The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-09-15

New York, Sept. 13-The wife in 1.-The
Thief is a spendthrift. The desire of
her extravaganza is to beautify herself
I'm the eyes of her husband, so that he
will be steadfast in his love, and not
revert to his bachelor habits of promis-
cuous resort to more beautiful women
To that end she buys gowns. hats and
lingerie in the costliest modes. and
steals the money with which to pay
bills not audited by the husband. The
predicament for her and others is de-
plorable The wife in THE Movers"
comes of a family of plentiful spenders
and scant payers. She blithely SHIFTS
her expenses of wardrobe from her
father to a husband who. when his in
come drops hopelessly below the outgo,
and he fails to bunco a friend for more
capital. blows out the small amount of
brain that is in his aching head. The
wife in THE Man on the Case is so
lavish in her OUTLAWS that her husband,
under the stress of Wall street losses,
pawns her tewelry and has a hades Of
time getting it back
So three plays new in Broadway this
week have for theme the evil OF fem
mime extravaganza. Perhaps this is
not surprising in view OF the vogue Of
social problems on the stage, and the
rapidly multiplying feminine spend
tnIlllb VII lHC OidbNs iilO PAo9 W 6AN'f
casting about for subjects, hit easily
on woman's vanity. Such plot as there
Is IN the new nonsense play, The
Rogers Brothers in Panama" turns on
a quest of $25, 900 with which to keep
up appearances in society. Who says
the stage isn't a pulpit and rostrum
for the teaching of moral lessons?
X
Topping in effectuality the other
plays Of femininely frenzied finance is
THE Thief" A repellant title, but per
tinent. And then, too, Margaret Hing
ton is its thief You may know that
Margaret is a brilliantly handsome
actress, but not until Monday evening
did she show enough of genius TO make
people admire a thief-a sneak thief
at that-a thief who steals money from
her admirable hostess, and permits that
hostesss boyish son TO shield her by
falsely declaring himself the criminal
Tho Thief was original in French, by
Henri Bernstein, and IL Is a play Of
soul heart and especially brain; so
brave OF purpose, too, that l doff my
hat and bow low to it's author. But I
don't believe that any American author
could get American foOtlights to shine
on a drama with a thief for a heroine.
Bernstein placed his work in Paris,
where managers welcome oddly and
are willing to take the risk OF it.
Ii is easy to see, now that Margaret
Ellington has triumphed with 1t, why
she was glad to personate a thief; It is
love that makes her steal; and she is a
pitiful sufferer, because the jealous
husband accuses her Of disloyalty as
well as dishonesty. She is misunder-
stood, and woman gets a lot Of sat
isfdctOry misery out of a really cruel
misunderstanding Margaret makes her
audience weep copiously, and that is
enough to make an actress happy. But
can't understand why Kyrle BelleW
consented TO appear as the husband
who. although reasonable, still is OBJ
durate in his condemnation. Audiences
dOte on men who stand by their wives.
right, wrong and anyway. Wonderful
in jUvenility Is this Bellew. Close TO
sixty, he looks no more than forty. Per-
haps he tired of ornate romanticism,
enjoyed two years of thieveTy as Raj
files, and likes to keep on in the ways
of Sherlock Holmes and Anna Gather
inc Green. 1t looks odd, however, to
see an old star stand around, saying
Yes" and No" oh and All" while
a new star has a plenty OF language
with which to make fame. Think, too,
of the dignified Bellew letting his nose
be pulled for fun by an actress hardly
more than One-third his age. Bernstein
doesn't provide entrances for his hero
Inc and hero as native authors are told
TO, but diSclOses them seated side by
side. Nor need he be coerced to pro-
vide comedy relief throughout the
play. After the first five minutes. dur
ing which the playfuIly fond wife pulls
the husbands nose, just to see If she
can make him look like the nasally
odd de Bergerac, there isn't a CLEAN OF
meTriment. The author is privileged 10
keep close down to his pathetic theme
I don't have to tell the story OF The
L. as.rH III H.
genuity of the complication. An anna
teur detective convinces himself that
the households son is the thief, and
the innocent young fellow, knowing
that the culprit is the woman of his
infatuation. says guilty" when he is
accused. There's nothing original in
that You say. And l agree. too that
the heroine is not very unusual when
seeing the predicament that the Lao
gets into for love of her impulsively
blurts out a confession to save him
The play might end with the impas.
stoned plea with which she conVinces
her husband that her crime has beer
committed for love OF him. Surely, q
wife stealing money with which to dec.
crate herself. and thereby keep hel
husband charmed, might serve as g
plays bid for consideration. But the
husband has no sooner forgiven hi:
wife for being a thief-since love Of hin
IS her plea in eXtenuation-than sud
denly he bethinks him that love mus
be the reason why the boy becomes hel
scapegoat. Has she broken the third
commandment as well as the fourth
He thinks so, and that is more than h,
viii forgive. The audience knows he
To be loyal wife. and weeps profusely
over her double trouble-until IL o'clocl
when the truth prevails. and the plal
ends smilingly.
Martha Morton Cohn and Grace IiV
ingston Furniss are ladies in well-ul
circles OF New York fashionable socie
~ with a literary tinge to It, The,
are writers OF many plays too. b.
chance they both set out to write stag
expositions Of the evils OF modish ex
travagance so simultaneously tina
THE Movers" and THE Man on tn
Case" were introduced only one da,
apart. But there was more than tina
of separation in the nature of the tw,
works One is tragical and the othe
fareicaI. It is Mrs. Cohn who, in 9Th,
Movers" points her moral by driving ;