The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-09-24
AmuSen1enfS
.sThe woIfo at The Grand.

tNOhk" ut Nue HE8md. While melodrama is not a thing that refined audiences usually crave. yet in this day of musical extravaganza and nonsense, a good melodrama when presented by actors who do not over do their parts comes as distinct re- lief. and is usually drawing card at the best theatres of the country; 1t their feelings have full sway. Such a melodrana was seen at the Grand last night.
 The Wolf" is we'll written. in that the character sketching is capitally done. It Is direct. it Is sincere and free from all convention. It Is a play in which characters live simply and close to nature, and express them- selves simply and vividly.
 It tells the story of a girl who was deceived. and sent to her death in the Canadian Hudson Bay country. Her half brother seeks the man and finds him attempting to lure another girl to her ruin. It happens that the half brother loves this girl. and he takes her away only to have the william fol- low. The two men meet in the dark and light. The audience sees them in the faint light, and clearly above the howl of the wolves, comes a moan as one falls The victor strikes a match, but the audience does not need to DO told that the right man has won, and that the play ends happily.
 The role of Jules Beaubien. a young French Canadian, by Andrew Robson, is excellently done. He has the phy- sique for the character of the simple woodsman the role calls for but more than this, he has personality. It is this that makes the audience forget that 1t is looking at a play, the thing that makes them feel with the young woodsman and instinctively take hts part. Yet in no small measure Is this state of mind of the audience due to the author. MT. Robson sets a stand ard that compels his cast to play to his lead.
 Ben La Mar, as Andrew MacTavish, a Scotch settler. does by far the best character part In the play. His dia- lect. his ideas concerning women and affairs, while conventional require the best of acting, as such a part is usu- ally underdone or, more often, over done The highest praise that may be said of Mir. La Mars acting can be nothing more than that one thought him a genuine Scotchman and not an actor
 Although the play is melodrama of the veriest sort, Louis Haines in the role of George Huntley. an American engineer, added just the touch of com edy necessary. During the first act, a slight impeachment of speech some what marred the excellent lines his role called for, but the comedy was there. After the first act MT. Haines was all that the audience desired; they showed it during the last scene.
 Miss Lorie Palmer as MacTavish's daughter was merely a pawn in the game played by the men. her part calling for but little except at the close of the second act when her de- nouncement of the villain as liar. liar. liar, liar" showed that the role was in capable hands.
 Of course the villain fares badly at the hands of the audience. No matter what his personality or how slick villain, the audience shows its hatred the moment he begins his plot. How ever. Alfred swenson, as William Mac Donald, the betrayer of women show ed himself a capable villain.
 Eugene Walter, the author. has caus- ed his play to be well staged in every detail, and Montgomerians knew some thing out of the ordinary run of plays was to be presented. for full house erected the rise of the curtain for the first time this season. "Forty-fve Minutes from Broadway, George M. Cohan's musical triumph, will be seen at the Grand tonight.