New-York tribune., 1918-09-18
By Haywood Broun

BY Haywood Broun
There is no reason why any one
should quarrel with the Hattons' habit
Of seizing upon Il slice of life from
the Putnam Building and labelling it
NEW YORK SOCIETY, but we do
hold that they are under obligation to
make it interesting. Naturally we say
this as theatregoer and not as a
moralist. The effort of the Iattons
to lift the tone of American society
IS not to be minimized. In their
fanatical zeal for clean living and
clean playing they have abandoned
the conventional. method of attack
upon vice. Tho traditional comedy of
manners scourges vice with wit. but
in this method there is always the
danger that immortality shall not be
made to appear sufficiently hideous.
More wisely the Nations have at
tempted to stamp out vice by smother
ing 1T in wet flannel. Strictly speaking,
they do not attack immortality at all.
they besege it, confident that they
times it does not take so long. The
wicked are literally starved out in a
Hatton play. When they ask for bread
the dramatists give them glass dia-
mond When they beg for a fish they
get half-bakcd platitude Certainly,
the Hattons are to be commended for
their readiness to adopt this effective
though wearing method. Perhaps some
OF the credit of sacrifice should ex-
tend to their audiences as well.
But we have always maintained that
an overstanch Puritansm is destruc-
tive OF art. 1t seemed to us that The
Walk-Ots," which was produced at the
Morosco Theatre last night, bore out
this contention. In this play the Hat
tons have endeavored not TO make wee
hldeous, but to make virtue charming,
and we must confess that their very
good young man is even duller than
the philandercrs whom they have so
often held up to shame He came from
the South-Kentucky he said. There
could be no doubt about it, because i'm
mcdiately after being introduced to
anybody he Invariably offered to make
mint julep. There seemed every rca-
son to believe that he would have
climbed into his chair and waved a
napkin if the orchestra played "Dixic. "
hen he wasn't on the subject of mint
Juleps he was talking about his circu-
latlon From what he said we Judged
that 1t was excellent He was no
namby- pamby lover. In his casy.
graceful way he would promise to hug
the object of his affections to death
or to break every bone" in her body.
But he was generous woocr. When
ne started to make love he liked to call
the neighbors in to let them hear about
1t: Persons within a couple of blocks
OF the young man did not need to be
called in.
Our hero was also farseeine vounc
man. He predicted half dozen chill
dren to his friends when he talked his
affairs over with them in his frank and
boylsh way. He didn't have an enemy
IN the world. The object of his afFcc-
tons seemed somewhat cold at first.
but when he snatched a cigarette ont
OF her hand, twisted her wrist. spilled
her champagne and shouted at her she
Knew that he loved her. She was the
last to learn it. Everybody in town
save the one-deaf knew it.
lhe Walk-Offs" begins very slowly
and then the pace slackcns. There wcrs
a lot of cocktails in the first act
but they did not seem to help at all'
oomethlng was wrong with those cock
talls. All the characters called for
them eagerly, and promptly set them
down again after a sing SIP. For a
time we buoyed ourself up with the be-
ilef that the drinks contained poison.
put as the play went on and on. this
'heory became untenable
:. me Walk-Offs" gets just the acting
~ deserves One of the society ladies
remarked. CYAN supports she and
Schuyler.' And another who came to
pay an afternoon call promptly re-
uFed ana GOT into pajamas. We none
no one VIII gather the impression
RON tne mention Of "paiamac" or
cocktails that there is ANYTHING
iflaay IN The Wan OHs.'
said to the credit of The Hattons that
more proper play never appeared
on Broadway. The only line to which
any one might take exception was
uttered by one OF the FOUNDERS who
SAID that his little nephew had re-
marked that the custom of civilized
nations was that a man should have
only one wife and that that was known
AS "monotony" We trust that what
ever kick Of shocked SUNRISE this
line may have had has been dissipatcd
altcr all these years.
We think that Edmond Lowe do
serves mention for playing worst in q
large and eagerly competing cast OF
course, the authors were chiefly re-
sponslble Moreover, he was somewhat
Guriously miscast as the Kcntuckian.
Everybody in the play persisted in re-
Ierrlng to him as "a big man" Or
large one. As a matter of fact. Mr..
Lowe Is slender and is perhaps all Of
hve feet seven and one-half inches in
HIS high heels. Fred Tilden was at no
time outdistanced by Mr.. Lowe. In .
scene in which he was under necessity
OF registering heavy passion he sat upon
q sofa and blinkcd his eyes very rap
idly. like Theda Bara playing Carmen.
Miss Fanua Marinoff, Miss Carol Nc
Comas and Miss Frances Underwood
all appeared in parts of 80 burdensome
. nature that we cannot escape the
duty OF recording the fact that they all
played badly. William Roselle was
amusing in one scene, and in this Rob
crta Arnold helped him. The story Of
tho play is an effort upon the part of
HottODq ~ rn,r,.ito .tTTbo