Los Angeles herald., 1910-06-06
PAID IN FULL IS
TRUE To NATURE
Eugene Walters Great Play Now
at the Burbank Is Called
a Masterpiece
1T TEACHES A MORAL LESSON
Stacey CIimaxeS Supplanted by
Strong Series of Lasting
Impressions
BY SHIRLEY OLYMPUS


Il merely an excellent stock pro-
duction. It is a production which
might justly bring praise to any trav-
cling company, the members of which
had been specially chosen for their
several parts, and have had weeks and
weeks of special training in their roles.
The seven members of the cast have
done themselves proud in enacting the
play, which is certain of protracted
run if Manager DIorosco so chooses.
Without doubt, paid in Full' is one
of the greatest plays the American
stage has ever offered. 1t is great be-
cause it is true. 1t holds the mirror
up to nature, and allows us to see re-
fected there a condition of present.
dav society which must be eradicated
or disaster to the nation will surely
follow. The condition may be termed,
for lack of a better definition, neces-
sary extravaganza, or in other words,
the struggle everlasting to maintain
social position which tends to beggar'
and even make a criminal of, the in
dividual The play is vital COM
mentary on marriage wherein there
is a lack of tolerance, lack of that
sympathetic understanding and shar-
ing which makes marriage to be de-
sired.
NOTHING SUBTLE
There is nothing particularly subtle
about the play. Rather are the pas
sages where subtility might serve
adroit. An instance is the recounting
of Jimsy Smiths life story. paid IN
Full' is wholly understandable, wholly
plausible, and should be seen.
The story of the play may be quickly
told. A weak, selfish husband who
complains about hard luck rather than
attempting to overcome his diftlcultles'
steals from his employer. To save NM
self from prison this cad of husband
is willing to sacrifice his Wlfe's nonor'
and sends her at night to the employer
But the employer, who is most thor-
oughly q man of the world, the nesn
and the devil, recognizes the purity OF
the woman She leaves his apartment
unharmed and with a receipt in tull
for all the money her husband mas
stolen. When she returns to her selllsh
husband he questions her ana even
accuses her of wronSdoing Ihat Is the
final blow to the womans pride. she
leaves him. Some women might have
forgiven, forgotten and have started
life all over again, just as Joe BROOKS
asked But not so with Emma. Her
eyes were opened a bit late, but she
does what she should do, and goes
away.
The total lack of theatricalism and
of situations worked up to STACEY eli
makes, is the strongest and most vital
force of paid in Full" In its natural
ness it is one play in million.
LINES FORCEFUL
Again, the play is great in sustained
chara racterization. DiametricaIy op-
posed characters carrying on the dia-
logue give force to the lines and make
the situations. The most telling in
stances of this are the short scenes
between Jimsy and Joe Brooks in the
second act and between Emma Brooks
and Captain Williams in the third act.
Every character in the play is alb
solutely true to life. As the seven
were presented on the Burbank theater
stage yesterday one realized TINS to
the fullest. A Byron Beasley's Joe
Brooks, the husband, was presented In
q manner which leaves little room for
criticism. 1t is the best of Mr.. Beas-
ley's portrayals the writer has seen.
AS a matter of fact, Mr.. Beasley is
the most artistic of the cast in the
first TWO acts. AlleI lIldl MS tIltI elClCl
becomes subservient, hence the lack of
opportunity for great histrionic dis
play
Marjorie Rambeau created typical
American woman. She played Emma
Brooks in a natural key, never becom-
ing theatrical or sensational. MISS
Rambeau has SHOWN her versatility
by acting in a subdued manner, which
surely must appeal to all. This was
proved in her scene with captain Will
liams She might have become highly
emotional and denunciatory but she
made her acting more forceful by
suppressing her emotion. One got a
keen insight into the nobility of
woman's nature when Emma Brooks
said I'm not afraid of you!"
VmLAINoUs WILLIAMS
Captain Williams, the employer de-
picted by David Hartford, is a man in
whom the milk of human kindness is
curdled. He has buffeted wind, weather
and world. Hence he is hard and
brutal, and regards women as merely
for the qualification of desire. But
the spark of decency is dead in nobody
not even in Captain williams. 1t
needs but the proper fuel to make the
spark glow brightly. Emma Brooks,
the wife, supplies the fuel. Full meas
ure of Captain Williams is taken in
the third act, to which Mr.. Hartford
rose fully. At no time was Mr.. Hart
ford lacking in full realization of what
the character he portrayed demanded,
and Mr. Hartford showed it clearly.
David Landau made Jimsy Smith
big-natured, virile and lovable. Ethel
Won Waldron as the "snippy" little
sister was perfection and Louise Royce
did credit to herself by enacting the
shreWish, inquisitlve mother in the
proper manner. And Henry Stock
bridge caused many a laugh as the
Japanese servant whose vocabulary
seemed chiefly to be "Yissir."
Possibly the only criticism of paid
in Full' is to be mane Of its scenic
mountings. The walls Of the supposedly
handsome apartment shown in the Sec
ond act are rather cheap and tawdry
looking as compared with the furni-
ture. The third act set is too large
and too brilliantly lighted. Captain
Williams "den" should be small, co2v
and mysterious, with dim lights and
somewhat dirty and cluttered up.
Strictly speaking, Criticism-or praise
of gowns has little place in n dra-
matte review. But more than a word OF
praise Is due all the women for their
dresses. Miss Rambeau's gown Of the
second and succeeding acts is what the
fair sex call "a creation" 1t is indeed
a thing Of beauty and a joy to the
eyes.