Los Angeles herald., 1907-07-29

ing the handicap of that soubrettish
name. No one in all justice should ex-
pect a young woman who Is known as
Lillian Mortimer to be so very devilish.
The name rather suggests multicolored
skirts, frank hosiery and nice, curly,
yellow hair.
The thriller thrills under the title "a
Mans Broken Promise" and the prom
Use is so badly broken, soon after the
curtain rises, that there seems no hope
of its ever being repaired. The play
wright, however, is equal to this emer-
gency and in the end right triumphs,
though 1t takes four acts to bring about
that happy and, and in melodrama,
usual state of affairs.
/ Just why the man broke his promise
in the first place is not quite clear, and,
having broken 1t, why he didn't leave
it alone instead of juggling with the
piece is another problem. However, had
he done so there wouldn't have been any
play; and that, judging from the en-
thusiastic approval of yesterday after
moons big audience, would have been
pity.
Lines Are Familiar
There are several good, old-fashioned
situations and one or two familiar
friends in the lines. "a girls best
friend is her mother says the perse-
cuted victim of the broken promise.
Ever hear that before? Seems almost
as though some one had written song
about it many years ago. 1.-The wages
of sin is DEATH. This, of course, in
the fourth act. Has a familiar ring,
hasn't it? And then there is the we'll
worn expedient of the substituted bride;
the woman who has been betrayed and
who in bridal attire, deeply veiled,
takes the place of another before the
minister and is herself married to her
betrayer instead of the beautiful heiress
whom she had thought to make his wife.
We always cheer when we see this trick,
| and the curtain always has to be rung
up and down several times before our
delight subsidies. That's right, isn't it,
| However, it must not be imagined that
Miss Mortimer has merely revamped
the old time situations and the old time
| lines in the carpentering of her play.
Whatever else 1t may be "a Mans
Broken Promise is not dull and it is
not hackneyed It arouses Grand audi
ences to the customary ecstatic pitch of
enthusiasm and therefore it is a sue
cess, name blown in the bottle, and guar
anteed by the pure drug act.
Play Is Well Cast
So far as the Ulrich players are con-
cerned the melodrama provides most of
them with just about the sort Of roles
in which the public likes them best.
Florence Barker is a demure little heir
ess whose love affairs refuse to run
smoothly. Charles Gum is a Johnny
on-the-spot hero who, however, is not
in love with the heiress, but with the
despitefully used victim of the villain
Myrtle Selwyn is a country girl who
knows how to point a revolver at crime
but who never fires one. Charles Caul-
lxins is the despised evil-doer and Lillian
Hayward is his mother, even deeper
stepped in crime than her son.
Miss Frances Ralston, local girl who
has played small parts with the Ulrich
company several times in the past, is
given her first real opportunity as Ned,
the crippled boy, and she makes good.
The gallery took her to it's big heart
yesterday and any timidity she might
have experienced otherwise was dis
PEELED by the warmth of the gods greet
ing. Bebe Daniels was cast for the
child, Mabel, but permission for her ap-
pearance could not be secured from the
authorities, and Leila Bliss was sub
stituted.
Miss Nina Burton, as the young wo-
man whose wrongs make all the trouble
really had the leading role among the
women and handled it most acceptably
Miss Burton has appeared in the Ul-
rich ranks only occasionally. 1t is to be
hoped that parts may be found for her
more frequently in the future