Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-02
INFANT ACTRESS
MAKES BIG HIT
BURBANK THEATER OFFERS
"THE ENSIGN"
5ebe Daniels Wins Much Applause,
but She Is Only a Small Part
Of cleverIy Presented
Play

With an aged mother to plead for
him, a beautiful sweetheart to smile
ana weep for him, sturdy old cox
swain anxious to lay down his life
for him and the dearest little maid inn
/aginable wanting to exchange her fa-
vorite dolly for his life it is little won
der that Abraham Lincoln intervened
just in time to save the neck of Ensign
Baird from the hangman's moose yes
terday at the Burbank.
Perhaps there are hearts that could
Withstand Nina Gleason as the mother,
Blanche Hall as the sweetheart, and
even John Burton as the coxswain
though the odor of brine from the
ocean was about him. Perhaps there
are hearts that could Withstand all
these, but certain 1t Is that no heart
beating that would not succumb to the
pleadings, of Bebe Daniels, the child.
The audience went wild over her. This
was not strange, for the audience was
more than mildly moved over every fea-
ture of the five acts of THE Ensign"
but Bebe Daniels carried the day.
She is such little bit of tot that one
cannot help holding ones breath when
she first comes on, fear perhaps that
such a tiny baby could not even say the
lines. Bebe Daniels dispels all this
the first time she opens her two pretty
lips. She has a voice that penetrates to
every corner of the house and she
could give Nmost of the stock actresses
of the country pointers on acting.
Ensign Baird is brave young officer
on the frigate San Jacinto. An En-
glishman, Lieutenant Blythe, insults
the American flag. The ensign avenges
the insult to the flag by taking the life
of the man who gave it and then the
trial and the fight for the life of the
ensign follow. All plead but with no
avail until the child offers her doll to
the president in return for the pardon
OF course it arrives just at the psyche
logical moment
Bebe Daniels cannot have quite all
the honors, for John Burton as the cox
swain is delight. AS the fat old sail
or, short on manners but long on man.
hood, he gives a charming performance
and he needs no stage Sctting to make
him convincing.
William Desmond plays the part of
the ensign and has heroic speeches ga
lore. Blanche Hall as the sweetheart
also comes in for share of that which
makes the audience feel they are get
ting their moneys worth. oh, that hair
of Elsie Esmond's! Each new way it is
arranged it seems more dazzling than
the last, and this week it is something
to dream about. She is Dot in the play
Joseph de Grasse who has been demon
strating his right to a high place
among Los Angeles actors during the
past few months, was good as the Sec
retary of the navy. Harry Mestayer
Henry Stockbridge, Willis Marks, Rob-
ert Homans, Harry Glazier and Harry
Llewellyn make the best of small roles
and George Webb is pressed into double
duty. Poor Abraham Lincoln is to be
pitied if his face was quite like the
face Robert Homans gave him last
night.
The Ensign" is better than we'll
worth seeing. Bebe Daniels and John
Burton are either one of them worth all
it costs. and then there are so many
others that it suggests "too much is
sufficient"