Semi-weekly herald., 1913-12-08
Famous Critic Praises
Miss Helen Freeman.

:
Miss Helen Freeman, the talented
daughter of B. N. Freeman, is star.
ring with David Belasco this season
in "The man inside" The
degree of success that is her por-
tion is happily expressed by Archie
Bell in the following appreciation
that appeared in a recent issue Of
the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
When Annie Miss Helen Free
mani turned to Richard Gordon at
the opera house last night and said
II didn't know there was a man like
you in all the world" the majority Of
the audience agreed with her. The
occasion was the premiere of "The
Man 1nside,' by Roland Burnham
Molineux, the third piece Mr.. Belasco
has produced in Cleveland for the
first time ON any stage.
There was large audience, an en-
thusiastic and fashionable audience,
q speech BY Belasco and all of the
trimmings Of premiere by the best
stags manager in America. These
were inevitable. But the play? As
Annie limited, it seemed for a time
tliat there was nobody SO good as
Gordon in all the world. and it SEEM
ed that there was nobody SO bad as
most Of the other principals in an ex-
ceptionally large cast.
But as Whistler said to the woman
who declared that she had never seen
sunset like the one on his canvas,
Don't you wish you could, madam 7"
Isn't it just worth while, for the sake
of argument, to have character like
Gordon? Isn't it worth while for the
same reason to present large band
of dips, yeggs and crooks, to show
them living in miserable surround
ings, talking their miserable talk and
. thinking their miserable thoughts
Isn't it worth while to see the maj
esty Of the law again assaIled, satir-
lied to the point of ridicule, even Tex
posed" dragged into the gutter and
finally discarded as something that
has served its time and no longer
serves decent purpose?
The answer is in the affirmative.
The Man inside is decidedly worth
while. 1t is more than that. It is
the most interesting document that
has yet come to US on the American
stage, dealing with the treatment of
criminals, the abuse of criminals by
legal practices of the time and pro-
posed corrective measures. Whereas,
most of the so-called crime plays
have been destructive, whereas most
of them have either glorified the
criminal and made hero of him or
painted him as william too deep for
dye to show upon him, this play IS
constructive and coming as it does
from masterhand in stagecraft, pre-
scented as it is in most intelligent
and Ineligible manner, it is likely
to become the basis of the leading
controversy of the winter.
If men are not improved by modern
prisons, If prison life is not cor.
rective, If two men are going to jail
where one used to 20, il the mar
who comes out Of Jail is likely to bt
moral leper As he was when ths
law fastened its clutches upon him
and the consensus Of opinion is ar
irving at that conclusion--then some
thing must be done. Something il
going to be done. The biggest mind
in the world are at work upon thi,
problem. And "The Man Inside" i,
just q worthy contribution to liter
ature on the subject, just about tn,
most forcible sermon that has eve
been preached upon the subject; i
has reached the theater, the mighties
forum for the discussion of grea
questions that concern our socia
weli-being. This is Belasco's contri
button and Ii is worthy of him.
The play is wonderfully produced
TO the minutest detail. Columns
might be written about the exactnes.
and correctness of everything from
the opium cookers to the pale twiligh
beyond the open windows of the tene
ment house revealed by the flappinl
of the drawn window shade.
Mr.. Belasco said: ~ wish that Mr.
Molinenx were here tonight to thanh
you. For myself, have discovered
several talented women, and now
have found another" Thus he in
troduced to the world Miss Heller
Freeman, who played Annie. Miss
Freeman deftly carried the girl over
a dangerous route. from innocent
girlhood to the life of q crook anc
back again not only to innocence bui
to realization of what right living
means. Her voice has the rich rippl.
of Annie Russell's, her acting Is
straightforward, frank, intense and
modern. Above all she is natural
and on that rarity. she will build her
career
Mrs. Edwin X. Chase entertained