Los Angeles herald., 1910-11-01
HER HUSBANDS WIFE
MAKES EVERYBODY LAUGH
Henry MiIIer's New Play at the
Mason Tells Funny Tale of
Hypochondriac
ny SHIRLEY OLYMPUS

BY SHIRLEY OAAM AOo
One hypochondriac in search OF a
spouse for her husband AFTER she Is
zone to the Great Beyond, one uncle
Who sees the humor of the situation
and Is very nearly a practical joker,
one husband innocent of everything go
ing on around him, one dlSconSolate
and suspicious swain, one rarest OF al
human creatureS-a woman Win
sense of humor-and one maid, THESE
are the ingredients which When SUD
denly brought into contact with each
other nrecipitate a. mixture of fun, froth
and frivolity which A. e. Thomas, the
dramatic chemist who bethought the
tonic. is pleased to label Her HuS-
hands Wife" When the mixture was
taken by the audience at the Mason
opera house last night 1t produced all
sorts of merriment from. giggles to
outlaws. SO IL you are In ned OF
tonic, Henry Miller and his capable
associate players will furnish the med
icine in Her Husbands Wife"
The play is a farce of a high order.
It simply compels laughter. The sit
nations are so ludicrous yet so entire
lv possible that one simply cannot
help laughing. We all have friends
who enjoy poor health, and so we
know best just how silly they can be-
That's why we laugh at the situations
into which the ailing wife gets herself
and all about her. Were Her Hus-
bands Wife" in less capable hands, 1
doubt If the enjoyment would be as
keen. for there are so many of those
little things" in each character por-
trayed and each situation built up
that the real comedy could easily be
lost
WANTS SECOND WIFE
When the hypochondriac decides she
Is going to die and casts about for a
suitable second wife for her husband,
the merriment of the play begins.
From that moment nothing lags. There
is action which would make musical
comedy builder blush with shame.
Lines which sparkle with wit, cpl
grams which hit the mutual bulls eye
and acting which fills, hence satisfies
the eye completely keep pace with the
action Best of all, there is never
the slightest suggestion OF anything
but clean, wholesome comedy in lines
or situations. Her Husbands Wife"
is a play anybody may see without
blushing but which nobody may see
without laughing.
Naturally enough, the hypochondr1ac
in casting about for her successor Sc
lects a woman whom she believes is
temperamentally fitted for caretaker
of a left-behind husband, but whose
face, figure and manner of dressing is
not calculated to take prizes in
beauty and fashion show. How poorly
wiley calculated is quickly shown. The
selected one blossoms as the rose. 1t
always piques wmoan's pride to be
considered plain of face and figure
and makes her want to be exception
allv attractive. And usually she sue
ceeds. At least the Selected One does.
That, Of course, makes the Selector
jealous.
THE HUSBANDS WAY
She resolves to live-and does. She
throws away her nostrumS, tells the
Selected One all manner of false
stories of her husbands brutality in
order to make the Selected One sick
of her bargain, and gets herself into
complications which are cleared up
only when the Selected One falls in
love with the Selector's brother and
agrees to marry him. Husband, when
he learns of the plan, goes out, gets
beastly drunk and is put safely to bed.
That's a way husbands have OF snow
ing contempt, sometimes.
Henry Miller is the uncle who sees
clearly and who eXtricates the pypo-
chondriac from her dilemma. He 1t is
to whom everybody turns as court
of last resort, and his judgments are
humorous. 1t is a great dramatic dis
lance from such plays as 1.-The Only
Way" in which Mr.. Miller played Sid
new Carton. or 1.-THE Great Divide" in
which he portrayed Stephen Trent to
Her Husbands Wife," but Mr.. Mil
ler's art and inherent ability make
one forget the distance. He Is as
much a light comedian as ever he was
serious character portrayer, for ne
&c on actor with few peerS,
To Laura Hope Crews falls the duty
of portraying Irene Randolph, the
hypochondriac. She makes the char
ncter so real, so serious in it's plainly
apparent foolishness that one mixes
laugh with every thought of pity.
She never forgets the slightest BIT OF
"business," so her characterization is
one of real art Josephine Lovett as
Emily Ladew, the girl selected for the
second wife, gives one picture which
in its holiness of drawing and its
contrasting tints stands out with Won
derful prominence. Miss Clement isn't
second to anybody. Walter Hitchcock
as Stuart Randolph, the husband, and
Charles Gotthold as Richard Belden,
the swain, disconsolate, Jealous, sus-
picious and belligerent, are excellent.
Laura Clement plays the role of a
maid satisfactorily.
The seven turns Whlch make up tne
bill that opened at the Pantages yes
terday afternoon are high class and
together form a decidedly alluring pro-
gram
The headliner is the Arizona Joe COM
nanv. in a sketch, "a Glimpse of Prai-
RE Life" Adele Won Oil. who was
with Buffalo Bills Wild West show. is
the bright light Of the aggregation, and
does some daring riding and RATA
work. Art Boden does a number of
startling tricks with a rope, ranging
from lassoing horses on different parts
of their bodies to whirling rope circles