The Washington herald., 1916-12-26
NatiOnal-"Betty."

Raymond Hitchcock is in town with
musical lady known as Betty" who ap-
pears to be the sort OF person to whom
She is pretty to look at and agreeable
to listen to, and Mr.. Hitchcock has rare
ly been so funny in a single evening, so
that the prospects are rosy for a merry
Xmas week at the National Theater.
The plot? Oh, yes-it has something to
do with the love affair of the young Earl
Of Beverly and a maid in his fathers
employ. Lord Darcy Playne, an amiable
rounder. with a fun-blown London ac-
cent, a wrist watch, and a monocle-none
-straightens out the difficulty, Of course,
just about II o'clock each evening.
The experienced makers of the book
have supplied Mr.. Hitchcock with many,
clever lines, and the comedian has added
to these fund of amusing business out
OF his own resources. He was especially
Lunny in song about the insignihcance
Of bridegrooms. and provoked gales of
laughter when he characterized Billy
hymn book.
Joseph Santley has a nimbleness that
Is rare even in these dancing days. and
Ivy Sawyer sings the title role charming
ly. Then there was George Moore az q
comic millin-T, and William Eville as a
musical comedy duke. For good meas
ure. producer Dillingham; has provided q
furry Of delightful women consisting of
Bunny Wendell. Dorothy Duncan, Edna
Bates, Elinor st. Clair. and a half hun
dred other lovely creatures and a large
number of their gay male companions
sufrragtst In the audience remarked
that there was a number of beautiful
women on the stage for the male part
of the audience to admire, but not a
handsome man to whom a woman would
lose her heart. The franchise viii doubt
less correct this injustice to our feminine
theatergoers.
clever comedian. an interesting book,
tingling tunes. exquisite dancing and ar
tistic settings are enough to bring popu-
larity to any musical comedy and II yor
are wise, the National Theater will be
your Mecca this week.
BeIasco-"A Daughter of the Gods.'
In "A Daughter of the Gods" william
Fox's S1.Ooo,oO0 picture beautiful, which
is having a run at the Belasco, there Is
much to please the children as well as
tile sTO"n IOih, rOT IN Ine making us Gre
ator considered the little ones, knowing
that that which pleased the youngsters
must also appeal to the parents.
In one of the big scenes the country
of the gnomes, a fairy-like representation
Of their mythiral kingdom is shown with
all the faithfulness of detail that marks
elsewhere In this famous picture the mas
ter mind of Fox. 1t is an enchanted set
ting for Annette Kellermann. the most
perfect woman in the world"
Amid tropical foliage and under a rag
ing mountain torrent can be seen the lit
tie creatures who play so important .
part in this last word in filmed story. To
create the effect of the mountain stream,
Mr. Fox found 1t necessary to divert a
river from its source, but never daunted
either as to the gigantic nature of the
task, or the cost attendant upon the same,
he sent to New York for a company Of
the best engineers to be had.
This one item represented the outlay
of a small fortune and gives a small idea
to what extremes Mr.. Fox went to make
"A Daughter of the Gods" the scenic SEN
sation of the century.
Engineers and naval and military rep
resentatives Of the British government at
Kingston, Jamaica, visited the location
several times and expressed their sur
prise at the undertaking which. to a man,
they described as one Of the most re-
markable pieces of engineering ever at
tempted by an Individual