New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-02-02

By HAYWOOD BROUN

When one Of the friends Of the Prod.
isal Son remarked, Nay, thou shalt
not quit a winner We decided tina,
"The Wanderer" would not be entirely
Biblical in spirit.
There are also differences IN sub
stance. The Gospel Of ST. Luke merely
states that the younger son "journeyed
into a far country, and there wasted
his substance with riotous living The
dramatist is explicit. I'm fact, it almost
seemed as IF he cared more for the riot
than the repentance. An entire act
and an enormous stage are devoted 20
the goings-ou az the house Of Nsdina in
Jerusalem, where the shekels chase one
another with almost the speed Of the
dancing girls.
"The Wauderer' is always animated,
often interesting, and not infrequently
beautiful. II has many moments Of
grea. theatrical effectiveness, but few
of dignity. We do not know what the
literary merits Of Wilhelm Schmidt
bonn's DER Verlorene Sohn" may be,
but the adaptation b. Maurice V. Sam
uels is bald.
Fortunately words are OF no great
moment in a spectacle play, and there
are numerous arresting pictures in the
production Particularly fine is the set
which serves for the first and third
scts-thc home Of Jesse near Hebron.
Here VIC have a most successful iilu-
sion Of a heavy sun beating upon the
brown walls Of the simple dwelling
There is richness in the blue sky and
an enchanting prospect Of the hills be
hind the house whence comes Jesse
with his flock for the most effective
entrance Of the play.
Less can be said Of the house Of Ma
dina in Jerusalem. We realize tina. the
premises were no better than they
should be. but there De- no truth IN the
belief that when a man falls has ar
tistic sense tumblcs with him. Nadina
had evidently taken 4 few hints from
the Russian Ballet. out she neglected
70 have her sky done ~ the same style
a. aer home, and the picture was nard-
IS a pleasing entity
For all of that the time spent In
riotous living was wasted for nobody
but the Prod gal Son. Florence Reed
easily won the acting honors Of the
evening az Tisha, light Of love 20 the
Young man from the hills. Miss Reed
was a kittenish and an entlcing siren,
but humorous one. She allowed the
audience 20 share her amusement m
desDoilng the PrOdlgaL
The actress was frankly theatrical,
but that we understand is the eternal
manner Of the siren. The interest ~
Miss Reeds performance lay IN the very
evident enjoyment he took u her
work. Her experience before the eye
Of the camera stood ner IN excellent
stead. for she appreciated better than
any one else the pantomimic possible
ties Of the play.
Miss Reed scored over a strong cast.
In fact. the Stage was crowded from
time 20 time with stars. although some
Of them hardly had enough 20 do 20
show their worth William Elliott was
rood as the Pr0digal. although when
stripped of his raiment at the end Of
the second act, his waist line displayed
bit TOO plainly the effect Of his riotous
living IN Jerusalem. James O'Neill
was an excellent father, but Nance
ONeil despite a spirited performance
hardly suggested the maternal instinct
20 sny great degree. Charles Dalton.
William n. Thompson and IN particular
Lionel Braham were others who showed
70 advantage
There were moments IN the riotous
second act when the producer seemed a
bit too lavish. We could have managed
with fewer dancing girls. IL seemed as
II all Jerusalem were m attendance
upon Young Jether Really. there must
have been other prodigals On town, and,
after all. one may be dissolute without
being gregarious.