New-York tribune. [volume], June 09, 1918, Page 2, Image 30

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CHRONICLE AND COMMENT OF THE STAGE
Marione Rambeau
Some Things Which She Failed to See
In the Crystal Ball and Some Which
She May See in the Years to Come
By Heywood Broun
E FOUND it difficult to attain the faith which Marjorie Rambeau
professed for the crystal ball in "Eyes of Youth." To be sure, ?
one or two things served to strengthen the fakir's contention that j
it revealed the future, but there was no getting away from the fact that i
in one important matter it fell down utterly. The crystal did show the
actress what would happen to her if she taught school, or went on the
operatic stage, or married a rich gentleman for his money. But there
is nothing particularly difficult about that. Everybody knows that school
teachers get pale and wear black, and that opera singers get ruined and
dross, in scarlet. Moreover, the inevitable unhappiness resulting from
marrying for money is proverbial.
About this portion of the future the ;
crystal was clear to the point of being j
gabby. It did not warn Miss Rambeau
about skating rinks, and consequently
she lost many weeks out of "Eyes of ;
Youth" by breaking lier leg. Al Woods |
warned her and, as far as we know, he i
has no crystal about him. Mr. Woods ;
is a practical psychic. When he gazes
into the future he wants to know what,
the business at the box office will be. I
Seemingly, ho gets along pretty well
without a crystal. The enormous suc?
cess of "Eyes of Youth" surprised most
newspaper critit:s.
We do not intend to say anything
?bout thf play. It is now many hun?
dreds of nights eld and, moreover,
there is a moderately sound unwritten
law that a critic should be allowed on?
bite at a play and no more. There is.
not much question, however, that the
success of "Eyes of Youth" depends
very largely on Marjorie Rambeau*
Business fell Off when she was out of
the cast and has come up again since
her return. The most evident thing
about Miss Rambeau is that she is
accomplished. She has learned the
business of acting and this gives her
an enormous euse and confidence.
Miss Rambcuu may stand as a shining
example of what adequate stock com?
pany training can do for an actress of
ability. There is something to be said
8gainst this training. Perhaps some?
thing to be said against Miss Ram
beau. We know that she is an inter?
esting performer, but as yet we have
never seen her in a part which put
her to a searching test. She may be
among our best. She has all the
semblance of a capital actress. One
day she will be in a sincere and sim?
ple play and then we will know more
?bout her. We want to find out
whether she can put aside her tricks
when it Is necessary.
So far her tricks have been emi?
nently proper. A simple, sincere per?
formance would have killed "Cheating
Cheaters" or "Eyes of Youth." Both
are stunt plays, and Miss Rambeau
does stunts amazingly well. Techni?
cally her performance in "Eyes of
Youth" is a series of somersaults and
giant swings and things. It is a sort
of cakewalk from one emotion to an?
other. We have seen enough of Miss
Rambeau to know that she does ever
?o well with stunts. Wo hope to find
out some time or other whether she
can do without them.
Our crystal says that Marjorie Ram?
beau will do her best work in comedy.
It should not be too fragile. Her best
work In "Eyes of Youth" is as the
opera eingcr. Here she is able to set
the person portrayed on earth or there?
?bouts. That is an achievement, for
the part Is not especially well drawn
by the playwright.
In a review some time ago we said
that the part of Luke Bentley in "The
Bope," when played at the Province
town Theatre, was well done. We
Couldn't remember the namo of the
actor then, but we have it now. His
name is Charles Ellis, and he is a
private at Camp Upton.
The film about the American army is
rather ineptly named "Perahing's Cru?
saders." It is not well that we should
think of our army in rhet terms of any
individual. Nobody ever referred to
the French army as .Toffre's army, or
P?tain's army, or Foch's army, but
always as the army of France. Ours
is the American army.
Blanche Bates Prefers
Bouquet of W. 5. S.
To One of Roses
The enthusiastic reception accorded
"Getting Together" when it opened a
return engagement at the Shubert The?
atre last Monday parallels those ac?
corded it in practically every city
played since it left the Lyric after one
successful week last March. "Getting
Together" has been seen in Philadel?
phia, Boston, Buffalo, Washington,
Pittsburgh, Cleveland, St. Louis and
Chicago. Its tour proved productive in
stimulating recruiting, and particularlj
in putting forward in thrilling fashior
an exposition of the idea conveyed ir
its title?concrete illustrations of hov
the soldiers of the Allies are fratemiz
ing and getting together in the commor
cause behind the front lines in Flan
ders. Not infrequently recruits weri
.secured from the audience.
