New-York tribune. [volume], August 01, 1920, Image 33

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THEATERS ? MOTION PICTURES
MUSIC
PAKT 111 SIX PAGES
Jfcw Itork STrttnmt
RESORTS ?TRAVEL
ART
SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 1920
PART III SIX PAGES
As W e Were Saying?
By Heywood Broun
NE of the interesting happen?
ings of the r.ew theatrical sea?
son will be the appearance of
Miss G-.Ida Varesi as a star in
? Enter Madame." Again and again Miss
Varesi has taken a minor r?le or a sec?
ondary one and made it seem the most
important thing in the play. In fact, we
remember that she quite destroyed the
intent of a propaganda play against
radicalism by playing a young Red
with sue-, fire and fervor that the sup
posedly heroic persons in the play
??eerr.ed like sticks beside her. New
York has seen many examples of her
extraordinary gift for passionate inten?
sity. She blazed like a flame as the
blind girl in the third act of "The Jest."
She brought a touch of true tenderness
'o her part as the mother in "The Little
Journey" and she clarified and vivified
. r?le of great complexity in Gorki's
"Night Lodging "
When John Barrymore was ill she
layed the ioadmg role in "The Jest,"
and gave a new conception of the role,
.- as in some scenes at least as
interesting as that given by Mr. Bar
rymore himself. This was no small
ic'n:ev?mer.t when it -is remembered
that Barrymore was the sensation of
the season in the Ber.elli play. Now
<*e are to see Varesi as a comedienne
in addition to everything else. What?
ever the verdict on the new venture
may be. :t seems fair to say that no
player in America has more fairly
earned her stardom.
We think it is a pity that Owen Davis
has turned from melodrama, or, at any
rate, from frank melodrama. He has
a considerable capacity for crowding
excitement into a play, and in the old
days, when he pretended to nothing
eise, he furnished entertainment. N"iv
he writes melodrama and calls it some?
thing else. He feels that he may not
simply set his characters through their
paces without telling why. As long as
he made no attempt to justify the im?
possible, the spectator was not dis?
posed to inquire too closely into mo?
tives. It is only in Ms new marner in
which explanations are given which do
not explain that a great distrust arises
as to the authenticity of the Davis
characterizations. Nobody has a right
to expect that a playwright shall catch
every beat of the heart of the world,
but it seems to us extraordinary that
an author can write a full length play
without once striking a true note cf
sincerity. In "Opportunity" Mr. Davis
has written such a play.
Probably w> shall never understand
the theatrical business. We were told
last week that "Opportunity" was be?
ing rushed into New York because the
producer wished to be first on the
ground with a novelty. And then we
saw a play in which the hero made a
fortune in Wall Street, lost it and re- '
gained it. Also there was a scene laid
in a Xew York boarding house in which
the landlady called the boarders her
"guests" and took great pride in the
high character of her establishment.
Some summer we expect to be sum?
moned hurriedly to New York by a
producer who wishes to be the first in
! the field with a play about an old col?
ored gentleman, a brutal overseer, a
woman' crosses the ice and a pack of
bloodhounds.
Theater in New York Is
Far Ahead of London and
Paris, Says Edgar Selwyn
>*<*?; DG AR.8ELWTN, recently returned
?T from London and Paris, brings
back some interesting observa?
tions on conditions In the theater
aboard.
"The stage in England?and that is
to say London?is suffering reaction
from the war," says Mr. Selwyn. "The
theater is confronted with what ?3
deemed a pre-war condition and at the
same time with post-war expense.
"In the course of the war, when it
became necessary to furnish mass
amusements owing to the multitude of
soldiers on leave in London, entertain
t was not always the most deli?
cate. Soldiers in the main stood for
perhaps were amused by?a certain
degree of vulgarity. In those days
of high tension the Tommies were
not the 'Ironsides' of Oliver Crom?
well; when Haig's men spoke to the
P?aitery they were quite likely to jazz
it up a bit. But now, of course, after
a rest from the abominations of war,
an indelicacy on the stage smites cold
distrust upon the auditorium. Yet
theatrical managers apparently have
not discerned it. Naturally the thea?
ter is not being supported. And, as I
eee it, the condition is due largely to
bad plays.
"Two English plays are conspicu?
ously successful, both of excellent
type. They are Barrie's 'Mary Rose*
and Galsworthy's 'Skin Game.'
"The bad play is a managerial default.
But the stage itself is lacking in fresh
talent," Mr. Selwyn says. "English
managers with difficulty find young act
tresses. Whatever the sphere the young
women sought in the war, they have not
returned in conspicuous number to the
theater.
