The New York herald. [volume], December 05, 1920, SECTION SEVEN, Image 89

About The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
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BOOK REYIEV
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i rr- * -tit#
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fc,> ' * . %- . \ -.Xiii- :. &, ' '
"Why don't you speak fc
THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STA'XDISH. boo
Ry Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. With nn illu
introduction by Ernest W. Longfellow, and the
with pictures by N. C. Wyeth. Houghton, the
Mifflin Company. nat
WESTWARD HOI By Charles Klngsley. sta
Pictures by X. C. Wyeth. Charles Scribner's of
Sons. I
ROBINSON CRUSOE. By Daniel Defoe. Pict- rati
ures by N. C. Wyeth. Cosmopolitan Book Pes
Corporation. Pri
WYETH himself once defined the role
of illustrator as accompanist to gCe
the author's melody, decorative imj
inunc maker to the author's word pictures. t,ac
creator of a mood in which the reader might j*
beat receive the dominant impression of the rou
Tree as His Frie
HERBERT BEERBOHM TREE: SOME MEMORIBS
OF HIM AND OF HIS ART. Col- oro
lected by Max Beerbohm. E. P. Dutton & Co. tha
The actor's art. carven in the moving ?ve
marble of his own person, has no immortalitv
ten
save that of memory. But something of goo
the pathos yields to a volume of such mem- froi
ories as these recorded of Tree. Bernard diti
Shaw, Max Beerbohm, the actor's brother; T
woi
Edmund Gosse. Louis X. Parker, Haddon tirr
Chambers, and the subject's wife and daugh- ^
ters are among the authors. jn(.
They have really made a book of it. Xa- con
turally the view is colored by affection, but ,.
the pages are not wasted in mere compli- fraj
ment. Nobody would expect that of Shaw,
In any case. Here Is part of his experience jj j.
as author with actor-manager. w
"Ton really could not lodge an indifferent h
J " ^ . has
Tree as Richard II.
fact in his mind. This disability of his was he i
arrlsd to such a degree that he could not sort
remember the passages in a play which did Ingi
not belong to or bear directly upon his own dim
conception of his own part, even the longest spo
run did not mitigate his surprises when they flltt
monost fault of the actor: the betrayal to onl:
the audience that he known what bin Inter- mei
locutor In going to nay. and In waiting wearily Xm
for bin cue Inntend of converalng with him. pen
Tree alwayn neemed to have heard the jlne.n strr
of the other performers for the first time, and mal
even to he a little taken aback by them. one
"L*t me give an extreme instance of this, nor
In 'Pygmalion' the heroine, in a rage, thrown T
the hero's slippers in his face. When we re- Tre
hearsed this for the first time. I had taken and
care to have a very soft pair of velvet slip- wri
pcrs provided; for I knew that Mrs. Patrick end
Campbell was very dexterous, very strong like
and a dead shot. And. sure enough, when wo , "1
reached this passage, Tree got the slippers wai
well snd truly delivered with unerring aim "<
bang in his face. The efTect waa appalling. "1
He had totally, forgotten that there was any
such Incident in the play: and It seemed beei
to him that Mrs. Campbell, suddenly giving "]
way to an Impulse of diabolical wrath and loss
haired, had committed an unprovoked and you
brutal assault on him. The physical Impact
won nothing; but the wound to his feelings rlat
was terrible He collapsed on the nearest not
.hair, and left mo staring 1n amarcment, Cm
Ernest \V. I?ngfel
0, author of the A met
new picfuros have
Introduction:
:j "I am very glad, ai
iTiscllla and John
new and beautiful e<
of Miles Standlsh,' e
f/| tercentenary year of
grim Fathers"'Mr.
Wyeth's illui
|f and I doubt not that
to my father?admin
richness of color an
treatment, coupled wl
?y;! of the closest study c
fyj "One has hut to Ic
" I,. Sailing Away of
I'i'grims gathered oi
ir yourself, John?"
