Los Angeles herald., 1910-11-22
NEW PLAY BY LOCAL
AUTHORIZES PLEASES
The Case of Sergeant Wilde
Produced at BeIaSCo, Deals
with Army Life

and his associates. To say the least,
the play met the approval OF a large
and discriminating audience, Tor IL
presents an interesting story OF
romance and life in the army, and tells
that story in an interesting way There
are faults Of various kinds In the play,
but with careful pruning here ana
there and the reconstruction of the
third act the play will find favor with
the public. The heart interest Is very
nearly sufficient to carry 1t to success,
! for the public is ever interested IN
knowing that there is such thing as
an undying love.
If each of the four acts of THE
Case Of Sergeant Wilde" were as In
| tense and as powerful as the final one
| there would be no doubt of the play
success. When 1t is said that play
| tust "misses it" in spots, there is great
| hone for it, And then there is another
! promiseful element. not so much IN the
| Dlav as for the authoress. The case
| Of Sergeant Wilde" Is the first drama
to come from the pen of Mrs. Welis'
With the experience she has gained IN
writing this initial effort she undoupt-
edlv will be able to turn out truly
great play in time to come. She
! shows that she knows how to tell an
| interesting story and maybe to write
gripping play, which is potent sigh
Mrs. Wells, who has gained con-
siderable fame as q fiction writer, mas
turned her talent to good account IN
| her dramatic efforts. She mas WIN
held her real climax for the last act.
very nearly the 'taG" speech, thereby
| denarting from set play-writing rules.
| By this dramatic novelty Mrs, WelIs
| p1av sustains ones interest until the
very last moment. And that Is Her
| culean task for any dramatist. Pos
siblv the greatest fault of '"The case
! of Sergeant wilde is that 1t lacks
that rapid dramatic action which
means success.
| thing like this:
JuIIan Allen is the son of colonel
! and loves Laurel Irving, the coloeis
niece. Julian gambles. loses heaVlly'
| and in his chagrin runs away TO
| escape the upbraiding Of his father
who is one of those stern, relentless
| soldiers as we'll as a hard father.
Julian is caught In steamship
wreck. He sees an opportunity to wipe
| out his name, so puts his clothing on
! a dead man and henceforth becomes
! one Wilde. He enlists in the army and
| Is breveted twice for bravery on the
! field, finally becoming a sergeant.
! When time hangs heavily on the
| sergeant's hands while he ts In the
| Philippines he begins to drink and
gamble. One of his messmates steals
! the company funds and Wilde, to
! shield the boy. takes the blame.
| Sergeant Wilde is brought before his
| own father, Colonel Allen, for sem
tence. Laurel pleads for the boy,
whom she loves but to no avail.
| The old man. broken with grief, Is
/ tempted when he recognizes his own
| flesh and blood. to set the boy free
IAz k11 n
country dominates him and he signs
Sergeant Wilde's commitment tC
prison. which means a disgraceful dis
charge from the service when the
prison term is ended.
While Wilde is incarcerated in the
guardhouse Laurel, who for years mas
been loved by Captain Desmond, but
whose advances she has repulsed, Of
fers to marry the captain If he Will
allow the sergeant to escape. Captain
/ Desmond, allowing his selhshness to
master him. brings about the escape
of the prisoner.
In the early dawn of the following
day Captain Desmond and Sergeant
Wilde meet In the ruins of the church
of San Pedro Mecate. Desmond tells
the sergeant to think only of the girPs
happiness and either put a bullet into
his brain and end it all or escape
from the islands and once more be-
come swallowed up in mystery.
But the love Laurel has for Julian
prompts her to follow him to his rem
devious. She pleads with him and
when Desmond Games for his tina
answer the sergeant throws away his
gun, gives up all hope Of escape and
starts back to give himself up to the
authorities, declaring that he would
regain his honor by serving his term
and would come from prison fit mar
to husband a girl who was willing tc
sacrifice her very happiness for him
Lewis Stone plays Sergeant Wilde
excellently. In the final act he was
superb in bringing out the hidden
power of mastery of self over self
Eleanor Gordon was powerful but q
bit too passionate and lacrymose as
Laurel Irving. Frank Camp gave an
acceptable portrayal of Captain Des-
mond. Helen Sullivan pleased as q
flirting wife who was quickly tanned
by a husband who had been sorely
vexed. The tanning scene" wherein
Miss Sullivan and John J. Kennedy
as Captain Ritchie were the actors
was delightful. Charles Giblyn as
Pedro, a Filipino servant, and Adele
harrington as a Filipino vender DOM
mated while they were on the stage
Mr. Giblyn's Characterization was
particularly fine. Charles Ruggles
Richard Vivian and others in the cast
pleased.
The stage settings Of "The Case Of
Sergeant Wilde" are especially elabor-
ate Particularly is this true Of the
third and fourth acts, where a spot
in the Filipino jungle and the ruins
of church are pictured. S. o.
The Los Angeles theater vaudeville
bill which opened yesterday will be
reviewed in tomorrow's issue.
"The Fortune Hunter began the
second week of its fortnight run at
the Mason opera house last night
proving as highly attractive and en-
tertaining as it always has. It's lesson
seems a pleasingly easy one for all tc
| learn, being mingled with humor and
humanity. Fred Niblo as Nathaniel
Duncan, who finds that there is more
than one kind Of fortune to win, is
continually entertaining, whether in
the lines and business of the play OF
in the neat and funny curtain speech
he gave at the end of the third act
last night. Frank Bacon, Alma Belwin
and the other members of the cast
still perform their accustomed clever
work.
The Countess Thamara De Swirsky
will make her first appearance at the
! Auditorium this afternoon in her
classic dances that have won her much
| favor in Europe, Newport and before
| the audiences of the Metropolitan
Grand Opera house, where she first
! appeared on coming to this country.
The little Russian dancer put in a
! strenuous day yesterday attending
| receptions and rehearsing with the or