Preceding and in conjunction wit!
the tour of "Getting Together" th
British and Canadian Recruiting Mis
sion sent the tank Britannia, that battl
scarred veteran of Vimy Ridge an
Arras, which a few months ago thrille
New Yorkers with an exposition of it
activities in chasing the hated Hun. I
addition to its work in connection wit
the play the tank was used in each cit
to aid and stimulate interest in th
Liberty loan, war savings and Re
Cross campaigns.
Various stunts were arranged for
that those who had heard and rea
of this newest and most powerful ii
strument of modern warfare might s<
one in action.
In Chicago, during the Red Croi
drive, the tank lumbered through tl
"Loop" with Blanche Bates and a nun
ber of Red Cross nurses adorning tl
top. Appeals to the crowds were mai
by Miss Bates, and the caps belongit
to the officers and crew of the tank
one cap had seen service on five fron
?wero passed about, and came ba<
each time full to the brim with bi!
and silver. \
In Pittsburgh, Buffalo, St. Louis ai
other cities Miss Bates, Holbrook Blii
and Lieutenant Gitz Rice appeared &?
aroused unusual enthusiasm at recru
ing rallies, Liberty loan luncheons a:
at various other function? where it w
thought a few words from the first t\
named and a few songs from the li
might prove of some service.
Miss Bates, as nearly every o
knows, in privato life is Mrs. Geor
Creel, wife of the chairman of the
Committee on Public Information. She !
has returned to the stage in "Getting
Together" that, she may contribute
something to the common cause of !
arousing the proper spirit and enthusi?
asm for war. And also she is helping
to show the American public that the ;
soldier's life is not. altogether a serious
proposition?that there is a humorous
side to his work, in the trenches and
out.
Nor do Miss Bates's activities rest
here. Recently she has requested that
any of her friends who may contem?
plate sending flowers over the foot-1
lights at the performances of "Getting
Together" convert the money to be paid I
therefor into war savings stamps and j
send those over. Therefore, any even?
ing at the Shubert, if you see an usher
rushing down the aisle after the second
act, carrying in his hand several pieces
of green paper for Miss Bates, you will
know they are a bunch of roses.
Now on the Boards
Astor . "Rock-a-Bye Baby"
Bijou ."A Pair of Petticoats"
Booth . "Seventeen'
Iiroadhurst . "Maytime"i
Casino . "Fancy Free"
Century Grove.Midnight Revue
Geo. M. Cohan... ."The Kiss Burglar"
Cohan & Harris.."A Tailor-Made Man"
Cort. "Flo-Flo"
Eltinge."Business Before Pleasure"
Forty-eighth Street,
"The Man Who Stayed at Home"
Forty-fourth Street,
"Hearts of the World" (Film)
Fulton.Four one-act plays
Globe . "Hitchy-Koo, 1918"
Henry Miller,
"A Marriage of Convenience"
Liberty."Going Up"
Lyceum."Tiger Rose"
Lyric.. ."Porshing's Crusaders" (Film)
Maxinc Elliott_"The Eyes of Youth"
New Amsterdam.. ."The Rainbow Girl'
New Amsterdam Roof,
"The Midnight Frolic"
Park."Stolen Orders" (Film)
Princess."Oh, Lady! Lady!!"
Republic. ."Parlor, Bedroom and Bath'
Shubert . "Getting Together"
Winter Garden . "Sinbad"
TJz&
arcfc? to ther
the
?%~o/s? .'
New Plays This Week
MONDAY.?At the Fulton Theatre, the Actors and Authors' Theatre in four
short pieces: "The Best Sellers," a musical fantasy by Kenneth und Roy
Webb; "Muggins," a comedy by Frank J. Gregory; "Nocturne," by
A. P. Wharton, and "Art's Rejuvenation," an operetta by the Webbs.
FRIDAY.?At the Hudson Theatre, the annual "Ladies' Public Gambol" of
the Lambs Club.
Four one-act plays will be given to?
morrow evening at the Fulton Theatre
by the Actors and Authors' Theatre.
In addition to the plays, as an added
attraction, M. and Mme. Edouard de
Kurylo, whose dancing has already
been seen at many society functions,
will give a typical American Indian
dance in costume.