. - . ' 'i-'Sik.
A more popular view Is that the _
sirator helps the reader's Imagination in t y A
effort to recreate the chief characters, jH
great moments of a work of the imagiion.
He is an actor who plays on the jQR
gr of paper and prints the great roles 3
literature. %
n the three books which he has deco- |ly JH
ed for this season's delight Wyeth justli
both views. Certainly the picture of Nj
scllla asking that famous question of 1
in Alden, and that of Crusoe finding the ^
tprint. are something more than stage ^ I
nery. Vet if one looks through these p - .
presslve volumes lie will find that the . A
kgrounds. the accessories are so treated
to leave the reader's exploring mind free |j:
introduce its own conception. There is y
un in Wyeth's world of color. This is
nds Saw Him J
ilst the entire personnel of the theatre ' &
wded solicitously round him. explaining $8
t the incident was part of the play, and ?
n exhibiting the prompt book to prove
Ir words. Hut his morale was so shnt- m
sd that it took quite a long time, and a if H^W|
>d deal of skilful rallying and coaxing
m Mrs. Campbell, before he was in a conon
to resume the rehearsal. The worst of 2
vas that .'is it was quite < v. ! n* that bnld
be just as surprised and wounded next **
le. Mrs. Campbell took care that the (SsWaS Uk
pors should never hit him again, and the j|. affMjL'r.sn!.
Ident was consequently one of the least
vinclng in the performance." The i
Iven in a memorial Shaw could not rein
from this fling: sinking of heurt of
One moment he would surprise and de- last link connecting
it his courtiers (for that is the nearest their birth faded in
d I can And for his staff and entourage) "Whether Mr. Wy
some stroke of kindness and friendliness, cilia as a piquant gir
i next he would commit some appalling black hair and spark
arh of etiquette by utterly Ignoring their the demure Puritan
ctions and privileges, when they had any. father's mind I cam
was amiable and modest of him not to grounds of her Fre
>w his own place, since it was the high- however, Mr. Wyetl
in the theatre: hut it was exasperating caption, and no one
ilm not to know any one else's. I very tivenesa of his Prisci
n gave up all expectation of being treated doubt the sui
prwise than a* a friend who had dropped made a strong upi><
so. finding myself as free to Interfere in is no ot sugge
proceedings as any one else who dropped Elizabeth, the sea ?
would apparently have been. I interfered Armada and the fo
only in my proper department but In of which the auth
ry other as well: and nobody gainsaid me. btul less material
i day 1 interfered to such an extent that pictures than has
e was moved to a mildly sarcastic re- to-day. Here is a t
nstrance. "Upward and
'I seem to have hoard or read some- "thither who can t
?re.' he said, 'that plays have actually of the whither, but
n produced and performances given In shaken out of one
i theatre, under Its present, management, find themselves In
ire you rnmo. According to you that one. All around Is I
ldn't have happened. How do you ac- now each man start
nt for It?' of his fellows, clot
' I can't account for it.' I replied, with in golden filagree;
blunt good faith of a. desperate man. 'I yellow moonlight th
pose you put a notice in the papers that huge tree ferns c
erformance will take place at half-past
it. and take the money at the doors.
>n you hnvr to do the play somehow.
re is no other way of accounting for it.'"
lax Bccrbohm can ho as acid as Hhnw ^
II he chooses bat here he writes in the ?? ? e
i of brotherly affection. This Is wh.it In t $9
to say of the actor's impressions of InF
To the magic of New York, on our arrival. df/fr
was Instantly responsive, fie was not the jSEy
t of tourist who takes a homemade tun- n"l
fork about with him and condemns the
ords. He regarded himself not as a re- /
nslhle Judge, hut as a quite irresponsible |tE?w$-/J
er-1 hrough. if' likei the overhcatcii f,
m* and the over-Iced streets. liked not **" /
y th<* slow. low voices of the New York ?