"The London revues are poor imita?
tions of our American revues. And per?
formers in this type of entertainment
?re mostly Americans. Indeed, three
American girls are big successes in
London?Mary Nash, Edith Day anc
Peggy O'Neill. And England is looking
to Ajnerica to supply more plays. 'Wed?
ding Bells,' I might add, is going to oper
the London Playhouse August 30, with
Gladys Cooper in the part created by
Margaret Lawrence in the New York
production.
"In Paris, conditions are more nearly
normal," Mr. Selwyn says. "It is vir?
tually the gay Paris of old?wide-open
Paris. Theaters and caf?s are doing
large business and night life is pretty
much the same as before the war. The?
aters are more prosperous than in Lon?
don, which is six years behind the times.
There is an excellent revue at Follies
Berg?re, really the best, I have ever
seen.
"In the amusement field, America has
gone far ahead of Europe. With the
exception perhaps of the Follies Berg?re,
New York is far in advance of anything
that either London or Paris have to
show. That is because we have gone
steadily ahead with nothing like the
economic incumbrances of Europe."
?
Blue Devil Leader in Films
Captain Robert du Couedicl an officer
of the famous Blue Devils of France,
winner of the Military Medal, the Croix
de Guerre, and the approbation of the
Republic of France for his valor in ac?
tion, has been commissioned by Rex
Ingram to drill the French battalions
that will participate in "The Four
Horsemen of the Apocalypse." Rex
Ingram will direct the screening of
Ib??ez's novel. In the course of the
production he will command a force of
5,000 men, made up of battalions of
French, Belgian and German soldiers.
Over the battalion of each country he
has placed an officer who actually
served under that flafj in the war. In?
gram, himself a member of the Royal
Flying Corps, will direct the entire ag?
gregation, perhaps flying orar tha field
in an airplane.
Moi?a?s Due Soon
In iDoirt Tell.* New
Scottish Comedy
HE announcement that Graham
Moffat and his wife are to make .
their first personal appearance
on the American stage this season
is full of promise to the playgoer.
Mr. Moffat is the pioneer of Scottish
playwrights who, during this decade,
have struggled to establish a national '
Scottish theater.
Whatever the cause for the failure of
Scottish plays to engage the interest of
managers more generally, it cannot be
because they have not brought in the
money. The history of Moffat's career
in the theater, with his "Bunty Pulls the i
Strings." "A Scrape of the Pen" and ?
his recent opus "Don't Tell!" which
has been playing many months abroad, !
shows that Scottish plays will draw.
William Morris, be3t known to Amer- !
ican theatergoers as the manager of Sir '
Harry Lauder, is bringing the Moffats
to the United States this season with
their original Scottish cast. While they
will first be seen in "Don't Tell!" it is
not unlikely that Mr. Morris will ar?
range a season of Moffat plays in reper?
tory fashion 6omewhat after that em?
ployed by the Moffats on their recent !
tour of the world, since the Scottish j
playwright has been endeavoring to start '
a movement in Scotland similar to the
organizations of the Irish Players, the
Horniman Players in Manchester, and
even to our own Theater Guild \
It was in that year that he wrote,
end produced two one-act Scottish plays '
at the Glasgow Atheneum Hall. "Annie
Laurie" and "Till the Bells Ring." These
were his first character sketches of real
Scottish life portrayed by Scottish :
actors. Moffat's determination to estab?
lish Scottish drama in a national sense i
was reflected in an article in a Glasgow :
weekly publication which said: "Despite
the wealth of our literature, the beauty :
and variety of our song, and the inex?
haustible field of our traditional lore, it
has been a matter for comment that
Scotland has no drama of her own.
Strange as it may seem, when it is re?
membered that the leading dramatist of
the day is a Scotsman who made his
name by writing in the homely tongue [
of his much-loved 'Thrums,' Scottish
plays pure and simple could be counted
upon the fingers of one hand. This is a
state of affairs that has brought expr?s
Biona of regret from more than one
home-loving Scotsman, but Graham Mof- .
fat, the Glasgow representative of that
lamily whose name is indissolubly asso
ciated with Scottish entertainment, has I
gone further than to express regret. He j
has assiduously set himself to create a i
Scottish drama."
"I was nursed in an atmosphere of
that 3ort of thing," said the play- ;
wright. "My father was the pioneer ;
of Scottish recitation and, like my ?
brothers and my sister, I inherited his ?
love for the work. It was always a
difficulty to get sketches for my en
tertainmenta unless I wrote them my
self, and gradually I developed the
idea that I might carry the sketch |
further. I saw no reason why the :
work done for the platform could not ;
be more effectively carried out for the !
stage. Indeed, it ia easier to write a
piece for five or six characters with |
?
wimi. wwt m Rew Vork Cheaters
BOOTH?'Not So Long Ago." Period comedy.
