New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-08-20
READY MONEY! BRIGHT.
NAM PLAY at Maxine EIllott's
More Farce than Comedy.
HAS AN ACTIVE PLOT
,.dience, Largely Professional,
Reflects Enthusiasm
of Players.

Ready Money" has no characteriza-
and although It seemed to have been
u0% "A with the semi-serious intent of
'' rs q serio-comic fact. it was pro-
~ with and was finished in such
.''~5lsss good humor and with so little
at -, 70 push home any moral that 1t
So ont TO be a jolly little play with
.c,ivs plot that was told with some
'..n and acted with plenty OF vitality.
Money attracts money. That is the
- The fact is quite generally ac-
go vet IS often discussed as new
...,c bv those VINO suddenly discover It
~. themselves. Nothing succeeds like
.n..sss--and all that. But in Ready
vo,.v'' the proverb IS given fresh proof
~ new means. \ young mine owner
tho has lust 3 cents left and has not
"a, unearthed gold in his property. and
ar therefore get no one to take any
..rc, IN II IS offered $1,000 personally
..rp,sctured dollars by clever counter
,sitsr.
you won't have to try to pass them"
n. treasures the indignant young mine
oVner. Just show them"
Curious 10 Try out the theory. the
vounsster draws his eXhilarating "wad'
from his pocket later OF and shows it TO
4 group Of friends All OF them lead to
IN. conclusion that Steve has struck sold
a, last and there is q stampede for stock.
There is love thread and detective
thread also in the plot, and the three are
,pun side by side with almost equal in
,ersst All ends happily and in to-be-
expected manner There is nothing novel
in Ready Money" except its use of coun-
,srfsit dollars-which, of course is hor-
riblv bad morals The idea is so in
seuuous and so harmless When one
needs only to establish confidence in or
der 10 make a fortune, and can do that
with a single wave OF beautiful, false dol
lars in the faces Of those sophisticated
xorldlings who should have had conf
dsnce in one all along-why not? The
only reason apparent is the police. They
might spoil everything as they nearly did
IN the play but they might never get into
the plot in real life-as often they do not
In real NE
In spite OF its improba bility and farce
Ike tendencies the play has good spirits
enough 70 make II fairly stimulating
Il has chosen a happy subject TO be
sure. Il speaks Of a topic that is in
every ones INTERCHANGEABLE in al
most every ones mind TO the exclusion
Of everything else II is safe TO say
that no one is more likely TO prove en-
tsrtaining than one who discusses a
favorite topic in a hopeful and humor-
Gus way. This is what James Mont
gomsry has done in his new comedy
Among the players who gave them
selves and their enthusiasm TO the de-
velopment of the evenings story and en-
tertanment. Joseph Kilgour, in the role
OF the counterfeiter. cut the clearest i'm
preston and was personally responsible
for most of the eXhilaration. He had a
conventional part with Just slight new
grn. He was a counterfeiter, and there
bre a bold. bad man. but the playwright
as emphasized the holiness so pleasantly
nat the badness retires into obscurity.
and TN the end three cheers could easily
k got for him from the audience, If
they were proposed. Mr.. kilgour acted
Sth unusual vigor his part of inspiring
HE aristocatlc pal" His gravity and
force went over the footlghts clean cut
and formed the best sort Of contrast TO
the farcical activities Of the unbelievable
characters who were trapped BY his
schemes The other members Of the cast
played agreeably, if not notably. William
Courtenay. as the owner Of the mine,
proving favorite. at least Of last nights
largely professional and certainly appre-
catiye audience. The part OF sydney
ROsen baum. evidently intended 10 show
racial scuteness, was played with charm
ing righteousness by Leo Donnelly. This
VAS an odd bit Of casting on the part Of
The producer. but II is just possible that
the result, in comedy, justified the error.
Music which has long been absent from
the discreet boudoir-like interior Of Max
Inc Elliott's Theatre. appeared in the
lobby last night In the form Of few
siringed instruments. This seemed an
sgreeably soft accompaniment to entr acts
discussions and would be considerably
more so II the musicians would not limit
themselves TO playing last seasons rag
time songs.