New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-10-13
By Ralph Block

Into stage beset with country
h. and oil the other impedimenta
Of sophistication returns that stranger
fror another day, the drama Oh the
nsboot from the nip" and $50 long, KID
"Tbe Claim" which made its entry AT
tho Fulton Theatre last night, is an eX-
annie of the flannel shirt and bueHSh!"
hoo, drama that, strangely enough, re-
sists many of the temptations 10 eN
.royaoence Of it's class, and someho"
within the limits Of its four acts man
aces TO throw the spotlight on some OF
tho actual difficulties that surround INC
rnIationships of human beings. IL docs
this despite the drawbacks OF 'eN.
,bat has fed from all the famooyahI
thurders of mountain melodrama 10 the
otbor extreme Of unimaglnatiye pare.
moss But for the blush of Ire that
oevoral members of the cast gave 10 u
"Tbe Claim" would only be the skeie-
ton Of a possible play. As II 49, II pio'
vides several moments when one con-
! eideration of the materials OF liVihg -
plcasurably logged into an activity Ina'
! almost resembles excitement. nat 'he
NAV fails at most of these moments 10
prouse the fever which the theatre only
ton easilv knows how TO arouse Is 10,
once cause for regret. In %orlu
.bat seldom makes any difference De-
t,yeen a legitimate conflict or IDEAS on
the stage and that highly colored con,
Gic. called melodrama. the theme OF
"The Claim" properly handled couio
easily find a place for itself.
Just what part Charles Kenyon mao
+, "The Claim" and what part OF the
collaboration may be charged TO ran"
Dore is made evident only by the re-
eemblance that THE Claim" bears 20
l"Kindling." whose attacks on the tear
ducts have not yet faded from mihd
But where "Kindling" eventuated IN a
/ New York tenement house, ne Claim
} socks what the programme describes "a
che Bicbug district of Arizona, a
region into which doubtless CIVILIZATION
I bas no more than seeped. The story
declares itself in frontier store, ne
Fl Dorado" where the sister or the
local mine capitalist confesses to the
. ladv storekeeper her fear that
founding she has adopted will be taken
from her by its mother, who has oeen
/ blackmailing her for a year and now Is
coming TO ask for more.
But the situation is not so simple as
/ that mere groundwork would make II
appear. Further dialogue informs the
audience that the young woman, VINO
now is so fearful for the child she ha'
taken, was herself the mistress OF us
father, a mining town gambler VINO
had killed himself some years before
However, the child is not her own, OF
the conflict which gradually IS exposed
would be impossible. The real mother
a not entirely convincing character
that is made almost convincing by tlor'
ence Roberts, is singer or the mining
camps, and she soon appears. IL IS
here the play really begins. Inc hgh'
is between the adventures OF th'
ranges and the brother Of the younf
woman. II starts when she strikes mn
for 500 900, or in its place the child
He appeals TO what he believes Is
better-self beneath. and. indeed. once
with the arms of her child about hel
neck. the lady Of the camps forgets he'
need OF money and goes down thf
mountainside. with the child in her
arms 1t Is only when she finally rec
ognizes what destiny such child a;
hers must face, and confronted by the
menace of roomful OF drunken
brawlers, that she retraces her way and
returns the child. To complete the
picture of reformation and triumph OF
an ideal self she is asked TO remain
and the curtain falls with the intlma-
ton that it will be under the conyen-
tional blessing Of marriage.
The production would benefit by a
Greater attention to the illusion that
settings aim to create. The two scenes
in the camp store and IN mountain
cahin-are not merely unconvncing,
where atmosphere ought TO count Tor
/ much, but bald and undressing as
/ we'll. But the acting does not fare so