The San Francisco call., 1897-11-30
A CAVALIER
Of FRANCE"
The New Play Proves to
Be an. Old Romance
by AinsWorth.
Louis James Dramatist Forgets
to Credit the Source
Of Inspiration.
Some New Vaudeville at the Orpheum
and a Howarth Melodrama
at the Grand.

Louis James commenced a fortnight's
season at the Colum oia Theater last night
with the first presentation here of "a
Cavalier OF France" plus sh-upholstered,
poison-stail ed romantic drama by Espv
Williams, New Orleans journalist. Mr..
James impersonated the character of
Rene de Froisac, the cavalier of Mr..
Williams play and title, and l was
somewhat petritied to discover in Rene
an old, old friend OF mine whom l had
met in the days OF infammatory youth,
when swashbuckler history and fight
ing romance are the rarest joys
OF literature. AS l remember Rene
was not his name. Mr.. Williams has
got the address all right, but the name
is wrong and the nationality is
wrong, too. His Christian name 1t was
James and the rest of it was Crichton. He
was Scot; he was called the Scottish
Cavalier, and the story of MS life is copi-
ously told in the book of "Crichton," by
the prolific w. Harrison Ainsworth, who
was quite the Stanley Weyman OF his day.
With the exception OF the real names of
the hero, heroine and the author Mr.
Williams seems to have got the bigger
part OF Ainsworth's old book into the
play. There are Catherine de Medicis !;
her precious family; the astrological Rug
gieri; the poison bottle; Esclarmonde, the
young Princess of Conde, with the mystic
rious history On the play she is called Ga
briella); and the dauntless Cavalier.
The motive of the play is distributed
among four characters, who are shufhed
in the good, old-feshioned complication:
The profigate King would possess him
self of the pale young charms OF Gabrielle,
VINO loves Rene; and the lascivious Mar
garet de Valois would do likewise with
the robust charms of Rene, who loves
CAB leila. The plot is thickened by
the introduction of Marguerite's garter,
which Marg uerite fouIly accuses Rene of
apDropriatlng; and out of tnis garter busi-
ness We get several peIlucid acts of melo-
drama, in which Rene is strenuously pro-
claiming innocence. 1t is not a happy
family that gathers in the court
OF Henry III. Intrigue, death
and treason are ment oned in no
small voice. The poison bottle of Mar
guerite is derkly limited about but it does
not make an actual appearance until act
four, and then Rene spots the deadly
fluid by meansSf the life-saving ring
which Gabriella had 2iven him earlier in
the play, and saves his own life and that
of the king.
1t is very hard to take "a Cavalier of
France seriously, for the play does not
is primitive; there is not character nor
the suggestion of one in the whole play !;
the construction IS devoid of all sub
tlety of invention; there are no
surprises, neither is there any legitima ate
suspense created by the approach of an
inevitable climax. The whole scheme of
the piece is undramatic. Every character
is prodIgiously selt-explanatory. The ex-
cItement depends solely on noise.
The performance last night was not cal
culated to make the piece out to be any
thing better than it IS. Mr.. James was in
one OF mis- "Spartacus'' moods, and he was
terrible rather than romantic.
He worked with the lungs and gestures
of ten men; he looked even twice as big
as himself And the worst of it is there IS
really no excuse for Louis James not being
one OF the best actors in America.
The supporting company ndulged in
the same excesses. The one approach to
humanness was Collin kemier in the part
of the Due d'Aniou. The scenery and
costumes were In fit taste. except for two