Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-02-10
AT THE
THEATERS

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Potter; that laughed when Father
/ Potter sought to be sterfiS and with
superspohistication declined to take
him at his word never to see his
son again; that gasped when the
young man was silently and scien-
tihoally "shanghaied" from a San
Francisco dance hall, and that sat
I stunned and silenced when he and
the girl he loved met at last in the
foulest of all Shanghai's foul dens
of sodden in:quity. 1t was no place
to take a lady but there they met,
reawakened their love over bottle
of gin, plighted their troth and set
out for home and happiness again
by way of pineapple plantation in
Hawaii
In its construction and progress,
"The Man Who Came Back" re-
wives memories of a long list of
popular plays of the type. None of
them, perhaps, adopted the same ex-
! pedient exactly, but something re-
m niscent creeps in and piques or
challenges memory as now and then
the god comes down from the ma
chine TO set things right. For eX-
ample, the closing incident is so like
the final scene of Under the Red
Robe" that one may very easily
hear Frank Bangs as Richelieu pro-
nounce the words that sentenced
Gil de Berault to lifetime of hap
piness with Rene de Cocheforet.
This may be accepted as proof that
love has altered little in its way
since first the world began to spin,
and that most elderly gentlemen
have a sense of humor unsupported
by the younger folks around them,
which sense is the keener for hay-
ing perspective also.
However, this has little or moth
ing to do with the story. 1t is that
of young man who declines to
take himself seriously and who,
when he is set face to face with
things. finds the appeal of youth and
the bright lights too strong for him.
He is schocked at finding himself
and the girl at the very bottom of
degradation, and there starts on a
toilsome upward trip and makes
good That is all; its telling is pre-
scented in five episodes, the first and
last rather conventional, as intro
auctions and conclusions must be,
the intervening three decidedly vivid
and presumably realistic. The eli
max is reached in the fourth, where
the young man proves his love for
his wife by showing his spiritual and |
physical mastery, and this was
greeted with most enthusiastic ap-
probation.
Mr.. Frank Morgan as Henry Pot !
ter, the boy gives a very apt pic
ture of the young man who slips |
easily down that road that is always |
creased for those who try it. He
is most convincing in the third epis-
ode, the scene in the opium den. He |
also has great opportunity in the |
fourth, and takes it splendidly. de-
veloping the element of surprise eff
fectively.
Miss Dorothy Barnard justifes !
the stress that has been laid on her |
ability by the press agent. 1t is not !
every girl who can so thoroughly |
personify the drab, sunken to the
lowest pit, giving the role all its |
hideous reality, and with no effort |
to escape any of its revolving de. |
tails. But Miss Barnard did just |
this strongly reminding one watch
er of Blanche Walsh as Katusha in !
the unforgettable prison scene in
Resurrection" In other places |
Miss Barnard is graceful, thought
full and convincing.
Clifford Dempsey makes a real |
father out of Thomas Potter; Mar /
garet Linden is we'll, placed as the /
daughter of the Potter family; |
Maud Campbell contributes an ex-
cellent bit in the role of girl who
is worldly-wise and inclined to look
out for herself, and Paul Atherton
shows up we'll as the unsupported /
detective who has watched and re-
ported and thereby made the ending
easy Others there are in the COM
pany who equally deserve praise for
their share in worth while whole.
The reception given the company /
and the play last night presages a
busy week at the Boyd. /
For PHYS Sake" a travesty of
the old-time melodrama, is one of
the best laugh-provoking hits of the
season. 1t is feature OF this weeks
Orpheum bill and it scored a high /
mark at the opening yesterday. Two
Sunday audiences fairly shrieked
with laughter over the whimsical
ties of Thomas Duray, in the char
acterization of the venerable and re-
sourceful Cy Splivens, manager of
small-town opera house. The pre-
sentation Of a tabloid melodramatic
play on property stage contains
all of the elements of sublimated
merriment.
Roy Torrey, Charles Walt. Phil
Dolan and Cosmo Bellew offer
war skit entitled, Somewhere in
France" being a jocular scene be-
tween Canadian, a Highlander, an
Irishman and Cockney in an adj
vanced observation post. Mr.. Waits
recitation OF "St. Julien" was APP
preciated, and the musical numbers !
of these entertainers were received |
with favor. The scene is realistic.
The Kiralfy Riddles, boy and a
girl. are as clever pair of juveniles
as have appeared on the Orpheum
stage for many days. The tiny miss
is a Coincidence in her own right /
and her delineation Of grandma Of /
the olden days, with musical terpsi-
chorean accompaniment, made