I, but also the plercln* voices of the ' t
v York ladies and also the fabulous ex- " ,
slveness of cobs. and the manners of
et onr coniluctors. and being -xpected to
ke a speech after the play's last act hut ^HVjMBL
Xor was Chicago too grim for him.
Boston too prim "
he volume Includes reprinted papers by
e from the Tsondon Time* nnd Chronicle ^laL
extracts from his notebooks. He used l"
Ie down epigrams that enmo Into his head
things he heard which nppenled to him
these;
Everything comes to him t\ho doesn't
t." ,
~>f all the arts love Is the greatest."
flattery gives us winged feet."
rhe greatest blunders of the world have
n made by common-sense people."
Vever Impart your humor to the humor.
They will use it as evidence against
nd he even recorded with evident, apprelon
that, famous riddle; When Is a Joke *
a Joke? Answer: When It's told to an _
rllshmanl Sarger
of Robinson Crusoe as ground, to iook tanner. I \
lis sunny island? That an<l down the shore, hut i
>e fas." could see no other Improssli
How, son of the beloved "I went to It again to i
lean classic for which any more, and to observe I
been made, writes the my fancy; but there was 1
for there was exactly the
s a direct descendant of f?ot?toes, heel and every
Alden, to welcome this How It came thither I km
ilition of the 'Courtship Hie least imagine. But i
specially timely In this "uttering thoughts, like a n
the Landing of the Pil- fused and out of myself, I
fortification, not feeling,
drations seem to me? ground I went on, but tei
they would have seemed degree, looking behind me
able all through in their three steps, mistaking eve
id their unconventional urtd fancying every stump
1th their many evidences ho a man; nor is it posslbli
if the period. many various shapes affrls
10k at such a picture as represented things to mo,
the Mayflower, with the Ideas were found every tnori
a thg shore to feel the and what strange, unacco
came into my thoughts by
^By LOUISE CLOSSi
I Barns Mantle, what s
J pencil?
On those occasions whei
tingly to describe my in
role which?in your capa
critic?you were obliged
little fellow down in your
lar CI always feel it is
stomach) substituted pa
: fierce execration?
Did you know that, in
vnii chnnl/l ho pfint nl
5 should be criticising it?i
like me? Don't answer?
1|; fercnce. In this excellent
H Best Plays of 1919-20" (8
Vl Co.) you have forestalled
sfdiously embodying anion
which permitted your crit
^ to repaint her bedroom fi
7 parchment lamp shades ai
% tax.
Thoughts for the Dtami
Sonnets as Prepi
| $c|?
4) Mot that I wrote it?Oh
member sending one of m;
. ff Forbes, who its author of "
:i 71. 7 i Fair" is one of th. ;< n I
J for the year. .Timr.n and
>. >.. . i hute In common: wo suff.
footprint. He is rather proud when
sleepless night, so I was n
the adventurers as the him when he wrote: "D?
: them with the land of Wflfi awake all night read)
the distance. sot breakfast out of the i
eth's conception of Trie- cold brussels sprouts."
I of French descent, with kindly hut firmly to say, I
;llng eyes, coincided with to know how the hook wot
mniden that was in my i>kiu?and in a short tin*
riot say. On the historic little of me left. But th
nch-Huguenot ancestry, making the dramatlzatloi
i is entitled to his con- And for Mr. Forbes's edlfi
can dispute the'attrac- divulge the letter sent me
11a." who was anxious to have
ijrr* Of Klngsley's hook little dancing favorite:
pal to the artist. There "To he honest with you
stion in the Knglnnd of scrawled), "it Is fierce.
