The Washington times., 1909-04-06
The Call of the North" Is
Specimen of Near
Melodrama.
Excellent Acting Saves Sit
uationS From Descending
to the Ridiculous.

When George BroadNurst chose Stew
art Edward Whites story, 'Tbe Con-
jurer's House" as the basis of a play
| for Robert Blossoms acting. he played
with fire-also with blood and thunder.
The wonder is not that THE Call of
the North" still smacks Of melodrama,
but that the playwright has done so well
with the material at hand.
] though the play suggests J. Fenni-
more Cooper its gun play never de-
scends to the ridiculous. Though it
fails, at times, to breathe the atmos-
| phere Of the Hudson Bay territory, in
/ the third act-something of the spirit
! of the unknown wild can be felt and a
Iaint odOr of pines seems TO carry
| across the footlights
Mr. Broadhurst had trouble in get
| ting his action under way In order not
/ TO slap US in the face with a broa dside
/ charge OF melodrama, he devoted the
nrSt act to episodes which had no bea r.
/ ing on the plot All of this act is sur
| charged with talk and il could be lop-
ped off, almost in its entirety.
Synopsis of Story.
The story hinges on the efforts of Ned
Trent to find the man who drove his
father from the employ of the Hudson
! Bay Company and was responsible for
|
/ This long traverse" was an ingen-
! ious method of administering capital
/ punishment adopted by the company
which did not dare openly to enforce
/ its commands by measures so drastic.
1t consisted OF setting a man out on a
/ journey of 600 miles through barren
wastes with one days provisions end no
rifle
| When Trent incurs this sentence he
! decides to make love to the traders
daughter as last resort to enlist aid.
! The scheme would have worked had not
! Mr.. Edes1n's lOVe-maldng been so
/ realistic as to convince himself that he
was in love. The young woman realizes
/ the nature Of his project, and when he
| fails TO ask her assistance divines the
cause of the hitch in the plans. She fur
! nished Trent with a rifle.
| Trent IS caught in the act Of bidding
/ farewell 10 the traders daughter The
! discover that the refugee has received
| assistance arouses the trader TO immedi-
! ate action to discover the traitor in the
4 camp In the course OF the trial Trent
| discovers that his inqUisitor was the
/ man who sent his father to death by
''the long traverse and Is deferred
from killing him by the entreaty of his
| daughter
Ned Trent Not Real.
/ Mr.. Edesou makes the best of his
part. He played Ned Trent, presumably
designed for clean-cut courageous
American, but in reality such an Ameri-
can as you or 1 never saw. He talks
/ too much. Before ne IS in the camp two
| minutes he has expounded a creed Of
| fair play to a full house and defied
| every vestige of authority on the prorn-
Use that he Is an American citizen. The
essential difference between Ned, Trent
and the type he is supposed to ranre-
4 sent is that this young man breaches the
| square deal While his prototypes take it
/ for granted.
Nor do Indians, save for stage nur-
/ poses, assume a constant air Of Stealth
/ speak alone in cultural monosvla bIes
ana wear holiday trappings In perform
ing their daily duties All this Is CON
| ceived in the way Of melodrarDa when
! stronger.
But the people OF Washington, MOSTLY
! very young people, viii go TO the Ma
J tional Theater this week When II is
! over you viii hear them saw. tsIsn't he
grand, Yes, and so big and sUrcng,7
OF course. they do not go to absorb
the atmosphere Of the forest primeval
Ihey do not even go to see Robert
] Edeson act. They do go 10 see NJ
Robert Edeson. All this is a wav of
/ saying that Mr.. Edeson is another Of
our personality actors" In The can
/ OF the North he does more genuine
( acting than in any of his recent veb,
cles. He also makes love in CHARACTER
! istic Edeson style, and it is little won
DER that when once embarked in this
Perllous game that he convinces him
| Mr.. Blossoms Achievement.
/ As Ned Trent his greatest achieve
| ment is in not over-acting. In a mart
/ that reeks of heroics it would have
! been easy TO have created a PhiIIippe
| Bridau Mr.. Edeson has all the onpor-
/ TURTLES OF Mr.. Skinner for portrayine,
| a braggart, but he must give an inn
/ preston Of simple sincerity. He did
I this with COnSummate skill. If he should
! display the ability in a better NAV
/ than he does in rescuine This role Pid bs
| would deserve to be promoted from the
ranks OF Dustin Farnu1p, Miss Ethel
! Barrymore, and Miss Billie Burke
! What might have been a Character
/ study In contrast to the rough civil
! izauon of the trading station in the
\ part of Rev. Archibald Crane was con-
| Nerted into "A caricatuTe by Perciyal
Aylmer. Nevertheless, Mr.. Avlner fI,r-
nished amusement, and the comedy eIe-
ment OF the play was more genuine
than the serious moments.
In the Importance of her pa IT and In
the excellence of her work Miss Ann
Murdoch, as the traders daughter
| deserves recognition second only to that
accorded Mr.. Edeson. Indeed the 70
| quirements in her role are at times
heavier than those of Mr.. EdesoD. and
I she proves equal 10 these reoufrern ents
on every occasion
J. r HILDEBRAND.
On the front page or a menu-souverir
OF a dinner given by members of The
Blue Mouse company was engraved (?)