The Washington times., 1912-04-17
Praises Work of Heavy.
weight Star and His
. Company.

The old, old fairy tale of Cinderella
and the godmother who presented her
with the beauteous clothes and the
coach and four has been worked and
reworked so often that one would
think II impossible to find a new angle
from which to approach II. II has been
used as the basis for musical extrava~
| ganzas, society plays, minstrel shows,
and even grand opera, but 1t remained
for George Bronson Howard to manipu-
late 1t so that It forms a most delicious
| satire nthe snobbishness of his own
homo town, Baltimore.
This he has accomplished in little
thrse-act At of very pleasing non
sensity under the title of "Snobs,"
| which is being played at the National,
and laughed fully as hard with Frank
McIntyre-the star-as / did at him.
| And how much Of a compliment to
| the actors ability this is only
those who have seen Mr. Mcintyre
| in "Classmates' or THE Travel
| ing Salesman" could appreciate.
| Frankly he Is built for laughing pur-
poses only" as the press agents love
| to say anent their approaching produc-
tions-which- generally are about as
funny as a funeral.
But Mcintyre is really funny just to
| look at Upon his very first entrance in
''snobs,' dressed in the rough clothes
| which he has donned to drive the milk
to the, swell guys in Mt. Vernon
| square the audience giggles. chuckles,
| and finally bursts into a good-sized
| laugh-a laugh nearly as big as is the
ssr sned H' tn'yFs netser not
'feshy'-he is frankly. blatantly,
proudly fat, and he doesn't care who
knows 1t. 1t is his stock In trade and
II Is doubtful whether, IL he were sud
denly despoiled of It through a spell OF
illness or from any other cause. he
would know how to act, for he has be-
come go accustomed to having the au-
dieDce laugh at him that 1t would prob
ably come as surprise not to hear at
least few appreciative chuckles.
NJ, lntyre Is Built
To Suit the Part.
In the role of Henry Disney, the milk
man, who becomes a duke, Mcintyre has
| a part which fits him excellently. True,
| 1t is a big part but it has to be. Most
of the play hinges on his lines and the
action appears to drag a bit when he
Is off stage, but the time when he is
present Is such a visible delight that
any shortcomings In the remainder OF
the performance are readily overlooked.
In writing ''Snobs," George Bronson
Howard merely took the story of Gin
derella. introduced a fat man into her
role placed a lawyer in the part of the
fairy godmother, added few telling
shots concerning the 'exclusiveness" of
| his home town-and there you are.
Quite a simple little recipe, say you?
But try It and you will probably fall
down. unless you have, like Mr.. How
! ard. an actor with the ability-and
| avoirdupois--of Mr. Mcintyre to help
you out
Placing duke, incognito, in the
midst OF Baltimore society mas possi-
bilities of Itself. but when you add that
the dukc has just graduated" from
being a milk man.. that he looks any
thing but the popular conception of.
peer of the realm. and that he is ac-
| companied by a friend who Is appar-
emily the real duke. the complications
are easy to be seem And the author
has overlooked very few of them and
those that he missed the star found. -
Society in the Monumental City Is