Evening star., 1909-06-22
A M U S E N E N T S
Belasco.

! Belasco.
The Son of His Father. a new four
act play. which was tried out by the
new production company. brought by the
Messrs Shubert to the Belasco for
! that purpose presented a surprise last
night to the audience. which filed every
part of the house and made it sit up and
take notice. despite the heat. From the
very beginning the play took hold upon
| the audience. delighted and held its inter
est until the drop of the last curtain. The
| applause was continuous and intelligent
and at the close of the fourth act. after
4 repeated curtain calls. il brought Mr.
| Van Buren. the leading man. to the
/ footlights, with a speech of thanks for
| the unknown author whose name ne
J almost disclosed. and for the very
| capable company that thoroughly de-
| served the call.
! While there were some who felt that
| in The Son of His Father they de-
| tected a resemblance to The Man of
| opinion seems to be that the new play
| has a merit of its own which cannot
| fail to make it success. There IS
| nothing of the laggard about 1t. 1t
| is never morhidly melodramatic. But
it has snap and vim which make it
| a go from the start. The comedy Is
delightful and there is not tiresome
moment in the entire four acts.
The Messrs. Shubert may rest assured
| that they have one new play, at least.
which will draw and meet approval
| in any city. save perhaps PittshurS.
| which gets a left-handed slap as d
| residence city. Still. even that mishap.
| IL one may call it such. can easily be
remedied in Pittsburg by transferring )
the compliment to Cincinnati or some
| other city for the time being.
| The story told by the play is simple
one. cleanly told. John lie Baron. tr.,
L ,1tl, fo{ -1n yr-hn q n
alive. was noted for his successful finan-
| cial deals and the unscrupulous- manner
| in which he put them through. The son.
however. is a clean. honorable, manly
| man, wealthy, but in the eyes of Eleanor
| Hillary. with whom he is in love, some
what indolent, because he will not enter
| into the business of the street. She
taunts him with this and holds her father
up to him as an example. To win her
hand he decides to do she wishes. The
opportunity is soon forthcoming. for
Eleanors father, Richard Hillary, a type
of LIE Barons father, known as the
'ringmaster'' on Wall street, with ex-
Senator Paul Craven, out of politics and
in finance, and Kingsley McElroy, presi-
dent of the Eastern railroad. who are
about to put through a merger that wilt
wipe out Colorado smelling company. IN
which a classmate of Le Baron has his
all. invite him to become a partner with
them in the transaction. His inquiries
soon disclose the character of the opera
tion and he fatty refuses to have any
thing to do with it, but denounces 1t In
unmea sured terms. He has been let into
their secret. however, and before they
part with him there is an agreement that
the deal will be postponed, with the as
surance that he IS not to disclose 1t al
though left free to protect his own in
terests in the matter. LIE Baron goes on
a yachting trip with his fiancee, her aunt.
Mrs. Alice Bradley: her cousin. Rebecca
Love, mischievous. thoughtless young
girl, and Peter Stuyvesant Cobb. a re-
porter on the Herald. who is in love with
Rebecca, as his guests. Rebecca to
amuse herself has the wireless operator
with which she and Cobb .amuse them
selves by deciphering them. One of the
messages thus gathered in proves to be
from Richard Hillary, who is supposed
to be on his way to Europe. in which he
directs his broker to buy in the stock
necessary to complete the smelter deal
This the artless girl reads to Eleanor and
lie Baron, because it is from her uncle
LIE Baron, percelving ueachery, turns his
yachts head back for New York. secures
an Office and proceeds to fight the flnan-
ciers.
A desperate and exciting battle is
waged, in which LIE Baron, standing for
what is fair and honorable, wins. In the
battle McElroy. who has agreed to sell to
LIE Baron $4,000 shares of stock that is
indispensable to the success of Hillarys
deal. is taken to task by Hillary over the
telephone. Being i'll at the time. he drops
dead of heart disease from the excite
ment. Later, when Eleanor hears of 1t,
she bitterly denounces LIE Baron in the
presence of her father. accuses him of
doing what her father himself has done
and ends by virtually calling him a muir
derer. The father. appalled, at her Ian
guage. confesses that he and not LIE
Baron Is to blame, agrees to meet the
latter next morning to quiet Wall street
md Nlao oy1np t-aty IN 6n oh 1faHn
The finale Is unique and impressive.
A. Fl. Van Buren,. as lie Baron, jr..
presents splendid characterization. He
is strong, forceful and natural through
out. Dignified and intense, or tender, as
occasion requires, but never STACEY, his
work is both capable and convincing.
Edward Emery, as Senator Craven:
George Howell. as Richard Hillary. and
the financial trio, are superb an en-
tirety. Each presents a character sketch
of its kind that leaves nothing to be de-
sired. They are typical warriors of Wall
street. each differing in type from the
other, and each type is completely and
correctly presented.
Laurette Taylor is a charming Eleanor,
a little too serious, perhaps, but withal
perfectly natural. graceful and effective
in every situation: never overriding but
always thoroughly effecting her aim.
Elsie Esmond. as Rebecca Love. is low
able, natural girl of good breeding. even
though mischievous. and her scenes with
her sweetheart, Cobb, the enterprisng
young reporter. furnish much of the de-
lightful comedy of the play. Marion Bal
lou. as the seasick aunt, although bur
dened with but few lines in the play,
makes the most of them and is really a
treat Those who fill the lesser roles, in
Guiding Virginia Pearson. Paul TAYLOR.
Harry McFayden, Willis Martin and John
Emerson, are all quite acceptable. They
contributed their full share to make the
first performance of The Son of His
Father a deeply interesting and thor
oughly enjoyable one
Columbia.