The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-10-23
Anlusen1enfs
ssThe AGan of the Houry at Montgomery
 Theatre.

~Ihe AkaM or the AOurD at m0nt80meT1
 Theatre.
 When play is presented before ar intelligent audience, that deals with things that the member of that au. dience know Of with fh ore or lesf familiarity, and that play convinces then the playwright, the producer. tht stage manager, and the cast, have something to be proud of.
 That's what "The Man of the Hour did last night at the Montgomery The. atre. when the old playhouse on Perr! { Street was filled with an audience O people who so to plays frequently ans watch their production carefully ant critically.
 George Broadhurst has done nor, than one good thing, but it is yer, probable that he had never before measured up to "The Man of the Hour standard. The play tells story of a part of life that every warm-blooded plays of which man says on leaving, T know Q character, just like such and such a member of the cast to- night"
 It's not hard to do things with a character of any age, from that ol Pericles down to the RevolutiopI We all have vague ideas of these people and the learned have distinct ideas of them. but the learned are few and a playwright can afford to take q chance on the few.
 But when playwright causes actors to play parts which are just as famil- far in their every detail to every mem Der of the audience as the blocks he covers between home and work, he has to contend with a different proposition. There are more learned critics.
 Broadhurst, in his play deals with modern American municipal politics. He tells of the temptations of q May or, put in office by machine, but who has promised himself to observe his oath and deliver the goods to his con- stituency. He does 1t. but he has to go through things that make the labors of Hercules pale Into insignifi- canoe. Incidentally, there is the in- evitabIe love story, and there arc char acters introduced that make the play what it is-thoroughly American. thoroughly enjoyable. and thoroughly wholesome.
 And there's the one bad point. It's little bit too wholesome to be as natural as the remaining points. There are a bit too many epigrams in fefer- ence to honesty and from the applause that greeted each one of these epi- grams, one might judge that there was not a crooked man in the house.
 The management has gathered to- gether an admirable cast. Broadhurst is never so good as he is in comedy, and naturally he did his best " ork in ''The Man of the Hour" with his two- character parts, the rival politicians Horrigan and Phelan. Phelan being on the right side of the play, of course, gets the best of the parts. and Felix Haney measured up to the Irish Alder man in everything. He breezed through his lines in admirable style. His makeup was thorough. his laugh contagious, and his reading beyond re- proach, The same, might be said of Louis Hendricks, who played Horrigan. if you'll omit the laugh.
 Lionel Adams, an actor well-known in Montgomery, capably filled the role of AIwyn Bennett. the political St. An thony. He carefully portrayed the steps in the devel opment of the cares less youth of means, sans ambition. to. the clear-cut officehold and man of affairs, and in both he was equally sin- cere. In his strongest emotion scene with his mother, Ethel Brandon, he came up to the occasion. as did Miss Brandon.
 Ruby Bridges of "way Down East'' fame. had the Dallas Wainwright work. but although she was pleasant to look upon, she did not seem to fit into ths part. Miss Bridges has done many better things.
 R. D. Cain and Murdock G. McQuar-