The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-11-08

just Htle more character. Ab tue
action progresses one can scarcely
understand how a woman OF Armies
sense can spend so much time worry
ing about Howard, whose backbone
is one shade more brittle than putty
Throughout the four acts there Is
constant reference TO the cruelty Of
the police. and Alfred Moore's Capt.
Clinton certainly is a popular concep-
ton OF the worst type OF police boss.
Likewise there Is much conversation
about the lying press which leads
TO the conclusion that Author Klein In
his younger days must have sent
personal 10 the Clarion Echo and the
printer omitted the Mister"
The story is so we'll told by Klein
that unimportant detail Is omitted.
What happened during interludes Is
brought out rather by what follows
than by direct conversation. James
SeeIey as Richard Brewster was clev-
err. while Fernando Eliscu as Annie
Jeffries did the heavy work with
credit. The others we're good.
There are a few laughs and few
signs in The Third Degree and a
couple of big husky men who sat
across the aisle drew their handker'
chiefs occasionally. THE Third De-
gree" in the hands of this company
Is a good play because II Is itellke'
6ARRIcK.
An old farce with the up-to-the-
moment new name OF "A Message
from Reno" was presented in the
Garrick theater, Monday evening.
The farce was the property OF
Katharyn Osterman few years ago,
and was played in the popular priced
houses by that excellent comedienne
under the name of THE Girl That
Looks Like Me" Lyceum patrons
will remember Miss Osterman and
the farce which was presented in
that theater in the fall OF 1905.
In the present instance, the name
seems to have been selected because
OF the close connection in the popu-
lar mind between the word divorce
and the town of Reno, Nevada, and
the fact that in order TO straighten
out the complications OF the piece the
absent wife must either die or get
divorce. AS the curtain goes down
the Message from Reno" arrives and
the audience is saved a funeral.
The farce is built upon the time
honCred lines OF mistaken identity
and the art Of prevarication. Every
body tells flbs about everybody else,
and the main characters are not at
all the persons they seem to be. The
actors employed in the production,
while of excellent equipment in iegtti-
mate work as previous appearances
have proven, seem TO lack the farcical
sense necessary for the successful
exploitation of a piece like "A Mes
sage from Reno" Miss Violet Dale
very pretty young woman has the
principal feminine role of Erma Des
mond, but her efforts entirely lack the
srontaneity demanded of a good ex-
ponent Of irresponsible farce. She
wears pretty clothes attractively and
looks the sweetly innocent, blg-eyed
ingenue, but-that's all.
Another pretty girl with consider
ably more of the right spirit than
anyone in the cast Is Gladys Claire,
as Phyllis, who is called upon to be
several persons she Is not, including
deaf and dumb heiress. There was
surprising ease about the work of
NAlbb Anu w lliO pdll Va
Mrs. Badly Bytton, a red-haired di-
vorcee, with an ever-present card
case filed with the professional
pasteboards of divorce lawyers she
had gathered on several trips to
Reno, in view of the fact that she
essayed the part for the first time,
Monday evening. The prompter's
voice could be heard floating out over
the footlights occasionally, but on the
whole Miss Warrington rose to the
moment with the self-possession of
the well-trained actress.
or the men, Alfred Hudson, as the
old lawyer. Buxton. seemed happiest
in his Characterization Osborn
Searle, Myles Mccarthy and Walter
Lewis seemed as i'll at ease in the
parts assigned them as Mr.. Searle
looked in his remarkable dinner
dress outfit OF the last act
The piece has been given an elab-
crate mounting in it's two stage set
tiDgs. The engagement will close
Wednesday evening to make way for
Eddie Foy, Emma Carus and a nu-
merous retinue in a musical revue
called up and Down Broadway"
which will hold the Garrick boards
the rest Of the week.
ELLA MAE uyrIJnnNrr,