The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-02-14
AT THE THE TIERS
MstropolItan-"Ths vlraInIan. ],


recorded In the various attempts made to
write good play outsof a popular novel
has seemingly no deterrent influence on
managers In search Of good thing. The
obvious reason for this is that these fail
ures, hoating on a current of ready made
popularityNs have usually been profitable
ventures The play begins its career with
name and fame already secured. Readers
who have been stirred by the tale In book
form flock to see in the flesh the charac-
tiers they have hitherto seen only in
fancy Almost invariably disappointment
Is IN store for tfem,s for their ideals are
never realized and rarely does it happen
that the substitutes offered by the stage
are satisfying
THE Virginian'', is no exception to this
rule The author of the novel, Owen Wis
ter, collaborated with Kirk La shelle, a
producing manager and play artiftcer OF
experience. They have artfully selected
Tour different scenes from the story and
attempted to connect them thru explana-
tory speeches by the characters. These
scenes are well done, the characters are
reasonably well preserved and vitalized
and, the Wyoming atmosphere blows in
upon the play from the alkali plains and
towering mountains But the action is
hating and the story is too often obscure.
The most vital defect and the one most
disappointing to those who have read the
story springs from the violent compression
OF the wooing Of the ,schoolteacher by the
Virginlan into the narrow limits of the
play. The fine character OF the Virginian.
is revealed In only a few of its most strik-
ing phases, while that of the schoolteach-
err; with her Vermont ideals, degenerates
into mere pretty girl fallen in love with
Dig, tine Westerner The slow growth
Of their love. it's refining influence on the
Virginian's native nobility, the struggles
OF the girl to remain true to her Puritan
ideals, the deaf ear she turns to the voice
of her own heart, the misgivings she can
not escape when self-revelation comes
these and other of Mr.. Wister's deft
touches are not possible in the play. All
the absorbing psychology of this love
affair In which stern Vermont, gallant
Virginia and free Wyoming are blent is
sacrificed. -. - #@$*..~.-s:*@ -.
1t must be confessed that Dustin Far
mum fills the measure Of the Virginian
more than aeeeptably, The childlke cam
dor OF the man, his boyish: humor, innate
modesty and awkward gallantry contrast
wildly with his infiexible devotion to his
ideals and his duty Many of his finer
qualities Mr.. Farnum can do little more
than hint at, and yet these touches help
to satisfy him who comes to the theater
with preconcetved notion of the Vir-
ginian. A masterful lover, he is at his best
in moments of action, as in the lynch
Ing scene, where indomitable purpose is
| tempered by an infinite regret, and in the
denouement, where he accepts an unpleas-
ant duty like a man, tho it seems to neon
the wreck Of his life.. Helen Holmes gives
| a girlishly attractive picture Of the school,
teacher, full of those feminine contradict
| tons that pique a mans interest. Within
the narrow limitations the character: af-
| fords, she is successful. -
! One of the best things in the production
Is the impersonation Of the dark and mall
evolent Trampas by Frank Campeau,
whose unhappy lot it invariably is to act
the villain. It is a -thoroly artistic piece
Of work, convincing and picturesque. Guy
Bates Post gives a satisfying interpreta-
ton Of Steve, his dupe, who in the gu
preme moment reaches heroic heights,
Other types of cowboys boyish, easily led
good at heart and Sfull of unconscious
comedy, are furnished in Honey, by Frank
Monroe; Nebraska, by Bonnet Musson
and Badly, by Frank Nelson. There are
still other cowboys togfll the picture, and
sundry ranch-owners and their wives, be-
sides a rough riding Bishop and pair Of
| New York visitors who find western life
j most interesting" & The comedy Ut the
/ christening and danee, winding up with
I the mixing Of the babies, who were
ty'scrambled completes" is refreshingly
+ original; 3. = N@sS
In short, everything that good actors
wise management and realistic production
good play is dofig ~ Sai 'fsN d" 'ea''
r. % hssei-W4 D. Chamberlain. I