As many of the players seen in "Her
Honor the Mayor" have secured other
: engagements, the policy of the Actor?
and Authors' Theatre is to release
!. them and replace them with other
members who are enrolled. This gives
an opportunity to those on the waiting
i list and is an advantage to the player
whose talents land a more lucrative .
engagement.
Edith Taliaferro will appear in a
musical play, "The Best Sellers";
"Muggins," a Lancashire comedy by
Frank J. Gregory, will include Mrs.
Thomas Wise and Whitford Kane in
the cast; "Art's Rejuvenation," an?
other musical sketch, features Hal
Ford, and Auriol Lee will he seen in
"Nocturne," by A. P. Wharton.
Friday evening, r.t the Hudson The?
atre, the annual ladies' public gambol,
of the Lambs Club will take place, to j
be repeated at four other perform?
ances on June 15 and June 16, for
various war charities. More than 150
of thia most prominent theatrical stars
in America, all members of the Larnbs
Club, will participate in the gambols,
which will be staged under the general
direction of R. H. Burnside, with Ar?
thur Hurley as stage manager.
Contrary to the custom of previous
years, the first part of the gambol will
not be a minstrel act, but will, instead,
represent a meeting of members of the
"Darktown Regiment" in the mess hall
of a mythical colored regiment.
A dramatic sketch, entitled "The
Home-Breaker," written by Dodson
Mitchell, will enlist the services of
Robert Ober, Joseph Kilgour and Lys
ter Chambers.
Seven famous cartoonists will draw
sketches, in competition, in full view
of the audience, the roster including
George McManus, Rube Goldberg, Hy
Mayer, Claire Briggs, Tom Powers, R.
I F. Outcault and Winsor McCay.
The big feature of the gambol of the
Lambs will be the presentation of an
allegory by George V. Hobart, entitled
"The Drums." This scene is from Mr.
Hobart's new play, "Loyalty," soon to
be given in New York, and is presented
by permission of the managers of
"Loyalty."
A CARICATURIST VISITS "FLO-FLO"
-?- _i_V. , ,
Thomas Handers and Arthur Millis in phases of their comedy teamwork at the Cort Theatre.
Descent of the War Play
The Martial Rash That Attacks Play
Wrights Results in Smoke, Submarines,
Sibilant Spies and Sensitive Souls
By S?lita Solano
Some war plays are mostly neis" and
smoke. Others make a point of con?
cealed wireless, carrier pigeons, a
submarine in the oiling and the si! Llani
"His-s-s-st" of spies who are coiied in
the flag. Also there are thpse war
plays which are in reality peace
propaganda?like "War Brides" and
"Moloch" that paint the horror of
bloodshed and the shock sustained by
the gentle souls of drafted plumbers
and poets sent into the shambles to
bleed for the "masters."
In ancient and lustier days the
drama glorified the strength of bat?
tle and sang less of love than of the
exultation achieved by driving a short
sword into the enemy's midriff and
departing with his wife thrown across
a horse's rump. The chief theme of
Greek tragedy was conflict?of matter
rather than mind?and the manner in
which it made the blood to sing and
the heart to leap.
The declaration of war is always a
signal for playwrights, who have been
waiting for an idea at once to break
out in a martial rash. Thereafter un?
fortunate playgoers suffer from the ef
tects of this disease as severely as do
magazine readers forced to peruse war
stories, poems, expert analyses of this
month's change in salients and "My
Experiences on the Eighteen Fronts."
George Arliss once said: "There is
a tradition among old actors that war
plays, unless they are spectacular or
amusing, fail." By amusing he doubt?
less meant the manoeuvring of spies,
for a stage spy would be a very bad
actor indeed if he failed to amuse. Or
else he must bo a3 clever as William
Gillette. Yet Mrs. Fiske's "Service"
was a success in Paris when as "Ser?
vir" it was well done by Guitry and
his associates. And "An American
Ace," spectacular to a degree by rea?
son of a battle in the clouds and a
shot a minute, only lasted about a week
this season on Broadway.
While Shakespeare has immortalized
the warfare of Rome and Egypt, mod?
ern Anglo-Indian disturbances have
been but slightly retarded from the
dust of oblivion by Drury Lane spec?
tacles such as "The Story of '45," pro?
duced in 1860, and Dion Boucicault'a
"The Relief of Lucknow," of two years
later. "The Soudan," also done at
Drury Lane, marked the vent of the
African campaign.
