The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-12-03
ADJUSTMENTS
"Nothing But the Truth"

James Montgomery comedy, Moth
 ing But the Truth" in which William Collier played lengthy New York en- gagement, was presented at the Jeffer- son theatre last night. There will be a formance tonight.
 The play is one of the most diverting
 that has recently been seen on the stage
 and was acted last night by compe-
 tent company. The lines are bright and
 witty, the situations cleverly devised and
 the action moves with the requisite
 swiftness to make the performance en-
 joyable. Once the preliminary dialogue is out of the way, there is no cessation in the fun until the last line is spoken. However, If the two sets used had been a trifle less reminiscent of barnstorm- ing company playing in the village "opery house. the visual aspect of the play would have been much better. A smart comedy calls for smart stage ap- pointments.
 Nothing But the Truth deals with a wager made by Robert Bennett, who is entrusted with a charity fund of SlO,0oO | by his fiancee who wishes him to double i the amount in five days by speculating, l so that her father will have to keep his promise to double any sum over $20OOo raised for a seaside Orphanage. In the office of the brokerage firm of Ralston, Bennett and Donnelly, MT. Ralston be- | ing the father of Bennett's financee, the discussion comes up shortly after Ben nett has received the $10,o00 as to whether or not it Is possible for g man to tell the truth and nothing but the truth for a specified time. Bantering leads to a wager by Bennett that he can tell the truth for "A hours, regardless of any at tempts the others might made to trap him in a falsehood. He sees chance to get the additional s10000 so he bets his | s10,000 against an equal amount put up | by the other two partners and one Van | Dusen. ! Then begins the tug of war between l the perspiring Bennett and the three CO., makers of the bet. He becomes involved | in one predicament after another. By 1 sticking strictly to facts. regardless oi | the consequences, he plays hob witf some of his future father-in n-law's wild cat" stock deals, brings young woman acquaintance to tears more than once by speaking his mind about her hat and hei ! voice, almost causes Mrs. Bennett tt l start divorce proceedings against MT | Bennett and worse still. in the last ex. l cruciating moments is faced by the al ternative of alienating the affections oi | the young woman to whom he is en- gagged But in spite of every temptation and every artitice used by the three con spirators to trip him. Bennett tells the l truth for "A hours and wins the wager After that volley of lies rapidly clears l the atmosphere of misunderstanding created by his astonishing veracity.
 J. Henry McKenna plays Robert Ben nett well and Will Chatterton as Ralston a bluff hearty stock broker who doesn't mind how many lies he tells in getting rid of worthless securities. gave an ex- cellent portrayal of the part. Frani Backes was also good as the other part ner, Richard Donnelly, Walter Naylol did a fine characterization of Bishol Doran, whose zeal to raise money for z good cause leads him to buy s7O00 wortt Il of stock that Is valueless. He soon get his money back, however, by protesting \ loudly that he has been swindled, act
 ing on hint given him by the trutl
 telling Robert.
 The feminine members of the compan,
 made the most of the roles assigned t
 them, including Gertrude Fowler a bGwendolyn Ralston, who acted wit
 ssympathy and charm; Mrs. R. F. Ersncl