The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09
TAMMANY and The DRAMA.
ssTHE NAN or THE HOUR" AND
POLITICAL GRAFT.


or his new drama at the SavOy the autnOr
OF why Smith Left Home and "Whas
Happened to Jones" remarked, in the lobby.
that he enjoyed the best of advance agents,
Miss Ida Tarbell. Mr.. Broadhurst was
wrong. Miss Tarbell was h advance
agent Of The Lion and the Mouse The
Man Of the Hour treats Of the shame "a
the cities. and its advance agent was that
muckraker Of the bcYbe poiHtu. sometimes
called Lincoln Stuhins. Judging by the
laughter and applause OF that admirable
criterion. the second night audience. as
well as by the grunt and smile OF that la
( comic Redskin. Mr.. w. A. Brady. The Man
Of. the Hour bid fair TO be a very great
success perhaps even. as the proud adj
vertisement already predicts, as great a
success as Mr.. Klein's phenomenal play.
According to a current report it deals
with the personalities of certain Tammany
braves who are even to-dly, to our great
discomfort, ~disporting in our midst. just
Who they are shall not here be nominated
forfear Of rendering them unduly illustrious,
hut they are the bravest OF the braves.
Here again. however. Mr.. Broadhurst is in
the opposition. He refers TO that authority,
the programme. with as much assurance as
II he had not himself written it, TO back
the asseveration that the action takes place
in amy large city in America When the
play WIS given in Philadelphia. he says.
there was a similar ticketing Of his charac-
ters with the names Of Republicans there;
and in Harrisburg there was also a local
Identification. No doubt. no doubt. Yet
the makeup Of the boss Of the ~organiza-
ton INC the illustrious ancestry OF the
college bred Mayor-but, to quote Ibsen.
/ say no more.
II is a rather complicated story. Tho
Mon OF ne Hour takes almost three hours
TO get his predicament across the foot
lights; and at that many Of his doings have
TO be handed out in capsules. There are
two rival bosses of broadly typical char
acter. One rules by brute force and bully
ing, the other by knowing the names OF all
the babies of his constituents and taking
them annually on picnics. The bully is
engaged in a scheme of colossal graft CON-
nected with a street railway franchise,
which he is working in cahoots with a great
~fnancier. The dilettante Tammany Mayor
rs enamored of the financier's niece; and
with the aid of The picknicking boss, who
hates the bully with a warm hearted, Irish
hatred, defeats the scheme of graft, send
ing the two schemers to States prison.
In doing this he surmounts the Hottest
obstacles OF personal hope and ambition.
The certainty Of being Governor Of the
State and a lookin at the Presidency are
bagatelles. He brings financial ruin on the
girl he loves and on his nearest personal
friend, her brother. Out of the enlarge
ment Of his hear he end the brother
money at the last moment to hedge on the
market, and in consequence suffers the
imputation OF having hinself specialized
on the result OF his official action. Finally
he suffers the memory of his father. hon.
ored veteran OF the civil war, TO be smirched
by digging UP a long buried looting of the
city treasury.
There are those for whom this sort Of
thing spells melodrama. Not for me.
Third avenue and Eighth have no mon
opoly OF theatrical virtue. There was, TO
be sure, considerable crowding of incident
and situation; but this was due to the fact
that Mr.. Broadhurst's story was conceived
on a larger scale than even three hours
and four acts admit of. In the writer
of farce, fertility of incident is a virtue;
but the power OF the dramatist is shown
in producing the maximum effect with
the minimum expenditure of means. Any
n OF the obstacles, fully developed
and realized, would have served many
times better than all. Only the technique
was at fault, however. Characters and
incidents we're truly observed and por-
trayed with sincerity. The play was de-
fectiVe drama specifically; but essentially
a. was fine, strong and manly.
There was no single figure quite as salient
and effective as that of the financier in
The Lion and the Mouse; but there was a
larger number of characters, and they
were al ly individualized. contrasted and
composed into a harmonious whole. In
spite Of his multiple self-sacrifices the Mayor
had no touch of mock heroics, being dis
singuished by a brave simplicity of bearing
and a laconic t%erseness of speech. Fred
erick Perry, who impersonated him, was a
trife stiff at times but always strong me
frequently sui tie and fine. BIS foil was a
~vivacious and slangy youth, who sug-
gested at times the preposterous young
lover of the elder comedy drama but was
prevsilingly natural. Az portrayed by
Douglas Fairbanks all the laughs carried,
and sometimes very charmingly.
The banner performances we're from the
actors who played the rival bosses. Frank
Macvicars was the bullying lIrishman, and
George Fawcett the humorous and kindly
one. Both were distinguished by the
skil and force of the old school. Their
use OF m~imique-what we sometimes incor-
rectly enough call pantomime-was an OBJ
ject lesson to the modern actor and per-
haps his despair. And the expressiveness
of their voices was no less noteworthy.
Many a legitimate laugh vas achieved by
the inclination of a chin or an inarticuIate
syllable. 1t is only just to add that in
writing these two characterDM Mr.. Broad
hurst was at his best.
In his wo men he was less fortunate, both
m the writing and in the acting, a fact
which was the less damaging because they
we're never the central fyures of a scene.
Mr.. Broadhurst's sense of life and of humor
Il essentially masculine. The Mayors
mother, had one fine moment finely
realized by Harriet OTIS Dallenbaugh.
No less encouraging than the play was
the manner in which the audience took it.
No detail Of the intricate political situation.
as IL seemed. was lost; and the women to
all appearances were AZ apprehending as
the men. fave the universal passion OF
love. no human interest is as prevalent