New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-05

By Ralph Block

Psychology is the new fashion, on the
stage at least 1t has been lowering on
the horizon long time, always impend-
ing' always threatening, but never suf-
hciently encouraged to make the jump.
Mr.. Augustus Thomas did his best to
| lead 1t into the drama of the day,
but the time was not ripe yet. Not
| enough people who went to the theatre
! Knew anything about the subconscious
/ mind, amnesia hadn't yet found its way
into the largo of the day, and psyche
analysis was an unknown quantity.
Psychology is here now, and it has
/ probably come TO stay. "The Inner
| Man used il, with a havoring of Grim
! inology and Lombroso: Eyes of Youth"
tried IL out on the side of clairvoyance
! and crystal-gazing and now comes ODE
/ Luxe Annie fitted out with almost
| II not Qultc-tne most modern appli-
ances dual personality, amnesia, and
! the mysterious activity of the subcon-
scious. The next step will probably be
the drama of Freud and Jung, angl-
cised by Brill.
By itself abstract psychology is a
/ fairly difficult subject for stage presen-
! tation, and it is apparent that dram
atists are going to find smoother path
| if they mix it more or less with the
crook play. Edward Clark did that
when he used a Saturday Evening
/ Post" story as a basis for "De Luxe
Annie" and the result is one Of the
most absorbing and neatly written mys-
1 terry plays of several seasons. All the
old thrills Of the gentleman crook
| drama are utilized, the pursuing bull"
IN ko ~
"Within the Law" is not scorned, and
out of the long forgotten past are
brought the baying bloodhounds. But
| these old friends are employed tenn
| perately, and the result is satisfying
| from the first curtain to the last.
The films have influenced what Is
| still somewhat peculiarly called 1.-The
| legitimate" more than most Of the pro-
! ducers will like 20 confess. "De Luxe
| Annie" goes back TO "0n Trial" for n
part of its blueprint, with the rea'
story Of the drama told as flash
back" between the first and the last
acts. The first scene is the smoking
compartment Of a transcontnental
/ Pullman. Several Of the travellers, all
friends, discover their destination Is
the same, and the subject OF chance
and coincidence is introduced. A doc
tor among them denies the legitimacy
Ct coincidence, declaring that under
what may appear TO be the happen
ing of chance may always be found the
working of some direct purpose,
founded deeply in the natural plan OF
things. To prove II he tells the story
of De Luxe Annie. The curtain falIs
and the play begins.
Annie is a lady crook. whose game
has been the seduction of nice old gen
tlemen with white whiskers and full
purses, with a large check afterward as
the price of silence when a fake private
detective threatens exposure. But Annie
has done the one thing fatal to all
crooks on the stage-fallen in love.
And then her troubles begin. Her
lover turns out 70 be the chief of pc
lice, and Annie and her accompllce
fee. with the police in full pursuit.
The story of their fight is complex,
full Of surprises, leading finally TO the
disclosure that Annie herself is not
Annie but quite some one else. IL IS
there that the element Of the subcop-
scious enters. not led in quite as deity,
70 be sure. as the previous acts would
lead an audience 10 expect, but with
sufficient ingenuity 70 maintain tho m
tcrest even up TO the last act. where
the doctor finishes his tale in the Pull
man and Annie is introduced momen-
/ tarily in her right person. :.
The settings are elaborate and di-
/ vertinC, including scene in Con-
/ necticut hardware store, and another
/ i'm a deserted summer home in winter,
I with q snowstorm falling outside. In
( deed. there are several places where
/ the ingenuity Of the action and the
settings themselves recall Seven Keys
I 20 Paidpate." And the author and the
| producer have not disdained the lesson
of George Conan, for no strings are
| allowed to dangle loose, and the au-
/ dience is allowed that rare feeling Of
/ complete explanation.
Jane Grey is satisfying Annie most
Of the time, although the subtlety OF
dual personality, when the moment for
its disclosure arrives, appears TO be
/ slightly beyond her reach Vincent
Serraro is her partner in crime, and
! he PLAYS It with the too infrequent un-
/ Outstanding that even a stage conf
dence man may be human without be-
. .,J1iv about II