Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-07
THE CAST
ny sIDIE LAWRENCE

II AVID BELASCOS THE Girl OF the
ID Golden West" presented last
~ night upon Brother Frederick
stage by Brother Frederick's company
again emphasizes the mastery stage
craftsmanship of the eastern member
of the Belasco family. 1t is an art OF
itself, this knack of impressive stag
ing. an art first brought into proml-
nence in this country by the late
Augustin Daily and which now has been
developed by David Belasco far beyohd
the point where Mr. Daily left off.
The play opens with fieeting scenic
nanorama' of Cloudy Mountain, the
Girls little cabin near it's summit; the
Polka saloon near its pase' anu II
closes with another panorama, a Call
fornia prairie, the mountains in the
distance in the foreground camp
fire and red blanketed tepee in Whlch
the Girl is sleeping. The sun rises over
the peaks. The Girl aWakes, Dlds a
pathetic and poetic farewell TO the
place that had been her home and then
turns her face resolutely eastward TO
that new home the man is TO make Tor
her. finally seeking solace in the man S
arms Here one false note would de-
stroy the whole harmonious fabric, but
this is Belasco at his best and the note
never is sounded.
A California Play
During the past two seasons this
play has been so much in the pubic
prints. in magazines and in reviews,
that an extended discussion of its mer-
its here would seem to be unnecessary,
even though it was presented last night
for the first time in this city. The
story is of California in the days of
the early gold excitement. The scenes
are laid in and near mining camp.
The characters are miners, the usual
hangers-on of such communities, and
the Girl, child-woman who could have
developed nowhere but in the surround
ings depicted.
Her father a gambler and saloon
keeper her mother his assistant in the
management of the Polka saloon and
gambling house. 1.-The girl" grows up
with only one saving influence in her
life, yet through the power of that IN
fluence she grows up a good woman.
Her father and her mother had re-
mained lovers throughout their married
life. 1.-The girl' sees this and appre-
ciates it. She is taught to be square,
because that is the code of the camp,
but she is taught to live clean because
the two she had loved best in all the
world were themselves clean.
Climax Upon Climax
In large measure the character of the
Girl makes the play, and thus the psy-
Geological end of he drama comes at
the close of the second act. Follows
then another act, the opening of which
is trivial, but which soon develops
into a variation of the second act
theme, leading anew to another climax
constructed upon what Is practically a
repetition of the earlier psychological
situation. Thus the problem again is
solved at the close of the third act,
The fourth adds nothing new, but it
closes the story with one of those tense.
quiet curtains dear to the artistic
heart and somewhat rare in melodrama.
The conflict embodied in the play is
that between the girls love for the man
and the girls hatred for the road agent.
She meets "Mr. Johnson" first while
on a trip away from home. Later ne
turns up in the camp and she surren-
ders to his wooing. Then she discovers
he is the road agent for whom posse
are looking, and drives him from hel
house. But when he returns, wounded
she takes him i'll, confesseS her love
anew, and when the sheriff discovers
the man in hiding, plays three hands oi
poker with that official, wagering her
self against the mans life. She win!
by false play, violating her code fol
love; nurses the man to health anC
starts him on his way for the east. He
is captured, however. and brought bacl
when the Girl again saves him, thi
time by showing his captor what thu
mans life means to her. Then they 60
away together, the final act disclosing
them on their way to take up new
life in new country.
Miss Hunt an Artist
Apart from the excellence of it's stag
ing, last nights presentation of this
play at the Belasco was notable also fol
some very excellent acting, chiefly by
Miss Alice Treat Hunt as the Girl ant
Lewis S. Stone as the road agent. Mis-
Hunt scored little less than triumph
II was her local debut and it must have
proved highly gratifying to the younl
woman herself and to her friends.
1t was no small feat of mnemonics
y his mastering of a role of such lengtl
as "the girl" within the few days tim
Miss Hunt had to devote to 1t, par
tlcularly as the role demands OF IL