New-York tribune., 1918-12-15
Bv Harriette Undcrhill

=. a rule we prefer TO record our
s;ors seated in the middle OF
','s nssce down on Nassau Street, with
,s,.nhones ~ ringing and typewriters
WI. ,,.t;rc and the ticker ticking out its
..ces from under the glass case
NV. tbs one which used to hold the
''s cross on the marble topped table
in the parlor-
p,t This time we are writing at our
n desk. in the shade Of Washington
souare, and on the desk stands pict-
w of Conrad Nagel. inscribed, Prom
r.rrie and Teddy and Hamlet" So his
-.,rst is out He wants to play Ham
". and 40 great is our faith in him
.Aat we think he could do 1t.
1anrie is the Laurie Lawrence Of
r;ttle Women" which role Mr.. Nagel
.reated on the screen recently. Teddy
:. +be hero OF Forever After" and
uamlet is the man who immortalized
..s ouerv. ITO be or not TO be ?"
One day last week the handsome and
.usve y. a, whose duty it is to inter
.odc for the Interviewers and persuade
.hc stars to be interviewed, called us
9, on the telephone and said: "Why
don't you ever do an interview with
Conrad Nagei ~
1why, h. g." we answered, chow
ron talk. Haven't we been begging for
story Of Conrad Nagel ever since
90 laid eyes OF him? And didn't you
cav that we couldn't have it because
he was going to war and the more
people knew about how good he was
The more they would miss him when he
vas gone p
"oh, but you know the day Nagel put
On his uniform the war stopped. Yes,
know the story about the man who bet
,he war would be over two weeks after
bis brother enlisted. Don't spring it."
lust as though We had intended doing
%, As matter of fact we had for
gotten it.
"Where would you prefer the oper-
D.
8 "At the Vtagraph Studio or at the
Central Theatre >" Now, as the Vita
graph Studio is half way between Flat
bush and Cohoes and the Central Thea
ire is half way between .Fiftieth and
Forty second Street. naturally we
,hose the latter. and as we had only
seen "Forever After" twice before, we
went in again. and saw Jennie and
Teddy grow up from fifteen till they
rect in the last act in "No Mans
Land"
Some one said to US that Forever
After" was a badly constructed play.
Perhaps it is, but we don't see why; for
in real life people do start in at about
fifteen and grow up to be twenty three
or twenty-four What happens after
that is Just the second lap. and usually
q repetition of those eight or nine
years. And then we never could help
loving a play in which the young lady
follows a course of action so thorough
: ly yapproved OF by US. So we waited until
Alice Brady said "and she lived happy
forever after" and then we went back
stage and Mr.. Nagel rushed out and
said, $50 this is the surprise they had
for me! Just wait moment and I'll
get off these trench clothes and we'll
have party"
So We sat down on Jennie's grass
plot, which was rolled up in the wings,
and is the only really safe grass to sit
on because it never has any dew on it,
and waited while Mr. Nagel trans
formed himself from pale and dying
soldier to blooming and very much
alive young actor, and then we started
out on our party.
The hotel which Mr.. Nagel chose for
supper is three blocks from the thea
tre, so by the time we reached the
dining room our party had doubled it.
seif We sat down under an artificial
moon and artificial vines trailing over
artlhcial arbors and tried to remember
mat this was business.
Aeii Us quickly, Mr.. Nagel, where
you were born and how you became an
actor, and what you have played in, and
whether you like the screen or the
stage better"
IN Des Moines, Iowa. I started
'nefe in stock; have played nearly
everything, including The Man Who
lame Back but excluding Hamlet,
winch is the height of my ambition. I
nave made a few pictures with Mr.
brady and now am with the Vitagraph
making picture with Alice Joyce"
II was distasteful, but we were re-
'o'ved to dc our duty, so we said, "And
"nicn do you prefer, the stage or the
een?" And then the band began to
pay Rose of No Mans Land" directly
v'er our heads, and for the time we
uesisted' And by the time the violin
"ao walled out for the fifth time that
sne was Rose of No Mans Land we hac
,Orgotten all about it, and then Mr.
Nagei told a story about a wrestling