Evening journal., 1892-11-17

"a Gilded Fool which was recently
produced in New York at the Fifth Ave
nue theater, affords Mr.. Goodwin greater
opportunity for the display of his dramatic
versatility and his whimsical comicalities
than any play he has used since he became
a star, but as Mr.. Goodwin has been rec
ognized for many years as one Of the best
actors in his line in the United States more
interest attaches to the play, especially as
a great many persons-myself included
expect Mr.. Carleton to take his place some
day at the head Of the dramatic authors
OF the western hemisphere.
Just think Of the wonderful range Of
ability Of the man who wrote "Memnon,"
"The Lions MOUTH "Victor Durand,"
Eye Earle Trouble and "A Gilded Foolr
What a sweepl
From the heaviest tragedy down through
the entire gamut to the lightest form Of
comedy, which would even verge on farce
were it not for the wholesome and never
mawkish sentiment which pervades the
piecel The man who can do work of such
widely varying degrees Of seriousness
must be genius. But a genius seldom
accomplishes anything Of lasting merit,
for the reason that he is ordinarily incapa-
bic Of protracted effort, and the brilliancy
Of his mind so blinds him to the everyday
ANNAAAN AAANlAi0 va HIS NaAAlAAA NllhN MN ~ Nlh
TO rush headlong through his work, leav-
ing rough corners which expose him TO
criticism and seriously mar what would
otherwise be perfect picture.
Mr.. Carleton is not eareless-at least no
slipshod work appears in "A Gilded Fool"
Its lights and shadows are delightfully."-
drawn. Mr. Carleton is a chiaroscurist
He is vrle. His brush leaves a very dark
or a very faint mark. He uses only black
and white, and never has recourse TO the
neutral tints which so often serve to CON
ceal the inherent weakness Of plot or de-
velopment OF idea OF many crafty play
wright whose work finds a more ready
market than Mr.. Carleton's
"Yc Earlic Trouble | did not like. It
was good enough in its way, but il was un-
worthy Of the great mind which conceived
it and brought il into existence. "A Gilded
Fool" / do like in fact it charmed me.
its strong, forceful touches captivated me-
The bright, quaint conceits with which il
aboundcd compelled my unstinted ap-
plause, but the conclusion was inevitable
that the main ideas Of ~ Gilded Fool" are
in no sense original
The sanctimonious "Rev. Jacob Howell,
who turns ont to be a Scotland Yard man,
is q strongly marked character. but it is
impossible te iail to recognize i'm him our
old friend the detective ia "Jim the Pen
man." In detail even the two are in some
respects similar The gilded fool himself
is at once discovered to be BERTHE the lamb
in Bronson Towards Henrietta Here
the similarity is positively startling. do
not wish TO be understood as being Of the
opinion that Mr.. Carleton is plagiarist.
1 candidly believe that his miud absorbs
impressions so rapidly that bee does not
stop To think when writing q play tiat the
characters which he is creating may be the
illegitimate children of his observation
and his brain. There is another flaw in
"a Gildcd Fool" DE puystcr Ruthven, a
dudish sort OF half way sport and thor
ough going borrower entirely devoid Of
principle and everything else. is a seuse.
less, stWpid "unfunny' and-worse than
all-uscless character lie is like big
ink daub on = beautiful piece of engross-
ing, and should be erased at once.