The only plays that come to mind as
having resulted from the American
Revolution are "Major Andr?" and the
dramatization of "Janice Meredith." the
novel that was responsible for the epi?
demic of coquettish curls worn by pro?
vincial maidens from Maine to Cali
fornia through ten editions of the book
and two seasons of Mary Mannering.
Undoubtedly there were other playe.
That more were not produced need not
be wondered at if "George Washingtsn
or the Revolution," by Ethan Allen, is a
sample. Allen's play was in five acts
and forty-one scenes, and would have
made unreasonable demands on half a
dosen theatres. The scenes of the first
act, for instance, were as dissoci?
ated as:
Scene 1?Boston military headquarters
Scene 2?Boston Hurbor tea party.
Scene 3-?Buckingham Palace, England
Scene 4?Richmond, Va.
Scene 5?A suburb of Boston.
Scene?.?The Battle of Lexington.
Scene 7?The Bunker Hill scrimmage
The Civil War was more product!*
of dramatic fruit. William Gillett.
was inspired to write his excellen
plays, "Secret Service" and "Held b'
the Enemy," and others gave "i-benan
do .'::." "B rbara Frietchie," "Tar- War
rens of Virginia" and "The Littlest
. aow the
Mary "?; ?les Minier i - ?. ?'35
the sn r-?r the Farnum
brothers. i?y the way, Gladys Smith,
who, l? please David Belacco, ^ecHsne
Mary Pickford, gained her first appear?
ance on Broadway with "The WarrtM
of Virginia."
Along came our little bru?<h with
Spain. It didn't amount to much, and
neither did the resulting martial rash
among the playwrights. To this day I
recall "Cuba's Vow" and "The Ked,
White and Blue," which thrilled me and
filled my breast with a longing to bos
Boy Scout or whatever they had in
those days.
The war p!ay that came in the midst
of peace, ar.d wriich no one but th?
English took seriously, was "An Eng?
lishman's Home," produced, I believe,
at the Knickerbocker Theatre in the
season of t908-'09. Audiences w?re
amused. "These English are jumpy
ubout their island. Is it possible they
fear a civilized nation like Germany
will pounce upon them without warn?
ing?" was the comment. So the play
that showed a Hun invasion of Eng?
land was a failure.
The first plays of the present war
were presented in England. "Sevan
Days' Leave," closing a run at the
Park Theatre, ran in London a year
before it was brought to this country.
Seen first In Boston, it was a pretty
sad affair. Later, doctored and nursed,
the public took to it.
Many of the first plays of the pr?s?
ent war were palpable propaganda ft*
peace, putting as they did the em?
phasis on the brutalizing influence of
war and the marks it left on character
and soul. "War Brides" and "Across
the Border," however, had some liter?
ary merit?comparatively speaking, of
course.
"The Man Who Stayed at Home" hw
an interesting history. Under the tit!?
"The White Feather" it had a succe?
in England. In New York and on th?
road it came a cropper, and no hop?
was held for it in this country. Th?n
the percipient Henry Jewett, manager
of the Copley Theatre in Boston,
chanced a production under Its pr?t?
ent title. Put on for a week, it r?o
eight months without stopping tot
July or August, packing the little Cop?
ley at every performance, deprivingth?
actors of their holiday, and causing
Mr. Jewett to dismiss for the tim?
being his motto "Art for art's ?*?*'
suke," under whose guidance fce had
for nearly n year been giving Hi*
highbrows the blessings of Ibsen, ShaW,
Wilde and Galsworthy at a loss to th?
box office. "The. Man Who Stayed ?*
Home" was then desired of New York
and American i ?cd in anticipation ?^
the success it now enjoye here.
Of "Our Boys," "Her Country* ?*?
"An American Ace" nothing need b?
written. "Lilac Time" and "0?r
There" have already received ?**
prase is due them. "Getting Togeth?
er" is jolly entertainment and *? ?,l
to recruiting. "Friendly Enemies," *'
open ?t the Hudson in August *9
Louis Mann and Sam Bernard, M
been favorably reported from ***
West.
"The Copperhead" ?eawely deal*
with war. Nor is it a direct f"?**
of war. Moreover, it Is a real Va*'
If I were given to such entau*'***
would say that in relation to the ab**
pluysr in my opinion, it is worth w* 1
lot. 2