The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-10
Cbe CbedtreS
MT. Gilmore as "Captain pebonnaire. ;

Paul Gilmore and his leading woman. Miss Marie Pettes, supported by an admirable Company captivated their audiences at the Montgomery Theatre yesterday after noon and last night with William Payson's new play. Captain Debonnaire" The au- diences were enthusiastic and insistent that each occasion Mir. Gilmore was compelled to satisfy their demands and speak the warmth of his appreciation for the receptions given him here.
 Ambitious to show his versatility. Mir. Cil- more has done thing that few young act OTIS would undertake. He has stepped from the easy-going dress suit parts on which his popularity in this section was founded to the more difficult role of a dashing swash- buckling hero of the seventeenth century. hero who wears his sword lightly and who fights at the toss of a coin. whose very recklessness is endearing. And at the be- ginning 1t must be said that Mir Gilmore mas tered the task he cut out for himself He proved that he is more than a very good actor of the quiet school. He carried con viction in this new phase of his art and earned distinction for his versatility. Captain Debonnaire." is a dramatization of Mir. Payson's brilliant romantic story first
 published in Ainslae's Magazine. It is the
 story of a scion of the royal house of France.
 a captain of the French army in America
 about the middle Of the seventeenth cen
 tury. whb fights against terrible odds for
 his lady love and wins in the end. There is
 a prologue and four acts. the play opening
 in historic old Quebec. passing to New Am sterdam and back to Quebec where 1t closes
 happily.
 Here we have opportunity for gorgeous
 costuming and surpassinly beautiful scenic
 investment. The red coats of the French soldiers in one act. the more quiet eoloring of the Dutch colonists in the next and back to the quaint old Quebec we of America love we'll .
 As the dashing. daring Cadillac masquer-
 adinK as "Debonnaire." invading dangerous
 -E n@Nr kt.AS Ao1 hAaw.
 awakened by an old portrait. MT. Gilmore gave us a striking. vivid picture; picture that won esteem at the outset. Through 1t
 all he bore himselt naturally and with a
 dignity that stamped him as more than a
 mere stage hummer. He is a scholarly young man and he convinced the audience
 that he had felt the motives that carried
 along the French Captain. This in itself
 Is the highest type of art.
 It is no small thing to fence well. to sing
 we'll to- dance well and to read exquisite
 lines with such force and emphasis to
 make the illusion perfect to cultivated ears
 and eyes. The successful doing of these
 things is the combination one expects in
 the most powerful Q: actors. We have no. re-
 garded MT. Gilmore as one of the great ac-
 tors of the American stage and yet our
 measure of appreciation was full when we
 came from his last characterization. All of
 these things he did and surprised us with
 their perfect doing His methods. his strong
 robust voice. his easy handling of the ra-
 pier, his natural strides reminded one of
 the younger salvini ana>there is a probabili-
 ty that Mr. Gilmore will live to see the day
 when he will rank that high as romantic
 actor.
 It is difficult to write passively of Marie
 Pettes. She is always SO convincing. so be-
 witchinK. thoroughly imbued with fidei- ity to her art that one who knows her ex- poets much of her. Perhaps 1t is not fair to the young women to carry this Idea to the theatre and still she is never disappoint- ing. Immense drafts are made upon her ability in the role of Renee de Cadillac. but she seized the two Montgomery audiences and had their sympathy throughout. Miss Pettes is a beautiful young woman bat ons must have more than mere beauty to por- tray this delightful heroine of Payson's fam cy successfully. IL requires subtlety. strength and clear understanding. In the tragic moments of the play Miss Pettes gave us Q new insight into her histriOnic attain ment. She thrilled us with her exception ally we'll modulated voice and she reached lofty heights of dramatic expression She was the embodiment or Renee de Cadillac It was a living, breathing. loving picture and every one present praised the genius of the young woman who made It so effect i've.
 There were times when the audience had more sympathy for Miss Pettes than for Mir Gilmore and Mir. Gilmore sensibiy shared all of his curtain calls with his clever leading
 woman.
 The supporting company was unusually
 good. The Raoul de Cadillac of MT. Apple
 bee was finished was MT. BurbridEe who portrayed de Remy, the Governor of Canada. MT. Solomon Pierre and Miss Claire as Renee's maid furnished some neat comedy work and MT. Terry effective as the
 Dutch attorney general in love with Re nee.
 Thare was not jar in the entertalnme mt although one imagined that Miss Fitz Al
 len, who is of tie most reliable charac-
 ter women on the stage of today. was just
 A wee bit exuberant as the Madame de Cad lilac. She appeared to overlap the picture fin her effort to make comedy where come dy was not necessary.
 The scenic equipment was admirable and the costuming was gorgeous anu historically correct.
 Such plays as Captain Debonnaire" when presented by such conscientious people as Mir. Gilmore and his associates deserve to succeed. They arc uplifting and turn our thoughts to those dear dead days when love and honor were worth more than mere
 money-getting.