGITIMATE VARIETY 79 PLAYS ON BROADWAY AT MRS. BEAM'S C ItiTSS coitutnei by Carolyn Han- at th« Guild Theatre be- previoui night. Jean Cadell 10* "I?!!:! Henry Traven S^'SESI" Helen Strickland ^ CMJ^« Helen We.tley "SSr 7. Phyllli Connard tfM ntf^fBmu.. Daisy Belmore Alfred Lunt Xlii^U^le L>nn .fontanna r ^ Munro, author of thl» play, I. AM of the newer English play- JLgSti whose work has penetrated TlStaa In one grand double alam, bSi "At Mrs. Beam's" and 5Si»m^(renamed "Beau Strings") officially Monday night, one •{yJTGuild and the other at the MaSeld. The latter war produced hrSlgoumey Thayer, stage man- !Lr of Greenwich Village group. jluiro is a writer of light com- •dy Advance Information said that, JJ in etcher of cerUin characters, be WM uncanny in the precision employed to make a type spring to life Comparisons were made with A. A. Milne, who can float a feather in the air for a longer period than Boyof the others from England, un- iM8 Sir James Barrle be excepted. But Monro's "At Mrs. Beam's" is only half a play. The dialog is magnlfloent in Its humor, but the itory !• weak, vague and almost en- tirely unsatisfactory. Despite the mmllience of other characters, the currait production seems to be so cooitnacted that Miss Shoe, a jnaldtB lady whose search for a ▼icarlous kick is unending, is pro- tected Into the largest spot. One reaoran is that the Guild, in ^ttinc on the play, imported Jean CadeU from London to play once more the Miss Shoe role, foV she has played it five times in an many pro- ductions on the other side. And ibe is letter perfect in the part, al- Doet unbelievably vivid and uncon- •eiottsly humorous—except that her •wift-llowing speech is not as clean cut u It might be. and, therefore, some of the bright lines are lost. The plot is laid in a boarding- houae—Mrs. Beam's. The group is eompooed of widows, maiden ladles, a deaf old gal who walks with a stick and several younger people. Into the menage comes a Mr. Der- mott and Laura Pasquale, sup- posed to be his wife. Miss Shoe, it teems, has read in a paper of a French (lend who killed 39 women, cut up their bodies and ate them. The fiend had a mole under his eye. Mr. Dmnott was similarly afflicted end he likewise bailed from Paris. Therefore, the suspicions, which trew all the more pronounced when Uias Shoe walked into their room tod found Laura on the floor and Dermott beside her, his hand on her head, grew to menacing propor- tions. Innocent enough, in reality, for they were a pair of crooks hav- ing a tussle which followed some words; but to Miss Shoo it simply meant that he was the French liend. He wasn't, but the last act had him facing such an accusation and laughing It off, as his partner ran- sacked the house. Thus tl.^y es- caped as common thieves, and the carefully built-up hypothesis of Mias Shoe was so discredited that her chatter was scarcely heeded by the other boarders at Mrs. Beam's, And there the play stops. It is well played and well pro- fluced. Miss Cadell takes the high honors. At a Sunday night per- before the ofllclal opon- «ng, she was roundly cheered sev- «J*1 times. Alfred Lunt as DcrrnoU a K-f excellent throughout. In * oedroom scene he demonstrated ; ^ncc jnore^ that he is not only a i«« «n« ot the finest. JO^nn Pontanne is okeh as tho Jjjjlj^^^hile a capable company a»if.'?",f*^®" appeared in America nwi * y^^" *^Ko at the Comedy, g,f.V"| at that time the role oi Strlngs'''"^*^" in "Bunty Pulls the Unf^i Beam's" is the sixth and auh»?7*lV'''"°" ^l^e Guild's eighth uBscriptlon season, a season which in th^*"" ^^^e ^^^^^ whJok ^'^^ money successes, but nrni-^^^^. produced some highly ?how H triumDhs. This la.st throuJlj'^?!;^ '^"^ »t would go had i .® siimmor. The Guild nad hoped it would. Tho faulty plot cast " s-'^PPointln^'. Unless the Ivine I'*''^''''^re plainly, that fault the rho ^olks beyond mi8« th '"^^^ ^^^^ 10 rows who'll J'Rht to it' ^^^^ seems too pven attain any real success or ^arrant enon-h re.il money t<» than A L continunn-e for more tion L!^l^ '''^^1*« over the subscrlp. »^"y^nd" tK^i."^ summer, it may It i. „ ""al check-up is made •'•nioif ^® ^^^te^l among the ^^m^oat-but-not-quite shows of the BUk, BEAU-STRINGS Frmnds 8. Bradley and Slicourney Thayer present comedy by C. K. Munro. featur- ing EstellQ WInwood; directed by Mr. Thayer: opened at the Mananeld April 26. Mtu Gee Estelle Wlnwoor) Miss Kale BflfM>x Dane Mrs. Bolland MHrtruerlte St, John Prof. UoUand Stanley Ho\vlf»tt Arthur Blount Lyoncl Watts Dennis Welch C. StafTord Dickena Btorm Joan Maclean Mrs. Blount Margar«»t Wiltshire Ix>rd Early CiRrenoe Perwent Mr. N'-wb-.