Los Angeles herald., 1910-11-13

but before his death he tells of his
early sin to his legitimate son, George
Rand, jr. After the death of the head
of the family, the others see their way
clear to move to the city, Hammock is
installed as Rand's secretary. After
several years in business Rand enters
politics and rises so rapidly that in
| the second act he is on the point of
| being nominated for governor of his
state.
Rand hears of the demands of his
| secretary on his campaign manager
| and discharges him. Hammock refuses
to go, exposing his hand by telling
| Rand of all the crooked business deals
he knows his employer has been mixed
up in. Subsequently Rand learns of
his sister Cicelys love for Hammock,
and finally from Cicely herself of her
marriage an hour before to the dope
fiend."
The horror and terrible strength of
the situation now make themselves
manifest. In a heated moment Rand
tells Hammock that it will be necessary
for him to give up Cicely, which Han
| mock declares he will not do. Rand
offers to settle upon him q large sum
| Of money if he will leave New York
quietly. All these suggestions are re-
jected Rand then is compelled to
tell him: "You have married your
own sister" Hammock is dazed for a
! moment, then cries at the top of his
| voice, you're a - liar,
you're a liar, you're liar!' Rand
pleads with Hammock to go away and
let Cicely divorce him, but the fiend
will not hear of it. Rand then sends
for his sister, intending to tell her of
Hannock's birth in order to bring the
man to his senses, but before he can
complete his sentence, Hammock is
your--," the wild-eyed secretary
draws a revolver and shoots the in
nocent girl dead where she stands.
This situation is said to be one of the
strongest ever introduced into a mod
ern play. Yet it is but the beginning
of even stronger climaXes which fol-
low one another in quick succession,
until the great act comes to master
full close.
Interpreting this powerful drama
are Norman Hackett Godfrey C.
Stein, Josephine Florence Shepherd,
Suzanne Villa, Ethel Martin, M. H.
Hartman, Arthur S. Hull, Mario Ma
jaroni and other capable players.
MASON-Winchell Smiths 1.-THE
Fortune Hunter will be the Offering
at the Mason opera house for two
weeks, beginning Monday, with mat.
inees Wednesday and Saturday and a
sepcial matinee on Thanksgiving day.
The expression genuine comedy" is
| necessary to correct the possible mis-
apprehension arising from the misuse
of the term comedy" Mr. Smith not
only gives a humorous situation, but
he gives that much rarer thing, de-
Velopment of character AS a matter
of fact, if we care to remove the
lightheartedness which floats on the
| surface of the action, so to speak, we
should find heart searchings and Sc
riousness deep as in many a graver
drama. But then, the inherent seri-
BUSINESS of all fine comedy is known to
everyone who has delved deeper into
the subject than the surface.
Mr.. Smith shows us how a young
| man, brought up in the lap of luxury
and then made penniless by one of
Dame Fortunes scurvy tricks, turns
to fortune hunting as a short cut to
! wealth, and on the way, learns sun
J dry things which are for his souls
good and the edifcation and amuse-
ment of the audience. A failure on
the road" when his friend Kellogg gets
: him job, Nat Duncan is too good a
sport to sponge on his pals good ma
: ture. as the latter would willingly
have him do. So Kellogg, who is a
! sort of genius in the Matching of
schemes, sends him to any little town
: in the country of about a couple of
thousand inhabitants. there to win a
| wife and fortune. He argues that a
r New Yorker, well but not showily
dressed, civil of speech. diligent in
business, dutiful at church. neither a
smoker nor drinker should weave a
spell over the elders and fascinate the
young women.
Duncan tries the plan and it works
| like a charm. The bankers daughter
of Radville literally filings herself into
Mats arms. But Nat is too good a
; man for such a fate as that. His very
entry into the village, when he takes
up with an old inventor who dreams
Or iC
! hopeful. The $500 which Kellogg gives
| him as capital in the fortune hunting
business goes in paying off a note of
t the poor old inventor and in buying
a dress for the inventors daughter.
Then he gets down to work: the story
begins to thrive and all things come
: out as Kellogg said they would.
But the real drama is fermenting
f all the while and when Betty, the in
t ventor's daughter comes back from the
school, where Nat Duncan has helped
her father to send her. it develops. The
heiress perceives in a flash that here
5 is a dangerous rival, for Betty has
= charm and distinction. Moreover, she
5 loves Nat, but he cannot deny that
he has permitted the heiress to court
him, and when she literally proposes
to him, the least he can do is to ac-
: knowledge himself engaged. Then it
2 is the playwright's problem to get
him out of the difficulty. This Mr..
Smltn uOeS with tne dld OF rlVal anu
the description of an absconding bank
cashier. The device serves its turn
and the right Jack has the right Jill.
Fred Niblo will be seen i'm the char
acter of Nat Duncan, the fortune
hunter, and will be ably supported by
Frank Bacon, Avon Breyer. Phil
Bishop. James Granger. Frank Bou-
mon, Harry Gibbs, George Spelvin.
Alma Belwin, Lento Fulwell, Regina
|, Connolly and Milo Marshall
/
OLYMPIC-Alphin and Fargo of the
Olympic will offer Jules Mendel and
the Olympic company in Bohemia
the fourth of the late New York sue
cesses which Charles Alphn secured
on his eastern trip. This Is something
altogether different from what has
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