Los Angeles herald., 1907-07-23
capt. UlNKS'
DELIGHTFUL
BATHER FRoTHY FITCH PLAY
GIVEN FINE PRESENTATION
ETHEL BARRYMORE SHOWS DE-
cIpEp ADVANCE IN ABILITY
Atmosphere of . Generation Ago Ad-
nirably Preserved and Many
Quaint Touches Make Com
edy Happy Offering

Thirty-odd years--one generation-ean
make a huge change IN aHafs IN TINS
rApidly-mOving United states OF ours
The chief value In Captain JlhAs, tne
Clyde Fitch comedy which Ethel Barty-
more presented at the Mason last nlshL
is IN emphaszing this fact
What younRster OF today would sup
nose for Instance that only a generation
bael-a time quite familiar 20 many pres
ont whose hair is not YET gray or gone
that hoOpskirts and busues were as es-
sential portion OF the attire OF every
modest woman? or that chignons, nets
and roaehss were necessary IN lhSI
coiffurss7
or. again, that "champagne Charlie.
ssrasaeis on Her Books" up IN Bal
loon, Boys" or Captain Jinks" supplied
the position in the musica! world now
usurped by ragtime and the coon
s0ng2
or that street transportation was con-
lnad 10 horse csrs--that uptown IN
New York was Fourteenth street-that
transatlantic steamers were all Eieewheel.
paddlebox affairs-that Horace Greeley
was running for presideni-thRt Los An
geles was a o0be puebloz
All this was thirty-Ood years ago-hfter
e'the war"-the time wherein Captain
links is Laid.
This, OF course, has nothing to do with
the play-save the odd costumes. II is
merely reeited that one may the better
get into its atmosphere, for outside OF it's
atmosphere II has few claims TO won
drouE merit
Fitch has really caught this atmos-
phere fbo-admirahly He has chrys-
tallized IT, and about 1t has reared n
slight but withal interesting fabric of n
play, HiR plot is not startling Nor Is
his work overly enhanced with the usual
fsxrn faf mn.
fo-date society which oharacterizes most
OF his writings. The flavor of lavender
and old lace makes UP for the lack of
irony and icnnoclasm, and 1t is rather a
relief 10 record the absence of these very
modern attributes,
The comedy was written for Miss Bar
rymnre, and its great redeeming feature
Is that It keeps her young maid instead
of making her a middle-aged mother as
in ''Aliee- Eft-hy- the-Fire." or an old hag
of a eharwoman. as in 1.-THE Silver Box .
Miss barrymore has youth and good
looks. and she will lose both soon
enough heaven knows, TO make it worth
while TO utilize both while dme is kind
10 her.
The plot of CAPTAIN links does not
burden one with complications-in fact.
II borders close TO the transparent and
the eblivious. even it is susceptible Of
being the overworked
Ii tells OF the alteration paid to the
girl who, unnoficed at home, goes away
and under fictitious name becomes a
prima donna. and OF the attentions show
cred on her when she returns; of a bet
made 10 win her, and her reputation of
her spogting suitor, only to take him in
the end
Hulfthere is plenty OF whimsical char
acter drawing, some rather clever hits
at the popular conception of grand opera,
few tender love passages and the in
evitable happy denouement So that
after all, IL IS not half bad
A. Marie Trentoni. Miss Barrymore
wins everyone The writer saw her in
rhe same play some few years back and
r Flsassd 70 record great advance in
Ae- art she Is fresh. wfnsome and she
possesses strong sense Of hurnor and
II E-z rz-hsr trivial part she endows
Y Wz-E a C-E-EEUi1ess that almost makes
one ae4sTz II quite a possible reality
Ee- E-uw-h n brusdrezz and ability Is
-nasz Gac@zssz
B-7ce Near ss Captain Jinks Is eEec-
rFs ard Vlvzel0r-s. George Pzurcef9-t
ard Ec-11 flzFsr ara good a. his Goldfish
trle7dS, EIEszs Tspsau fs especially fra
as tae hzAsE E-zsrer. ard the smaller
roles ara vel hzn5l4,5 hv the clever corr
panE, EspeeizIlT d EEis Geruor ss Mrs.
Greeneoro-g1 and George Swift as Pete
deserve gDod T1rd
Carrots VIII Be @ddsd 70 the bfII h.
ginning THURSDAY