-ry T. A. Hamilton Mrs. Newbury MauJ Alnsllo C. K. Munro Is a playwright of some standing at home. In England. He 1b an Ulsterman of letters and as a playwright has heretofore been distinguished more for plays to be published and read than staged and heard. But he hit Broadway with two simultaneous premieres—this one and "At Mrs. Beam's," the Guild production. Just why any one took tho trouble to import and produce "Beau- Strings" Is not quite clear to this reporter. It is inconsequential com- edy sans plot, moral or theme. And it hasn't a Chinaman's chance to be a financial success. .Being, there- fore, neither art nor business—why? There have been many less mer- itorious things presented here- abouts. But still It is difllcult to imagine what might have been in the minds of Messrs. Bradley and Thayer during that moment of hesl tatlon* twixt "Yes" and "No" when the proposition wavered before them. That they said "Yes" indi- cates, of course, that they had an outlook toward something to be ac 'compllshed. Just what that was might make good reading. It does iiot appear on the surface. The piece was originally titled "Storm," after its principal and most interesting character. Tlic change came because Estelle Win- wood was engaged, and, being re garded as essential, her demand to be featured was humored: there fore, since hers was not the name part, the title had to go. Miss Winwood is better in this than she was in "The Chief Thing," but still scarcely rates featuring and title-tampering. Joan Maclean, seen this season in "American Born," who plays Storm, outdis- tances her In the performance. Miss Winwood, as a catty but re- spectable mischief-maker, loses the sympathy to Miss Maclean as a straight-shooting kept-girl. Miss Maclean's personality is positive; Miss Wljiwood's is subjective. Whoever dresses Miss Wlnwootl might explain a good many things about "Beau-Strings" which are not lucid to the outside observer. In an entirely modern atmosphere and locale she wears archaic clothes— several sets of them—and one outfit, a gown, that no up-to-date old maid aunt would offer to her serv- ant. Now and earlier she and other characters change back to clothes they wore In earlier scenes, and without any plot reason. The book reads somewhat tho same way. It has no technique, It Jogs on, it talks along about this and that, and It has a line contempt for climax, suspense, surprise and the many other accepted essentials of dramatic machinery. The curtains are all duds. The second-act finish, commonly re- garded as the pivotal point of o I^lay, comes abruptly and goes si- lently. Like the other five or so, it comes in the middle of a broken speech, and a broken speech of less explosive quality than most of the calm and complacent dialog Munro has a certain ease of de- livery which is charming. He has a gift for turning a line, polishing' a phrase and coaxing a laugh. But he writes like Britishers dress—with such a complete disrccrarcl for style. Nor does he feel obligated to de- velop a story. Tho whole thing l* Just a sketch. In one netting there are six scenes, episodic though hav- In»? a vein of continuity. Kvery- thing ends in statu quo. Not a re- lation is illfTerent at the end than it was at the bej;inning. That is an extraordinary conception of play constructino. It all transpires at a sleepy water- ing place in England, where th^- busy little vamp Is prating p'atoni - friendship to all the males and making the wives hot under thnr collars. Comes then a conc«'it sinfrer and his young mislre.s.s. The fTirls clash. The "local" makes eye at tho warbler, so his babe t.il e- the boob boarder who had been th< other one's meat, and steals him. Biit the sinyer gets cold fcrt, y'> does" the simp, and they nil go bar': where thev belong?, nn<l. as the fln.'il curlpln falls, tho sonlhin,' syrui< flirt Is berlnnint? to put her work ir on a new he. tho latest arrival. Tliat's all th. re is to It, And It takes until after 11 to tell it. If thi.s one lives six we« ks in t:.(' handsonie and rhoorful M^irr^n- M this report rr offors t'. flnarue a new wardrobe for F:stf He WInwrn.d. SEX Comedy-drama by Jane Mast (said to t>e Mae West). Presented at Daly's 6:{d Street by C. William Morganstem. Mae Wpst featured and the VXfBt Uyncop.itori) sub- featured. Staged by Edward Elsiur anJ settlnirs from the Storehouse. Margie La Mont Mae West Lieut. GreKjr. R. N Barry O Nelll Hocky Waldron Warren Sterling Agnes Scott Ann Header Clara Smith Eeda von U.