The Washington herald., 1916-04-02
Across the New York Footlights
By George Jean Nathan

II ts one of the commonly accepted
traditions of our thsater to dub as
romantic drama any play. however
presy, the characters in which are
dressed up like the tops of pianos in
country jake households, the settings
in which are Illuminated by candela-
bra, and the period of which ante
dates the year 1850. 1t is in pur-
suancs of this tradition. therefore,
that We Ind The King of Nowhere"
by ]. and l. du Rocher Macpherson
designated by the accepted label.
Meeting the vision in the Maxine
Elliott thsster, this particular roman
tic comedy, not unlike numerous
other so-termed romantic comedies Of
the school, reveals itself to be dsA-
Gent both IN romance and comedy,
substituting (as Is the wohD a tin
sword duel and several What no, var
lets" fer the former and several
quips Ansnt the ourlssqus-show por-
tion OF the human anatomy for the
latter. As a whole, the product gives
the auditor the impression that its
creators, having assiduously deyoured
Dumas. D'EnnsFy, shaw and James
Bernard FagaA, decided thsrsupon to
write play brsVsd OF the best ele-
ments In the dramaturgy Of each OF
writing 4 play brewsd, instead, only of
the worst elements Truth to tell,
there is scarcely trace of merit In
the Macpherson endsavoT, What was
designed as drama asssils the audi
snee In terms Of farce. The planned
thrill Is mstamoFphossd into q
smoker; the hopsd-foF heart interest
into funny-bons interest. The Ian
guags with which the authors have
l. ~
as ThoFley's. And the general result,
quite obviously, is anything but
happy,
The hero Of this ingenious business
Is one GodFed, sort OF sixteenth CEN
fury Douglas Fairbanks, who, taken
prisoner by the militia OF Hampton
Court palace, proceeds forthwith to
display his bieeps, to fiout his scorn
for kings. queens and all other such
weaklings, and to grin his contempt
for the dressed-up villain. 1t devel-
ops that a fine lady of the court, the
Lady Margaret Chichester, no less, has
cast an apPraisipg eye upon the yaga-
bond, has found the follow to her pal
ate and has indicated her preference
for him over her fiance. Lord Harry
FitZwAltsr, by placing at his dungeon
window a symbolic bunch of yiolets.
Upon this likely Margaret, it so hap
pens that King Henry has in turn
registered an amorous look, and thus
it comes about that, piqued to the
quick at the hussys Irritation with
GOdred. the testy monarch Ordains
that unless the proud lady marriss
the vagabond. he will, by m'faith!
have their joint heads.
In stalks Villain.
What to do? The heroic Godred
says the lady nay. He will not per
init her to sacrifice herself. In the
dark dungeon the couple talk things
oysr-but still to no decision. And,
after Godred has grabbed the beauty
head in both his hands and drained
a kiss from her ruby lips-in stalks
the villainOus Lord Harry.
Harry, OF course, places the Rose
Stahl. or wrong. construction upon the
situation and makes an impolite re-
marx on the SiIchester virtue. To
which our valiant hero responds by
flooring the dastardly fellow with a
blow. When Harry gets up, the lady
(who has meanwhile been covering
against the walD approaches him and
steals his sword. Handing the weapon
triumphantly to the hero, she bids
him now to make good his escape.
But no. GodFed returns the sword
with a sneer to the trembling Fitz-
walter, says something to the effect
that what matters it if he must die
fOrasmuCh as there can be no life
without love, and so brings down the
curtain.
The next act finds Godred summoned
into the kings presence. With a
swagger he tells the king-yery
frankly-that he doesn't give a darn
what the king thinks or plans to do.
He, GOdred. is all in all, ct cetera, ct
Cstera. The king, however, now
makes a Sudermann proposition to
the lady in the case. If the lady will
agree to be nice to him, he. the king.
will spare her lovers life. With
bosom hsaying and breath coming in
pantalettes, the naughty beauty tells
the king yes, she will suCcumb to his
desires. But, at this Unlovely juno
ture, the royal one becomes haunted
with the fear of one of his dead wives
vengeance, relents and. after Godred
has cured him of his Authorizations by
the exercise of witChCraft, decides to
free the noble fellow and to give him
the leading woman's hand in wedlock.
This somewhat ambiguous and not