The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-08-30
VIII. CRANE In A SUTRO PLAY.
THE PRICE OF MONEY LEADS
INTO AN ARTISTIC ROO.

4 treditabie Effort 10 Get Away From
the Typical Crane Fleece . Failare-A
Flabby Play and q Rubber spined Part
10 Miss Margaret Dale Unsuccessful.
: W. H. Crane made another creditable
effort last night at the Garrick to get away
from the type OF play and part 80 long asso-
ciated with him-an effort which. however,
is Ivy no means as interesting as It's chief
predecessor, Business Ia Business. w." and
which Is not likely to prove more popular.
The leading part in Mr.. Alfred sutro's
THE Price OF Money Ia q high minded
literary hack who Is tempted by poverty
and the necessities Of his family to engage
in a shady financial operation, involving
the fortune, honor and happiness Of two
young people to whom he 10 sincerely at
tlchei. For a time he sucoumbs to the
temptiticn, but draws back when he Ia
on the brink Of moral ruin. >, incidentally,
however, his period Of dallying with tempt1-
ton his complicated him In the elopemelt
Of n young wife with her lover.
Both the piece and the part are 30 lacking
in clearness Of outline that it is difficult
to say from which point Of view Mr.. Sutro
expects us to view them; but it seems most
likely that he Intended them as a study in
the opposition between high abstract
principle and the kindly expedienoies Of
life. One is shown how temptation comes
to a really good m%an-how he struggles
with it, and is persuaded into it, only to
find that it involves the ruin not only Of
himself, but of others depende mt upon his
guidance,
The theme is promising emo ugh, but II
requires, on the one hand, vast certainty
In dramatic delineation Of character and
emotion, ard on the other the courag &c
10 face the tragic realities OF l~ife-neitner
OF which Mr.. Sutro e~vinces.
Jcseph Tyembhh is tempted into the
devious path because bis daughter doesn't
want to be n Typewriter and does want to
e. to college; and he Is rescued from the
fste Re is counting by the chance sight
oi a photograph Of his o but honest
father, which stands on the desk where
he is signing the fatal document. And it
is not only here that he blows hot and blows
cod in a single breath.
Having agreed with all moral fervor to
dissiade the clipping couple, he ends by
escorting them to tbs awaiting cab. He is,
in short, a prize moral contortionist OF
the rubber SPINE, q star turper of casuistical
fiipfops.
Even such a character. however, might
not, have been without appeal il clearly
and logically developed. But after Joseph
Of Canada he saves his W moral bacon IN
Camden Town, London-~hich ending we
aye to accept as happy.
The piece is, in short, as complete a chaos,
morally and artisticaily as The Walls
that Mayfair is to be redeemed from f~rivolity
by being transported to the bucolic regions
OF Queenslandt-with this important Diff
ference, that whereas the former PLAY was
by turns brilliant society comedy and
Price Of Money is an unrelieved study in
gray.
Some good lines It has, as when three
wives OF shady promoters discourse on, the
principles Of their respective spouses; and
the scene Of the third act lin which T,em-
moral grounds, abets It from motives Of
%sentimentl might have proved strong with
better acting. But under the most favora-
BILE circumstances it could only be prevail.
ingly fiat and u~nproftable.
accustomed for decades to regard him a &
stanch, wise and 'humorously high minded,
with u an OF ering as his is an act Of
courage; and he performed it c~ourageously
and with bis familiar mastery Of legitimate
ShdidCtcI lInpSsbOLnhtlOu
Some few passages revealed him. at his
very best, as for example the bit Of char
acter comedy in which Trembien, his appe-
tite for money whetted by his first unholy
taste of it, turns upon the avaricious
brother who has tempted him and beets
him at his own game OF bluff and eXtortioH
The audience was here swept along with
him in delighted appreciation. His de-
notement Of pathos Is, as always, ripe,
mellow and distinct in outline and nuance.
But the quality OF the acting only empha-
sized the deficiencies Of the play and part.
The supporting company was mediocre.
In the scepe Of the elppment, which could
only haveNbeen carried by an emotional
actress OF a very high order, Miss Margaret
Dale fell short, so that what ought to have
been the climax Of the piece was in fact its
weakest moment-though it ia only fair to
say that the material hlr. Sutro here pro-
vided her consisted Of talk where action
was required, casuistry instead Of emotion.
II was only In the quieter moments that
she revealed her customary charm Nj
the skill which she has been gradually
acquiring.
Mr.. W. L. Abingdon. as the sordid and
grasping brother, had alternate moments OF
quiet power and melodramatic excess. MIR.
Walter Hitchcock, as the clipping lover, had
considerable presence without much ease
orcharm. Mr.. F. Owen Baxter, as poetioal
dead beat and sponge, and Miss Olive Oliver,
a. an advanced type Of English bachelor
girl, acted with intelligence and an effective
sense OF character; but The one suggested
the bowery and the other Butte, Montana.