Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-09-25
aRESCUING ANGEL"
HAS MARITAL BENT
Ralie Burke Adopts a Hasty
Matrimonial Mood at
the Broad
PLAY BY CLARE RUNNER

Thrii h. clare RUNNER. staged by Robert
Edmoud Jones management Arthur Hopkins
and r. Zegfeld. Jr.
- r,rboun pemina who has spent his
fortuae without knowing II Claude Gillingwater
NlTy neinng, his wife..... Marie Wainwrlght
SSssihR"opn penins .............. Walter schsllln
tMi'Ter tMioS Koiinsky ..,........... Robert Mcwsde
AqEIaqm itfiS tTaniey Richard Bapbee
Filiot Slade ;......,.,..,,...;: Roland Young
George Whitley ..,.,,.,,.,.. ,ErederlCk Perry
"lHnt'' The Dcminesis yeranda. scene i. Bei
'orS Sci og J. The DeminSss livlns room next aft.
Rct D. Suite in the Hotel Gaineish, that eve.
ninr
The practice Of marrying for money has
seldom been treated az Cavaliery before
the footlights as in this little play, which
marks the return of Billie Burke to the
stage Heretofore the mercenary marriage
theme has almost invariably inspired the
dramatist to preach. Clare Hummer evil
IDENTIFY feels under no such compulsion
She has sought to make her heroine fas-
cinatiney immoral AS embodied by the
star this impulslve young person scarcely
takes time TO invoke casuistry TO her aid
Angela Deming. as the character Is called
determines to repair the broken fortunes
OF an mprovident father by making matri-
mony financially advantageous. Exposed
in her first swift move, she Immediately
n
rage with another equally eligible suitor
Teephonic reinsurance is given that Papa
Deming is solvent after all and this very
much devoted daughter discovers that love
had budded i'm her artless heart almost
simultaneously with the formation OF her
mpecunous plot As more wealth IL no
longer needed. little love is accepted as
handsome substitute.
PLAY texture of this quality is. of course
knit with the strands OF pure farce Pre-
posterousness is life to q good deal Of
legitimate funmaking, and when Miss Kun
mer chooses to consider her dramatic frame
work from the standpoint of humorous ex-
travaganza THE Rescung Angel is lightly
and breezily amusing. But there are times
when the error of injecting seriousness and
sentmentality into this wild fabric is dis
concertngly committed. Cast for a part
that should have been consistently quaint
and droll. Miss Burke is in tears on the
verge of them in several scenes.
Footlight improbabities submitted in
conscious spirit of fantastic foolery are
easily credited after S:15. Bernard Shaw
even fashioned wholly unreal farce out OF
Christian martrydom and got away with
H." But the discordant elements in Miss
Runners three-act offering are hard to
reconcile. One can comprehend an angel"
with the whims of Puck. but hardly one
whose moods alternate with those Of Saint
Teresa.
II Miss Runners latest play is to attain
anything like the success of her Success
ful Calamity" and Good Gracious. Anna
belle 70 whose delights are still in store for
phade lphians. the note of comic !acredi-
bty must be better sustained throughout
the performance. Miss Burke's grlsh tears
will be artstically all the prettier the more
emphatcally they suggest crocodile lamen-
tations.
\ cast selected with taste and care labors
diligently, though not always wisely, to
cover up the essential thinness OF Miss
Runners exceedingly fragile product
Some bright lines are admirably delivered
They shine amid situations whose outcome
can be forecast even by those who are only
family theatre wise" In the more friV-
oious-and the the best--passages Miss
Burke makes neat use of her opportunities
but on what ability she has been accredited
with possessing her role is but mild tax
That finished actor Frederick Perry,
draws but meageriy on the rich store of ar
tistic assets as the eventually permanent
swain. A deicately etched portrait OF
dry comcality is contributed by Roland
Young as the young man who was TO have
been husband No. .. Claude Gillingwater
enacts the l-gathering, debt crippled
father with fluent comic skill but Marie
Wainwright as Mrs. Deming is occasionally
too serious i'm method. Robert Edmond
Joness interiors are the most charming
seen here in a long time. Miss Burke's
gowns hats. coaks negligees are all ex-
qusite. Indeed, their opulent beauty
closely misses being monotonous.
H. T. G.