The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-07-22

STOCK company. II view OF IT'S OlGIleSS,
there would be nothing to write about
1T, but for its use twice over of the false
to life, yet enduringly valuable idea for
the stage, that most men are afraid to
ask women to marry.
Real lovers couple themselves for
wedlock easily. but in stageland those
sweethearts who provide ''the comedy
relief" are pretty sure to duplicate the
bashfulness of Modus and the allure
ment of Helen from THE Hunchback
-he eager tormake love, but afraid, and
she striving to excite courage in him.
Audiences never tire of this misrepre-
sentation of the truth, and it is aston
ishing that the libeled sex especially en-
joy the everlasting repetition of MOdus
Helen scenes. In Sweet Glover" there
are two men unhesitatingly avOwing
their passion for the heroine in the
main story, but for the comedy relief
there are two MOduses and two Helens
and the audience that I watched didn't
think they were too much. For the SOU
brette of the company played all her
pretty tricks of coquetry on the lead
ing Juvenile, the eccentric old woman
gave them funnily as an old maid to the
low comedian as an old bachelor, and
you would have thought by the APP
pleause and laughter that never before
had they been seen in a theater.
The old drama, Men and Women, y
is in revival by stock company, and
L oaH tell you something never before
printed about it. David Belasco and
Henry C. DeMille had worked together
with fine effect in 1.-The Wife" and
Dol Ia.
contract to turn out third play of
similar grade. They agreed that the
theme should be the redemption of a
convict. a man had served d term in
prison for crime in finance, had risen
under an assumed name to be the gov
ernor Of a western state, and had come
back after twenty years to New York
with his beloved daughter.
Now, at that time Belasco had under
taken to make an actress of Mrs. Car
ter, and his mind was engrossed in
that project, while DeMille would take
no interest in it. Hence they did not
cola borate with the former facility
They got their rehabilitated convict
back into New York and introduced his
daughter, but there the action halted
the story petered out, and for weeks
the authors were stuck fast. One day
Belasco strolled into the office of a
Journalist.
Whats an episode in New York life
that would be good and new III play?"
he asked.
Across the street in that bank" was
the reply, "a board of directors sat all
last night to devise a way to save the
institution from wreck But as you
see, notice of suspension is posted on
the closed door this morning"
When Men and Women" was pro-
duced, it's strong third act the portion
which saved the play, was an all-night
meeting of an imperilled banks di-
rectors. The defaulting cashier was
the governors daughters lover, to save
whom she induced her father to lend a
half million to the bank. I fancy this
is the only play that David Belasco
ever began without seeing the way
clear to the end.
Two dummies, Drama and Jackie, by
seeming to talk in roof gardens, have
set their audiences to talking about
them Jackie is a ventriloqust' fig
ure dressed like a British sailor, and
with a flexible face that froWns and
grins. But he doesn't take attention
away from the Arthur Prince who OPP
crates him. Prince is too truly heauti-