% / * scored a hit
Y * lowing about
\ the luxury t
the country,
doing gemot
the drama. v
qualities in
it's Portrait of Tree. may have
HtUK'onsciouH a i- .
i located in the in? win?s" ot 1,ate a,ld Uefllrf>" And
titnt praise for lbpy bul those around tlietn m.ffe
the twisting of the threads. \c
the whirligig of "f marryTom. although II
ling a book and I ** !i . . J? b"tu'r for L"cl? 11
,r did you really ) n ' bp. l>ett' r tor ?">* of youIt
makes no dif- ,hou*h may seem, we must ?ui
volume of "The ?wn ??""* ^ ou,nK Mr' >A '
Small, Maynard ft <,ow" tho bil"V and write a tetter fr
invective by In- inct'nwn t0 tho pffect that this
g those plays one h,? at ?" But don't let it db
ic of thH column A P,ay 18 for J"?t what you. perso
urnUure. buy five ?? *?' It An author somethr
ad pay an Income ^'ter than he knows. And son,,
knows (I hope) better than he wr
that has naught to do with tho D
, Club perlative.
After this homely tragedy of
irxtory Exercise cnmop the gloaming drama: "E
. . . . And tho Drama Club might atop tr
?r< i'1] If tho woman author from Missouri v
y novrlN to James ^ 4 . . . t ..
;rn. ~ out boing shown, know* tho pay
The Famous Mr*. of th? Rn(rlts1, arlst(K.r
. P^vwrights- ^ not hp al>?. to (loflno a
I have one attn- ^ ,n hw own , ?,irk?< They
'i ?'n nso' have imagination, and as 55oe A
,o as spen .t j-rst ;i writer of verse, it might not
o a a sorty o preparation for the novice to w,
urn you Louise I frw son,1(.?_ Crrtnlnly hc wol
n* t \'1 . on ' form, and that is more than ev
riien "he went on wri?ht ha" a knowledge or The c
, . ? ? . . also comment on the new angle
i "'! J, ^1'" ' brought to the business of constru
ud lend Itself to a thft dramatIc ,nctdp
at Se TntVeon ,bP ? ? lW0
, just the same, are in the wings and he scene whe
cation I will now ten, are produced evldently occurs
. stage hands aro striking the set
by the gentleman b tho r,.aclll
fhp ilrnmn rnr a.
zzr::r~~ 1 I1
4B0UT AUTHORS
v.v7.., m ,,
9
:| \
<;><!
v;#i
. . * ' Ami
Westward Ho!"
Drama Fans
your dis- house where wo both dwelt. How do you
suppose that architect trot into the theatr*
Horizon" anyway?through the scenery room? And
ictress in if so, why did I foolishly begin in the dress
who did ing rooms?
destinies "Clarence" I refuse to discuss. I am going
had pas- to <Jo a whoIe article on Booth Tarkington
the heat- amj jf ]8 really- too trying anyway to hav?
not only him do plays and books equally well. Tint
teil from j c0l,)d not. have said that If "Clarence'
ver say: had not been written. For the Drama
ove P'ck- Clubs T recommend "Clarence" as a masterarry.
It 0f construction. Don't say that Is
Ruthless ()U, ()f tho province of a body of student pick
out m,.etjng to decide upon what play they had
ma p 1 better go see next week. The public will
om Prov- nQt aupport a piav tf -the construction Is
was not fau|
sturb you.
nally can "Abraham Lincoln" I still ilaro to say i?
tes writes not a Piny- But in London 1 took out
atlIT10K hO HttiniRoi^nwi wni'ii uiuvutii cjuproti ill'
ltes. But scono, although he was a little fellow with
rama 8u- an brogue, and I took it out again and
never stopped dabbing when I saw the more
farm life complete impersonation over hero. Lincoln
>#elnss4o." himself is our nation's great tragedy. HI?
nmse on lif,> P'ay* itself. It needs llttlo form, only
rho. with- beauty of expression, as befits high souls
chotoglcal To 'be English he Is at present a cult, but
icy when f think It exemplifies most delicately the
mountain roal wor'h of these sophiseated people when
say poets 'hoy make their way to a London suburban
kins was theatre, as to a iittlo shrine, to pay theii
be a bad homage to a hero not of their own country
irk on a * wish an American could have done th?
