Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-21

~ - N'
season here tonight.
tfyHE genial reception accorded Not
- With My Money demonstrates con.
sclusively II congcnital fnudness of q
s1arge proportion Of our rheairegoers for
fundamentally in the realm Of the thea
tire. True. this quality is not 80 pal
-pable In this farce by Edward Clark a.
al was in the tr~iumphantiy v.CcSsiui
Poilyanna." But a play when deals
swith the reformation of a veteran
scrook'' is essentially sentimental, how
ever boisterous its hunur or in"iodin-
\ <matic its brief hits Of 'gunrlaN' may
<be. Human nature is always g~ratii"d
Sat the spectacle al virtue triumphant ii
lis probable that the generality at those
who have seen not With Ml M"n",'
sleft the theatre far hetter pleased with
sthe coslnic scheme Of thiug- than If tlrE
bad Witnessed 4 p"rformanr +, of "iiN"sI,'
.or "EIedda Gahier.' There Is mothiur
Dis. urbiug about Mr.. Nlarh~ ""unon'"raI
footlight piece.
AIoBopN but the ir"edeHn,uh'} cap.
AZ tious would expect farce lp hold til"
dramatic mirror up to re with literal
a-IhlitiulIltFS' pN' '''N N"'"~' D.. ~
Election be broadeued with humor, the
!. picture mlrrorcd should bear some som
/ blanee To possibility. II is tn" Neuial
! sfa:,lt of mot With Nv Money that its
J central situation is T-eposte-ous, and this
fact cannot be bIiuked, however t"i"r-
antly we might be disposed TO regard
Y IL as mere frothy farce. Only in "Nevcr-
Never Land" is it likely or possible that
a totally unsophislica:ed girl would be
left a fortune of seven millions to b"
given 20 charity without some suitable
Guardian to protect and guide her. We,
This is the pivotal point of Mr.. Clark
sfarce. which audiences arc graycIN asked
TO accept as plausible.
s1THE able acting of William Morris. us
IL the confidence man,' intent upon
robbing the heiress. works wouders In
minimizing the ridiculoUsnCSS Of the
plot. but even his suave personality and
gracious enunciatiou fail to relieve the
v1ialogue Of It's self-cousCiOus and crude
tattempt to he smart" Lucille Watson,
wEo also did much to make the piece
Ego has now gone herself. She left
the company on Wednesday. to be near
eher husband. who recently Joined the
~,s-anadian military forces. An ADLER SIr-
Il tessor in her role than Jessie BusleE
could scarcely he found. however, and
the slight uncertainty naturally appar-
ent at Miss Busley's first performance
sn Wednesday has now entirely van
ished.
AN ILLUMINATING commentary
upon the wary attitude of the public
&fpward pays which smack Of the war
"a to be found in the eleNenth-hour an
~ 31Duncement of The Big Ihance" As
NEXT weeks play bill at the Adelphj.
There is something at once amusing and
sIlathetic in the press agents earnest as.
asurance that the piece is mot q wal
play although 1t does deal with the re.
Generating influence of the waT in scN-
,eral lives. The truth is that the public
wants precious little Of war plays which
Necapitulate the old, old questions in
1.-The threadbare manner, and with the
Familiar characters. Il. Phillips Open
helm may continue to reap a golden
harvest from his successive crops ~
atserman spies between book covers. But
The public is Just about fed up" with
them, as the British would say. on the
Nsfage. The recent failur" in New York
}of such plays as why Worry and
HsAllegiance' constitutes sufficient proof
of this, while a year or 50 ago even SO
good a melodrama a. The White
Feather was received here with that
deadly mildness which Philadelphia can
manifest on occasion, simply because It
Z was a "spy play Had it been re-
<vamped as a crook play" it doubtless
would have scored "A genuine success.
Vet we are certain to be afflicted with
many more war plays more or less vo-
! ,ciferous and apoplectic in character be
N fore the obvious lesson Will hr learned
effectually.
TT WILL be Il pleasure to turn next
= week for brief respite from the medic
Gritty of several plays seen here during
the last few weeks g." the polished II
highly artificial comedy of Dumas
pare, in "A Marriag. Of Convenience
Written almost ~three-QuaTterS Of a CEN
xtury ago. II has wealhercd the shifting
Minds of public taste and Whim, al
~rthough its technique is Numerically OPP
posed to the thought and methods of
tthe modern school of naIuTa ism in play
Writing. Various English versions Of
Ahe play a v appeared, but that by
Sydney Grundy. first introduced a. the
tHaymarket Theatre. London. on June
1897. is generally considered the best.
Ion that occasion the tomJc de Candal"
,<swasS played by William Terriss. while
the Comtesse de Caudaic was played bl
Xinifred Emery. the roles pla yed in the
present production hy Henry Miller and
Ruth Chattertor, John Drew appeared i'm
The play in the fail Of the same year al
the Empire Theatre In New York. on
which occasion Isabel Irving played the
comtessep philadelphia saw Lewis Wal.
Ter and Madge Tftheradge in it about
-four yeare ago al the. opera House. SO
<he forthcoming presentation Of the com.
tdy at the Garrick will afford an c.
portunity for comparison
l( A MARRIAGE OF CONNENlEN"E"
"A does not show the evidences of
.s haste and carelessness which married 50
V itiaDy OF the works of the elder Dumas.
But haste and carelessness were fire.
sinentIy inevitable concOmitants of his
high rate OF production. II is doubtful
~ the actual number Of his plays and
as8rorfes is known. but il is said to be be-
100 and l2n0. Indeed, II has
been freely charged hat Dumas per,
the originator OF the method prac,
E|31c6d by present-day successful authors
6f attaching their famous names to tbs
sufDut of a staff of hack writers
Va There are various anecdotes to sup
this theory. one of the best know
I53ures Dumas pcrC coming down 4
Akfast and greeting Dumas fis witt
ousstion. Good morning, have YOU
my new story >" Whereupon Du
M replied. NO. have you""