Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-09-27

SAGT 7 " VI w I-ltAFN
RsSert'''' Palace.
for herself in complex situations. She
is always Mrs. Fiske-therc is no deny
ing that--but she is also ever the Mis-
Nelly that Mr. Eyre has pictured. His
play is not heavy in substance, hut II j.
f. 80 in it,' tn,t"-" %" '''nd.. ..'''N
glints of farce shot through its web
arI~. rI>kc Is Uutu ~In.,..n"ouS nud
sriutiIunt in her conception Of the
adrot and brilliant woman in the In
dian summer Of her romance. Indian
summer with its tang, its mellowness
and above all its high ColOrs that are
never garish
The sparkling briliancy Of Becky
Sharp. the brittle high comedy Of The
New York Idea" the fnossC Of ',Di-
lUrcOnS." the serious touch Of "Th"
High Road" the faCile movement and
quick rcpartec of "Erstwhilc Susan
and the mounting hiIariousness Of
Mrs. Bumpstead Leigh all these
are part and parcel of the complex that
is mis- Nelly of N'Orleans. All OF
them have contributed to the new role
which Mrs. Fiske enacts so naturally
that the term acting seems almost
misnoDer.
DHILADELPHIA has claim to part
l. OF the success of Mr.. Eyre, author of
Mrs. Fiske's play, as most of his early
literary and stage associations ana IN
flueuces belong TO this city.
Mr.. Eyre, author of the c9medE
which delighted audiences at the Broad
this week and which suits the comedi
enne so exquisitely, was born in Ches
ter. thirty years ago. One of hls an
ccstors, John A. Bevan. settled in Mer-
ion. Pa, in the year 1883, aud col
lateral branch of the Eyre family lives
in the original house and still holds
title TO the original grant of land there
obtained from William Penn.
As boy. Eyre's health was too del
icate to permit his attending prepare
tory school, and later Harvard, as bott
his brothers did. So he was educated
at home by private tutors. This gave
him more time to devote to stories anC
plays which were already the ''drcan
children of his brain. As young
man he found his chief interest was
in the drama. He was stage STRUCK
enough ultimately to make debut witt
the Castle Square Stock Company OF
Boston in The Jilt.' Later stage eX'
periences included "bit'' parts viii
Julia Marlowe; engagements at the New
-Nt" Iplh' anu NiNh '''8 ~
lumbia stock, Washington; several sea
sons of Shakespearean roles with Ber
Greet, etc. Eyre played the part OF
Alexis in Antony and Cleopatra
at the initial performance of the ILL
fated New Theatre. on which such fond
hopes were fallaciously based.
Meanwhile, he was writing plays. His
first produced play was Things That
| Count" in which Alice Brady had the
leading role and which ran short time
at The Playhouse. Later he wrote
Easy Come, Easy Go" and Drift
wood and 'Lazus Matazus,' play
with only negro characters in its cast
One evening Mrs. Fiske. who was
present at one of these original produc
tions of Eyre's plays, much impressed
with the dramatist's earnestness anC
! evident ability. sent for him and sug-
! gested that he write play for her. She
| had long had a plot in mind. she tolC
! him, of a southern comedy woven about
! her recolleCtions of q famous belle o
st. Louis. After more detailed an,
alysis from Mrs. Fiske. Eyre started
| to work on the first rough draft of tn,
play and soon submitted it for approval
From that moment Mrs. FisRe was tn,
authors constant aid and inspiration
ready at any time to give assistance. t.
listen to scenario, plot or dialogue O
to jump in at a critical minute with he
keen sense of the dramatic and creat
tense situation or a moment of sus
pense. And so it was that Mis- Nell,
of N'Orleans" finally took substance
and form.
| THERE is seldom a week at the the
l. atres when what might be called tn
Philadelphia sector is not tolerably rep
resented. Chester may be so rated. ant
that gives, us Mr.. Eyre. Then, at tn
Lyric, is Florence Reed, native son, u
it were, the daughter of Roland Reed
the celebrated Philadelphia actor. Cam
den, too, one would say. should com
within the zone, and that gives us AM
Pennington, the delightful dancer, VIII
is a trans Delaware citizeness. Lowel
Drew, with Miss Pennington in 9Th
Scandals Of 1919" at the Forrest. is
Philadelphian, Although he is no re
lation to the Drew family, his fathe
was an actor and was at one time
member of Mrs. John Drew's stock com
pany at the old Arch Street Theatre.
TNHERE is more to the motion picture
l. today than mere entertainment. Edu
Gators of the country have investigate
the possibilities of the motion pictur
camera as a means of supplementin
the textbooks of the schools. Psychol
ogists have found that the eye csrrie
the pictorial message to the brain in
much more rapid manner and more Sc
curely for retention than it does by typ
in the book. Not only does the studer
absorb the lesson much more duickl
via the screen, but the movies are en-
tertaining as well. Many schools al
ready have their hours for shown
pictures, and there is a great deman
for the manufacture of educational an
travel subjects. To have the wonder
Of nature and the important places (
the world shown in their natural color
is now made possible by means of I'll
special camera invented by WilliaI
Van Doren Kelley.
: FROM SCREEN TO STAGE