ild learn HrHt Lincoln play to l>o so generally ac
ery play- cepted. But there Is vision in John Drinkluh
might water's eyes, music In his heart, nnd we
she has 'n "no alu' march to the swing of his
ct'lon. In hne prose,
nts take
i of cards The Lincoln Play Across the Water:
rt the let- The Book Ends With Statistics
UV' do There Is left "The Jest." It is the only
>ns on the P'^y 'bat ever blotted out before the first
i 1 act was over the high price I paid for niv
seat. And yet I was not there. I had left
to a vpr\ t. i . . .
the Mcum of IJrnanway and wan again travelav
but it "n* *' narrow way ijetw.-en the high walls
Vrvin >'? ?' palaces. I was sing.-g from the height.
. ...jtu of Flesole, following the tore lies of tin
masked brothers who pushed their wa> *
iri'i of" an through Flore utitn m with the
Irn- carried high. The women's faces in th<
lcntal '-t- audience looked funny, whltely following
1 i-vino Iohn Uarrymoro as ho elongated himself
amnion ted "bout tht> stage?but he did not hold m?
in jn ,|1(, lie merely sent ni<' on to Italy,
ik hint if t'n"w> in 'ta'V- 1 was with the young
ran in his Adaptor of the Italian play who krtows its
jjrH richness through all his fine mind and senses
ut her on with Edward Sheldon, w ho made the traneiKues
nio la'lon as a labor of love?our wonder boy
? iiecauso who gave us "Salvation Nell" at nineteen,
wn a new then#"The Xigger," and "Romanee." His
sn't it?? work, t am sure, would hive been among
-> for the 'beso best plays did not the gods give with *
one hand a* they take away with, the other.
Hut when the vigor of health comes back
to him. what will there not be for us eager
_ ones? Really, T should hate to pay storage
1 Present on jj1( pjots which Kdw u-d must have skll
nay make fully camouflaged by that nicely brushed
te a good black hair of his.
Toward the end of the hook comes The
mo for a Great Exposure?although Mr. Mantle dose
the stage nf>t call It that. He calls it "Whero and
to. Tin- When They Were Horn'' and he gives the
much to ago* of some of us who. have appeared In
'Mamma's t|? plays of ihe year. It is our Reward of
reets the M..rtt. The page Is one that an actress will
igr comes instinctively turn to, and then?! Already
the sltua- J have heard mutterlngH when chance playt
wouldn't ,.rs have picked up my copy. "What is
a woman 3sT?t from U'-O?" a woman asks, glaring at
>ld you of her name. I do a little arithmetic here
Lion while "What!" Exclamation from her. "Well it's
might he fa|~p." Or. looking at mine, "Arc you. dear,
he best I realli/f" or. more cruelly; "I thought you
saw the Chicago Are!" It's nothing to me.
Ua" made My age and my salary are the only things
< it in ' I've ever told the truth about in my whole
at m?. I life, but T did not see the Chicago fire
id ami act Who: gets m> Is the penchant my women
he drama friends who used to be as old as I have for
statement being born In 1Mb It's so concerted, tomeed
also at how!
Middleton Following this is another page?the page
! through of our dead within the year?or a little over,
he began Will you all read it, please; give It a getwle
Oftnp moment" Some of vou will be surmised. I
on till he wa?. and wondered why I had not known
wasn't so before, or why he had not been missed. "Are
liberator's we so soon forgotten, then?"' asked Rip Van
nd which Winkle. Wo are like old newspapers, read
it being a and cast aside?as this little critique will b<
/ I'.olton. I am not so sure that it makes much diflferind
relief once so lone as we have served you. Indie*
spnr'ment and gentlemen with Ten Rest I'laya.