Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-20
BOTH SIDES
.,oHe


precisely wooing It. The last named OF the
trio did Indeed give a fair imitation OF
boulevard farce. The French themselves
were aware of this and Baby Mine" re-
ceived several hundred presentations on the
Avenue Montague under the banner Of the
amusing Max Dearly. Despite this unusual
circumstance, II must be admitted that
American farces of late have been neither
flesh nor fowl nor good red herring. Chiefly
they have heen hypocritical attempts to
simulate foreign methods without the bold
ness to be uGashamed
Let 1t be understood, however, that CEN
sure of this timdity is not here intended.
II is impossible either to give the majority
of French farces unedited in this country
or TO produce original ones OF the same
lines The last really successful Partisan
Importation Of this character was The Blue
Mouse" "A gem of raCy humor from winch
offensc was deXterousy removed In the
conspicuously brilliant adaptation made by
Clyde Fitch. Such products as The Tur-
tie" where There's a wr' and THE
Girl With tho Whooping Cough" were mere
stupid attempts at pruriency, which became
still duller after subsection to emasculation
in English.
tn TITLE alone does "Mary's Ankle"
i now visible at the Adelphi. betray the
last vestges of endeavor to feed concept"
Of French. German or Continental
farce 10 the American puDlC, uhNIdlltu
to receive them without being uuduly
startled. The name Is ''racy." The sub
iect matter and development of May Tul-
ly's play is as innocuous as cup OF tea
at the Y. NJ. G. A.
Before the farce has accomplished fifteen
minutes of its course there is ample evi-
dence that the author has abandoned vain
efforts TO be "Frenchy" in the wrong en-
vlronment She has returned instead to
the kind of fun making honorably assocl'
ated with the English speaking stage, to the
brand Of eNtravagant humor involving thu
employment Of absurd condolences, OF keen
comic Characterizations and of prcposterous
complications rendered seemingly reason
able and deliciously mirth-provoking by
the art OF skilled farceurs.
John Sleeper Clarke, the broadness OF
whose comic methods wholly dlsarmed crit
icism by their miraculous Effectiveness. had
a long list of plays Of this calibre in his
repertoire. Augustin Dalys company
adorned another collection. William. COL
lier has written number of his own droll
vehicles along those lines. Such plays mel
ther aspire TO reach the pinnacle Of art
nor to ape foreign forms of entertainment
technically polished but subject to tarnish
when transpiantcd.
Miss Tullys farce has numerous defects
There is much needless repetition and very
little advancement Of the main dramatic
machinery In the opening act The long
arm of coincidence is stretched almost to
the breaking point. Situations which
stagger even the farcical sense of the i'm
probable are introduced. And yet, the ad-
ventures Of the three ingratiating young
men who make a last wild effort to fill their
purses by issuing bogus wedding announce
ments In the expectation Of substantial gifts
arc SO breezily characterized and the ludt-
crous pickle in which they are caught is
depicted with so much refreshing humor
that the net result is an evening of laughter
For any farce maker there can be no bet
ter reward.
Moreover scenes in professional" offices
are almost always funny Shaw realized
this when he conceived his dental setting
for You Never Can Tell" The comic. pos
siblites Of the patientless physician were
long ago developed by Charles Dickens with
immortal inspiration In the Bob Sawyer
episodes of "Pickwick Papers" The re-
sourcefulness of that aspiring young
medical man who dispatched packages Of
drugs to the wrong addresses in order. TO
have his name advertised even by a
mistake, is more than once recalled by the
wles OF Miss Tullys appealing Doctor
Hampton saved by the lucky accident TO
"Mary's Ankle"
TT is easily conceivable. however, that
l. much Of the sunny flavor Of the play
might be lost without expert Interpretation.
The admirable group of funmakers in
"Mary's Ankle" works wonders in m liking
the piece momentarly credible and almost
continually diverting. Zelda Sears possesses
uncommon genius for portraying ch lracter
so rldiculously compounded OF kittenlshness
and Whines as that Of Hamptons absurd
landlady The crisp and facie farCical meth
DDS of the three youths in the able hands
of Bert Lytell, T. W. Gibson and Leo
Donnelly--the last named a Philadelphian
whose stage rise has been as rapid as It Is
deserved - irradiate extravagant climaXes
with health giving merriment. Walter Jones.
ripe in footlight experience. Is decidedly
more amusing than he was in Baby Nine
a farce in which somewhat labored pornog-
raphy predominated over genuine humor.
Realization of how adrot are the methods
Of dainty Irene Fenwick comes quickly with
the thought of what would become Of her
role in the hands of prattilng "artless'
ingenues. dlstressingly typihed by Billie
Burke. Miss Fenwck understands the value
M renose. About her pretty and restrained
se,f the action of the piece hilar'ously re-
wolves Like the Gilbertian House of Lords
she does
ana ,,nSt3iDs d1ss L Il vs4y Say'isSiifi''' %aii.'
Conservatism in this particular case be-
travs the keenest artistic intelligence
JEROME X. JEROME once wrote de-
IoctabIe little book entitled "Stageland."
y satirized with refreshing humor the
,,aaLnesses and stupidities Of playwrights
nd actors Then the English humorlst
y,rote several dramas himself and promptly
ar,r,,tted many of the very faults his
T,,ttv nen had condemned
Theatrical history seems to be repeating
- q, the case Of Rennold Wolf and
%Eonntnp pollock, responsible for the libret-
80 'Srhe Grass Widow" These authors
~ aIso critics. and they have often caus-
sIoa,t,, held forth on the inanhies OF musi-
vi comedy. Nevertheless The Grass
Widow" contains more time-worn Jokes and
80 disheartening abundance OF feeble
,.,n,or q r' than any production of its class re-
,ioaIed ,iu,id here in some time. There are well
Nen,e bright spots in the tuneful score OF
it, Ton'e Hlrsch, but when Mr. Pollock, or
ntons Mr.. wolf--most theatre-wise OF
,p,tS,r,attists-actually perpetrate this sort OF
thing ,,,...t
Yes hut IL smells like coffee.
,,.su they ought TO 'be ashamed they reallE
ought. - .Ioo NJiiIarisn," is char
l.is,ic Of much of the book. The pro
ae'.i 1',,nD as a whole is not without some
n.tt as witness the charming impersona-
nv nv the leading role by sweet-voiced
Npnta,ie All. But Of late years musical
,asadv standards have run considerably
sHaod Of the pace established in THE Gras''