The San Francisco call., 1910-06-26

warns or the man whose utter failure
to meet the ideals she has built for
him has been part of her bitter awak-
ening. The choice of the lad is in
evitable. Her Willingness to part with
/ him because she is persuaded she is
unworthy to care for and train him is
the noble side OF her nature finally
discovering itself 1t is this factor in
the play-the element of sacrifice and
repentance. suffering and sorrow. that
makes the story Of Helena Richie
worth while"
I asked her how IT could be that a
woman without children OF her own.
such as she. could divine so intuitively
mother-yes. and the father heart. too,
so directly.
Your expression. gestures. your half
articulated cries. your cuddling of the
htiny fellow. the episode of the CLASSY
his treasure that he parts with as your
consolation for his absence-an these
things were like so many stabs at the
She laughed a little. She seemed to
realize the arufciaity of many such
speeches as that which trembIed on her
lips. and hesitated to say the thing
that was at her heart.
Il know She said simply, because
I love children.
The fact is. if you only know it. all
/
or in fact. I believe it's the maternal
instinct that keeps a wife fond of her
husband. She mothers him. too; makes
him put on his overeoat and bundles
him up. She worries about him all the
while he thinks what a great fellow he
is. That maternal instinct which mixes
a woman mother everybody she loves is
the first thing.to develop in baby girl
who fusses over her dolls and puts
them to bed. and pretends they are sick
SO that she can have mother pull the
blinds and walk softly about the room.
And if she has brother Z years old
and three years her senior the little
girl win mother him. too.
That's what makes IIelena's choice
between Lloyd Prior. who is not worthy
of her. and little David, the baby boy.
so inevitably for the little orphan. once
having chosen the better part, it fol-
lows naturally that if it is for the lads
good she will give him up. too. She
does so. and her suffering is bearabIe
because she has awakened"
TIE,PE- is o. ,i,-,.f+- % 44
and Hveliness of pantomine in
Miss Anglin's personal chat that
is absent, when need be, from her
stage department. There she is de-
Hberate. self restrained. qutet. re-
pressed. 1t seems that it is the result
of study-technic. What appears to
be the spontaneous yet quiet express
sion OF the moment is the carefully
worked out detail resulting from
many rehearsals and much thought
zone must learn to think" she said.
in reply to something 1 had remarked
about one of her exits. which. though
in it she speaks not a word was one
of the most illuminating periods in
the play. THAT is the way Helena
would have done it. under those cir
cumstances," she said.
And that suggests another observa-
tion made of Miss Anglin's person
ality. She reasons with a mans
directness-fIattering man that he
does as well-but has the advantage
of intuitional powers not distributed
amongst the meaner SEX In affairs
that call ON judgment and reason she
brings reason and Judgment to bear.
think she deliberately set out TO be-
come the greatest American TRACE
dienne. I believe that she selected
'-Antigoner because she knew she
could play it, and that based on it's
Accomplishment she would have the
right 10 come before the American
public with her Lady Macbeths and
Ophelias and Desdemonas and demand
and get hearing and ultimate
Judgment in favor of her contentious.
If she plays comedy, as she says
she also viii, as well as tragedy, 1T
is because the circle of her art is to
be no less found than the wreath she
will surely wear
But she refused to admit that she
was pl1eky to project Antigone's
woes over the centuries. she denied
that she was greater than the limi-
tations of tier present pretty play.
The Awakening of Helena Richie
would permit her to be; she refused
to say that she chafed her artistic
soul against the sides of unex-
pansive roles, and would deny. if she
were permitted the best parts of this
Interview - I mean the truest parts
which concern her excellence as
actress and her charm as merely Mar
garet Angiin.