The Washington herald., 1909-04-04
Misdirected Idealization.

These heroes Of George Cohan's are no
worse than other heroes in a great many
respects-in fact. they have many en-
gaging and entertaining quality about
them-but the trouble is he transports
them entirely above their legitimate sphere
bv too close adherence TO the "get-rich-
quickly" idea OF modern times. There
has been time in the history OF the
American stage when the honely habi
tants Of lower Manhattan could be ef-
fectively used as stage figures. as a re-
version TO the memory OF HaTTigan- and
Hart and the rest Of the old-timers viii
amply testify The Bowery boy as a
product OF metropolitan life was sui
generis and as such a characteristic per-
sonage he found his place upon the
boards. but to be appealing he must be
kept within his character. To suddenly
transform him into a modern Croesus IS
absurd. thereby removing mis- most pa
thetic attraction, that OF ragged sim
plici:y, and 10 inject him into the ranks
OF high society is ridiculous. thereby sur
rounding him with environs completely
incompatible with his nature It Is as
congruous 10 present a costermonger in
the hablliments OF a West End exquisite
or a cowboy with the perquisites OF Bea-
con street. Any OF the aforementioned
exhibitions must of necessity be farcical
and as the given conditions are unques-
tionably present in the case Of Kid Burns,
ne must necessarily fall into that cate
CORY.
Kid Burns is undoubtedly a modern
and revised edition Of the Bowery boy
beatihed. The experiment Of making him
a resident of New Rochelle does not less
en- the conviction as to his true place
. His type, as regards speech, manners.
and mental calIber. is too indissolubly
associated with the lower East Side.
That IS his world He knows nothing OF
the manners and customs prevailing IN
other districts, and to attempt to intro
duce him into foreign parts is probably
to make a fool or at least embarrass
him. To equip him with slangy proclivi-
ties and TO surround him with song and
dance Is, on the other hand, entirely
proper. They are part OF his nature and
have been fitting adjuncts Of his char
acter throughout his progress along the
paths Of variety and melodrama. and to
make him the hero of the latter Is also
perfectly legitimate. for It is no more i'm
probable that the ragged street boy
should have a brave and noble soul con-
cealed by an humble exterior than it IS
for the untutOred GascOn hero of Dumas.
L Is the attempt to change his manners
which does the damage. for true good
manners ne could never take to, and the
manners OF the upper world as exempn-
fed in the Cohan comedies could never
benefit any one. for the term comedy OF
bad manners cannot be more aptly
applied to anything we know Of
II has been the custom TO dismiss these
things with the designation "Cohan-
ensque." but We cannot conceive how
anything can be "Cohanesque" without
THAI young mans actual presence. The
expression has always seemed TO imply
a medley OF roaring song and a whirI-
wind Of eccentric motions. To apply #
10 a bizarre method OF character deIinea-
ton would place It clearly within the
bounds Of misnome- Poe's favorite
.'Arabesoue" would be more fitting.