The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-09
Amusen,enfs
"rhe Man OF the Hour.

Truth Is sometimes stranger than
nctfon! George Broadhurst, who wrote
The Man OF the Hour is certainly not
AFRAID to tell 1t when he sees It, A
r audience at the Grand on Mon
day night saw the truth, and were In.
structed while being amused.
"A. play which presents to an audi.
ence everyday characters, dealing with
everyday problems. which relies SIM
ply upon its character delineation, is
sure OF success from the initial per.
romance. Somehow audiences do not
tire OF such play as they do of plays
reiying upon scenery, lights and cos
tune effects. Such a play NAV fulflIl
its purposes. IL Its purposes are to
amuse. but after a while an audience
Graves for something new.
The Man of the Hour" is not of the
superficial variety. and 1t has lived
successfully through several seasons.
Graft. and the rottenness OF municipal
machinery. has been the topic of con-
versation on the streets of most cities
since the year one. 1t may die down
Tor time. but sooner or later II in
variably reasserts itself.
George Broadhurst, who wrote the
Offering. shows himself thoroughly con-
versant with the Irish boss politician,
with the financier who controls coun-
CHS and the bench Of Justice through
their mad scramble for money. His
picture in '"The Man of the Hour" into
which he has added the leaven of the
love story audiences demand. serves
the double purpose OF entertaining and
amusing.
Since its long run In New York city
the Offering at The, Grand last night
has been seen in Montgomery once
before. SO simple retelling Of
the story Of Aiwyn Benefits conduct
as the Mayor would be useless. Many
OF last seasons players were to be seen
In the cast of last night. and seen to
better advantage. as their work seems
to have improved immensely.
. j. B. Robertson as Alwyn Bennett
was assigned to the role of the young
Mayor. who before his election had
thought of doing nothing but for the
fun OF It. His gradual development to
q man OF purpose and iron will fur
nished many possibilities. and Mr..
Robertson was able to meet all the re-
quirements.
Louis Hendricks took the part of
Richard Horrigan, the political boss
of the machine in power. He handled
his lines acceptably, but let 1t be said
In criticism that his rather clustering
manner is not usually accredited to a
man having the power which Horrigan
was supposed to possess. This blus-
tering. however. did not mar the en-.
joyment Of the character.
To James Bevins in the role OF James
Phelan, the politician out of power ana
who loves a fight for the sake Of scrap
ping. belongs most Of the laughs on
the part of the audience. "Mr. Fixit''
who drops something" on Mr.. Horri-
gan which kills Horrigan's powerA was
capital in every scene. handling his
lines with ease and ability.
Ruby Bridges as Dallas VAIN
wright. the woman who furnishes the
incentive TO Alwyn Bennett to work,
was excellently cast and was seen in
the part last year. In all other scenes
she acquitted herself with distinction.
The next attraction at The Grand
will be on Wednesday night when VIII
liam II. Crane in Father and the
Boys Is the announcement.
At The Majestic.
The entire bill at the Majestic The
atre this week Is clean. Interesting and
good. What the best act is would he
hard to decide. for although the work
OF Frank Richards and Louise Mont
rose in the comedy skit THE College
Boy and the College Girl" appeared to
win the most approval from the audi
ence last night. Miss Dorothy Vaughan
sang some very catchy songs. One
especially. something about Make me
laugh" was very we'll done. and the
audience enjoyed laughing with her so
much that they called her back sew
eral times.
Alfred and Otto Polk, who are down
on the bill as "Europe's greatest spring.
board artists" did not disappoint any
body. They have some unique and diff
ffcult tricks, which are very much
worth seeing. The Nightingale quar-
tette which came last on the program,
Is not bad. but It hardly deserved the
amount of attention from the audience
that It received.
| Laura Bennett, as THE Minstrel
Belle" sang some songs, and her mon
oiogue was crisp and amusing in
places. The most pretentious act is "a
Daughter of the Gods" a one act COM
edy, in which Harry Early Godfrey is
Paul Lorimer of today" and Veta
Henderson is Isis of yesterday" It
appeared to amuse the audience very
much. In fact. all of the acts were
rather good than. bad. with no act that
stood out very much over any other.
1t is a vaudeville that Is worth seeing.