Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-27

Bucl1ing Billy, from WatsOn's. VIM. Jarrett
Deputy sheriff ..........A.bert Cunningham
faro dealer ..-........... Edwin Anglim
Joe ......................L Louis VI. Holland
Concertina player N.........'.. walter Ross
Inc Inc rIuge DoS RANK uatter
The girl. .............. Frances Nordstrom
Wewkle, the fox; Billy's squaw. .'........
......................L Lowell Alice Taylor
Citizens of the camp and boys of the ridge.
BY W. HERBERT BLAKE.
Whatever local triumphs the future
may have in store for Frances Nord-
strom, the Burbank audience of yes
terday will always think of her as The
Girl of the Golden West" For her
premiere in the capital of Southern CAL
ifornia as new leading woman. the
choice Of this typically western play
was most happy. 1t made both aud
fence and actress feel at home from the
first moment of decorously cordial well
come and the modest response of the
new player. 1t was not unlike dis
covering a new Native Daughter.
Miss Nordstrom's acting fully justi-
fled her welcome. 1t was a fresh, nm
spoiled child of nature and simple faith
that we saw in the first two acts Of
David Belascos tremendous play. Girt
in by mountain Businesses, tending bar
for the rough, hot-tempered crowd of
IllHlllB CAMP ntI purity anu neI
blithe and sunny humor seemed strange
things-inexplicable by any of the
mathematical rules of character build
ing. Womanly every instinct yet blurt.
ing out the wild and comic lingo of the
life which surrounded her with quaint
innocence, she was as much a delight
ful paradox as Jack RANGES code of
gambling honor or the latent nobility
of the road agent" Every moment
she fought a battle, cheerfully and
gamely, and at each victory she swept
her opponents with her to higher
ground. In the Academy of the HUI
manities she was sole faculty, and her
lessons the real law of the camp.
As love came. swiftly and surely, into
her life the Girl of Frances Nord-
strom's enacting grew older-became
the Woman. In the rapidly succeed
ing crises in which she saved the life
of her lover we saw the transformation.
With a dynamic power of self-sacrifice
and self-assertion, she rose from being
the bar maid whom nobody quite dared
to insult to the uncrowned queen Of
men, of whom only one quite dared TO
love her. 1t was this evolution Of
character slow but very real which
made Miss Nordstrom's impersonation
a compelling and q memorable piece
of acting.
Four other portrayals stand out in
varying degrees of clear-cut precision
Mr.. Landau's highwayman vas a
frankly idealistic piece Of work. well
conceived and played, in the main
with sincerity The actor rarressed a
natural temptation TO make the char
acter pSeudo-heTo. The man has no
measure of hypocrisy in his nature
Love ihuminates the crooked places in
him, but TO the end he faces his fate
rlanfully and recognizing tie brutal
logic of his captors. So truly did Mr.
Landau dep.ct this trait tnat 1t the
climax of Act III we did lot expect
Johnson TO escape, although deep in
our hearts we hoped he might.
Mr. Bosworth's Indian hai some
Caucasian habits. natural enough per-
Eaps to a half-civilized roamer Of the
prairies. He was well namel jack
rabbit" He had the lope of the spe-
cies. The rendition of America" with
Miss Taylor's charming squaW. was in
irue Indian chant. 1t amazed the
Academy, but after all. whJ has a
better right to sing it than tie original
americans 4
Mr. Mestayer's bartender was a good
study, We'll portrayed. Mr Beasley
CVerdid the sepulchral bass Of the
sheriff especially in the first act He
Visualized the character admirably
but frequently we were hard put to
understand him. An indsti - utter
= alCC is one Of the most painful things
an audience can listen to. Toward the
end of the play Mr.. BeaslcJ remedieG
this defect, but it marred his work
materially in the first act
MI Hartford embodied Sonora Slim
the man who to my own pet sonal no
ton ought to have won the Gul-und
did it well. Mr.. Burton founl his op-
1,OrtuOitipe fpIs -6Tp1Igpxr in T,,i,tf .
dad Joe, and utilized then. Henry
StOckbridge had the piteously GespicG-
BILE part of the faro cheat, and shed a
little welcome humOr on the part. Mr.
Marks, as the captive "greascr" was
more convincing than on ms second
appearance in minor role. "Doub-
ling" has its obvious disadvantages.
The incidental roles were actcptablN
assumed, the acting of Mr.. Pierson,
Mr.. Gilbert and Mr.. Young especially.
If you never have seen the most llU-
man play in the David Belasco roper
toire, the present production of "The
Girl Of the Golden West" viii afford
you a new dramatic discovery, and d
very welcome one.
With William II. Thompson in
pride Of Regiment and Donald
BoWles in Guilty" both at the Or
EpeuIl lnlS week. DeSlnnlnS lDiS ait
ernoon, that playhouse aim passes
the threshold Of the "legit'matn." D."
pride of Regiment is a pr ,nounced
English success having run fourteen
months at the Haymarket, London,
where it continues. Mr.. BoWles
has a Rafties-like sketch, said to CON
tain some striking situations. Quin-
Ian and Mack come in a comedy slit
called "The Travelling Dentist The
two Bobs, Alden and Adams, are COM
posers and singers, and bring q
budget of their own new SONGS vita
them. THE Devil and Tom Walker. "
Ben Welch, Katchen Loisset and her
funny dog, Honey" and Vittoria and
Giorgetta remain, with new motion
pictures.
Ben Welch, now appearing at the
Orpheum. received the best Christmas