BROADHURST?"Come Seven." Blackface farce.
BKAMIIALL PLAYHOUSE?Celtic Players in Irish drama.
BIJOU?See new theatrical offerings.
CASINO?"Lassie." Scotch musical comedy.
CENTRAL?"Poor Little Ritz Girl." A Lew Fields musical comedy.
CENTURY?"Florpdora," revived after twenty years.
CENTURY PROMENADE?"The Century Revue" at 0 and "The Midnight Round?
ers" at 11:30.
COHAN?-"Silks and Satins." More summer entertainment.
COHAN & HARRIS?"Honey Girl." "Checkers" put to music.
COMEDY?-See new theatrical offerings.
CORT?"Abraham Lincoln," poetic, historical drama.
CRITERION?"Humoresque." A motion picture.
FORTY-EIGHTH STREET?"Opportunity." A play of Wall Street.
FULTON?See new theatrical offerings.
GAIETY?"Lightnin'," Frank Bacon in comedy of Reno's divorce industry.
GLOBE?Georgo White's "Scandals of 1920." Summer entertainment.
HENRY MILLER'S?"The Famous Mrs. Fair," Henry Miller and Blanche Bates.
HUDSON?"Crooked Gamblers." An Al. IL Woods play of high finance.
KNICKERBOCKER?"The Girl in the Spotlight," Victor Herbert musical
comedy.
LIBERTY?"The Night Boat," musical, farcical comedy.
LITTLE?'Toot-Loose," story of an adventuress.
LYCEUM?"The Gold Diggers." Ina Claire in a comedy of chorus girl life.
NEW AMSTERDAM?"Ziegfeld Follies." Fourteenth of the series.
NEW AMSTERDAM ROOF?-Art Hickman's band. Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic.
PLAYHOUSE?"Seeing Things." Farce by Margaret Mayo and Aubrey Kennedy,
SELWYN?Ed. Wynn Carni'a!. Girls, music and comedy.
VANDERBILT?"Irene," girl and music comedy.
WINTER GARDEN "Cinderella on Broadway." Extravaganza.
all the paraphernalia of the theater
behind them than for two on a concert
platform, the sole furniture of which
consists of a chair, a table and tumbler
of water.
"My first play was written long be?
fore I- had developed ideas at all in
regard to the Scottish stage. It was
called 'The Fifth Act." i was then a
member of the Glasgow Junior Dra?
matic Club, which produced it. On the
first night of the great event we found
we had forgotten to get a policeman's
costume. However, a brilliant idea
struck me. Calling a policeman, we
got him into the dressing room, pre?
sumably to dea! witn a 'case.' We ex?
plained our predicament to him, but
he was an unsympathetic 'bobby' and
called us 'impudent tevils' when we
suggested that he might undress and
oblige us with his uniform for a short
time.
"On this question of Scottish plays
I feel strongly, and look forward to
seeing the establishment of a theater
for the encouragement of such produc?
tions. Certainly, I believe to play Scot?
tish pieces successfully we must have
cut-and-out Scottish actors who have
?
not lost the traditions and the accent
of the homeland."
Concerning Mr. Moffat's newest play
"Don't Tell!" in which he will make
his d?but as a player in this country,
"The Glasgow Herald" says:
"Mr. Graham Moffat has again suc?
cessfully 'pulled the strings.' 'Don"!
Tell,' while by no means a variation ol
the 'Bunty' theme, is in the 'Bunty
vein. It does not probe so deeply inte
Scottish nature, but it shows an equally
clear and humorous sense of character.
And the qualities that make for its
'success are precisely those the signifi?
cance of which is apt to escape the
.literary playwright. Mr. Moffat is an
actor as well as author, and knows by
experience the enormous value of ges?
ture, voice and situation in giving vari?
ety and point to the written word. He
strains after no epigrammatic expres?
sion, but his comedy is full of subtle
; touches and possesses also a certain
quality of pawkiness which carries
'? the interest unflaggingly. He also has
a shrewd appreciation of the collo?
quial touch, reflected even in the titie,
which whets curiosity. 'Don't Tell' is
Scottish with a Glasgow atmosphere
and a pronouncedly Glasgow speech,
the truer in that it derives from
Bridgeton and nor, from Kelvinside.
The comedy opens brightly in the flat
of an aspiring plumber who has just
been elevated to the magistracy. Fol?
lowing upon a reception from his
i proud household, there is a rehearsal
of a police court scene, by way of pre?
paring the worthy baillie for his ex?
alted judicial functions. And in the
mock triai his elder daughter is re
. vealed as a suffragist who has already
1 received a summons to appear in court
on a charge of obstructing the police.
