New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-01-18


Ncd Csic-l Albert Hackeit
They raised the curtain at $3.50
O'Clock at the Forty-Eighth Street The
atre last night, but tho play did no;
begin until TO- When Eugene Walte-
really set his drama IN motion. how
ever. he provided one Of the biggest
acts Of the season. The third act Of
Just q Woman" has the most gripping
courtroom scene since the days of ION
Trial" and the stage has seen quite n
number of courtrooms in the interim.
4 husband, risen from the ranks,
reaches the stage where he would cast
oF his wife. TO this end he conspircs
with a detective agency and brings suit
for divorce. charging inhdclity. The
wife refuses 70 defend herself, and the
Judge announces his intention Of
granting the husband a decree. with
custody Of the child. II is the latter
fact. OF course. that rouses the woman
to action Rushing 20 the stand. she
perfumes herself by declaring tina, the
charges against her are true, but that
the child cannot he given 10 the hus-
band because 10 is not the husbands
child. Her statement wrings a confes-
sion from tho husband. and the curtain
falls with the woman indicated and
the conspirators facing certain impris-
onment.
Theatrical. OF course. but cfectiv.
20 the nth degree. And yet. despite
this big moment. the instant of great
est drama occurred several minutes
earlier in the act. II WAS brought
about by the simple fact that the child.
the storm centre Of the play. had
fallen peacefully asleep. BY this sim
pie touch the playwright achieved one
of the finest and most dramatic mo-
ments Of the season.
But the trouble with Just a Woman"
Is that il must rest its case solely on
that third act. The act stands alone;
it would not be At all necessary TO sec
the preceding acts in order TO get the
full dramatic effect o. this one. The
two acts that go before are retelling
Of the story of "The Governors
Lady" and not a very dramatic retell-
ing ~ that. The play has ten-years-
later epilogue. much after the fashion
Of that in Common Clay which
brings back the erring husband after
he has served his prison sentence.
Just a Woman" was written severa
wears ago. and makes its concession 10
its time i'm that II packs punch ana
little else. Certainly il never for al
instant presents a problem that -
likely 10 arise in the lives of the man
and woman who travel in the subway
throughout the first two acts one sees
constantly the hand Il the playwright,
but il is a tribute 20 his power that
rot even that fact is sufficient 20 dul
the effect Of his biggest scene.
Jim Stanley. in front OF his snack
overlooking the Pittsburgh steel mills
is seen to wash the CRIME from ms
hands in the first act, but II turns out
that IL was never really removed. stan
lev is a cad. and il IS rather a reHeI
TO see him carried off 20 prison ana
a disappointment TO see him return
One could have some sympathy for
Daniel Slade. in "The Governors Lady,
but there can be little sympathy 1or
jim Stanley. IT..
The nositione Of the two are similar.
in that both men are endeavoring to rid
themselves Of wives who have not Kept
mace with them. but TO achieve his big
act Eugene Walter has had to MAKE
stanley an out-and-out villain. 10 IS
tbis fact. even more than the du!i
stretches in the first two acts, that WIZ
stand in the way OF the success or the
play. r61o
Josephine Victor was cast IN me ro ~,
Of tho wife who priced her offspring
above her reputation for chastity M, ,s
Victor improved with the play, She
yielded 20 a tendency TO overact III the
nlay's early moments, but the oPeHins
act Was Of such undramatlc STUN ma
The use Of almost any histrionlc powers
might have been mistaken tor oVeiact-
mo, I'm the third act Miss victor rose
70 her opportunities IN splendid lnsn
ION. concluding with fine burst OF leei-
ing in her few moments III the "l'"e's
Waiter Hampden. who was kept ou'
~ The third act until time Tor the cur
lain. did everything that vas pos lpie
fnI linn Stanley. He was particularly
ayceIIent as the dissolute rounder tha'
ia autbor makes Of Stanley in the sec,
"nd net John Arthur was wlstiuI
crinnle and took full advantage OF "
dramatic scene accorded HIM Ill we
courtroom act. Frank Monroe, VINO
simnlv can't get away from detectives
gave his usually good performance
and Walter Wilson WAS a ousihesslIh'
judge. o..on+ 20 show the
6;e-ant steel mills in the frst act puV
4Le scene lacked the hand OF the expert
The detail was present IN ABUNDANCE
hut without any OF the suggestion