New-York tribune., 1919-04-26


Stage Heroes Don Khaki
AS we remember it the hero and the
sub-hero suddenly appear in uniform,
IN the last act and announce that thav
are gong to Plattsburgh to win com
missions in the army. The heroine
says that she will study to be Ped
Cross nurse SO that she may accom-
pany the hero to France, and the cur
tam comes down as the hero suddenly
oeglns TO sing Over There"
1T is not a play would or could
nave written myself five years ago"
writes Smith at the end Of his letter
VI course not. The collection Of
letters explains all that. From tho
earliest days of which the letters tell
the days when Smith was amusino
himself in his leisure hours outside
The Atlantic Monthly" with Beaumont
and FIetcher and The Shropshire
sad, and finding The Egost.' the
finest piece of contemporary high
comedy have ever read" from these
earliest days Smith was writing PLAYS
he wrote good many of them, and
most of them never saw production.
Those which reached the stage did not
get to New York. From the letters we
Judge that they were fanciful high
comedy. The author put all his faith
into these, and each failure drove him
deeper into Encouragement Even the
PRODUCTION and success of Mrs Bump
stead-Leigh," with Mrs Fiske, gave
him onl y brief respite, for he was
unable to follow il up. All the plays
which he loved came to nothing. But
there were any number of people who
were ready to give him advice. Sue
cessful managers began to teach him
the theory of the theatre. He learned
OF things which "the public won't
stand for" and other things which
the public must have" He discov-
cred the reproach in the word "high-
brow One of his plays was refused
because 1t possessed this quality.
At Last Timely Subject
There is gap here, but we soon find
that the lessons have not been un-
needed. Smith writes to friend that
he has high hopes for a certain play
because the subject is timely" Prob
ably this was "The Tailor Made Man.
which made q huge popular success.
This told the story of the career o. a
man who discovered shat the way to get
on in the world was to wear good
clothes and to bluff. The author had
put more than that into it, however, for
he writes to a friend: "The big appeal
VI CliiS pldy IL us utdI( appeal. klEnC
here the critics gave US no help, for not
one of them discovered this remarkable
fact"
This time Smith was able to 60 on
from one success to another. There
can be no doubt that he had mastered
formula. In "The Little Teacher he
faced a problem about a scene in which
his hero was knocked out, and he wrote
to a doctor in order that he might make
his play accurate within certain we'll
defined bounds.
Little heroine, who is the school
teacher, is the person who should
rightly take charge; and what she does
should be the perfect epitome of eff
fciency and frst-aid science; also
since this is play and not real life
there should be nothing displeasing
about it,
But for all his formula, Harry James
Smith did have interests which were
greater to him than writing successful /
plays. He risked the loss of a produc-
ion for "The Little Teacher" in order
% 20 to Canada and gather moss which !
vas urgently needed by the Red Cross.
'inishing up his play in brief vaca-
ion, he returned to British Columbia
% go on with his war work. and was
Iilled in an accident.