New-York tribune., 1918-08-06
TIE CAST
By Haywood Broun

Mr.. and Mrs. Sidney Drew emerged
from fatland last night into the spoken
drama when they appeared at the Astor
Theatre in farce called Keep Her
Smiling" 1t seemed good deal to
ask on such night. And yet Mrs.
Drew was assiduous in her smiles. The
rest of US were with her at times
Mr. Drew is the most amusing OF all
the moving picture comedians, with the
exception of Charlie Ray, and it was
interesting last night to find out Just
how effective blend of moving picture
and dramatic technique would be in
spoken play. On the whole, We should
say that his sojourn IN pictures helped
the acting of Sidney Drew. He was
a little better in what he did than
what he said, but this particular skill
in pantomime was welcome in the
atre in which number OF actors con~
celve of a performance as reading
lines" There was an unusual wealth
OF detail in the work OF Drew. lie
made small gestures and bits Of busl-
ness count. Some Of that may be as
cribed to the pictures, We think. DUMB
with their hands. For the most part
Drew sketched comic portrait for his
audience, but he took one moment or
seriousness with excellent dignity and
good effect
Mrs. Drew brought less potent
spell with her She IS ever so much
more hammered on the stage than on
the screen. She, TOO, may have been
well enough pictorially. In fact, she
did loo6 prettier on the stage than We
have ever seen her in pictures. And
yet we onged for the hum Of the ma
chine last night. We ike her better
hen her lips move and no sound
comes forth. But for her appearance
last night we ight never have known
thhs everything she gays comes
stra ght from TIE head 1t must be
granted that rather silly part was
assigned to Mrs. Drew, but that Is not
sufficient excuse Tor ner over
lahorea performance. Nobody mas d
right to be chronlcally cute. There
are habits and there are Affections.
The play IS lnconsequent John
Hunter Booth has taken a rather
familiar farce idea and endeavored 10
make comedy cut Of it. Even though
he retched it ever so slowly there
were moments when it seemed as II
the thing were sure to snap in the
middle
In a curtain speech Mr. Drew dwelt
on the fact that the little play in which
he was appearing was "Wholes0me' 1t
must be granted that IL Kill bring the
blush Of shame to no mans cheek, and
yet we are not certain that il is what
You might call moral propaganda
Keep Her Smiling tells the story Of
meek husband who is drawn into
all sorts of wild expenditure by the
extravaganza Of an unthink ing wife.
lie is beguiled into hiring fash
ionable florist and q caterer and three
famous entertainers because his wife
gives a party We heard the tenor sing
behind the palms i'm the last act, and
We VIII testify most willingly that he
was rot worth the thousand dollars
which was his hiring price.
Although the meek husband fails
even to get anything like value for his
money i'm direct return. all sorts Of
things come to HIM by chance. In the
first act he is humble clerk. In the
last, which occurs only day later, he
has become the partner in d big con
Germ at salary Of SIS 600 a year. His
bills are paid as f by magic. And all
this good fortune comes 10 HIM be-
cause he never thinks of expense when
it's question of keeping his wife
smiling Even as 4 Jest, such a pro-
cedure is discOncerting, and such B.
woman. even in a play, is not sym
pathetic figure TO man. We don't
suppose she is to women, either.
Not at any rate TO one of the many
who iuggle q roast over a week end
through the seven ages of beef To-
day only moving picture actor could
be moved to mirth by the high cost Of
LIVING