The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-10-30
ADJUSTMENTS.

1S67-IS0S. Forty-One years have elapsed
since the period of The Clansman-' If
This smelOdrama. presented at the Salt
Lake theatre last evening, had been Civ
en- TO the northern public forty years ago
there would have been riots and suppress
sion of the play. After all these years,
the north and the south-a reunited ma
tion-can Judge the play and the prob
a minimum The author, a southern man,
Is shrewd enough not to give the southern
characters monopoly of the virtues. He
pictures the best northern characters as
honest, but deluded. and in accord with
the south when the real issue is brought
home TO them.
1t is probably true that 90 per cent of
the audience last evening felt the same
way.
A melodrama, to win popular applause
must have at least one really strong and
popular emotion to which il appeals.
THE Clansman" appeals to several of the
conventional chords of the heart in
mild way. But there is one chord on
which Il twangS ncisily and tumultuous-
". Il Is the chord which set the ancient
Greeks. and later the Romans, at war.
1t is the chord which has ever thrilled
the men of white, civilized nations. when
ever an appeal has been made TO it
They cannot violate our women. In
the different eras the word they" has
been differently applied. But whenever
.'they" means an allen race, the men of
the nation affected have gone to ex
tremes. THE Clansman" plays to the
limit of the author upon this chord, in
tensified by the resentment of the white
race for the black.
Upon this one powerful emotional ap-
peal depends the success Of 1.-The Clans
man." Intrinsically. aside from this. II
is scarcely more than an ordinary meio-
drama. 1t is Uncle Toms Cabin re-
versed to give a southern idea. There
are no blOOdhOunds, but there are three
sheeted ponies who are paraded across
. ~ 4 Of old loo
slave, Uncle Tom" there is a young,
abused white woman. who is saved from
the attempts of a black. or near black.
And so on There are Several trite melO-
dramatic scenes, and one which is nov
city The novelty is the meeting of the
Ku KluX Khan in a cave, where the col
OTed man who attempted violation of a
white girl IS made to confess and is car
ried off to his doom.
From III Individual standpoint, the ad-
vance agent is the star of the perform
ance. He ingeniOusly makes the average
reader Of newspapers think this reason
ably good melodrama q remarkable pro-
duction. He didn't succeed in securing
an interview with the writer of this crit
icism. but he lands pretty well around.
and crowded house bore testimony 10
his persistence and pelf.
Next TO the press agent, the best en-
tertainer was Madge Durand. who por-
trayed with artistic detail the real old
darkey nanny" Her foil. Barry Max
next in line Charles J. Wilson. as Silas
Lynch, the villain OF the nlelodrama as
put forth in the character of the mulatto
lieutenant governor OF South Carolina,
rose to the occasion. Franklin Ritchie,
as Ben Cameron. the hero" is a fair
juvenile actor. The rest of the cast are
about what one would expect to see in a
fairly good melOdramatic company. play
ing 10 popular prices. and not TO prices
charged by the Salt Lake theatre.
The Clansman' runs the rest of the
week.
II has been some two or three years
since Elmer Walters millionaire
Tramp visited Salt Lake. but the mem
DRY OF the patrons of the Grand must
have been good. and they must have
borne in mind that this particular com
pany was undoubtedly the best OF all
the tramp productions for a large au-
oience greeted the attraction last even
ing at the Grand. II is but fair to the
management as well as to the company
10 say that same is far above the aV-
erase popular price attraction. and is one
OF the best Of its kind now before the
public. and the hearty welcome accorded
the several players last evening was mer-
lied The same bill finishes out the week
al the Grand. including a matinee SAT-
urday afternoon.
Next week. The Pride of New York
a musical satire with a bevy of pretty
girls and several big vaudeville acts. in
Guiding Wallace. the msn-eatfnsy lion will
Ill