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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