-ulow Jimmy Stanton Lyuns WlcklanJ Hobert SUnton Tacie lllpplc t>aw8on Gordon Hurby Ensign Jones. U. 8. N D. J. Hnmllion ^'■'*y Al Regiilla Warle Constance Morganstem Jenklnn Prank Howard Capt. Carter George HoKcra Walter Gordon Barle Never has disgrace fallen so heav- ily upon the 63d Street theatre as ii did Monday night, when a nasty red-light district show—which would be tolerated in but few of the stock burlesque houses in America— opened and called iself "Sex." Miss West, under the nom de plume of Jane Mast, la credited with the script. Its producer, C. William Morganstem, is a sort of agent and Sunday night booker around Broad- way, who has been associated-with Joe Shea as a company manager and with Joe Byron Totten as gen- eral manager of last year's most celebrated nop, "Love's Call." which hastened the 39th St. to its death. The star Monday evening, accord- ing to the billboards, Is the vaude- ville singer, Mae West, who has broken the fetters and does as she pleases here. After three hours of this play's nasty. Infantile, amateur- ish and vicious dialog, after watch- ing Its various actors do their stufT badly, one really has a feeling of gratefulness for any repression that may have toned down her vaudeville songs in the past. If this show could do one week of good business it would depart with a handsome profit. It's that cheaply put on. Although New York Isn't the nicest town In the world. It Is Impossible to believe that it will ever offer profitable business to such an atrocious bit of "entertainment." Many people walked out on It be- fore Its first act—the na.stlest thing ever disclosed on a New York stage (and that takes Into consideration the recent burlesque stock company down at the Chelsea theatre)—was over. The second act saw more withdrawals, and the third act played to lots of empty seats.' The audience was strictly mug. there being two other good openings at the Guild and the Mansfield, so this one got what was left over. But If this show had ever faced a real Broad- way gang the laughter would have been so great that the players would have been unable to continue. As it was, the audience up there finally got to see how terrible it all was, and before the second act was over they were beginning to laugh and enjoy themselves. If you're interested in the plot, It's the one about the prostle who was as hard boiled as nails for a long time. There was much talk about the "new thrill," and that stuff until a society woman was "rolled" for her Jewelry by the prostle's out- side man. Mae West plays the rough gal, and In the first act does It well. But she goes to pieces after that, because she doesn't change when the play calls for It, and, although the script has her speaking the lines of a good gal. she's still slouching and show- ing the figure Just as If she were drumming up business as a bad one. Ann Reader (who toured with "The Bird of Paradise" when that show was on Its last legs) has a minor part here and Is plausible, but the best that can be said for the rest of this cast of unknowns Is that they must have been obliged to accept parts In a show so vile and strongly resembling the dramatic garbage of the year. A police pinch or a flood of pub- llrlty on Its dirtiness Is the sole salvation of "Sex" Three of the daily revlwers who covered the opening agreed not to mention its fl!th, but Just to kid It as a rotten show, being wise enough to know that those behind the piece would welcome every denunciatory notice which commented on Its obscenity. So that's the only chance. Not even a 10-plece Jazz band used In a caba. ret scene was sufTlrlent to furnish more than a few transient moments of entert.ilnment. The whole production looked like a stock performance by an 85c. top company In Dubuque, whereas It was playing a $3.30 house. 8iak. BUNK OF 1926 Revue presented at the Broailhurst April 2'Z by Wallace and M.irtinn. Inc.: sketches ind lyrics by Gene lyickhart anJ l>rry Waxman; sonjra by Iy>rkhnrt; muflcal num- brrs and enpfml'lcs ateg'^d by Van Lowe Oeno I^k^nrt ond lJ>l\y HterMng f»»a- tured. surported by Hazel Shelley. Marie Iv(xn>V'«»rt, Joanne Greene. Tau'lnp D'.air, Florence Arthur. Jay Kassett, IVtots Mc- Kenria, Jos«vh McCalllon and John Maz- ACM. Ono person has much to do in thl.s naive revue, which Impressed as amateurish In general. It l.i Gene I>o"l<hari, who wrote sonf,'.M. .