; Piquancy is added to the situation by
the fact that hers is one of the cases
i that falls to be tried by the new mag?
istrate. But the rebellious daughter
does not provide ail the comedy. Mr.
Motfat pulls, and always dexterously,
j many strings."
Hal Skellv Arrives:
Admits Wife'Did It,'
Despite Stage Lines
AL SKELLY, ladies and gentle?
men!
Ladies and gentlemen, Hal
Skelly!
He has arrived! Not on the Man
? hattan Express from Chicago or Kansas
City, but he has arrived on Broadway
in what they term it around the the
1 atrical producing offices "a blaze o'
glory." Hal has arrived! He is the
.principal comedian in Victor Herbert's
new op?rette, "The Girl in the Spot- :
light." He rides up to the stage door;
in his own Cadillac coup?, and has a i
,valet to take his coat as he sheds it
i;i his dressing room and to hand him !
his costume and ever'thing.
This is not unusual, you say. But !
if you had seen Hal four years ago'
playing the lowliest "small time"
vaudeville theaters in the furthest:
corners northwestward of the United j
States and glad as a schoolboy to get?
the opportunity, you would realize ;
that Hal ought to be given a lot of \
credit for being the chief fun pro- I
ducer of the Knickerbocker Theater's;
' lilting musical comedy production.
Hal isn't much of a person to boast
I about his own work, but his friends
I'n and down Broadway do enough
| talking for him. His rapid ascension
to the throne of success has inspired
his friends to such a degree that they
an constantly dropping in on him back
stage at the theater and shaking therr
heads and mopping their brows and
rig, over and over again: "Hal,
ho .vinthedevildidjadoit ?"
To which the tall, good natured,
! Iowa reared lad responds:
"It's just natural, folks. I can't help
it. Don't blame me. Sure, I'll sign
a photograph for you. Name, please.";
But this doesn't mean he is a tall ]
: "upstage," as they call it, over his
' remarkable climb to the upper parts
of the theatrical ladder in the last
I few months. On the contrary, he is
just the same Ha!, they say, as when
he was playing " 'Way out West," and ;
, that is the one reason all his friends
keep dropping in on him to say "hello"
and "gooo! iuck" to him.
If it were as easy as Ha! says it is ;
! to become a headliner in vaudeville,
and, better still, a featured artist in
on of Broadway's successful musical
comedy or operetta productions, there I
: would be few left to see the shows. ,
Every (-ne would be doing something
on the stage.-- being applauded each;
night as lie is, or receiving sum's of !
money each week such as re receives.
Fur his recipe is a very simple one
on tie face of it The young man
says that if actors would pay more |
attention to details and do simpler
things to amuse the public, they would
get much further in their profession.
Li fact, he says, simplicity is the key
tj stage success,
"The trouble is with most of our
comedians, or men and women who try
to amuse, that they try to do too
much that is unusual," he says. "An?
other very great fault lies in their
belief that they must inject vulgarity
into their work. The modern Broad?
way audience !ikes to be amused with \
1 -
1 iContlMMd on ?ait ?>
1
Collierizing Tinney
Or, Perhaps, Tinnef ying Collier. Is the
Process in "Tickle Me"
?NTERING the half darkened
Lyric Theater these nights
and making your way down
to the front row within hear?
ing distance of the conversations going
on between Frank Tinney, the come?
dian, and William Collier, the comedian,
the first to be the principal in Arthur
Hammerstein s forthcoming produc?
tion, "Tickle Me," and the latter the
director of the piece, you might gain
the impression that there is nothing
in the world on which these two gentle?
men could possibly come to an agree
in e n t.
But there ?5. The agreement which
they 'nave reached hasn't anything to
do specifically with "Tickle Me." so
far as can be discerned, but has to do
with acting generally.
The knowledge came to both of them
the other night when, after remon?
strating with Collier as to how a cer?
tain line should be spoken, Tinney re?
marked :
"You talk like a college boy. What's
your fraternity, anyway?"
"Do you want this show to go on?"
prompt!;, inquired Collier.
"If it's all the same to you, yes,'
replied Tinney.
"Then don't cali me a college boy,''
returned Collier. "They're all 'hicks
when it comes to acting. Give me the
actor that never saw a shirt-tail pa?
rade. Give me the fellow who made his
way himself."
"At last!" shouted Tinney. "Wt
agree !"
