Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-02-22
HEPLAYCOER'S
WEEKLY TALK
Observations on Plays and
Photoplays Of Interest
to Philadeiphians

ETyHAT will become OF the writers OF
NV farce when prohibition in this
Try becomes n fact7
Very few farces have ever got by
Without the introduction OF alcohol In
0ome form or other. In the Walnut
show, 1.-THE Naughty WIFE" Fred jack
xon, the author, manages TO serve a few
&rinks n a grape-juice fzz or an Ice
tream soda would never fl the bill.
what would Twin Beds" be without
(he bibulous tenor, who comes home IN
The wee small hours OF the morning in
! slightly dilapldated condition and gets
INTO the wrong apartment. How would
Avery Hopwood ever have been able to
write Fair and Warmer were II not
for the seductive and insinuating COCK
ftaii? One of the greatest satirists and
best farce writer's that ever contributed
70 the American stage was the iate
Charles Hoyt, and his plays often reeked
with rum. In fact, he wrote one OF the
heat, by the way, about this very uues-
lion, prohibition. The immortal Shake
rpeare used alcohol in varying tuanti-
3ies In most of his plays. especially the
comedies. Sir John Falstaff must have
been q f~ve-bottle man at least, and II
has been said that William himself was
quite a proficient ~two-handed drinker.
III Perhaps the situation Is not entirely
hopeless, however, for future farce
writer's. II they can't have fun with a
chap who has got his liquor they can
have some sport with n man who liz try
ing to get 1t and can't. After all. 1t Is
the weaknesses of mankind that pro-
vIde most of the farce situations. In
xenious farceurs will ave to try to find
sub" to take the place of the demon.
One of the sayings OF Hoyt proved him
10 be q philosopher when he remarked.
There are funny things going around
you all the time IL you only notice
Them"
Who'll get the first blue ribbon for a
White-ribbon farce?
<EREDERICK LEOPOLD, erstwhile
~ manager of the Nixon Theatre, who
was one OF the first to offer his services
TO the Y. NJ. c. A. for active duty to
France. has crossed the Rhine and Il
now in Germany. There is quite a
theatrical clique over there. Billy Bar
ron, former accountant Of the Broad
Alphonso O'kane, who was personal
stenographer TO the late Samuel F.
Nixon, and John T. Taylor. son of ex-
Superintendent of Police Taylor. and
sonAe others rave all crossed the Rhine.
nave met ana are having u Dullg TIME.
according to letters received by The
P1aygoer. Mr.. Leopold is in charge of
shows for the soldiers and sailors where
he Is located and writes that he has n
SS.split-week circuit" in the trenches.
The acts he has have played at Verdun.
Nice, Monte Carlo and Paris. and he
Aspects to add Coblenz. Mainz, Cologne
and Dusseldorf to his circuit.
Letters which carry with them sigma
lures of "Bill" Greasy. OF Cressy and
Dayne: John Hunting. of Hunting and
Francis. and other acts that are playing
s'over there and have played "over
here state that the boys are well and
sshaving a grand time" To prove hat
army work has not detracted from Leo
pold's sagacity as a theatrical man. he
has sent a list of some foreign acts.
French, Italian, English and japanese.
who have volunteered for work with
him.
Everything but German comedians.
kZNARs ago the French dramatist.
e victorien Sardou. dramatized a
ecrap of paper, the translation in Eng
lish being offered under the direct title.
The play was n great success wherever
IT was presented, which was virtually in
every quarter of the globe. This sea-
10 an enterprising playwright has
tpken a dress suit and dramatized II.
This play. under the title Of "A Tailor
Made Man" has been playing at the
lGarrick with such success that It would
hot surprise me to see II hold the boards
for some seasons.
The work Of the old and new play
wrights differs greatly. Sardou's play
S7vas pure farce. which implies that 1t
was built Of unsubstantial material con-
1tructed for laughing purposes only.
Harry James Smith has put spine. flesh
and sinew in "A Tailor-Made Man"
The substance Is human. and is inspira-
ffional to a marked degree, and that
without losing In any manner the
faculty of melting laughter, the hearty
ring of which denotes that there is
something behind the laughs at the
{Aero's adventures In search of fame and
fortune via the means OF a borrowed
aAress suit.
Carlyle. Of course. developed a
<eclothes philosophy in 'Sartor Re
s.rtus." but hltherto only the cartoon
Dts have realized the comic possibilities
the dress suit" Mr.. smith has
FOUND the comedy possibilities as we'll.
igg A RI for arts sake" Is a beautiful
Q "A sounding slogan, said Lew Fields
between acts Of Friendly Enemies" the
other night. 1T is bad for the theatre
and It Is bad for art. Furthermore. It
always ~frlghtens the general public
away. which Is a wrong thing to dc
from more than one standpoint"
The topic was referred to In connec-
ton with the question of a theatre
patron. who wrote to The Piaygoer to
Dsk IL he did not think the artistic
side" Of the theatre was sadly neglected
.by American producers. Mr.. Fields con-
ifinued:
II believe that the ultimate test OF
any play or player Is the box office. A
poorly produced masterpiece or a
wrongly cast genius may suffer from
fhe standpoint OF the box office, but hi,
only proves my contention that the bo,
;ofice IL the barometer Of the actua
worth of What Is going on inside III,
4 Theatre II a play Is worth while A
U appeal to the multitude, or at leas
to a large portion of the multitude. A
play may have a special appeal an,
ct be a good play, but 1t must draw
,ery single person of Its class to tn,
eatre or II Is a poor play. The llterar
tssics are classics because they hay
BOD the test of time. nave been bough
read by the people. and not becaus
Hes have proclaimed them great. II
-1e end the great public does not car
: about the critics of literature. In tn
theatre we must make an immediat
appeal or we are lost. We cannot. lik
= book. lie on the shelf waiting for DOS
fority to discover US, and consequentl
1.-The critic Is a very important person 1
'onr world"
WV. The critics all smile acknowledgmer