El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-10-14

ter speaks repeatedly of @me wife" in
good LOndOnese, even the less discrim-
mating theatergoer knows something is
wrong. Also, We cannot help feeling the
shock on hearing a Paris genarme alud-
ing to '-the big I'm" and 'the little 'un.'
Indeed there seems no good reason why
the play could not be made TO strike
home by laying the scene right IN New
York or some other American city. with
Levardier a district attorney and a de-
tective sergeant taking the place OF a
1cOmmissaire-
Miss Tell shows great depth Of feeling
in several strong passages Mr. Cooper
Gliffe relieved the tension agreeably by
his comic touches in the scene when he
makes the forced sale of 100000 francs
for 10000 Vernon Steel. in the part
OF Heurand. Is tail and stately, but fails
TO reach Miss Tells pitch Of emotion.
Best Acted Play.
A group of well known actors and
managers were sitting in the grill room
Of the Lambs club discussing the best
acted play in New York Perhaps a
dozen were in the argument. OF the
dozen more than half had attended every
opening night. And of the dozen, it is
interesting to note, not one had failed
to see "The Intruder" which is at the
theater formerly called the Gambler and
now known as the &C. & H" Why had
the entire dozen men seen "The Intrud-
er," while only a portion of them had
seen the other good plays2 Boiled down
to its essence, the true reason was that,
Judging alone from the names in the
cast, these actors and managers felt as
sured in advance Of an evening OF fin
ished, intelligent acting. What is more
to the point, not one of the u admitted
disappointment: and HThe Intruder"
gained the verdict of being the best act
ed play now on the New York stage.
1t is a curious example Of dramatic
writing. this new work Of Cyril Harcourt,
from whose brilliant pen came that
sparkling comedy of two seasons ago,
"a Pair of Silk Stockings"
"Backfire."
Love triumphs over revenge. the bad
are punished but not too much in Back
fire" the melodrama presented by Walt
er \. Lawrence at the 39th Street the
ater. The author is Stuart Fox, the pen
name of a certain out OF town business
man. This play IS his first effort of the
sort.
Mathew Garth and Hiram Page are
rival wealthy cotton manufacturers.
Garth persuades Page 20 speculate in
cotton, then secretly "unlOads" on mis-
rival The story leaps out while both
are attending a social gathering.
The two would have come TO blows on
the spot had not an attorney, a friend
of both. shown the ruined man that he
had suffered through his own "cOntribu-
tory negligence Page becomes a night
Waterman in his rivals plant. But his
eldest daughter. Lydia, does not give up
so easily. She resolves to have revenge.
A Real Villainess.
She works through Herbert Gart.h son
of her victim Five fire policies are al
lowed to lapse and the Garth factory is
then destroyed. The elder Garth threat
ems her with criminal prosecution. but
learns that she has protected herself by
marriage to his son and that her acts
are entirely within the law.
Lydia, however, sees the fUtility of her
vengeful plan and resolves to carry it
no further.
Mary Boland gave an excellent pot
trayal of the role of the scheming daugh-
ter. Her powers were admirably dis