And thereafter there ensued a mos
cordial exchange of ideas betweet
these two men whom a large part o
the theatergoing public have callee
"the funniest in the business." Thi
other members of the rehearsing cas
stood about wide-eyed. The prett;
young girls in pantaloons and som
without even pantaloons, but lacy gar
ments designed for comfort in the sum
mer weather, giggled and nudged on
another as they sat behind the scene
awaiting their next call to rehearse
The impossible had happened. Collie
and Tinney had agreed. Frank an
Willie were smiling at oach othei
Director and star had found commo:
ground. And then as soon as Collie
saw the amazement everywhere h
spat out a very short stub of a fa
cigar, Tinney dashed the remainin
atom of Gargantuan weed into th
orchestra pit with a swear word, an
back they went to the rehearsing an
more arguments.
It is really humorous, if they don
know you're listening, to hear the;
two comedians at work. If "T:ck
Me" is as filled with funny lines when
the curtain rises on the opening . gh1
as it is now in its fourth week f ?
hearsals. when Tinney, the star, and
Collier, the director, are on the I ig
there will be guffaws enough to causa
Mr. Hammerstein (Arthur, the pro?
ducer) and Mr. Hammerstein Oscar
jr., the co-author i to sit back and
smile away a few evenings themselves.
Not all oi 'I ?nney's remarks could
weil be told in print. As for
the less said about some of them the
better. But those that not
going to be incl ided
?anee at al!, but which drift cut over
the footlights these nights, a I *
'stage is upset and the supporting cast
runs back and forth behind the dimly
lighted sets, would make a m is cal
comedy book within th? -? Yes,
there would be mater al
two or three such productions, no
doubt, if one could bind them all to?
gether and remember them -. .
them down in a notebook for ref? re :?
And some of these '. nes tl > "find"
each night as they go thr
lines are going to be used
duction itself. Tinney will
certain lines and joke- e find
at work with Collier, little
laugh producers conceived by di?
rector will be included in th ? di .
Tinney in the play, Dar
danella, the king of Somewh? reorother,
and in his ov n siyle will isl iou
"rule" the performance of
me" from the open mtil the
finale If there are those . -.
because the comedian is to head tho
cast he will appear late in the middle
or last act and quit the piece long be?
fore the final curtain come . they are
mistaken. He ?g the play itself, and
he is being drilled by Collier and the
two Hammersteins, as well as the as?
sistant directors, each afternoon ami
night, and it is said lis part will be
heavier than he ever has carried N- i
'heavy in quality, if it should be noted)
but heavy in quantity.
"Speaking of college "'.' " Ny' the
stage," came the voice of Tin/ey on
ore s;de, his little, si poked
almost directly beneath V and
the voice, simtill
from the other iide, his fal cigai
stub protruding - mewhei
yond our eyelashes, "tl re
many of them thai 1 on
the stage Now. ? ? . lov ? it we
mean -we mean very, very good. Of
course, there are a few. We g ve credit
where credit is due"
They had proceeded p int in
i Continued on o.i3" *)
I new Cbeatrical Offerings of the CUeeK '
MONDAY?At the Bijou Theater Robert Milton w il pr?s int
| Charm School," a new three-act comedy dramatized b Duer
I Miller and Mr. Milton from Mrs. Miller's lelighl
| dealing with the experiences of a handson.e \ .? g
I inherits a finishing school for young ladies.
Marie Carroll, Sam Hardy, Minnie Duprec, Rapley Holme
I Gleason, Margaret Dale, BIyth Daly, Ivan Simp
! Florence McGuire, Morgan Farley, Carolyn An Mc?
Laughlin, Camilla Lyon, Theodora Larocque, Mary '' Con?
stance McLaughlin.
TUESDAY?At the Comedy Theater Leo Ditrichstein an i Lee SI tbert
I will present "The Americans in France," the
1 Eugene Brieux. It is a pcst-armistice play which seizes upon the
! environment and influence of Americans in France and ..?-?? char?
acter contrast between these Americans and a limited group o?
; French people. The cast will include Blanche Yorka, ? p'ay
I the French sister; Frank Kingdon as the French father, Wayne
I Arey as the American captain, Jeffreys Lewis, Madeleine Durand,
L'Estrange Millman, Franklin George, William Bain and Master
Richard Dupont.
; THURSDAY?At the F_lton Theater Adolph Klauber present'. "Scram
I bled Wives," a new comedy by Adelaide Matthews and Martha M.
Stanley. Romance is set in a series of laughable complications.
Roland Young and Juliette Day head the cast, which also includes
Marie Chambers, Glenn Anders, Elise Bartlett, James Lounsbery,
Betty Barnicoat, Louis Albion, Margaret Hutchins and William
I L?nr.ox.
4