The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-08
KISSES AND DAVID BELASCO.
IMPORTANCE or rue DOTTED I
IN HIS RECENT DRAMAS.
why Hes Not = %IOeaItst. SOr All IIIS ReRIIsm
shown Anew in Tho WarreOs Oh vlF-
~gi9la"-PlSy Finds where True Drama
BeginSANr. keenan's Fine Acting.

10BhttNw~NHNs ~ w aAFhuNuSs
Once it was a he'd. now II in u kiss. that
MIR. BeloscO cannot get along without In
his dramas. Having discovered hat beds
are also used 10 sleep upon. the Wizard has
discarded them from his hist Of theatrical
properties. and adopted kisses.
The BelascO kiss differs from every other
variety. when all il said. what In a kiss2"
asked CyranO. and he replied to his own
question that IL was "a rose rod dot upon
the letter in loving" and many other dc
lectable things beside. which 80 moved the
heart Of the fair RoXane that she cried out.
Come and gather II. the supreme hOweri"
But there tho matter ended. She didn't
say anything moro about that particular
kiss all the rest OF the play. The I vas
dotted. the page turned. Roxane. however.
was Frenoh. MIR. Bslasco's resent heroines
are not. Such c.rpC diem philosophy is
impossible for them. They 90 on talking
about the kiss till the end Of the chapter.
IL In evidently a tremendous event in their
young lives. The Girl on the Golden West.
who had tended har in a California mining
camp for years without a single lapse from
The chaete standards ~ Dowie, Jr.. which
IL one of-the miracles OF modern drama.
had no regrets that her lover was n high
wsyman. But she couldn't get over the
fact that he had her first kiss She dwelt
upon this awful loss with pathetic insis-
tence. The little Rose Of the Rancho.
who had been Laughing in the leaves"
Tor quite some time amid amorousiy inclined
yOung men Of Spanish extraction. was
equally ignorant of the dotted ! till her
false lover kissed her. And then she ran
to the shrine Of the Virgin and wiped the
vile thing from her lips. And in The
Wsrrens Of Virginia" we find the same
allegiance 10 the Prohibition party among
tho fair daughters of the F. r. va. Agatha
Warren. who in common with the rest Of
her family talks about Southern chivalry'
and such things 10 a degree that almost
approaches realism. il quite as unkissed
~ her California sisters. And after her
Northern lover has taught her the proper
way TO dot m i. it lie that which rankles in
her bosom when she learns his treRchery.
The mere fact that he has violated the hos
pitality of her home. that he has brought
ruin on the Southern cause. disgrace upon
her father. that he has done. though in the
stern duty Of war. a despicable thing and
shattered her ideal Of him. is apparently
as nothing beside the fact that he has kissed
her. II is that she RACES about. walking
down stage toward the fireplace. For
her the ! seems to be measured by the size
of the dot.
Now perish the thought tina we should
seem to speak lightly of 40 important a
matter as a ady's kissl L. is a subject,
to be sure. that We would not wish to ap-
pear too Wise about: but we would not
appear unduly ignorant either. And when
The Girl Of the Golden West sets so much
store by something (which neither her
environment nor her instincts would have
taught her was of supreme importance
We are a bit sCeptical. Again We are scep-
ticsl when Uiss Igdthd Of Virginia naively
tells Lieu. Burton that down South a man
doesn't kiss a girl. nor a girl a man. till
It's very swfuily important and meaningful.
That h doubtless supposed to be another
manifestation of Southern chivalry."
Whether it is chivalrOus or not is largely a !
matter o. individual temperament Whether
Il Is true or not is another question. and
one that cannot be decided except by the
evidence of those who manifestly wont
come into court to testify. But a certain
gentle and kindly scepticism will surely not
be construed as an insult. ever in Virginia. |
Rather may it he taken as a compliment
n Southerners talked a little less about
their chivalry they might win more Gre
dence for it AS something different and
finer than the ordinary g~entleman's regard |
for his women folk the world over. As
It is the matters of sex probably absorb
quite as much Of the attention of Southern |
men and women as of Northern. and the
Southern girls probably no less instinctively |
on her guard against the sweet, amorous
assaults of her chivalrous young cavaliers.
and no more tenacious in resistance.
Ths whole question ia one of very con- |
.fdarabla Vnirnnorfanca ~ thara'a anu-
body who doesn't know, that the kiss Of
first love. the betrothal embrace, is a high
and holy thing, a civilized community is |
no place for him. And il there is anybody
who does not know that there are also other
kisses sweet and harmless; that the hymn
of loves ~omnipotence never was and never
can be chanted with meeting lips alone,
he is a very curious sort Of person. Mr..
Belasco is overworking this kissing BUSH
mess. He has tried to give to something
superficial and episode the air OF depth
and finality. He has turned a simple mani
fsstation of half physical passion into
a dramatic convention and sought with
IL 20 achievclan effect OF emotional reality.
The attempt is go characteristic OF his
m~ethods-we say his Methods advisedly,
though William de Mile wrote the War
rens Of Virgins" il serves 10 point a
lesson quite as well as anything else in this
latest play at his theatre
For Mr.. Belasco. widely heralded though
he be as a ~realist. is as a matter Of fact no
realist at all. The achievement Of true
poetry perhaps requires the brightest talent
and the most devoted effort. But next to
that the achievement OF realism is the most
di6icult task forsthe artist. one that re-
quires insight. imagination. unfiagging
purpose, unfiinching adherence to the
truth. Realism is truth TO the facts of life.
and realism On the stage must be truth to
the facts OF life mirrored in an art form the
most trying of all art forms to bend to
reality. The play wright who would be a
romantic or who would create melodramas
is allowed considerable license of plot and
incident: he can use various Of the dramatic
conventions with which the stage bridges
the gulf between fact and fiction. But the
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