««k»^tf hef» and lyrics, staged the book, plriys throUK^out the perform.nnc e. and acts as a modified Ba UfT or ex- plainer. He was cttreful to explain it was principally bunk, and th.it certainly Is true, rerhaps th*^ authors of "Btaik of 1926" do not realize they hcive oopped the %'idely advwtlsed "Bunk" billing of D. D. H.? but they have, and that stamlard monologi.st prob- ably is not tickled about it. 1). D. H.? has been off of tho vaudeville stage for some time, recovering his health. Bui ho intt nds to return. Tho "liunk" affair was supposed to be an ambitious attempt in the line of miniature revues, offered at lirst at the Ileckscher, a little the- atre uptown. It tiirricd a feu- weeks, then got into financial trouble, despite reputed downtown backing. John Cort floured on tak- ing the show over, then reconsid- ered. Ownership passed to Wallace and Martins, Inc., said to have the same backing as dfd "90 Horse Power," which went dead on all cyl- inders recently at the Hitz. The "Bunk" skits are the poorest collection ever offt^red on Itroadway. There Isn't a laugh in any of them. They just range from bad to ter- rible. One song number has a chance at popularity. It is "Cuddle Up," tho melody being by Robert Armbruster who, Willi William Spielter, ar- ranged the orchestrations. Dolly Sterling, added as a feature In tho show since its original showing, ap- peared as a specialist. Using ulab- orated eccentricities In dress and make-up along the lines she has displayed In Texas Guinan's 300 Club, the curious Miss Sterling of- fered an assortment of tough song numbers. Miss Sterling Is an oddity. Most of her numbers are published but delivered In her own style sound different. "Winnegar WoiUs," with which she first scored in the night club, was held for the concluding apreciranee. Best, however, seemed "Why Do Those Mammy Singers Sub About the South, When Tiiey All Live Up Here?'" a new number. She did "Dog Catcher's Child" and ' Spring Is Here." But the fact Is Miss Sterling was on too often fo-r her and the show's own good. Tex sat close to the stage in a box, usinff one of tlio club noise makers and accompanied by several "chickens* irom her own ensemb'e. Mi.«?s Sterl- ing played to her. ond once Tex arose and si)rung her stuff: "Glv» this little girl a nice big hand." Hazel Shelley, slender, shapely* limbed and ambitious (the same who challenged Ida May Chadwiclc for the girl buck and wing cham- pionship—principally for publicity) is one of the show's good things. Miss Shelley may not be able to out-tap Miss ChadwieU. but she !• a peach and a graceful worker. Jeanne Greene scored with "Modest Little Thing." Marie Lam- bert led most of the iiumbers. in- cluding "Cuddle Vv." Pauline Blair, a cute little blonde, attracted atten- tiitn through her stepping. The dance burden was principally placed upon Boots McKenna, eccentric and acrobatic worker. Nance street cleaners a la the spring danco was a copy of the hobo number, several seasons back. Not only old but Indelicate. Missed out of the show was Ruth Tester, liked when the revue was uptown. The finale was a studio tea in the Vil- lage, bringing on sevei-al special- ties. Among them was an unpro- gramed youth who sang falsetto* easily the hit of the first night at the Broadhurst. The show is somewhat along Eng- lish revue lines In the matter of production. For "Bunk" only drapes alone are used. The girls, however, are prettily costumed, most of the ri;xs being attractively brief. The costume designs were drawn by Florence Froelich. The men, for some nut reason, retained the pajama pants part of pirouette cos- tumes In which they opened with, merely changing coats and vests. ' Bunk of 192«" Is scaled at I8.S0 top. Backers may force It, but the show hasn't a chance on Broadwuy. J bee. PUYS ABROAD PRINCE FAZIL London, April 17. An adsptatloB of Pierre Frondale's "L.'Insoumlae." Produced by arrangement with Percy Burton at the New Theatre, T»ndon. March 29. Prirce Fasll Henry Alnley Pabienne Madge TItheradffe Butler Frederick Uoyes All Bdward DIvnon Marie BSIleen Plunket Armand John I^aurle John Hamilton David Hawthorne Jacques de Kreuse H^nry C. Hewitt Helene de Breuze Stella Arbfnina Tran ul....................... Frances CTl s re Ourlda IMarjorle Insall Mepsouda Cathleen MacCarthy Alcha Jane Connard Jamila Bessie Orcenhlll Aphtar Diana Poulton Zobe'de Julie Suedo Bodoura Mavis Thelma A Slave tllrl Helen Ifncleod Zourouya Frances Dillon A Eunuch Lionel Scott HndJ IsmacI Allen Jeayes Ahmed Frederick Moyes A Prisoner John