The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-31

by Bsiasco. Of what use would 1t be to moraiisef A more pertinent point for this writing .is that the concurrent Garter and Beiaaoo dxasnes don't re- sembie each other at 6Ai and that the dissimflarity comes of Belasco's dfverg- snee from rosnanticism to iiteralism.
 The caption of '-Tho Easiest way" is meant to say that . pretty young ac- sibiy hard to thrive vfrtuousiy on the New York stage. but may prosper easi- iy if she takes the way that is vicious. Belasco was shrewd to instst on the gentle and eorpely Frances Starr for the example nhow giri: for there is e sufyiciency of the tougher type in one who. though as handsome as Laura Nelson Hall, smokes, drinks and swears like man roundar while preaching and practicins the doctrine of easy waywardness Frapces, on . Colorado summer vacation. mates for love with q newspaper reporter hard of head. soft of heart and light of pocket. She is to go back to New York and get q live Ing by nothing else than acting while he stays out West to seek q fortune. The New York broker whom she has belonged to oo<ncs to take her home. but she tells him of her betrothai. and the two men talk it over frankly.
 ''She. means to keep faith with you" to gay iuxnries and isn't enough of an actress to earn them- She'il be ready to return to. me after c spell of do- ing without them--s1pless you strike 1t rich and quick, which Isn't likely. I'll Ibe mighty glad to take her back, too; but give you my word of honor that before adoing so I'll Jet you know. I mean to give you two square desi in this little game. but I'm dead sure you won't win"
 Frances is seen next meanly lodged here in New York. She has sought In vain an engagement on her merits. Her fine clothes and jewellery are hooked. Her landlady threatens to turn her out and her maid to leave her. Letters come from her fiance bringing much love but no news of wealth. She slumps deep in the dumps. Her churn Laura makes a visit, not of coincidence or sympathy. but to argue that her sensible. way back to gaiety Is easy. as her former paramour would welcome her. He invites her to a supper that though he VIII make his word good to the man out in Colorado. She~1writes at the brokers dietatdon to tell the reporter of her shift from virtue to vice and hlithely sends out her maid with pawn tickets to get apparel for the supper. The middle section of the play ends with her grisving some over her lost hope of wedlock and toying much more over the prospect of re- newed guilt freshly giided. And she does not mall the letter to her fiance. She burns it,
 Belasco in his version of "Zaza" changed the termination so that the wanton didn't throw herself back Into degradation---as the. French author wrote it---after her failure to find hap ptness in better behavior, s"rhe Easiest Way goes right along to q logical ending The girl is ready liar, a moral weakling and withal Q charni- ing little wretch. It is her friend Laura who stands for coarse depravity and imparts to the play an atmosphere of degeneraey. The maid, too, Is not one of those faithful negresses who. in fiction usualfR follow the fortunes of their employers devotedly, but just such e lying. thieving wsnch as conn monly serves a mistress of the Tender loln only as long as 1t pays to. Wal ter Is an American zola and there will be the same disagreement over. the good and harm of his plays that arose over the Frenchman's novels
 What becomes of this show girl? Oh, she is seen again installed by the broker In iuxurtous apartments. The reporter gets sudden wealth and comes with ardor and cash to marry her. In- stantly she is all for wedlock and has, tily packs her trunks for honeymoon journey; but he learns of her renewed shame and bids her denuncfatoryi adieu. She takes up a pistol and ds- clares alle will kill ferself the instant hN ahuta the door on her.
 tiOh no. you won't" says he: s'you haven't the nerve. You'll take the easier way downward to the lowest depths of depravity."'
 When he IS gone, she lays the pistol aside. weeps and walls wildly--but brlehy--and then says in savage glee to the maid: Come, doll me up the again at Rector,s.'
 Frances Hodgson Burnett has cre- ated a slum girl, the sweetheart of a burglar accused of murder, for Elean- or Robson to become in "rhe Dawn of Tomorrow" and this girl with tangled hair and garb of squalor is marked for immortality by a millionaire's profligate son; but Mrs. Burnett and Miss Rob- son have not been led by examples to exploit a wicked heroine. Rather have they been attracted by the trend Of drama towards mental phenomena; for this waif, Glad of London streets. is Christian Scientist. A Seemingly weak and hazy is her curative science; she knows only that 1t consists of wish ing hard" that more wrong things may ocme right; yet her occult power of purity and faith cures one lover of thieving and the other of llcentious- ness. ~
 Also. Glad saves a man of wealth from idiocy and death. That Is the salient thing indicated in the title of '"The Dawn of a Tomorrow" Sir ol- iver Holt is told by mental specialists that he Is doomed to paresis. He would rather die quicker while still sane. He goes to an obscure lodging to kill hlm- self. There he encounters Glad. who has caught the Christian Science idea while i'll in a hospital. Incidentally, Miss Robson makes her q slightly crea- ture though unkempt, and, remark able girl to be found in a centre of misery like Apple Blossom Court, set to the whole width and depth of tue stage with scenic realism and thronged