The sun., 1919-09-13
SEE MUCH, EXPECT
MORE IN SCANDAL
Cosmo Hamilton's Drama Pic
lures Girls Bluff Called
by q Man.
ACTION rs SATISFYING
And the Acting Relieves the
Generally Tawdry At
mosphere.
ACTION rs SATISFYING

Cosino Hamilton lie occasionally
dramatist with a purpose not avowedly
Of the same character that inspires the
writing OF most plays. The royalties are
not always before his eyes~ Sometimes
Mr.. Hamilton sets out to expound. In
1.-THE Blindness of Virtue" he revealed
for the enlightenment and Improvement
Of society what might happen when
parents were too careless to impart to
their children knowledge that might only
with evil results be acquired In other
ways. There was widespread public APP
probation of this literary effort. Men
and women Of all ages flocked to see
what might happen when the adde's.
cents were naughty without suspeeting
the consequences. Great was the illumi-
nation of the public mind-and the flow
of the royalties.
scandal" taken from a magazine
story OF the author. which was seen
for the first time last night at the
Thirty-ninth Street Theatre, made no
such. pretence to appeal to serious think
ers who enjoyed observing the conse-
auences of a false step in youth. The
play has been a source OF great delight
to sincere admirers of the art OF the
drama in London and Chicago. Purified
to meet the demands of the censors. 1t
has even made an appeal through the
cinema. Fortunately the audience last
night was able to see and hear all OF
1t. It was the second act which above
an other parts of the play aroused
interest 1t Is seldom that the public
lie invited to see a heroine so brutally
compelled to take the consequences of
her conduct. In this case young girl
had pretended that she was the wife
of man much her senior.
The story of the Play.
She named him as her host on an
audacious visit to the studio Of an artist
when she was discovered there by her
family. As he is In every respect
desirable husband, the two are well
coined home the same night. She must
take the consequences of her lie. The
pseudo husband demands that the girl
marry him or under the conditions In
which they are placed treat him as her
real husband 1t was at this juncture
OF Mr.. Hamilton's inventiveness that the
interest was keenest.
1t grew more intense at every effort to
tame this intensely modern shrew. The
spectators observed the retirement of
her family from the bedroom, the
vanishing of her maid and the forcible
expulsion of her former companion and
heard the refusals OF her reputed hus-
band to yield in his demands. In sud
den rage he tore from her shoulders the
frock which she refused to take on And
then in complete humility she retired to
assume a diaphanous peipnoir and crawl
under the cover She was not disturbed
then. He left the room with the observa-
ton that nothing in the world could
persuade him to come near her. No more
we're the nerves of the spectators thus
assailed. In the last act, there was the
deferred marriage In sight. At last
Katherine and Petruchto OF the sex
magazine were reconciled. Scandal"
was at an end.
The Aim of the Author.
throughout the whole play, which is
written with a certain vivacity and &C.
caslonal sparks of a fashy wit Mr..
Hamilton Is too concerned with the
chase Of double meaning to think
much of anything else In the speeches
He hotfoots after every possible allu-
sion which may recall the audience to
the fast that It is hearing and about to
hear more and seeing and about to see
moro OF very risky nature. This in
sistent reminder of the quality OF Scan
DIAL" is by no means necessary. Even to
it's carefully prepared bed In the second
act to the obvious care with which II is
prepared by the women and the dark
ened chamber with the light falling on
the pillows, the play belongs by every
stigmata of the category to the most
deliberate of the bedroom farces. None
Of its predecessors ever witnessed an
evening gown ripped away from its
moorlngs with the fiery impetuosity
with which Mr.. Cherry performed the
feat last night
Although the scenes OF the drama were
laid in New York and Greenwich, it is
altogether English in feeling and char
acter. Charles Cherry acted the unwill-
ing husband with his complete command
of the resources OF his art His ease
and distinction did much to ameliorate
the generally tawdry atmosphere of the
episodes In which he appeared. Francine
Larrimore played the long and rather
disagreeable role of the heroine with
complete authority. She Is talented, and
there was little In the study OF the
canine. III bred impudent daughter OF
rich family whose instincts should have
placed her much lower that she did not
graphically suggest. She speaks mopot-
onously in a nasal tone, but her perfor-
nance last night proved that she Is an
artistic personality to be reckoned with.
Then the contrast between her features,
which are regular. and the glowing red