The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-06-02
AMUSEMENT.
The Genteel Actor.

England to remain there English actors who
are VOL received in this country as Mr.. MOnta-
quo has been do not. as rule, 20 back to re-
main. But whether this bo a farewell TO the
country or only-as Ia the way OF tho profess
sion-to the season. II points what has been
remarkably successful and pleasant career.
With all Mr. Montague's weaknesses az a
player. his popularity has been something quite
remarkable and he has won hosts OF admirers
and warm personal friends here. 1t is not DIM
cult to understand why this should be so. In
the first place, Mr. Montague is the best exam
pie OF the male moenu which Robertsons
comedies. and host Of even weaker plays. have
made necessary to the English stage.
To understand how exactly Montagl, fits into
the place In modern English comedy, it is me-
cessary to understand what modern English
comedy is trying to do.
| think II may be said that the late school Of
playwrghts. of which Mr. Robertson was in q
sense the father. tried to represent the gentle
man OF society in the place OF the battling and
somewhat rude mystery which drama pure and
simple had been wrestling with SO long, and
which was known to MS rs man.
IL Mr.. Robersons comedies give us man at
ALL it Is n man subducd by his own respectable
ty. Realistic accuracy took the place of ideal
truth when Caste" -" School" and Ours - be-
came models. The fellow that we knew and
that We thought il worth while 10 initiate walked
on and we recognized him. He did nothing
was nothing He could neither feel deeply nor
manifest forcby Had ho done either he
would have no longer been the real gentleman
OF society.
For society had all along dealt with appear
ances. and the stage owed its force and its
charm to the fact that II was continually show
Ing us the beast and the demi-god that society
covered up. Mr. Robertson undertook to hold
his mirror up to-a mask. He succeeded in
giving US recent manners favored with epl-
grams His dramatic feast owed its pleasant
ness TO the beauty Of his crockery-which was
filed with bon-bons. The man of this tea
cup comedy was an elegant coward. He was
afraid to love with an animal passion. SO lie
sentimentali2ed with base smartness.
Compare him with Molicre's man-not to
select too vital form. There is In that mcrcu-
rial and many faced parsonage q philosophy
which makes vice valuable. humor that robs
uginess of its distress. He is always in all dis
guses-human. and he exists for no other pur-
pose than to bctray TO us through all the blan-
dishments OF his wit and the excuses Of his
hypocricy that he is an animal.
Compare him with the galliard 81 the Resto-
ration. Even those fellows who lived and moved
in what Lamb calls the Utopia Of Gallantry
w re impelled by the primal passions, and did
not dsavow them. They had blood in Thorn.
albeit much Of 1t went all 10 froth.
The gentleman Of modern English comedy IL
too intellectual to be Il Iackadandy, and too re-
spectacle to be a hero. H. docs not attempt 10
control or modify events. He yawns at them.
ana when they turn out TO be mlsiortune-. he
dcncs them with cynicism. In school he is
q swell. and nvades girls boarding academy,
and guys the young Indies when they are at
their rectations. AnG nirts with them whom the
tutors back is turned. Observe how he speaks
Of them always semi rontdenuaiy 10 the au-
| diencc. as il girls wore charming ninnies, only
| III 20 have lark with. In " Home he is a sort
| Of everything fratcrnal deity, who knows
| everything. and can do everything. but doesn't
| care to boast about il, because it's tircsome.
Yes. he will save his father from an adventures
| IL he must. The old gentleman Is his own flesh
and blood; but there needn't be any scene about
| IL. II Ours" he goes TO the Crimea 10 fight
| because there doesn't really appear 10 be any
thing else 10 do. The fact is. it is tho proper
| thing for young gentlemen 10 20 and light and
| 1t also appears that II is proper for English
| women 10 10 down there from Bloomsbury
| square. and have picnic in midwinter. while
| battle il raging. and the muskets Of the Rus
SLAMS and the jokes Of the hero are rafting
around them like hail.
This style u comedy. which has all the nuen
charm Of u panorama without the cmotiona
cNactions Of a meodrama; which is too idylli'
20 strain Us. too sensible 70 instruct us and toe
brief to tire us; which natters our modern
vanity by shaping passion % our cool taste
and watering human nature 10 tho markc
standard Of decorum-this style Of comedy
wanted for its perfect exposition just such
player ~ Montague. Ha was beautiful. he wal
! "A la La
hai good taste. ideas refinement
Who cared Whether he possessed imagina
tion, q vlrile will. strong convictions. and
sincere purpose OF not;
He sauntered into tho affections Of tho public
Tor the first time they beheld the actor VIII
seemed 10 have been evolved by the condition O
the drama.
All tho other and older favortes were con
tinually stopping over into n robus. romanti
cism. Wallack. by far the best Of them all
flared NJ at times with au old fire that bclongc
To his race. George Clarke. who ut one tim
promised TO wear the harness u society grace
fully. and In " False shame led everybody t
hope that no would abandon acting entirely an
take to modern comedy gave way to tears an
passion in a fatal moment. and then ran O
ashamed Of himself TO England. There wa
nobody on our stage who had beauty tn
classic rcposc. and the divine indifference the
would constitute the Apollo.
At that time Montague came in swinging hi
cane, H. had the mir Of n gentleman. II
acted like a gentleman. spoke like gentleman
We accepted him ms such. don't know that h
ever disappointed US Certainly not in that re
spect. But he did get out Of English coined
into French and American melodrnma. an
most Of Us wondered what had become Of hin
II he could only haYe. remained forever 1
Robertsons toy dramas, where action Away
resolved itself into accent and manlincss wa
muiilcd in dyllicism. we should have remen
bored him like graceful sonnet In the cornC
If n newspaper, not because he told Us anythin
or stirred us, but because he was so sweetly il
nocuou4 among all the facts and reflections
actual life.
never saw him do anything better tia
UAtov in "CHste.' Indeed, that charact'
marks the circumference Of his talent. nevc
saw anybody do it rs well. 1t is throughout
: the fibre and texture Of tho play. as il woye
into it. When it was first presented TO us /
noHchdldt grace, its tremendous good natur
its gentle manlncss won US. We said. Here
a man who may not BE- great actor, but he cal
a. lima -