El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-08-04

M Man Who Came Back" the
\ play from the pen of Jules
Eckert Goodman, running ever since
last September at the Playhouse,
brings up the thought that sincerity
in acting is greatly responsible for
the success Of many insincere medo-
dramas or other kinds Of plays. We
could not help feeling otherwise. be-
cause the play itself is simply a melo-
drama that is cleverly written. but
rather insincers in that fl does not
portray life as It IS
Perhaps that is unfair. and we sup
pose il f. because we have always
thought the rheater TO be a place
where legitimate dramas usually car
ried moral or something Of the
sort Their very distortion Of actual
life. as we usually know it. should
make IL plain 10 folks who go to see
II that there is something between
the lines
We suppose that the outstanding
feature Of The Man Who Came
Back IS not at all the hero's fight
back from the thraUdom OF drink or
suy Of a dozen obvious sirua ri0us. but
the love Of q woman ana her willing
ness 70 sacrifice herself for the man
she loves
Va AlANEE .. q aAaaAAa-A as ~
whether a woman viii do such
thing. or, rather. what constitutes
sacrifice. AS to whether a woman
would sacrifice herself we might say,
parentheticany. that we don't know
Few do. for the simple reason that
sacrifice, like beauty. is an arbitrary
term. and what means sacrifice TO
one does not carry the same meaning
10 another
But. inasmuch as we are digress-
in HHrH
that sincerity in acting. OF feeling
your part, removes doubt even in the
minds Of the cynics i'm the audience
as 70 whether the play IN question
vas written solely for box Office
purposes
A Test or Fine Acting
We suppose. primarily, that 10 is
test Of fine acting. For. as we
watched the descent Of the hero in
the play his election from home. his
descent to the dope" den in Chang
hal where he NETS the girl who is
dope fiend." their fighting hack to-
zether. we felt that the play was IN
true. We felt that nobody could shake
off craving for either strong drinks
or drugs without some sort Of Kelley
treatment. and neither man nor girl
apparently had ether; we felt that
some Of the scenes were ovedramatic.
Yet with all this " q could not help
feel the thing, We could not help
we're making TO get back 70 the
snug contentedness OF the life that
the audience were enjoying. And we
felt that William C. Crowell, who was
the hero" and Miss Laura Walker,
The leading woman. were really bat
f1inz to get hack on solid footing.
Their evident sincerity and belief IN
their parts saved the play from be-
ing so apparently unreal that u
meant nothing.
great deal OF power 70 make people
CIV. as Miss walker did, with lnsln-
cere lines and situations We may De
wrouE- We usually are. but at any
rate that was the way IN "hlcn lue
situation appealed TO US IN our
present pessimistic attitude. however,
IL seems as though Il were so foolish
ana futile to fight back TO anything.
Drink and drugs bring temporary
r,ezre or mind sometimes oblivion,
and TO those who feel things keenly
a. would evidently be preferable 70
find come way Of forgetting great
deal and missing both those heights
and depths to p hich any deep emo
tions send US Emotion can drive Us
down 10 horrible depression can
drink or drugs DO more,
A Comparison
After all this talk, Il might be vel
20 point out that Mr.. Crowell and MISS
walker deserve a great deal OF the
play It gets you I'm spite or your
self. We might add that for what
zeems 20 us to be a good piece OF
natural acting that Of Clifford Demp-
eev. I'm the role Of Spartan father
ercels. There are Spartan fathers
and Spartan fathers Of course, just
like there are plays that are ana
PLAYS that aren't
No Sohs for Mr. Dempsey- Not a
bit But he has a knack or clearing
his throat in the way that fathers
usually do 10 Grant sons that caught
the audience and formed the semi
comic relief that IS necessary in any
drama
In fact. we have no desire 20 bring
Sis~~edff on The Man Who Came
Back by eulorizing DC too highly
but At the same time we must say
we nrefer 20 To the "The Thirteenth
Chair which has been running next
door and for almost as long time.
There is something lacking in this
play from the pen OF Bayard WELLER
In spite Of its punch and such
term is usually given TO any situa-
tfou where sharp contrasts cannot
help but produce some feeling OF
emotion on the part Of the audience,
IL has not the same appeal Flutter-
ing the eyelids. rs some OF the fem
mime members Of the cast did. all
though we have seldom seen 10 done
in any sort Of society, ana girls reg
istering weeping by simply putting
their hands up 70 their heads, as did
Miss katherine La Sale. is productive
only Of smiles and a sort OF irritation
mat makes YOU wonder why 10 is that
the term leading lady is given When