I<aur!e Myrlem Eileen Bherp Oeorire Aegregarck Godfrey Winn A Manservant Wilfrid Grantham "We are only prisoners In our thoughts." Tiiat Is the keynote to the plot of "Prince Fazil." It Is a very line idea, but It has not been very fe- licitously worked out In the Eng- lish adaptation. The original was more consistent with the character of an Arab. I'rlnce Fazil, an Arabian poten- tate, educated at Oxford, living in Paris, marries a beautiful French- woman any they are enjoying their honeymoon ecstatically, when an old friend of the wife's calls to pay his rcbpccts and she greeta him with a kiss. Husband enters at this moment. Beared in an atmosphere where wouien aro not allowed to go unveiled and are practically prisoners. his senflibilitics are shocked. Fazil returns to his nallva coun- try to take up his old life, sur- rounrled by bis harem, etc. The wife f(»llows bim there and, as they are very much in love with one another. Immediately resume con- nubial bliss. After Fix months in the harem, the wife tires of the life and though still loving her husband and, on bis refusal to .return to Paris, she escapes with the aid of friends. Later, he follows, confronting her alone In a villa at Biarritz, she of- fers to return to him, even to the harem, he embrace* her, places a poison ring on her finger and while she Is lying In his arms he applies th*^ ring to his own hand and th«» play ends with the couple dead In a loving clinch. In the Frenr'h original, tho Prince places the ring on his wife's finger and as nh** dl«*H he calmly goes away. In America a happy ending could readily be devised. For the films It v.ould bo absolutely neces- sary. It l.«! all quite Interesting—or nenrly nil—but how much of this is d'jo to t)ie artistry of Henry Alnky and .\T idgo Tilherad^r^ In the cen- tr;il. :-•<]( f*. The play It.self seems to be d'^/lcler.t • In its progres«lvcness. Then again, the production lacked the master hand. To put on a sue* cessor to a failure, the piece WM produced in about a fortnight Given a suitable spectacular mounting, a drastic revision of the adaptation, particularly with re- gard to the last act, brlngli Alnley (possibly also Miss adge), the play 'would «t chance in America. It would be pecially worth the gamble owing 0» the picture rights which, If toe show clicked, would yield a email* sized fortune. It is narrated that when the plaj was done In Paris and was sug- gested to Al Woods under Its orig- inal title of "L'Insoumlse." he re- plied: "Oh, la Chemise—that sounds good; I'd like to read it!" /olo. VIVE LA REPUBLIQUE Paris, April 14. The new revue of Sacha Gultrj and A. Willemetz, music arranged by Lctombe, which Leon Volterra has mounted so adroitly at the Marigny, Is the smartest show in Paris at present. It will appeal spe- cially to local audiences and those foreigners having a thorough knowl- edge of the lingo. "Vive la Bepuldlquc," an apt UtK Is crowded with satire and subtle wit alluding to current events. The lighting effects of the terpsl- chorean number are adequately ad- Justed. Then again In the Bourse tableau, where the financial stocka of the day are listed, we have the same Mitty and Tilllo representing the rubber boom, whereby they give an Imltatlvo dance. Tilllo stiirts by bouncing a rubber ball on the stage, and then tossing It Into the wings, receiving Mitty back in his arms; after which there Is an acrobatic quasi "rubber" number which brings applause. The man then throws the girl back into the wings, like a ball. The effect le great. Another novelty of the dancing couple is the rehearsal scene of bal- let exponents at the Opera, repro- ducing a pose In a well known local picture. Kendtew. Tout Pour le Mieux I'aris, April K. Parisians are indebted to Charles Dullln for their present dish of spa- ghetti by Lulacl Pirandello, which has been served by him at the Ate- lier, as the popular old Theatre de Montmai tre is now designated. The latest of riruiidello's mad Ideas with wbleh be has made capital is "Tout pour le mieux" In the local vernacu- lar, .a three-act pro!)lem translated by B( nj. Crrmleux, and the success ;it the Atrlier is largely due to the Impersonation by I>ullin of the de- ' < l\« fl hfro, Martlno, an llalian poll- 11' Ian. ' Everything for tlie best" Is a f.iniily yarn of Palm.» T-orl, a girl rr-ared by two m«n, Maillno and .•^'alvo, the l.itter a sen.itor. I.sab^lle Kbiiiciiu skv slw-ne In the part of Palma, and tliM <.t}ier rolet were well sustalnf^d by tlt<- Atell^ tioupA. Kf*ndtyt%Ot