Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-03-15
PERSONAL NOTE IS
PLAYS BASIS. At
NEWARK THEATRE
"A Gentleman from Mississippi
Reveals LovabIe Character
istics to Large Audience.
PROGRAMS AT PR0CTOR'S
AND AMERICAN ARE GOOD
Burlesque Houses Offer Attrac=
five Bills-Negro Show
at the Columbia.
ITO sec the play at the Newark

ITO sec the play ct the Newark
Theatre this week is to deplore
the fact thai it has only tour
aets. In the average offering three Is
quite enough. if not too many; but in
a Gentlemen from Mississippi one
could stand five or six. or even seven.
1t IS q play of personalities. The
character OF William H.. Langdon,
Junior senator from Mississippi, as in
torureted by Thomas y. Wise, will re-
nam in ones memory for many a day.
All the qualities that we connect with
the term Southern gentleman are
presented to us just as we would nave
them. Mr.. Wise has given us a man
to whom homo" is more important
than anything else in the world; Who
~ n mo4n of shrewd hunlor and
child ike innocence; who looks upon
money mercy as a means of making
others happy. whose faith in the good
ness and honesty of the world at large
is a part of his creed, and whose gem
eral 'lovableness" is only equaled by
his discefnment in judging old Bourbon
and good "seegars.'
Another striking personality is that
of the senator's stanch ally, young
Bud Haines, who gives up his job as
political reporter for d Washington
paper, in order to become the senator
secretary. Bud" Haines is played, or
rather lived, by Douglas Fairbanks, a
young man who knows full well the
meaning of getting himself over the
r~footlights." The honest, idealistie,
young New Yorker proves
an excellent foil for the easygoing
Southerner who allows him to think up
his political ideas and then instruct
him as to 10Y to carry them out. Mr..
Wise and Mr.. Fairbanks could carry
THE Gentleman from Mississippi to
success even if they were not sur.
rounded by the excellent company that
now supports them.
Despite this wealth of personality
there is an excellent plot, telling of the
of several senators to get this
guileless Mississippian to come to
Washington in order that they may use
him as their blind tool to further their
personal interests and incidentally fill
their pocketbooks.
Tho unsuspecting .Southerner. highly
tnattered at having been chosen n
tor. arrives, n is interviewed by
Bud Haines." He and bud" decide
that they like each Other very much,
and at last, partly because OF the4
charms of the senator's two very pretty
Bud consents TO become his
secretary. How he stands between the
eesygoing Langdon and the plotting
is told in bright. crisp lines
ard clever situations. o. coursa there
is a love strain running through the
Though the. plot is serious
enough, the ever-present humor of the
senator keeps his watchers %chuckling
continually. THE Gentleman from Mis-
sissippi' is all that is good.
Ernest Baxter is decidedly adequate
in the role of Charles Norton. a young
Mississippi Congressman. in Owe with
the Senator's eldest daughter. and
active in the plan to catch her father In
thu tolls, The other plotting Senators
are played by Hal de Forrest and w. j..
Brady. An excellent characterization
is that of Colonel Stoneman. of Illinois,
as presented by Frederick Book. Ruth
appears as Carolina Langdon,
helps 70 plot against her father, |
aud who sees her mistake and asks
forgiveness. and Lola May Is very win
ONE as the younger daughter. Hope
Georgia. Agnes DeLane gives a
snappy. humor to the role of Amelia
B~utterworth, secretary to Senator Ste
phens.
sad to relate, the scenery is just a
wee bit shabby, but. then, n seldom
notices it, on OF being very
tusy trying to miss non of the good
things.
.ADELINE STANLEY CARRICk.