Arizona republican., 1910-01-14
AN ADMIRABLE ROLE FOR
 FOR CHARLES B. AANfoRD
A Large Audience Is Delighted With the Comedy and Pathos of
 the Play.

Lord played last night at the Elks' theater by Charles B. Hanford and company. is British conservatism and American progressiveness. Sometimes the former is called pig g-headedness'' on this side of the pond. and the latter 'demd arrogance" or some such endearing term. on the other. A fer vid display of these two qualities by true Briton and just as true an American, furnishes boundless oppor- tunity in the play for ludicrous situ- ations. strong bits of sentiment and dash of patriotic fervor that Broad- hurst and Dazey. the playwrights. have made the most of.
 The moral of the play. frankly re-
 vealed at the proper time-about eight minutes before the curtain falls on the final act-is the old, old one, that just because we are different is no sign that we are not both right.
 A few years ago An American Lord" was produced by William H. Crane as a vehicle for his genial per sonality and droll humor. Mir. Crane with his superb ability as an actor. could hardly have represented the
  regard for precedent. customs and institutions of centuries. any better than MT Hanford did last night The role was an ideal one for him and gave him an opportunity for pure comedy at times that his familiar Shakespearean characters lack.
 There are times in the play when the lines and business require some little oratorical effort on tn part of Mir. Hanford. They seem to be his delight His voice is strong. his words voiuble and the rhetorical flourishes just flow from his tongue like a flood coming down the Gila. And then there is the irresistible comparison on the part of his auditors-not to some other stage celebrity-but to the orator from Nebraska. whom he looks like. talks like and whose personal magnetism is the same. If the real Mir. Bryan had stepped on the stage in the second act. and in his most fiery mood en- gagged in a battle of words with Lord on the other side of the closed gate. how many of those in the audience would have known the
  us suppose that Mir Hanford arose in place of the great commoner and addressed a political convention. Col. Bryan would perhaps be proud of the speech he didn't make.
 Another profitIess speculation that the idle spectator of the play might indulge in is-suppose An American Lord" were played over in London what would the Britisher think of it? There are few passages in the play that would give offense. but the cari- catures are more or less stI ong. and do not bring out the more lovable traits of the average Englishman But on the other hand. the specimens of uncouth humanity from North Da- kota. namely. Texas" and Before the-Draw Pete" are not types of American citizens that are particu- arly admired by their more cultured They would doubtless British audience. and i night be mistaken by the benighted l Tor representative Americans.
 There is one actor in Mir. Hanford's l company whose work deserves-not | 1raise-but admiration. one cannot | imagine tne CndrdCteT Oi -sHufeW MC- Duffie. the Scot that could tell a lie. | f circumstances warranted it. DOT rayed any better than it was by John | His is a peculiar fit | less by birth as well as for his his | rionic ability. for the part of the | amy Scot Another clever imper- 'onation was the curate by A. H. Cooper Pritchard. This young mans smile and the hypocritical lote in his voice endeared him to lis audience The character might be bit overdrawn. but not beyond the imits prescribed by comedy of the ort. Miss Drofnah. the leading lady. s a well versed actress. sparkling md interesting. The only possible diverse criticism on the American Iord' would seem to be a certain weakness somewhere in the first act. Tor this. however. the playwright is and the same criticism nay be made of almost every dra- natic production that was ever writ en. It is the hobgoblin of the ramatist. and is seldom dwelt on by he critics. because. either from choice r necessity. they seldom see the first ct