The sun., 1918-10-13

BRIDE, sherman was Right, sick
a-Bed." -Three Queens." all these
inept specimens were able to find 0
hearing, so eager is the public for the
farce that will entertain. Yet how
rarely Is the enterprise Of the man.
ager rewarded!
Mr. Hoffman has. moreover, founded
his little play on principle of con-
duct that may be more or less OBJ
secured in the dominating search for
fun. but it is nevertheless a theme
in the philosophy OF life that too
much truth may unpleasantly COM
plicate existence. 1t is at least q de.
tour from the line Of least resistance.
1t is admirable that n playwright who
should have acquired such a perfected
system Of working through his long
devotion to the vaudeville stage
should but once suggest in his play
the field OF his apprenticeship. The
tawdry interview between George
Washington and Ananias, however, Is
the two day at its worst.
John Barrymore's triumph as the
weak FedUa OF Redemption" is the
greater from the lack Of support that
he finds In the play It Is generally
true that good parts make good actors
Good parts added to good plays prob
ably make histrionic geniuses. MIR.
Barrymore struggles to his uncommon
achievement without the assistance
that comes from acting a comprehen-
sible part in what nobody but Gran
Vile Barker could ever be persuaded
to call play. The audience does not
see him first in the irksome society
Of his wife. Beyond losing his taste
for her after he had spent her money
there Is nothing to justify his course
in taking TO champagne and gypsies,
a combination possible only in Rus
STA. His happy course continues until
Ibis health and the champagne are ex-
hausted. Gypsies appear to be more
enduring. since the particular flower
OF the tribe he selected seems hardy.
But he goes from bad to worse with
only his innate weakness to drag him
down. Other men have followed the
same course and their heroism has
still to be proclaimed.
SO Fcdyd Is at the best a photo
graphic study of decay through selfish
ness and moral weakness. or course
he is punished with death In the end
1t was probably the intent of Tolstoi
to proclaim that the wages OF sin is
death. since at the period OF his life
In which this play was written the
evils OF wine, tobacco and even flesh
meet obsessed him. He was all but
blind to everything else. Yet the task
of the actor is rendered none the less
difficult. He il called upon to portray
role which his own achievement can
alone make interesting to his public.
There is nothing that he says or does
which creates even pity for him. In
deed, the feeling Is more one Of re-
pugnance. For that reason Mr.. Barry
more's impressiveness deserves more
praise. He does not Of course touch
the heart Of his public as such a fine
performance should. But that is out
of the question in a part 80 remote
from sympathy. In a measure the
same criticism might be made OF the
play. II prevents the masterful real
ization of Mr.. Hopkins and Mr.. Jones,
which is really notable, from making
the deep impression 1t would IL their
efforts had been expended on material
not so alien to the uses of the theatre.
The devastating effects Of the sport"
shirt have after all not disappeared.
Fastidious office boys members of the
I. T. o. A. in good standing. amateur
baseball players and alumni of the
Winter Garden chorus long since
spurned the garment as altogether out
NODDED for any season. Mr.. Ditrich-
stein, who plays an actor In '"rhe Mat
inee Hero" also plays tennis, and
there Is mention OF golf. With a me-
ticulous fidelity to the type OF his hero
the actor has revived this frank "out-
ing garment. While admiring his
self-sacrifice to the demands of his art
it Is not possible to keep out of the
memory the figure of the overdressed
barytone OF 1.-THE Great Lover" and
the trig aspect Of the fiirtatious mon
arch OF DE Flers and Cavaillet's COM
edy. Both OF these roles the actor
chose to play as what his profession
describes as character" rather than
straight" The sport" shirt distin-
cuisines in this particular case the two
methods Of acting a role. In the mid
die years such experiments with per-
sonal beauty are dangerous. 1t is dol
lars to doughnuts that Mr.. Dltrich-
stein In that shirt would not be a hero
Of any matinee even IL he recited the
sbliloquy from Hamlet" so eloQuently
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