The Washington herald., 1914-03-12

..Fantomas." or The Man in Black,
four-reel Gaumont feature forms part
of the bill at the Empress Thcater to-
day.
A mystery play OF no common order is
the fourth OF this series of plays deallnS
with the battling character. Fantomas'
the crook k-detective. Seldom is an lden-
tity more clcvcrIy concealed and an audi
cnce more regularly fooled. than by TINS
slippery crook He is a brutalized Arsene
L,upin. cIeverer Raffies. Victor Ma
varre. who is cast in the title role,
makes the most of the many opportunl-
tics which are afforded by the complex
plot construction TO battle his audience
and drive home his effect. He is sup
ported by large cast. in which Renee
Carl and James Breon give good support
in the characters next in Importance.
To tell the story itself is like finding
the end Of the Mystic Maze or analyz-
ing the star dust OF the Milky way.
Fantomas, with his phenomenal ability of
disgtiisc. changes from one character TO
another with such rapidity that follow
ing his evolutions is out of the questions
even for Juye the famous detective
Juve. by the way. in this particular num-
her. is dismissed from the force in whose
service he had spent so much time ioI-
lowing the elusive trail OF the crook.
This dismissal and his subsequent arrest
is the result of the pressure o. the press.
which must have some one on whom IL
can vent its spleen. But the mysterious
disa ppearance Of a bank messenger, after
leaving the house OF Moche. an old money
lender. causes a reversal Of public senti-
ment. Evidently Juve. confined in Jail.
could not be responsible for that crimc?.
Meanwhile Tom Roberts, American de-
tcctivc, il the audience may believe his
card. arrives in Paris Many OF the audi
cncc. naturally suspicious. refuse TO ac-
Cept him as n regular cop. but in spite
a. their incredulity he promptly finds the
body of the hank messenger. walled up
behind a plaster partition in the upper
floor Of the house occurred by the money
lender.
Tho audience begins to pat itself on its
collective back when by his actions dur
ing the visit to the grand duchess. the
American detective shows Enthusiastically
that he and Fantomas are one and the
same.
At the ball given by the grand duchess
the guests and the audience alike begin
to feel that they have had "one too
MANY" when three men dressed in
peculiar black costume appear on the
scene in rapid succession. Soon two OF
them quarrel and one is slain. The third
man, Fandor. the newspaper friend OF
Juve, findc the dead man behind the
house and informs the guests. But not
until the guilty man in black has escaped.
rsIightiy wounded on the forearm. Juve.
locked in the Jail. is discovered to have
a wound on his forearm! But this proves
tc he the work OF a keeper who has
been bribed. and the story goes on
through many incidents until Fantomas
himself is finally captured by Juve and
Fandor as he is emerging from the
duchess's house after stealing the money
which he has suggested be collected by
public subscription 10 help capture him.
Fantomas does not stay captured more
than about twenty-five feet OF him. and
the drama closes with JUve and Fandor
lying helpless in the concealed pitfalls
into which the daring criminal had led
them.
THE Silent Messenger, a Domino
drama, in which justice is meted out in
an unwonted manner. is noteworthy in
many respects.
Pietro Giovanni foreman of a stone
quarry in an italian village. is the town
bully. He betrays little Maria Rossi, and
is taken to task by the village priest.
Pietro laughs at the priest and his
doctrines.
Antonia Rossi. the girls brother. and
her father, infuriated by their daughter S
shame, are about TO take summary ven
geance upon Pietro, when they are
plunged into sorrow by the news that
their daughter has taken her own life.
The villagers take up the cause Of the
wronged family, and. led by Antonia.
little Marie's brother, they storm Pietros
home.
Armed with sticks and stones, they
pursue the bully into the home of DR..
Luigi Bossini. DR.. Bossini leaves his
laboratory, to learn the cause of tins
mob's anger, and, in his absence. Pictro
enters Weary with his long flight, Pietro
drinks what he supposes to be glass
OF water. The vessel. however. contains
the germs of spinal meningitis, ana
Pietro soon succumbs to the dread
disease.
s.The Silent NessenE-"," gripping Dom
ino drama today, c.. NAL, 92I Pa. ave.
ADV.
Winnie Burns. leading ingenuc al the
SoIax Company. met with a bad 4 'cident
while acting in a picture the other day
In descending a ladder the rope Drohe
and she fell thirty feet. On revivinS She
wished to continue with the scene. Those
who heard her were thunderstruck. ana
hurried her on to st. Luke's Hospital
She will not he out for week.
Positively great! At the Virginia today
ADV.