The Washington times., 1919-10-27
ULAJ.TO.

u
world premier presentation.
'Erstwhile SUSAN adapted from
the dramatic success Of the sarns name
in which Mrs. Fiske appeared re-
Gently. and which was. IN turn. based
on "Barnabetta," Helen B. Martins
popular. novel, Is the vehicle chosen
by Miss Binney for her advent into
Aim stardom. 1t can be stated en-
phaticaliy that her choice Is q most
happy one.
Miss Binney's creation of the role
of Barnabetta, the slavey who, once
given the chance. blossomed forth
into q glorious young woman, 10 a
veritable screen masterpiece.
"Erstwhile Susan" is . happy love
story. whose principal character
stands for all that is best in typscai
American girlhood. Many Of the
scenes are laid in the drowsy Penn
sylvania Dutch colony OF Reinhartx,
and the incidents abound In homeiy
episodes and touches of the intimate
small town life. just as many OF the
subtitles are couched in the quaint
dialect OF the district.
Barnabetta IL confronted with q
most puzziing problem. Loved by
three men. the hrst q gawky village
school master, the second a blue
blooded president Of q small college.
and the third q Senator. which shall
she choose? A hash-of inspiration
leads her to put the three to an acid
test. which test as presented is highly
original and very effective.
An excellent musical setting has
been provided for the attraction.
"Siavische Rhapsodie." as rendered
by the Rialto Symphony Orchestra
under the direction of Daniel Brees-
kin, and the usual fine selection OF
short subjects. complete show well
worth seeing.
COLUMBIA. =
Humor has been combined with
romance to make "Why Smith Left
Home" the vehicle that brought
Bryant WashbuYn to the screen OF
Lows Columbia yesterday one of the
best screen productions OF the au-
tumn.
In ssence, "why Smith Left Home"
is the Downright funny adventures
that befell a man who tried to prop
erly stage honeymoon with the girl
he had just married. Hard luck
besets their trail. First. 1T comes in
the form of train-wreck, then a fire.
next an accidental but thoroughly
compromising situation with an un-
commonly good]ooking maid. after
that an earthquake and finally, the
occupancy of the honeymoon and
loves young dream has Its sweet
fuifillmnt. but for comedy en- route.
ewhy Smith Left Home" is difficult
to rival
Bryant Washburn il comicaliy
doieful and hopefully optimistic by
turns Lois Wilson makes charm
ing leading woman.
The usual Columbia subsidiaries
. complete charming bill
CRANDALL's.
a romance of picturesque beauty
with background of gypsy life and
a touch of cIimacteric meIodrama was
revealed upon the screen at Crandalfs
Theater yesterday under the title of
"The Merry-Go- Round" with Peggy
nyland filmed in the stellar role.
The Merry-Go-Roundr visualizes
the story of the cashier and ticket
taker of Crump's Combined Carnival
Shows, which consists principally of
> merry-go-round and a few freaks.
and the scion of wealthy house with
large estates on Long Island. The
young man of wealth is required to
reach New York at a given time to
salvage a fortune Near the circus
grounds his car skids and becomes a
! total loss. Attempting to purchase
the engine from the tractor that runs
the shows merry-so-round. he is
tricked by the proprietor of the no
madic outfit into buying the entire
show outf1t. After the sale, Crump
continues to hang around and force
his annoyances on Gypsy, the cashier.
he
from the fact that young Jack Hather-
ton also has fallen in love with the
beautiful gypsy is derived the thrill
ing climax Of the story.
STRAND.
Moore's Strand Itheater yesterday
presented d. W. Grifhth's new pro-
duction of his masterpiece. Hearts
of the World" this being the third
and final subject selected by the
Moore's theaters in the repertoire Of
this master-director's works which
they have been offering.
In the revised version of this re-
markable story. Mr.. Griffith has
touched of another skyrocket Like
hero of the war, honored and decor
ated, Hearts of the World" returns
to peace-time audiences as an entire
ly new work. Gone from IL are the
thoughts of yesterday. II now flames
with the purpose of today.
Mr.. Griffith's revised production
shows that war never really settled
anything and never can settle any
thing. He has visualized all the
thought of the peace conference in
living. breathing document, powerful
and sincere. 1t is the combination Of
the best of the old story united with
the thought of the hour
The same wonderful cast Of screen
stars has likewise been retained, in
cluding Misses Lillian and Dorothy
Gish, Robert Harron. George Fawcett,
Robert Anderson. Little Ben Alex
ander. George Siegman and dozens
of others.
special musical score is provid-
ed. Due to the extreme length of the
attraction the usual subsidiary sub
jects have been discontinued for the
current week only.
LYCEUM.
THE Grown-up Babies opened at
the Lyceum Thester yesterday, The