Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1912-01-30
HOUSE which a few years ago

A HOUSE which a few years ago
~ would have made an IS. r. o.
sign necessary greeted the in
itial production of alias Jimmy VAL
entine" at the Shubert Theatre last
night. Like that which preceded it,
the offering for the current week is a
play of the underworld and the
principal characters are copies of the
folk who dwell in that sphere.
: Unlike most plays of I kind, how
ever, the author does not try to gild
the human surface with a hero Veneer.
Every character is an everyday type.
which the average man recognizes: the
warden, with his firm conviction of the
in%curability of the disease of criminal
ity. the detective, with his dauntless
determination to get his man, no
matter whether the getting be along
ethically right lines or not; and the
various types of hardened crooks. who
look upon their ultimate capture by the
law with the stolid fatalism of the
eastern fanatic, and who take - NOR
bid pride in the degree of proficiency
which they have reached in their tart"
Edward Bayes and Charles e. Graham.
who portray theNcharacters of "Blinky"
Davis and Dick, the Rat" carry out
tne1G ulIIlcull parts II outh pCiiCtAioit
as to make one imagine for the mo-
ment tha they are actually engaged in
real crime.
Metropolitan critics gave to H.. b.
Warner a great part of the credit Of
the phenomenal success of Alias
Jimmy Valentine and after watching
him through an evenings performance
one realizes the justice of the appor-
@,Ana tla nant1aanf no an
pears in the warden's office in the first
act to tina sweeping crisis in h last,
when we see him risk all to save the
life of his sweetheart's sister. Warner
is. if the cast needed such a thing, the
prop of the play. There is nothing
in the part itse' which would win the
sympathy of the audience for the Grim
inal who is trying to live straight in
spite of the police. but there is when
the part is portrayed by Warren. True,
he is a little too slow to catch on when
a lady proposes to please the gallery
gods. but it must take some time to
get accustomed to having such a
dainty piece of femininity as Miss
Sherwood make love to one-and prob
ably he will get over that defect ca.
The play has enough plot to satisfy
the most exacting. 1t deals with the
trials and temptations that a man
meets when he has once been a
"boarder up the river and then tries
to live straight. The idea is a live, up
to-date one, in view of the many or
CARNATIONS being formed, ever like the
Gate of Hope Society" for the pur-
pose of getting the erring brother a
nance.
Mellowdrammer? Yes, ] melodrama
of the human kind, with an intenseness
which sweeps one off his feet and
makes repeated dropping of the pro-
gram necessary in order that he may
wipe his eyes without being observed.
And yet, it is not a sad play, the obvi-
Gus attempts of "Rose" to convey her
meaning without becoming toe "1eap-
yearistic," causes many umorou spots
and the repartee of Jimmy when he
accomplishes the Herculean task Of
beating a man and making him like
it." brings many a burst of spontane-
Gus laughter. In alias Jimmy Valen-
tine is a wholesome, deep. gripping,
stirring play. and its success is easily
understood.