The Detroit times., 1909-12-21

vanished truth about plays OF ;he
Miss Innocence order that detached
William Winter from his lifelong con
nection with the dramatic page OF the
New York Tribune, we approach our
lpresent duty with trepidation.
We know no neater way OF getting
at IL than by laying down the dictum
to the pure all things are pure. which
is 10 say, 10 the innocent Miss limo
cence is just that and nothing more
Winter must have been associated
with the stage too long-the stage that
bids us be ignorant so long as wisdom
is folly. Having plucked from the
tree OF knowledge. he took up muck
raking So with gay eew 'Tork-too
gay When il clamored for the purg-
ing OF the boards OF such offerings as
The Girl from Rector's,' The Girl
OF the Moulin Rouge" The Easiest
Way" "The Blue Mouse" and Miss
Innocence" il only betrayed Its de-
pravity. II showed that II knew too
much. II discredited itself and did no
harm TO art
All in favor, then. OF looking at the
current Offering at the Detroit through
the eyes OF Innocence and Ignorance
say aye. The rs have IT, This Is
play 10 which you should go with
souls untouched by sin. adoring
beauty; adorned or elsewise. for
beauty's sake solely II you must be
indecent. let II be what Victor Hugo
lcalled the "chaste indeceney OF child
! hood" You should contemplate the
postgraduate course OF Miss lnnO-
icence. of Innocence Seminary on limo
cence Island. with the guilelessness OF
another OF the great French writer's
4 hlameless maids who had only one ter
rifying memory as she went through
/ a decorous life-once a man saw her
garter. Or with the touching simple
ness OF the untaught lass in Moliere's
I comedy who believed that babies came
/ ont OF the ears. Or, last OF all, with
the charming. uniformed view OF the
curious children viewing the undrnped
/ figure in the art gallery. "Oh. isn't
( il lovely" said the little fellow: and
/ then. II wonder II II is a man or
woman" oh" replied the wee girl,
you must wait until il is dressed be-
/ fore you can tell that"
I
long before passing Judgment upon
! the present company and presenta-
ton: besides it would be raising the
mischief with the ipnocency point or
view which is the point OF departure
/ IN this review. Taking as our text the
wisdom OF Ecclesiastes, In much
learning is much grief. for he mat
lincreaseth knowledge increasetn sor'
row" we proceed In all unworldiiness
10 watch the unfolding OF MISS lnno'
cence's experience from the wnat-is-
a-man period through French care
Viennese ballet school. room In a
Partisan hotel, studio on the Rhine'
a chapter from Three Weeks 10 the
Land Of the Peach Blossoms.
a great graded course; and what could
be more interesting than the un1oii-
ing OF an impressionable girlish nature
under this uplifting tutelage.
Especially the French cafe. designed
originally to supply the inner man
but now widened in its scope 10 cater
to the French inner and the American
sinner. Well, Miss Innocence. IN tha'
hectic realm where men ana Wo
men fitted, fought and flrted'
took up champagne. That was the
first course. Then she wondered wnat
was the matter with her eyes. Whlch
the Innocents Abroad Detroit audi
ence In the L'Abbaye. Monmarte)
couldn't explain. being innocent, "a
already set forth. II was all very
vivid. very exhilerating. very entranc-
ing. very Anna Heldish the way the
Miss from Innocence Isle In the Medi-
lterranean sea. encompassed the wide
world and wound up In the peach
orchard with a moustached military
lover. tall and brave and full OF manly
grace. the very one (as we liveD that
broke into the girls school and start
ed TO '1earn her" things right there
What a delightful romance-to the
unenlightened.
But there was much also In this
sumptuous Offering for the worldly
wise the stated, the pluckers from the
tree OF knowledge. Lavishpess ruled
| in the stage pictures, and there was
much sprightliness and tunefulness
/ incident to Miss Innocence's progress
IN getting wise. by the Light OF the
Silyery Moon" set bells tintinnabulat-
ing all over the house, and some or
the stage effects would have set ON
alarm bells in happy homes all over
town II the audience were not OF the
what.is-a-man guilelessness. Then
there was present with his shining
pon. our jerky friend Charles A. Bige-
low. the greatest detective In the
world. who couldn't for the life OF him
disguise himself as a waiter. because
everyone knows he is the knight OF
( the napkin who made 81 tips popular
at the box Office Conspiring brilliant
lv with him against either solemnity
or shock on the part OF the audience
was Miss Alice Hegeman. proprietor
OF the School for Innocence. These
directoire devisers OF mirth left moth
ing 10 be contorted.
Finally, and eye-fillingly, Anna Held
! is Anna Held-her superb youthful
uess still being the direct object OF the
transitive verb fIs this clearO In
! act RI she Is borne aloft. vision OF
( loveliness. a radiant goddess in an air
shin who shall say that her pecu-
! liar charms have not at last reached
higher plane?
This will be a week OF nightly limo
ccnce AZ the Detroit. with an afternoon
/ OF Il Christmas day.
GARRick.
Who said football Is rough
game?" Not the author OF BILLY"
,-of opa Oft tho NJ